Biography
Naira Marley was born in Agege, Lagos State, Nigeria and later moved to Peckham, South London when he was just 11 years of age.
According to him, he had the youth aspiration of becoming an MC and voice over artiste.
Naira Marley found his singing ability when he was asked by his companions to sing in one of their sessions.
In the wake of seeing his ability and prospect in his music vocation, after the ‘joke’ track, Marry Juanna (Marijuana) became a hit in the UK, he chose ultimately to seek after his music profession.
He came entirely into the spotlight after releasing ‘Issa Goal’ featuring Olamide and Lil Kesh. His next song, ‘Am I a yahoo boy?’, the tune that got the attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) became an infamy, that caused his fans to support him even harder as they adopted an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mentality, thus making Naira Marley a ‘hero’.
Granted bail two weeks later, Marley told the story of life behind bars in a single called ‘Soapy’ which became not just a club anthem, but a world listened song. His added fame and detention got him releasing ‘Pxta’, ‘Mafo’ and ‘Bad ‘Influence,’ among others while showing off his marijuana wraps and puffing the smoke in everyone’s face.
Not much was known about Afeez Fashola a.k.a Naira Marley, at least in Nigeria, until his world cup anthem, ‘Issa goal’ featuring Olamide in 2017 became a hit. Fast-forward to present day, Naira Marley’s songs are the toast of any party. In fact, any DJ worth his name, has to include his songs at short intervals in order to liven up his audience, especially if they are Nigerian youths.
He calls his music ‘street music’; blunt, raw and filled with slang and expletives that would make any normal music lover’s skin crawl. But, to the surprise of many, his songs, in all rawness, has found acceptance with millions of fans all over the world. Armed with his slogan #NoMannaz, Naira Marley exploited the instant fame offered after his arrest by dropping the runaway hit ‘Soapy’ (a song that explains that prisoners masturbate a lot behind bars), which would stamp him as one of the most sought after artistes in Nigeria in 2019. Suddenly, the ‘mastubator’ dance became ‘normal’, with old and young, people from all classes trying out the signature dance.
His fans
After his career breakthrough in 2019, his massive fan base was code named ‘Marlians’ with the motto ‘No Mannaz’ as one of the most used words. ‘Marlians’ are alleged to be fraudsters , yahoo boys, drug addicts and others who have negative means of getting rich, but have the influence to determine the outcome of most events. His fans are also known to attack anyone who vilifies Naira or even tries to call him to order whenever he posts something.
Thus, the ‘Marlian gang’ became a trend. A post online explains the rules for becoming a ‘Marlian’ (most of which were gleaned from most of his songs and online interactions to become behavioural patterns).
It reads, “To become a true ‘Marlian’, you must conform to most of these.
- Crazy Hairstyle: Usually dreads or plaited.
- No belt/pant: Naira Marley is known to have said in his songs (PXTA) that he doesn’t wear belts but owns many trousers. It was discovered that some girls also translated this to mean they shouldn’t wear panties on certain days.
- Alcohol/hard drugs users: Naira Marley refers to himself as ‘Igbolabi’ (Born for weed) and so ