The Marlian Chronicles: A Tale Of Triumphs, Tragedy

There was a time when the majority of Nigerian youths wanted to be called Marlians owing to the love they had for Afrobeats musician, Azeez Fashola, known as Naira Marley. His ascension to power was an expression of a national character, especially among the youth, who made blind obedience to temporal rulers and put a premium on narcissism. Naira Marley dominated news item and almost became the ‘Godfather’, ala Maria Puzo.

In almost a decade, his career is one that remains unforgettable in Nigerian music history for both its rise to fame and ultimately, catastrophic downfall (?) Almost every song produced by the Naira Marley-owned Marlian Records turned out to be a hit, which Nigerian youths rocked to with the artistes on the record label also creating unique dance moves.

However, things have gone awry lately with Naira Marley and his entire crew following the shocking demise of his former signee, Ilerioluwa Promise Aloba known as Mohbad. Since Mohbad death on September 12, 2023, Naira Marley has become one of the most hated men in Nigeria with all the songs from his record label being denied airplay on radio stations and even at parties.

The one million dollar question begging for an answer is this: Will Naira Marley and the Marlian dynasty ever rise again following their current travails? Only time will tell…

The Rise Of Naira Marley
Naira Marley whose artist name was inspired by Nigeria’s official currency (naira) and the late reggae legend, Bob Marley, burst onto the scene back in the year 2014 with a song cheekily, titled, ‘Marry Juana’, which, however, did not create much buzz in Nigeria.

His 2017 single, ‘Issa Goal’, which featured the duo of Olamide and Lil Kesh was the song that ‘canonised’ Naira Marley. It endeared him to Nigerians who were looking for something new. It spawned a viral dance craze and became the unofficial theme song for the Super Eagles during the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

The official remix of “Issa Goal” was released on June 16, 2018, featuring vocals by Olamide, Lil Kesh, Falz, Simi and Slimcase with the song even doing better than the original.

It appeared that was the tonic Naira Marley needed to officially kickstart his music career in Nigeria, as he never looked back since then after giving his fans what they needed with hit tracks such as, ‘Japa’ in 2018 and ‘Am I a Yahoo boy’ featuring Zlatan Ibile in 2019.

He further gave his fans who had started calling themselves Marlians numerous songs such as ‘Opotoyi’ (Marlians), ‘Why’, ‘Soapy’, ‘Back2work’, ‘Bad influence’, ‘Mafo’, ‘Tesumole’, ‘Isheyen’ and ‘Yanyanyan’, all in 2019, as they also made up his second EP, ‘Lord of Lamba’, which was a mixture of Afrobeats and hip-hop.

Naira Marley also gave them some other hit songs like ‘Aye’, ‘Mofoti’, ‘Anywhere’, ‘As E Dey Go’, ‘Idi Oremi (Opotoyi 2)’, ‘Chi Chi’, ‘Koleyewon’, ‘Coming’ featuring Busiswa and ‘First Time In America’.

The Launch Of Marlian Records
Naira Marley officially launched his record label, Marlian Records during the “Marlian Fest” at the Eko Hotels and Suites on December 30, 2019 and unveiled the trio of CBlvck, Zinoleesky and Fabian Blu as signed acts.

On July 10, 2020, Naira Marley unveiled another act under his record label, Emo Grae, with a new single and visual titled ‘0903’ featuring ‘Buju’.

Controversies – EFCC Arrest
On May10, 2019, the Economic and Financing Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested Naira Marley and five of his friends named Zlatan, Tiamiu Kayode, Adewunmi Adeyanju Moses, Michael “Taqueesh” Adenuga and Abubakar Musa.

The arrest was made a day after he had released the video for the controversial single, ‘Am I A Yahoo Boy’. Five days later, the EFCC released Zlatan and three others but kept Naira Marley in custody owing to the evidence against him.

On May 16, 2019, the EFCC charged him with 11 counts of fraud before a Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos. In May 2019, Naira Marley was arraigned and pleaded not guilty after which a bail hearing was set for May 30, 2019.

On the day of the bail hearing, Marley released ‘Why’, a song that was accompanied by an image of him in handcuffs. On June 14, 2019, he was released from jail 14 days after being granted bail.
In October 2019, Marley returned to court to face the charges but his case was later adjourned to February 27, 2020 after an EFCC witness testified against him.

