The Bad Boy Etiquette of Ajebo Hustlers
After the grand ascent of Ajebo Hustlers, Nigeria’s beloved street- hop duo, in 2020, the Port Harcourt music scene shone once again as a nest of unique artistry. With hits like the Davido- assisted ‘ Barawo’ remix, and the Nissi- assisted ‘ Symbiosis’, the singer- rapper duo stole the hearts of millions with their indigenous melodies and lyricism.
The next three years would see the duo, comprising singer Isiah Precious, a.k.a Piego, and rapper George Dandison, a.k.a ., Knowledge, soar to mainstream popularity with their debut and sophomore albums, Kpos Lifestyle ( 2021) and Bad Boy Etiquette 101 ( 2022). Their eclectic blend of rhythms, from highlife to pop, and hip- hop, tucks their hedonistic lyricism into a stageworthy rendition that continue to distinguish the duo in present- day Afrobeats. On their latest work, Bad Boy Etiquette 102: Continuous Assessment, the duo make a vibrant dash to the next level of their stardom. They assemble a star- studded lineup of duets with street- hop pillars like Odumodublvck, King Promise, Sarkodie, Jeriq, Zlatan, Blaqbonez, Raebel and Magixx, creating mood- lifting music that resonates loudest at the grassroots.
From waiting tables in Port Harcourt, to touring cities with their discography, Ajebo Hustlers have had an interesting ride to fame. The duo have stuck together since fate brought them together in a casual restaurant, in 2010, till date. Their native pidgin, comical slang and cohesive chemistry continue to marinate Piego’s breezy hooks and Knowledge’s slang- woven verses into the audience favorite street- pop diet that is Ajebo Hustlers.
Catching up with Guardian Music, the Garden City duo break down their Bad Boy Etiquette that presently represents their artistry; tracing the muses behind their sonic staple which they describe as ‘ Katakata music’, as well as the bitter- sweet lifestyle of fame; why Nigeria needs to look beyond ‘ the big three’, and their zest to continue making evergreen music.
How does it feel releasing music at this point? W E feel great and elated. You know, this is our first project, going number one. It feels so good because we are very intentional about everything, about this project from the rollout. We were just very cautious of everything. We are intentional and we feel certain people are rocking with the music, like people see the hard work behind the tape and see the efforts behind it and they appreciate it. It feels so good.
What is Bad Boy Etiquette all about?
So, basically, we wanted to give our fans a little game, you know; it wasn’t just about entertainment and cruise. As much as we are entertaining and being funny, we still want to drop some information and give facts. Bad Boy Etiquette 1& 2 is because we just wanted it to have a little depth, not just about being entertaining. We just wanted to make sure the fans go back with some games. Those are records that explain situations of what happened in our lives, before that time. It was more about depth and a little consciousness journey.
There’s a certain highlife feel that pervades your projects. Tell us about it.
The ‘ Burn my cable’ song that has that feel particularly was produced by Orlando Magic. You know like he’s a Ghanaian and he has that Ghanaian Highlife feel. It was just right to get somebody from the Ghanaian space on the record and Sarkodie jumped on it — big respect to him! Like when we dropped the first record, he was feeling the tape and we asked him if he would like to get on one of the records, and he made it easier for us. Highlife is basically an African sound. We have a touch of it. Our sound is called katakata music. It is a touch of everything.
What would you say embodies your Katakata music style?
Basically, it just explains our music because it’s just how versatile it is, you know the touch of different injuries like sometimes we hop orr& B instrumentals, sometimes we’ll hop on highlife, and you don’t find a lot of artists being able to touch different aspects of the music like that. So, just seeing our ability to do different things on the music, we felt like katakata music fits better to describe what we are doing. You know what Katakata means; it means plenty of things.
How did Port Harcourt city shape your music?
Port Harcourt has always been a music town. The people that we were listening to were Cardinal Rex Lawson, Duncan Mighty, Burna Boy as well, especially when he dropped the Burn Identity mixtape. You know, Port Harcourt is a music industry on its own; it’s more like it’s different from Nigerian music. So, people over there don’t get to feel that kind of exposure, that kind of platform. And then again, when you get the opportunity or chance, you will know that you don’t even have the time to play around or to make a song that might not work or that you are not too sure of. It kind of makes you grounded and focused. Coming from port harcourt, you just have to be very serious with your music. So, that has been coming to play with almost everybody from that town. People have always been making good music from that town, but they’ve not just been paying attention. So, growing up and experiencing that just kind of shaped our music.
Teach us a few of your favourite slang words in your music.
Yeah, okay. ‘ Abobi’ means like my guy. ‘ Barney’ means your babe, then ‘ Vida’ means how far and ‘ Focus’ is self- explanatory, you know what it means. Then, ‘ Lap’ can be used in different contexts but mostly, it means ‘ come’, like ‘ lap my unit now’- come my place, that kind of thing. The idea is that when you hear a Port Harcourt boy talk with these slangs, you will understand that this is a bad boy, and that is whywecallourselves, saying‘ makeway, thebad Boys coming through’ because of the way we talk. When you hear the way we speak, you’ll know this one is a bad boy. So, yeah, that type of thing.