From LAGOS Rubbish Dump to LONDON’S O2: VOCAL SLENDER

Eric Obuh aka Vocal Slender who was recently featured in British documentary by the BBC entitled ‘Welcome to Lagos’. Subsequent to his ’15 minutes of fame’ the talented Vocal Slender will now be launching his musical careeer performing a life-changing gig at the UK’s most prestious music venues, London’s IndigoO2 on 31st May 2010.



Vocal Slender’s “Owo Yapa” (picture video):

The three-part BBC documentary Welcome To Lagos, produced by KEO Films, sheds light on the other side of Lagos (unfamilar to the British), including places such as Olusosun, a rubbish dump where about 1000 scavengers work and live.

One of these scavengers is Eric Obuh aka Vocal Slender, 28, who was followed in the first episode, broadcast by BBC 2 on 15 April. Eric who grew up on the streets is also an aspiring rap artist; he is as he puts it “working hard to become somebody,” collecting scrap from the dump and selling it in order to make money to record and promote his music. Not an easy task because whilst Nigeria’s music industry of today is bursting with homegrown talent and the biggest stars can afford to live in luxury, the competition is immense. When he is not working and living on the dump, Eric stays in Ajegunle, Lagos’ biggest ghetto where the careers of many big names including Daddy Showkey and African China started. In Ajegunle Eric struggles to make a name for himself as Vocal Slender performing at outdoor parties and trying to promote his music.

Vocal Slender’s story fascinated millions of viewers who were inspired and touched by him and also the other people featured. One of London’s biggest Nigerian promoters decided that he wanted to help Vocal Slender get the break he so deserved. So he made contact with him, flew to Lagos and offered to book him for an upcoming show: the Cokobar Music Festival, to be held at London’s IndigO2 on bank holiday Monday, 31st May. The event already had a star-studded line-up, and now Vocal Slender had been added to this bill as a special guest. Eric was issued his first passport, the visa was arranged, the flights booked and Eric can now look forward to this amazing opportunity. Not only will it be his first performance abroad, he would also be sharing the stage with the highest calibre of Nigerian acts – from Lagos Wande Coal (“Bumper 2 Bumper”, “You Bad”), Dr Sid (“Something About You”), Bracket (“Yori Yori”) and DJ Zeez (“Fokasibe”), plus London-based JJC (“We Are Africans”) and Tilla Man (“Pu’Yanga”); not the sort of bill you could expect to see him on in Lagos at present. Whilst in London a professional music video for his single “Owo Yapa” is to be shot as well, (kindly financed by Cokobar) as having a good video is paramount in Nigeria’s music industry, and it will help him establish his name when he returns to Lagos.

Right now Eric still works on the Olusosun rubbish dump but this could be his chance to turn his dream of making it in the music industry into reality – and to become the Nigerian Slumdog Millionaire.

Cokobar Music Festival

indigO2 – The O2, Millennium Way, Greenwich, London SE10 0AX
Bank holiday Monday, 31 May 2010, 5pm – 11pm
Featuring Vocal Slender + Wande Coal (“Bumper 2 Bumper”, “You Bad”), Dr Sid (“Something About You”), Bracket (“Yori Yori”), Tilla Man (“Pu’Yanga”), DJ Zeez (“Fokasibe”), JJC (“We Are Africans”) and many more, hosted by Basketmouth, Wale Gates and Tunde Ednut.
Tickets: £25 (standard) & £50 (VIP) from http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk or http://www.cokobar.com or call 07956-385647/ 07951-536726/ 07949-806892/ 07957-489421/ 07980 059659
Watch Vocal Slender confirming his performance:

Posted by gossip-jones on May 19 2010. Filed under Events, Videos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry