Majek Fashek: His life, lessons, hits

The news of Nigeria’s reggae icon’s death last Tuesday shook the world. What was his life and career like and how much did his songs touch lives? Like many others across the world, singer Charles Oputa, best known as Charly Boy was scrolling through his social media news feed when he learned about Majek Fashek’s […]

The news of Nigeria’s reggae icon’s death last Tuesday shook the world. What was his life and career like and how much did his songs touch lives?

Like many others across the world, singer Charles Oputa, best known as Charly Boy was scrolling through his social media news feed when he learned about Majek Fashek’s death.

Fashek, best known for songs like ‘Send Down the Rain’ and ‘So Long for Too Long’ died in his sleep aged 57 in New York on June 2, 2020. This was made public on Instagram by the reggae star’s manager, Umenka Uzoma.

He started his music career in the early 80s with the group Jastix, then went solo and released his debut album, ‘Prisoner of Conscience,’ in 1988. The album was a success and had the popular record ‘Send Down the Rain.’

Charly Boy told Daily Trust Saturday how he first met Fashek. “Majek was like my son. Around 1980, when I returned from abroad and after I fell out with my father because I chose to do music, I went to live in my home town, Oguta in Owerri. That was how I met Majek.’

The entertainer said he had a humble studio where he worked from in Oguta and heard a lot about Fashek. “I was told that he was very good and I asked that he should be brought to my studio. When he came, I was happy that I had someone working with me and he became like my studio assistant.

“Before others heard the song ‘Send Down the Rain,’ I already did because he penned it down in my studio.’

How it happened

The duo had been working in the studio for a while when Charly Boy decided to go to sleep. “It was a three-storey building and the last floor was my apartment while Majek’s was in the ground floor where the studio was,” Charly Boy said, adding that that night he heard fashek singing ‘Send Down the Rain’ and playing the guitar.

“I began to wonder when Bob Marley sang a song that I didn’t know about. When I later asked him about the song. When he said it was something he was working on, I was shocked,” Charly Boy revealed. “I know that he tried his best. We were together about three years ago when he was having his issues. We had been talking before he went to London and I had not communicated with him for two years.

Lessons

As of 2015, the reggae icon revealed that he was receiving care at Synapse Services, a rehabilitation facility in Abuja, to overcome addiction from drugs and alcohol. He thanked God for being alive and blamed the print section of the Nigerian media and persons he worked with while in America for his struggle with addiction. “I toured with Tracy Chapman, I played with Jimmy Cliff. I even played with Michael Jackson, the same thing with Snoop Doggy Dog and Beyoncé. But not even for one day did the Nigerian press report this, even if it is to encourage the younger artistes. They were all about just carrying my name. And this is why I had to go through this rehab situation,” he had said.

Speaking to Daily Trust Saturday after Fashek’s death, a Nollywood veteran actor, Saheed Balogun, who is also a filmmaker and producer, pointed out a lesson stars should learn from the late reggae icon.

“We lost a legend and it’s a lesson to those who are young and upcoming. We should be drug free. He (Fashek) had the best voice after Bob Marley in the reggae genre. That was why he was taken to the US. His messages were powerful. All his songs have messages that remain relevant decades after,” Balogun said.

More tributes

Ayuba Tete (AT), a Kaduna based singer and music producer described Fashek’s death as a great loss to Nigeria and the music world in general. “I was truly hoping he would recover from his ailment and come out with a redemptive body of work, but it never happened,” Tete said. “He will be sorely missed by all music lovers. My favorite song of his, like many others, is ‘Send down the rain.’ It is transcendent and timeless and a metaphorical plea to God for blessings.”

Fashek’s ‘Send Down the Rain’ won six PMAN awards in 1989 for ‘Song of the Year,’ ‘Album of the Year,’ and Reggae Artist of the Year,’ among others.

His second album, ‘I&I Experience’ was released in 1989 under the Tabansi Label. He later went on to sign with CBS Nigeria before moving to Island Records’ Mango imprint, a label that marketed reggae music internationally.

His album, ‘So Long Too Long,’ was released in 1991 by Sony Nigeria and was included on Putumayo World Music’s first album.