GOING by his mission-like style of music, which mostly celebrates Africa as a people with common ties, the refined lyricist has, again, made a frantic effort to flutter his fans’ hearts with a Pan African video he shot across the continent. The new video, first from him in 2013, aptly dubbed Good Life was shot by Sesan, a rave of the moment music director.
Like his ageless numbers and pulsating percussion: Good or Bad, Oyoyo, Eva, Fine Fine Love and E No Easy, among several others, the new video is expected to be another continental success.
Music pundits say the song, a stimulant for divine appreciation, is such that provokes the will to thank God ultimately for the grace of life. Delivered in smooth English and pidgin rhythm, Good Life was shot in Abidjan, DRC Congo and South-Africa. The 9-man crew effort was rounded off in South Africa.
“Good Life is a sequel to the single I did titled Good Time. And Good Life means that God means well for you irrespective of what you’re going through at the moment. We all go through different travails, but the fact that the grace of life is still available to you, it means you have a life so good. You may be complaining of hunger, joblessness, financial hard times, but when you see those whose legs are hung at the orthopedic hospitals, you’ll realise that you have a good life after all,” Martins explains.
The music and its focal point, lyrical blends and reflection of African culture make it an acoustic pleasure for Africans. He believes that “music is one of the things we do to earn respect and admiration of our brothers and sisters across the continent and for this singular reason, we must also employ this tool to teach them how best to put music together.”
Interestingly so, the chorus of the song was taken off the music of a group from whom he heard the song when he was barely 17 years old. “They are called the ‘Les Garagistes’ from Ivory Coast. It’s a group of four men and they’re also part of the video. I fell in love with the song at age seventeen and they sang it the best way they knew how. But now that I’ve grown up, I just made the decision to work on the song since it’s one I love so much. I had to go all out to get the original owners of the song for the copyright and get all papers signed last year,” he said.
J. Martins is currently managed by NOW Muzik, a label which has other great acts like 2face Idibia, Timi Dakolo and Seyi, among others.
