Collabos that failed to set the nation on fire

Collaborating together is one of the methods music artists employ to make their brands popular. Known better by music industry people as collabo, it is, as its popular name suggests, when two or more artists record a song or songs together so that their combined presence on it can make the song more successful than if it was just one of them that recorded it. And the strategy actually works. When people hear that two big artists are working together on a song, they start looking out for the song, meaning the song already has an advantage to help it succeed even before its release. And when the song comes out, they go and get it, as they are eager to hear what it sounds like. Collabos that have really succeeded in the country include Street Credibility by 9ice and 2face, Efimile by YQ and Dagrin, Sexy Mama by Iyanya and Wizkid, Jawo Jawo by Goldie and Jaywon, Le Fenu So by Lord of Ajasa and 9ice and many others. One of the earliest collaborations in the country that really lived up to the essence of collaboration, which is to make music that will not just be commercially successful, but critically acclaimed as well, is Wait For Me by King Sunny Ade and Onyeka Onwenu. Not only is Wait For Me melodically sensible, its message, about not rushing into sex but planning well for the consequences of sex, is also advisorial to everyone who listens to it and this has ensured that the song will live forever. Yet, two artists, even if they are big artists, collaborating together is not always a guarantee of success. So, as there have been many successful collaborations have there been those that didn’t do well, just got noted and didn’t set the nation on fire. One of such in the failed category is Elele by Emma Nyra featuring Davido. Though Nyra became popular when Iyanya featured her on his smash hit, Ur Waist, her own strategy of featuring Davido on her song, Elele, didn’t turn out the way it was expected as Elele became notable but not a roaring success. When it comes to collaborations, Davido is one artist who has been part of a lot of collaborations. The funny thing about his collaborations is that when he collaborates with other artists on his songs, those songs don’t really do that well. His first song was Back When with Naeto C and it didn’t really become popular, just noted, even though Naeto C was a reasonably celebrated artist whose presence on Back When should have influenced Back When’s success. His second song, however, Dami Duro, was performed by just himself and it became a smash hit and the song that gave him his breakthrough. All Of You and Ekuro which came after Dami Duro and were performed by just him also did reasonably well. However, Feel Alright, in which he featured the much-hyped rapper, Ice Prince, didn’t break the ice. But Gobe and Aye, all by himself again, became sensational hits while Tchelete and The Sound, on which he featured Mafikizolo and Uhuru respectively, only generated buzz. Yet another collabo that didn’t do as expected is Sampuwa by Sheyman and Flavour. Sampuwa came about as a result of Sheyman’s inability to record a hit song by just himself after many attempts at doing so failed. So he put Flavour who is known far and wide on Sampuwa and it still failed. Since Sampuwa’s failure, nothing has been heard of Sheyman as an artist again. Nowadays, he’s just a sound engineer. But of all the collaboration songs that failed to strike the right chord with music lovers, despite them being recorded by big-time artists, the one that can be regarded as the biggest failure among them is Let’s Get The Party Started which was recorded by 2face Idibia, MI, Tiwa Savage, D’Banj and Wizkid, a stellar cast of heavyweights, yet many people don’t even know of the its existence. Other collaboration songs that didn’t do well are Won Da Mo - Burna Boy, D’Banj; Emma – Kcee, D’Banj; Gentleman - D’Prince, Don Jazzy, Davido; Moti Goke – KSB, Terry G; and many others too numerous to mention.