Flouting Lockdown Order
Naira Marley was detained by the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) for contravening the lockdown order imposed by President Muhammadu Buhari to contain the spread of Coronavirus in the country.
On June 13, 2020, he performed at a concert in Abuja despite the interstate travel ban and social distancing rules aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19. The FCT Administration arraigned him before a mobile court in Abuja over the concert.

Controversial Statements/tweets
Naira Marley is known for making highly controversial statements with the Marlian Records owner having said that he has a life-long dream of sleeping with a mother and her daughter.
He is also known to have made posts concerning women’s bodies including one where he said that “ladies having big backsides is much better than having a Masters’ degree”, which he was bashed for on social media.

A former Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Badmus Dolapo, on her page condemned Naira Marley’s lifestyle and his post, but in a retaliatory post, he said: “This Instagram police wants to have sex with me, but she is really ugly.”

Mohbad’s Assault Allegation
On October 5, 2022, Marley was accused of assault by Mohbad in a series of statements on the latter’s social media handles. The posts featured pictures and videos of him with noticeable injuries that necessitated hospitalisation.

Mohbad said in pidgin English in one of the videos: “If I die, na Naira Marley and Marlians kill me. Please, come and rescue me, I only want change my manager, that’s why they beat me like this.”
Naira Marley responded to the accusation by calling the incident a “family affair”, claiming Mohbad was likely “high” when making the complaint.

Record Labels Shady Deals
Record labels in Nigeria are known to operate shady deals with the owners usually ripping artistes off their earnings simply because most of these musicians do not even have lawyers to help them negotiate good contracts.

This same opinion was aired by the Youth Rights Campaign (YRC), which said that the tragedy that befell Mohbad was a clear indication of another failure of the Nigerian government to its youths as his death was avoidable.

The YRC, in a statement issued and signed by its National Coordinator, Adaramoye Michael Lenin, and the National Secretary, Francis Nwapa, said that Mohbad’s death was a product of a mafia profit-spinning music industry.

“Mohbad’s short life was a tragic tale of talent, fame, drug, violence and depression,” Lenin and Nwapa stated.

“Nigeria’s music industry may be a multi-million dollar empire that has produced several successful talents but in many ways, it operates in the same mafia-like manner the entire Nigerian society operates wherein the big fish swallows the small ones.

“Mohbad’s experience at the hands of his bullies plays out in every aspect of Nigerian society whether business, politics, education and even religious institutions but the stories of countless victims are unknown apparently because they are not celebrities.

“So in every sense, Mohbad’s experience actually mirrors the life of millions of struggling Nigerian youth in a brutal capitalist society under which life is brutish and short.”

Is Marlian Records A Drug Cartel?
There have been allegations that Marlian Records operates a drug cartel. It is still an allegation but then, Naira Marley actually smokes in public and even promotes the use of drugs and cannabis in his songs and videos.

A check on the social media handles of Naira Marley alongside his signees, especially, Zinoleesky, shows that they are into drugs, which makes it diffcult for one to doubt whether they don’t actually run a drug cartel.

The YRC, in its statement, further noted “there are allegations that the Marlian record label is a drug cartel. But even if this is not true, it is incontrovertible that the record label boss promotes drug use and violence, hence his arrest by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) a few years ago.”

Will Marlian Records Rise Again After Mohbad’s Death?
Following the death of Mohbad, Nigerians pointed accusing fingers at Naira Marley and many other individuals in the Marlian record label due to the way they bullied the late musician.

For instance, it is on record that the late Mohbad wrote a petition to the police department to intimate them about the threat to his life by Sam Larry, Naira Marley and many others.

That was after Naira Marley’s right-hand man, Sam Larry was captured on camera bullying Mohbad during a video shoot with Zlatan coming to the rescue of his now departed friend.

While we wait for the outcome of police investigations, it is incontrovertible that the bullying by the Marlian record label nearly pushed Mohbad over the edge on several occasions.

This cannot be ignored in how he died even if it is found that his death is a product of a different cause. Due to these bullyings and threats, Nigerian youths have turned their anger on Naira Marley.

The likes of Zinoleesky and Marlian Records in general are not spared with some radio and TV stations already placing bans on their songs while it’s certain that Nigerians have stopped downloading and streaming their songs.

Zinoleesky is supposed to have started his tour of 10 cities in the United States (U.S) in September, but that has been reportedly cancelled with the show promoters even asking for a refund of $45,000 from Marlian Records.

Naira Marley and his signees will no doubt be feeling the heat at the moment with close to nothing being earned in revenue, which brings about the question: Will Marlian Records rise again after Mohbad’s death?