Terry's modern mix of apala and hip hop

One of a handful of artists doing something different is Terry Apala.

Born Terry Alexander Ejeh, Terry, like many of his contemporaries, started singing in the church. Although Terry is originally from Ozoro, Delta State, he was raised in Ajegunle, Lagos. He grew up listening to apala music from the likes of the legendary Haruna Ishola and a host of others. He, however, discovered early that doing what everyone else was already doing might not give him the break he needed. So he tapped into his roots and produced a unique style: apala fused with hip hop.

In ‘Modernise’, one of his early singles, Terry introduces himself, his style of music and claims his ethnicity, “omo Isoko”—as if to say, yes, I do this apala mixture well, but I am an Isoko boy. Apala is native to the Yorubas of south west Nigeria; Isoko is an ethnic group in south-south Nigeria.

In 'Modernise', Terry does not just introduce his style of music but also subtly mocks the over-flogged tendencies of the hip hop genre. He braggs here and there, inviting Nigerians to enjoy his music and dance away their sorrows:

For you wey dey ronu
Dance away your sorrow
If you no get bata, make you go borrow
We go rock am today today, no be tomorrow
after the menu menu se gbo, a ma ya photo
it’s high time we dance afro musiki
Come inside the shrine,
baby gather ma rocking

The hook:

I modernize Apala music to hip hop ooo, yeah yeah ,
for Africa dem dey hear am, all over Naija there dey hear am.

Throughout ‘Modernize’, he brags about his song being heard all over Nigeria, mocking those with fake Versace who do not want to dance to his music. He invites those who have not heard him to listen to his modernised apala music as mixed with hip-hop, heard in Lagos, Nigeria, and across the continent.

On ‘Jangolova’, Nigerian pidgin for a swing, Terry transforms into a lover boy crooning to a girl to marry him. What makes this song different from the mainstream baby-marry-me, again, is the fusion of apala with hip-hop and Terry’s voice:

I want to know what it takes to be your lover
if you really want me, come closer,
I go buy you many Ankara
so you go do shakara.
Terry Apala dey call you,
I go marry you,
I go take care of you,
I no care what they say about you honey be my lover,
I want you and I to do jangolova.

'Champagne Showers' could have been the regular ”we are drinking Moet with fine girls” Nigerian song but Terry will make you listen to anything with that low husky voice spiced with apala flavour. I should add that the video is rated 18 and is Terry’s finest work in my opinion.

One important feature of Terry’s music is the poetry in his songs, the almost perfect rhythm and rhyme. The first time I listened to ‘Champagne Showers’, that was all I could hear: how he fluidly blends his bars into the verse. In ‘Mo Popular’ he brags about this ability: "16 bars in one verse e no easy."

If there is a song with Terry Apala in it I don’t quite like, it’s his feature on the classic Jimmy Jatt and Flavour song, ‘Turn Up.’ Even then, Terry lingers on the lowest note for almost 30 seconds effortlessly. The blend of his voice and Flavour’s do not quite sync. I imagine songs with Burna Boy, Black Magic, or Brymo, will be magic.

The bar for his debut album Apala on the Beat is already set so high. I hope he scales through. His sound is fresh, unique, and with the industry now straining to bring in more sounds from the margins, and audiences hankering for more diversity in their music, the timing is near-perfect.