Ilerioluwa ‘Imole’ Oladimeji Aloba, one of the greatest writers and philosophers to walk the face of the earth in the 21st century said something poetic nine days before today, one year ago that has gone on to be one of the most truthful statements in pop culture. He said “Music no need permission to enter your spirit” and that is the entire summary of the pandemic upon the Nigerian nightlife scene called Oblee.
What is Oblee? In zoology, Oblee is my goat. In geography, it is my world. It is my King in history and my solution in math. Oblee has been generally adopted to translate to mean ‘outside’ by the Nigerian consumer market. It is a symbolistic sound of the lifestyle Shallipopi said is very costly, and a clarion call to all Nigerians interested to turn up and dance. Oblee by definition is now the presence of ‘groove’.
It’s a Yoruba word that translates to ‘e clear’ or ‘ e dey pop’. Referencing the great writer Shallipopi again, ‘E sharp’. Oblee has become Nigeria’s Detty December 2024 slang, and rightly so. Even though the pandemic is just hitting prime numbers now, the Oblee sickness has been going on for a while, probably all year.
Oblee as a term was first used in mainstream music by Seyi Vibez on his song Flakky, which became an instant hit on the streets. Many people like me could sing the entire song word for word even before we knew the title of the song, just from hearing it a lot at clubs or raves. Somewhere down the line, DJ YK took the song and sampled the part of the song where the Oblee chant is repeated continuously and made the version that triggered the pandemic.
Oblee has gone on to be an injection in nightlife, and not one soul disobeys the nurse (DJ) immediately after this weapon is unleashed. Whoever you are, you dance when Oblee comes on. It’s unexplainable. It’s a one-in-a-five-year occurrence, where we have a song that everybody can not resist. The street, the elite, the mainland, the island, the classists, the poor, everybody partakes in submitting to Oblee. People have taken to social media to ask what it means and why they can’t resist the vibe of the chant, and people have answered them, saying that it’s a clarion call to enjoyment, and we all love enjoyment.
Oblee provides an interesting discourse because DJ YK took a word out of Seyi Vibez’s song and blew a version he made out of that word. That version in return blew the original song, as the original song is mostly now used as a turn-up initiator leading up to the version that unlocks spirits. Some claim Seyi should take credit for the success of Oblee cos he came up with the word, some say the word would have been nothing if Dj YK hadn’t made something out of it. This, I agree with, and I think is undeniable.
Oblee further doubles down on the importance of DJs in the ecosystem of Afrobeats. They have the power to make or break a lot of things, and they don’t even know it. They are the dictators of the tempo of the music sometimes. They feed the people in real-time. They understand what makes people dance, and Afrobeats is a dancing genre. Seyi would definitely be grateful to Dj YK, as his voice is the biggest and most important voice at clubs, events, parties, and raves this year.
Lastly, Oblee is the song of the year, and the song of the year belongs to a DJ. As has been said many times in different articles published earlier, our artists failed to sync with the people this year in terms of singles. Great albums, yes, but the singles really accepted belonged to the DJs and Hypemen. It’s interesting to see what 2025 will bring to us.
To you my dear reader, make sure you participate in some Oblee this period. If you have, kudos to you and keep at it. If you haven’t, fret not. For Oblee delayed is not Oblee denied. Even though there hasn’t been any Oblee as of yet, there’s a high probability of Oblee occurring in the near future, so stay active. Stay cheesed up. I’ll wish you a Merry Christmas tomorrow.
