53. Thank You

On three years of London Listening Sessions

A year swishes faster than a yawn. Blink thrice, and three years is gone. On Oct 26, 2021, I published my first newsletter on London Listening Sessions. Composed over a week, I smacked the send button to one subscriber: myself.  Today, there are 701 other subscribers.

For three years, I have composed newsletters mostly on West African music. I can’t believe the scale of work, its range, and the support I have enjoyed from you, my readers. When I started LLS, I wrote regularly about music for two publications, The Africa Report and The Lagos Review. I had more wriggle room with The Lagos Review, where I was both a co-founder, writer and commissioning editor. I parted ways with The Lagos Review about two years ago because of creative and editorial differences.

After more than a decade of writing contemporary music reviews and commentary, I was no longer keen on writing about what is urgently contemporaneous as such. I was excited about gathering some of my thoughts and insight into Nigerian music, from Ambrose Campbell to Asake, into coherent chapters of a long overdue book. I wanted to explore the non-existent archives and music history, looking for the missing threads that connect highlife to juju to apala to fuji to afrobeat to afrobeats.

I was interested in the intangible legacies of Yoruba popular culture. In the 50s/60s, Osogbo, Mbari Club, the Yoruba travelling theatre era, and their exploits leaping from stage to 35mm celluloid to VHS films in the 90s. I am talking about the comedy of Gbenga Adeboye, the films of Toba Opaleye, and the music of Dipo Shodipo. In retrospect, perhaps I had too much time on my hands in London. Maybe I was also homesick.

Three years later, I have written more than fifty newsletters about everything I care for, from Kizz Daniel to King Sunny Ade. Many of these writings have been useful exercises for my forthcoming book on Afrobeats. I have also featured guest writing from film critic Jerry Chiemeke, culture writer Michael Kolawole, and music journalist Wale Olowokerende. I am grateful to them.

Reader statistics have pulled up exciting results. The best-performing posts are about Asake and my scathing review of D’Banj’s latest album. The least performing posts are, well, a secret. Overall, readership has improved significantly over the years. Most of these readers are a consequence of the recommendations of Ayomide Tayo’s The Naija Way, Fuad Lawal’s Vistanium and Aisha Kabiru Mohammed’s Ese’s Insight.

Promoting one’s newsletter on legacy social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram does not yield significant results, and shouting from the rooftops about one’s newsletter is not cool. Sharing WhatsApp links has yielded some good results, and I must thank Feyisayo Adeyemi, Ayomipo, Adeola Juwon, and Tomide Marv for the unsolicited promotion.

I am grateful to those who have opted to be paid subscribers. Yemisi wrote that I was a fantastic talent and must be supported. I think you should all listen to her: support me! Subscribe!!

What’s next for London Listening Sessions? I guess I will keep writing about music. I hope that you are willing to continue reading those pieces.

Happy Anniversary, LLS Readers.