Wizkid: Starboy used a trusted formula on ‘Manya’, playing with our emotions to score a hit

Nostalgia is a powerful force, and Wizkid is utilisng that knowledge to score his next hit record.

Sometimes you aren’t equipped with everything that you need to achieve a certain goal. Sometimes, the shortest distance to salvation is far from within you, and no matter what you do, all that is required is for you to reach out and grab something external.

That’s what Wizkid has done. After chasing the bright lights of non-traditional Afrobeat markets with Sony, he is back in Nigeria. He is staring at his people and seeking to enter back into the local pop scene and dominate.

The lucrative month of December is upon us, and musicians are throwing their best foot forward, seeking to generate enough buzz to convince show promoters that they possess enough content and clout to pull off a great performance.

For Wizkid, it is more than that. His arch-rival, Davido is having a moment, with his latest release ‘FIA’ causing a disruption in playlists and setting him up with a likely hit single to sprint to the end of December with the trophy of supremacy. For these two, to stand still is to fall behind, and only by competition with the art do they surpass each other.

Wizkid’s latest move is his new single ‘Manya’, which features Mutay of Legendury Beatz. This time, Wizkid reaches beyond his powers into the realm of nostalgia for a hit. He is grabbing external inspiration and turning it into sonic gold to listen.

Just like Simi did on her single ‘Joromi’ – one of Wizkid’s favourite songs of the year – where she channelled Sir Victor Uwaifo’s classic record, Starboy also stretched to the past to grab his next blessing, and possibly a future hit.

On the Killertunes-produced “Manya”, Wizkid revamps Ghanaian group, VIP‘s 2005 monster hit ‘Ahomka Womu’, bringing it back into 2017, with a great delivery and some tweaks. He transforms the record into a hybrid Highlife record. This is best served with Palmwine, and local damsels from the East gyrating to it. You could close your eyes, turn on the music, and you would hit that spot mentally.

Nostalgia is a powerful force. It is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.

‘Ahomka Womu’ was such a phenomenal record in Nigeria, even though it was made by Ghanaian artists. Back before Mr Eazi began to claim ownership of a Naija-Ghana bridge, V.I.P, comprising members Promzy (Emmanuel Promzy Ababio), Prodigal (Joseph Nana Ofori), and Lazzy (Abdul Hamid Ibrahim) from a ghetto suburb in Accra called Nima, did it.

Wizkid grabs this, re-interprets it as a jam, and offers it to us. It’s a gimmick designed to activate our emotional centres, reduce the entry barrier to our hearts and ultimately our playlists. Add that to the love that resides in our hearts for Wizkid, and you have a commanding force that is near-irresistible.

Already, a look through social media shows that it is working. It’s almost what betting men will call a ‘sure banker’. Hit and win, smash and grab, play and win.

Wizkid almost certainly has done it again. The rest is left for time and promotion to decide how big a record this will be.