Mofopeoluwa Adeola’s groove at the recent Ipraiz’ “Loud with Ipraiz – Mega High Praise” concert, in the United Kingdom, was so eccentric that it caught this writer’s attention during one of his myriad ‘rabbit hole’ moments in African Christian praise concerts. His tension-and-release, dramatic cadence, pocketing and articulation stood out throughout the 33-minute spin, and it guided the entire show with immersive catharsis.
Adeola’s euphoric paradiddles carefully lay the melodic bed for Ipraiz’ melismas and opening vocals in the performance. “I’m not worried about a thing/ Cause I know that you are guiding me/ Where you lead me, Lord, God I’ll go,” Ipraiz’ vocals hover above Adeola’s highlife pop drum progressions. Adeola establishes this Nigerian Christian Praise highlife-pop progression throughout the entire performance, carefully punctuating it with slight drum breaks that dial up the song’s vibrance. In other, more formal drumming perspective, Adeola’s ability to usher in a monophonic percussive voice before sliding back to polyphonic instrumentation, while still distinguishing his improvisations, fillers and pocketing with the band, boldly affirms his prowess.
Throughout the performance, Adeola conjures a euphoric tone, with large parts mid-tempo and peak uptempo displacements, matching the overall tonal balance with the band. While this style is popular as a cultural staple across Nigerian Christian praise performances, Adeola breaks several rules brilliantly to forklift the entire composition into an anticlimactic groove. Across the piece, he’d break into explosive 2/2 kicks during sensitive transition points, weaning the entire composition from a particular tempo while laying up new sub-grooves to regulate the overall flow. These melodic twists appear several times during the performance, for instance at the 12:00, and 19:00, and 20:50 time marks, among others, ultimately, remotely controlling the song’s cadence with his percussive dials.
The most resplendent highlight of the entire performance came towards the end of the last melodic section, where Adeola’s folk interpretations of Ipraiz’s “Omo Baba L’emi Se” rendition. The Yoruba folk-leaning hymn, sung in chants, “Omo Baba L’emi Se, Nipa Igbagbo/ Ninu Jesu, Sebi Baba mi/ L’ori Le o, Kima rin fanda, Kima yan fanda.” Adeola’s cinematic drum breaks power this portion of the composition, articulating the spirit of the melody with his tempered pace.
This tonal balance and mastery that Adeola showcases in this performance mirrors the same eclectic muse-pool that birthed displays like his chill pop percussion groove in a recent Ipraiz’ Tye Tribbett “Same God” cover performance. It appears that the drummer has a knack for achieving accurate cultural representation while pocketing the overall rhythm with the contemporary fusions that guide the composition. It’s an interesting highlight of his artistry, but, more importantly, a very important element in this particular Mega Praise concert performance that purges its overall catharsis, pace and enjoyability.
With slight glitches within his drum roll transitives, especially around the introductory melodic sections in the first 15 minutes, the entire percussive section enlivened the performance. Its overall highlife pop monotone, trailed by rambunctious drum passages and a spirited cadence, contributed to the performance’s shock and recall values, respectively. While it remains a dicey attempt to fault-find such bohemian expression, Adeola’s multicultural and energetic groove still hangs with glaring potential for further neo-cultural innovation. There’s still enough room to explore within this niche style. Yet, his performance within this concert speaks volumes of his prowess, and it propels the showcase as one of the most electrifying Christian Praise performances in recent times.
Mofopefoluwa “Fope” Adeola is a Nigerian creative force working at the intersection of arts, media, and faith. An experienced drummer with performance credits across Nigeria and the UK, he authored the book “A Church Drummer’s Guide”. He is also the founder of the theatre group “Art to Heart”, which uses drama, poetry, and music to tackle social issues, with Fope having written and produced several plays for the group.
Professionally, Fope leads WeTranscend Media Ltd as Founder and CEO, aiming to positively shape the media environment based on Philippians 4:8 principles. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief for Arise Magazine (Overseas Fellowship of Nigerian Christians – OFNC) and brings almost a decade of experience in creative writing, content creation, and media consulting for various organisations, including Stop TB Partnership Nigeria.
Fope earned a Master’s in Advertising and Marketing (University of Hull) following a Bachelor’s in Library and Information Technology (FUT Minna), with his undergraduate research achieving international publication. His work is unified by a passion for inspiring creative change and a conviction that better content consumption fuels better thinking and transforms lives.
