The Hip Hop African

by Zainab Ahmed

The Nigerian rapper named Gilbert Bani who goes by A-Q released a video for his song on October 19, 2021. The song paid tribute to the victims of those who lost their lives during endsars protests in 2020. In the song and video entitled Shoot the messenger A-Q he raps about the situation that happened during the EndSars protests the previous year and also challenging the Nigerian government to do better for its citizens. He raps in from the point of view of an EndSars protestor talking to the audience. A-Q raps about Nigerian celebrities actually supporting the average citizen in the protests and describes the methods used during the days long rallies. He describes Nigerians using social media as a call to action as well as blocking the bridge in Lekki where dozens were later massacred. He also shouts out feminists and calls out the Nigerian government for encouraging SARS and encouraging tribalism. 

A-Q was born on August 1, 1986 in Abia, Nigeria. He has been rapping since 2001 when he signed a deal with Big leaf records. Throughout the 2000s he released an album entitled Listen and Understand in 2005 which later led to him getting an international distribution deal. Later in 2006 he released a mixtape entitled Maga must pay vol. 1. After taking a short break from the industry he returned in the 2010s and released freestyles on Twitter called Black Friday freestyles. He released his debut album Past, Present and Future in 2010. He has released multiple albums and has also won multiple awards in the past decade. He won a lyricist on the roll award for his fourth studio album, Crown, at The Headies music award show in Nigeria. He also won it again in 2022 for his performance of his single “The last Cypher.”