By CHINEDU HARDY NWADIKE | @HardyNwa
In the past five years, no Imo State based artiste could actually boast of being as popular as Golden Chinedu Okafor aka XBusta. At first, it was difficult to say if he really had what it takes to be a great artiste but time saw him mature into rap beast.
Xbusta should be ever grateful to the best music family in Imo State, which happened to be his fans at Imo State University, Owerri. Even without a song, the rapper was still more famous than artistes who were getting more airplays on the radio stations in Imo State.
He only needed a crowd and a microphone to do his thing. He only needed to know words in the environment to form his freestyles and while other artistes were struggling to match up with what he does to the crowd, it was always easy for him to win the hearts of people any time any day, even when they are not really fans of rap music.
Without having an official single to his name, Xbusta signed his first professional music contract, a feat no one is yet to achieve at the moment and when some artistes and music analysts saw it to be unfair that someone without a single to his name could be rated as the best artiste, they call for him to be rated on the same platform with other artistes and that was when he released the single ‘Shomo’ featuring Icz Money.
Even when ‘Shomo’ was loved by the people, they still preferred his freestyles to anything he does and aside the early waves by the likes of Acharaman, no other artiste in Imo State has been on more shows and more features than XBusta.
With ‘Shomo’ making waves, the myth of the Freestyle King died, making way for an artiste that was surely on his way to stardom. And through his days at Imo State University, everything was easy for him; he was more of a University Ambassador than a student. Aside his political exploits that saw him become the director of socials in his time, Xbusta was still ‘as popular as the Vice Chancellor of the university’. You must know his face, because if you have not met him, you must have seen him on posters and on stage.
Imo State University will have it in history that they have never produced any artiste like him and his rise to fame will surely be a catalyst to others struggling to make it from the same unit. It is important to note that the IMSU community alone pulls more crowd of music lovers than then entire Imo State, a reason why most tours are held in the campus and a reason why most of the good artistes in the community are known around the state more than their counterparts in other tertiary institutions in the state as well as the streets.
His performance and parley with the likes of MI Abaga and other top class artistes at Star Trek in Owerri and other states, were also evidences that that he really had something in him. Being Xbusta is not different from the story of every studio rat. It is same with the story of every street child hoping to be a star someday. Step by step, he lived his dreams, doing everything possible to overcome every obstacle on his way.
Many thought he would end up as a local legend whose achievement will be in an ordinary myth, but he never ceased to push on; that is his uniqueness. From ‘Shomo’ he did other songs until he found himself on ‘Chom’, which won the public back to him. But one thing about being XBusta is that you always have a two-edged sword. If your songs doesn’t move the crowd, then you have to give them a mind blowing freestyle. That was what made him unique; an edge he had over other folks he was rolling with. He even influenced his friends to do freestyles before their main performances, and even when most of them are not too good at it, they still pushed for the two-edged sword.
When YBE Castor picked him for his label, it was also another big hit and they hold a record of hosting the most expensive and successful album launch in the Imo State so far. He was already becoming a brand backed up with the influence Mr. Castor was commanding.
Everyone was looking up to the YBE family to shoot him up, only for pictures of him with Kcee and Harry Song in an airplane heading to Johannesburg to be seen online. It was rumours and now it is true and official, Golden Chinedu Okafor aka Xbusta has signed for Five State Music, one of the most prosperous record labels in Africa at the moment.
He has released a message to the industry, which will not be called a single, just to show the world what he is made of and that he can also perform at the highest level. ‘Mother Any Body’ was just a message to the industry and artistes who are yet to release the songs they featured him can now wait for few months and do it when he would be blazing hot because as it stands, nothing can stop him.
Who would have believed that the Freestyle King who studied Estate Management in Imo State University would be on continental news for signing for Five Star Music? Who would have known that he would be doing his thing at this level within this short time? Only God can make a man a king.
Chinedu Hardy Nwadike is an author of books, journalist, blogger and publicity strategist.
He writes from Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria.
chikisnow@yahoo.com | 08038704454 | Facebook/Twitter/Instagram: HardyNwa
