'You Can't Be A Good Musician Without Getting High' - Majek Fashek

jess

October 16, 2013 1:37 PM

He was the best in his time, driving the crowd wild with his hit track, 'Send Down The Rain'. His light skin reflected off the screens as he jumped around singing and chanting what he believed in. Today, many long years after, his stringy, thinning hair hangs from his head. His eyes are colourless and the pallor of his skin dull. He is gaunt, malnourished, a few minutes from death. He holds on to his past glory...that is all there is for him to hold on to....that and white dust (cocaine) wrapped in paper. His name is Majek Fashek.

He defends himself saying that to be a good musician , one needs the aid of hard drugs. In his words;

«People must talk. But they make you popular; that's the truth. You cannot fight the press, you cannot fight the media. They are the ones that will tell people what is going on, so I cannot fight the media. They said I'm crazy, I use cocaine. . I dey blow my nose, I dey smoke my igbo. As I speak to you, I have cocaine in my pocket and in my house. I still dey use am. . How will you play music with a 'normal eye'? . Pastors dem dey high too. The truth is that . The humans are looking up to you, so you must be super- human to live up to their expectations.»

Coming from a musician that we all grew to love and respect, this is sad. Does this mean that all thode tunes we used to love are drug induced ramblings? Is this true that great musicians and preachers have to be under the influence of hard drugs to deliver their message? Or is this the empty excuse of a befuddled maniac?

jess