It is so befitting. The rain maker leaves the world and still leaves us with an outpour this morning.
I woke up to the biggest news today; the Benin reggae legend, Mr. Majekodunmi Fasheke, the iconic Majek Fashek, died at 71.
Of course, news like this one doesn’t come with limited publicity. The social media is abuzz with the latest on perhaps one of the few talents in the country that stood arm to arm with the greats at the time.
It is little wonder why he once worked with the likes of Jimmy Cliff, Michael Jackson, Snoop Dogg and Beyonce.
That particular 1988 album, Prisoner of Conscience should be a national treasury or something. Which brings me to the country’s treatment of this icon. For someone who, in my opinion, could stand shoulder to shoulder to Bob Marley in those days, how was the legend treated in his home country? That’s another story for another day.
Fashek had battled illness for a long time and he was even rumoured dead in September, 2019. If you knew Fashek in the last two, three years, you could see his condition; critical.
I’m a breed of the 21st century, so, sadly, my only memory of the Rain Maker alive was at the Headies Award in 2015. And I was intrigued in all honesty.
Thank God for the internet now, a lot of work to do.
But now, the Rain Maker is gone.
So long, too long, legend. So long.
•Written By Preye Campbell
