Why Talent Always Wins In The End: A Duncan Mighty Case
It is true that these days, anyone can score a hit in music with as much as a ¼ talent. There is a big difference about how music was made in the yesteryears and now. The advent of sleek PR machinery, social media and the Internet at large makes it as easy as pie to become a viral sensation.
Which explains why several ¼-talented bunches are getting away with corny music and making hits at the same time. But in the end true talent triumphs.
Apparently, at the moment there’s so much rave about Duncan Wene Mighty Okechukwu, better known as Duncan Mighty. The Port Harcourt breed music star seems to be enjoying a career rebirth.
Duncan Mighty is among the few caliber of artists that breakthrough without conforming to age long industry norms. It is a popular believe that before an artist gained national prominence he/she must leave his small town with his talent to Lagos (the hub of entertainment). A rule that is generally true, and has been long established as a fact. Interestingly, other artists like Timaya, Burna Boy, Mr 2Kay who sprung up from his locale have moved up to where it all happens. On the contrast Wene Mighty has stock to his guns and stayed put in his city, yet he is still a force to be reckoned with.
The Port Harcourt first son is one of the few artists that has made a song that moved from a point of lower concentration (PH) to a point of higher concentration (Lagos). He has done it not once not twice with tracks like ‘Obianuju’, ‘Port Harcourt 1st Son’, ‘Dance For Me’ etc. He has defied the odds and still stands.
2018 is another defining point in his career as the gates of Lagos open once again to him. It seems like everyone is waking up to the fact that Duncan Mighty is indeed a talented as a singer. His unique sound and dialect no longer feels confined to a particular region of the country. It took a collaboration with Wizkid to drive the message home and it stuck. ‘Fake Love’ isn’t just a hit, but Wene Mighty detected the pace of the song while Wizkid followed the template. He got Starboy to sing in his native Ikwerre dialect. From time to time the Nigerian music industry has witnessed various artists who aren’t from the West incorporate Yoruba into their lyrics by any means to appeal to a wider audience.
The aftermath of ‘Fake Love’ is that everyone now loves Duncan Mighty which is ironic. Do I say it’s all fake love because everyone once to make a hit off his back. In the past month or two he is the most featured act, popular collaborations with Reekado Banks, Bracket, DJ Xclusive with decent display from him and there more to come. The resurgence of his career has to do with the fact that talent always finds a way to succeed, it only takes one good opportunity and the rest is history. Maybe hooking up with Wizzy was all he needed to dust off his genius and let it shine through.
In this era where social media campaigns and skits are used to make a song popular a pool of talent always wins in the end after all propaganda fades. True talent breakthrough stereotypes, ethnicity, territorial boundaries, true talent always win.
