By Alagie Manneh
Veteran musician Mass Lowe ‘Nice Boy’ has just released two singles, each laden with lyrics in rhyme with the current social and political tides in the country.
Mass, whose captivating voice and baby-faced posture have earned him the tag Nice Boy, said unlike the avalanche of freedom and liberty that emerged from the changes of 2017, there is little tolerance between the people.
“I want to use my comeback to help in the healing and reconciliation process. I am back on stage ready to help calm a nation seemingly divided,” he told The Standard.
The newly released singles are from an album he called ‘Jamano’ to be launched later this year.
“The two singles are titled ‘politics and TRRC’ and they cannot wait for the album launch because of their relevance.
I selected the two for release because our politics is in a state of mess with tribalism and hypocrisy pervasive.
That’s why I decided to sing about politics; for people to come together, use their heads and dialogue for development and peace of The Gambia. That is what politics is all about after all,” Mass said.
On the TRRC song, he said: “The hearings are quite essential to our reconciliatory hopes.
It is a platform where people are given the opportunity to confess to past atrocities and to repent. I think that is absolutely critical.
The song is about the importance of the TRRC.”
Mass said the two songs are to especially inform the younger generation that politics in the Gambia was not always like this.
“I want parents to tell their children that the politics of today is new to us. What used to happen was that people vote and after, reconcile their differences and go back to working for The Gambia.
When politics was politics in The Gambia, there was so much ambiance with hunting, drumming, rallies and teasing each other but today people are even afraid to go out for rallies with pelting prevalent everywhere.”
Mass, who calls himself “a nationalist”, said the songs are not to support any party or individual rather, it was borne of the desire to send a message that would diffuse tensions and promote oneness among Gambians.
He also took time to talk about the future of Gambian music, and said the industry continues to make headways.
“But I want young artists to learn, and not just sing. If you are a rapper, you must learn music and not just jump up with few lines in little over 15 days, go to the studio, record and want to be called a star. People should be able to listen to your music decades after you are gone,” he advised.
