GIST: Olamide's 'Owo Blow' single is the best pop culture reference ever | @360rhymes_com

Credit: Ayomide O. Tayo

Olamide goes back in history and
gives a nod to one of the biggest
Nollywood movies of all time-
Owo Blow.

OLAMIDE - OWO BLOW
Rap music has always
made pop culture
references in its music.
Drake's 2016 album ' Views' is
choked with many American pop
culture references. On the ' Magna
Carta Holy Grail '' album Jay Z
jumped on the twerking
phenomenon sweeping white
America by name checking Miley
Cyrus who was the poster child of
white chicks twerking on the song
'Somewhereinamerica '.
In Nigeria, there is no better curator
of popular culture than the King of
the streets, Olamide a.k.a Baddo .
Over the sizzling, Major Bangz
produced 'Owo Blow ', Olamide raps
"Ahh alaye t’o se googo [googo]/
Action po o, bi Ogogo [Ogogo]/
Ayobo se you go go?/Gbenusi no be
Atenu/Ye e ta’akoto" on the bridge
of the song.
The bridge references the classic
Yoruba flick titled ' Owo Blow', a
trilogy directed by one of Nigeria's
best directors Tade Ogidan. The first
instalment of the movie Owo Blow-
The Genesis was released in 1997.
Owo Blow- The Revolt and Owo
Blow- The Final Struggle came
out between 1997 and 1998.
Movie buffs have hailed Owo Blow
as a perfect crime thriller. Low-key
Owo Blow could also be the best
trilogy from the Nigerian movie
industry. The movie highlights the
erosion of the middle class in
Nigeria in the 90s and an upright
man's struggle to fight corruption.
The casting was superb and it
helped blow up the career of Taiwo
Hassan and start the career of actor
Femi Adebayo who is now a
superstar. Taiwo Hassan by the way
is a bonafide Nollywood legend.

Taiwo Hassan played the role of
Ogogo, the good thief, in the movie
and thanks to the popularity of the
movie the name stuck. It is a
popular trademark of the Yoruba
movie industry to name its actors
after the character they played in the
movies that led to their
breakthrough e,g Baba Suwe,
Sukirat Sindodo , Oga Bello etc.
This is why Taiwo Hassan » has
been called Ogogo since 1997.
To the new school Twitter thumb
pushers, Olamide's bridge might not
have made sense to them but
children of the 80s and 90s can't
help but marvel at the rapper's
wordplay and Nollywood reference.
Olamide » (who was born and
raised in the slums of Bariga) was
eight years old when the movie
came out and most likely he must
have watched Owo Blow. The movie
reflected what many people
including the ones in Bariga were
going through at that time. Olamide
came out of the same improvished
condition portrayed in the trilogy to
become one of the biggest rappers
from Africa's most populous nation.
In 1999, armed robbers invaded the
Olamide's family home and nearly
killed his father. After this jarring
experience, Olamide made the
decision to be a man and start
grinding. He revealed this on the
song '1999 ' off his fourth studio
album ' Street OT' released in 2014.
Curating pop culture through his
rhymes is one of Olamide's
strengths. He knows how to jump
on trends and sprinkle pop
references all over his music. Owo
Blow is just his latest pop curation
and his most bold one yet. It
wouldn't be bad for the movie to be
shown in cinemas for a new
generation.

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