Nigerian singer and Afrobeats star, Patoranking has made what can be described as the biggest revelation yet about the death of fellow countryman and singer, MohBad, who passed away on September 12, 2023.
Speaking on the Afrobeats Podcast with, Adesope Olajide, the My Woman hitmaker described the death of the 27-year-old MohBad as unfortunate, saying it was hard to believe that the talented artiste “is gone.”
He however noted, that if we were paying attention to lyrics, we would have “seen signs” from MohBad, who was known in real life as Illerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba.
Although the reggae-dancehall artiste did not specify the exact song or lyrics from MohBad which could have been a “signal”, he said it is important to pay attention to lyrics, adding that the young artiste should not have died as a lot of people depended on him.
“Lyrics is key. If we were paying attention to lyrics, we would have seen signs from Mohbad,” Patoranking, known in real life as Patrick Nnaemeka Okorie said.
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The Afrobeats firebrand, sharing his sentiments about the death, expressed satisfaction about people calling for justice for the deceased artiste.
“It is sad the fact that you open your phone and you see his picture and come to the realization that he is not coming back; that’s the part that gets to me… We should not be losing people. He doesn’t deserve it. I am happy everyone is coming together and calling for justice for MohBad which is very important,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Patoranking released the single Abobi about seven months ago which speaks about issues of police brutality, inter-neighborhood wars, and religious conflict.
Abobi is one of the songs on his new album, which he said took him two years to produce. He described the album as a “beautiful feeling.” It features artistes Ghanaian singer, Gyakie; Jamaican dancehall and Afrobeats singer, Bennie Man; Tanzanian Afrobeats singer, Diamond Platinumz; and American hip-hop star, Ludacris, among others.
According to the singer, those on the album are people he would like to work with “any time, any day.”
Asked about the choice of the top musicians on the album, the Suh Different hit creator said he wanted the album to be “a masterpiece,” which would set the tone for what is to come in the future.
Touching on being “the voice for the street,” Patoranking said he chose the path less traveled and that being a top artiste comes with “responsibility.”
“If you are a public figure, you are there for two reasons: glitz and glamour and service to humanity. I chose service to humanity, which comes at a cost; you have to live up to it. You have to be responsive; you might not be noticed, but you are there doing your thing. It is not a mistake that I am from the ghetto; where I am coming from, we needed someone to look up to and I chose to become the person people should look up to so it’s a responsibility,” the 33-year-old stated.
He called for more collaborative efforts to promote the Afrobeats genre and make it more successful in the years ahead, as “we are still scratching the surface of the genre”.
“We are not there yet; it is one step at a time and we will get there. It’s like building a house with pillars. If one man says I am going to hold the pillars the building is going to collapse. We all need to come together to understand that everybody has a role to play, not just the artiste but the people behind the scenes as well,” he added.