Raw, Real, Relentless: The Story of Daddy Showkey's The Name
John Odafe Asiemo has lived many lives. Starting as a scrap collector (Kongis), he worked as a bus conductor, while navigating the slums of Ajegunle, Lagos. When he wasn’t wandering the streets he was an entertainer — first as a contortionist, then a boxer, and eventually a musician. His electrifying showmanship earned him notoriety on the streets and the name, “Showkey” (Show Kid).
As Awilo Logomba’s Makossa fever swept Africa, Daddy Showkey was making his mark in Nigeria. Alongside Baba Fryo and Ras Kimono, he pioneered the Galala sound, a genre that originated from fermenting reggae/ragga in ghettos. Following his debut album, ‘Ghetto Soldier,’ he was ready to cement his legacy and ‘The Name’ would end up being that defining project.
Track Reviews
1. The Name
The album opens with Daddy Showkey announcing his arrival. Energetic, confident, and raw. He is loud but not belligerent, and confidently thuggish, like one would expect from a former conductor. His mastery of intros is evident, setting the tone for the record. Daddy Showkey commands attention from the first beat — a methodology that Reminisce would later employ on his breakout single, ‘Kako Bi Chicken.’
Somebody call my name (Showkey)
People dem calling my name (Showkey)
He eases into a call-and-response verse, urging listeners to chant his name. He ties himself to the universal excitement that children get at the arrival of their father. But this isn’t just showmanship; it’s a declaration. From being a young neighbourhood sensation to aiming for nationwide fame, he turns his reality into a movement. With its infectious repetition, ‘The Name’ is a danceable anthem that solidified his stardom beyond the streets.
Dancing Scene
The next track follows the beat pattern and intent of the opening track but with horns and the talking drum. This song invites the listener to join him on the dance floor to show off their ‘leg work.’ He shows off his versatility, rapping in patois, with staccato cadence.
The structure remains simple — three catchy hooks, minimal verses, and an irresistible groove. Daddy Showkey repeats the hooks until they become earworms, and then one more time for good measure.
This is a pure Galala production, designed for movement. Galala is hard to explain. Although it has similarities with the ‘Shekpeteri/Zanku’ movement, it requires a bullish stance. Like two bulls charging in a head-butting contest. Anyways, you had to be there.
Diana
Perhaps, the most iconic song in his discography, Daddy Showkey shows off his storytelling ability on Diana. He narrates the struggles of a woman who faced seven years of childlessness and the antagonism she experienced from society and her in-laws. This stellar attempt at social commentary deviates from the carefree nature of the prior songs into more contemplative waters.
Daddy Showkey masterfully sets the scene in three acts: Her persecution, her miraculous pregnancy and the triumphant birth. A stripped-down piano loop and heavy African percussion underscore the narrative, as Daddy Showkey sings a triumphant chorus:
If you see my mama (Hossana)
Tell am say oh (Hossana)
I dey for ghetto (Hossana)
I no get problem (Hossana)
With this melodious tune, Daddy Showkey tells the all too familiar experience of many African women. Diana is a love letter to womanhood and a reminder to society of divine timing. With his music, Daddy Showkey stands with women, decades before the institutionalization of feminism in the consciousness of Nigerians.
Mayazeno
This track leans heavily into reggae, reflecting Daddy Showkey’s Delta roots. It is a tribute to his Isoko heritage, but it also exposes his vocal limitations. Still, it’s a fiery anthem, carried by raw energy rather than technical finesse. It becomes a perfect transition song, into Fire.
Fire Fire
Everything about ‘Fire Fire’ is perfect. Daddy Showkey opens with a warning about Nigeria’s worsening state before the hip-hop-influenced beat drops — fused with streetwise Galala rhythms and a chorus for the ages.
Fire! Fire!
In our country, country
Give me plenty water
Make I quench the fire.
Daddy Showkey paints the Nigerian situation as a burning house, calling for extinguishing, not evacuation. While many sought a way out of the country, Daddy Showkey rallied for change. Over a decade later, Asa would echo similar sentiments on her record ‘Fire on the Mountain’.
Jehova
Another track, another grand intro. ‘Jehova’ is Daddy Showkey’s gratitude anthem, delivered in his signature patois. It’s ever-danceable, like most songs on the album. Having survived near-death experiences and street violence, he attributes his success to divine intervention. The song is a testimony of his rise from the ghetto into glory.
The Chicken
On the surface, this song may seem like an odd addition, but it ties back to Daddy Showkey’s beginnings. As a child performer, he was known for his unique act — communicating with a live chicken. Daddy Showkey could make animal sounds and travelled around with a chicken, almost like a circus act. This routine, combined with his contortion skills, put him in the spotlight, eventually leading to his appearance on the ‘Village Headmaster’, TV show. This track is a nostalgic nod to the act that started it all.
What’s gonna be is gonna be
What’s gonna be is gonna be
What goes up must come down
What’s gonna be is gonna be
There’s nothing you can do about it.
Daddy Showkey closes with a reflection on life’s inevitabilities — loss, survival, and fate. He recounts his childhood friends who he lost to gang violence, lynching or other tragedies. He attempts to challenge the stereotype of ghetto youth as lazy, arguing that all they lack is opportunity, not ambition.
Kekeke! Gbeu! Gbeu!
The sound of the gun
People don’t live long
When the gun gets shot.
Daddy Showkey uses onomatopoeia to express the violent world he grew up in. He warns parents to guide their parents before they lose them to the streets.
All things considered, the album is surprisingly optimistic and almost celebratory. While other artistes, like Ras Kimono, were more thematically conscious, Daddy Showkey shines an inner light that the tragedies of suffering could not quench. In another life, he would have been a hip-hop artiste, like the Olamide and Reminisce that came after him.
On this album, Daddy Showkey doesn’t aim for poetic songwriting. Instead, he delivers an unfiltered narrative of the world he knows all too well. Although the album lacks the sophisticated production quality of his peers with international label affiliations, Daddy Showkey’s aura fills in the loopholes.
‘The Name’ is perhaps the most definitive album of the Galala-Konto era and it inspired a new generation of ghetto soldiers, from African China to Danfo Drivers and many others to date.