| GT has given the album a really suggestive title, LAZARUS, looks like someone is back from the dead. (Photo credit: GT Da GuitarMan) |
It was at the Made Men event in 2008, I was pumped to the depth of my soul, minding my steps so I don’t fall or over-do things. My uncle had taken me to the event to meet Obi Asika of the now defunct Storm Records, it was a big night for me.
Dreamer was the hit song by GT The Guitar Man at that time, he was arguably the next big thing, with the voice, the rhythm and his energy. His intelligence at interviews and his immaculate performances especially on his guitar, I’d have bet everything I had that he’d rule for decades.
GT and I spoke briefly on the night, exchanged contacts and I moved on to other acts on the night, from Naeto C, to Ikechukwu, Sasha P and Jazzman Olofin. My Express Music Nokia had screen defects so I couldn’t take pictures but the ones in my head remain NFT worthy till date.
I didn’t cut it with Storm Records, I think I wrote about it already but this post is about the downward spiral of GT The Guitar Man and the potential that must not die in that man. He has tried to drop a few tracks over the years but he’s far from the heights we all knew of him from way back.
I stumbled on a Jumoke Odetola movie on TV this morning and GT was on the movie soundtrack, the brilliance remains intact, so I’m asking: what happened to GT The Guitar Man? Where is the “dreamer” that we all fell in love with that year?
He wasn’t a flash in the pan, you don’t get nominated for Hip Hop World Next Rated that y’all now know as the Headies award, he was nominated alongside the eventual winner Wande Coal, Banky W and MI, that was a crazy ass list and for all its worth, GT is the only one on that list that isn’t up there in the industry as we speak.
He had some setback with his divorce in 2019, and while the details of that failed marriage remain sketchy to the general public, I refuse to agree that his musical career fed off the divorce as he was already off grid long before the marriage crashed.
GT went into mining at some points and that also failed but the last time I checked, the coconut head is back mining, he’s quite stubborn but can he channel that energy towards the revival of his musical career or that’s the end of that side of him?
Not for lack of efforts to be honest; when I jumped on Big Leaguers Entertainment, shortly after the lockdown, I drafted GT into our plans but lots of things didn’t work according to plan, GT relocated to Abuja and it’s been a case of out of sight…
But GT reached out to me recently and asked to talk, he shared the artwork up there with me and told me he’s back for good. GT has been cooking and the food is ready to be dished, the wolf is out of the wilderness and ready to hunt again, GT is back!
From the artwork up there, GT is saying he is risen, like Jesus, like his album title, Lazarus; look at it closely, is he saying he was buried in the streets? He’s resurrecting from the dead, on the street, that tells me a story of where it all went wrong…
I am excited, as his friend and a fan of well over a decade, it’s a thing of joy that I’ll be able to listen to new tracks from my friend again, I once told him he will have to sweat to beat any of Dreamer, Truly and “I don’t wanna”, I’m eagerly waiting for his return, I can’t wait.
