Just not ready to write a Sound Sultan tribute yet. The three times that I tried were a disaster. But I can proudly write a few things about him without tearing up for hours.
I call them, the SS you can be (The sides of Sound Sultans you should have in you).
They are:
1) Sound Sultan didn’t understand peer pressure. Nobody loved his own lane like this man.
Sultan’s music, dress code, lifestyle, where he lived etc was never determined by popular culture. He knew what he wanted, what to borrow from what was envouge but was never a direct reflection of what was trending. Are you easily influenced?
2) He loved peace Everybody, and I repeat, everybody in the entertainment world in Nigeria has two friends who do not see eye to eye. While some manage it real good, others do not, taking hypocritical sides as traitors but Sultan took his middleman condition a notch higher. Nobody i know, brokered more peace deals than SS.
The only two he failed in were with the two R&B groups starting with P’s. Are you a peace maker?
3) The quiet life. Sultan was not poor. He knew everyone, every A-list artiste knew in business and politics. Wyclef’s love for Sultan is no joke. Yet Sultan has the least pictures out there to portray how well he lived and how connected he was. Something his guys couldn’t seem to
do without
In work and his life, he slayed every day but never for display. Are you a silent achiever?
4) Use of talent. SS exhausted every wing of his talent. As an actor, musician, instrumentalist. Songwriter. Producer. Basketballer, etc But the biggest of all was his use of his voice and songs as one with a message that sought to enlighten a people. Are you positively using all of your talents?
5) Moral lifestyle. Sultan was the closest to perfection there was. Absolutely no vices. Yes, his very unbiased mind would never judge those who struggled with bad habits. Five-time prayer was a daily must. He truly tried to seek God. Are you spiritual or just religious?
6) Consistency: His middleman name. 24 years and eight albums, he represented the continually improved version of the same thing. End to end. Constantly holding on to his essence in good or bad weather.
Steady and constant while many came and left. Are you steady in your grind?
That’s the man we lost. Any leaf to borrow?
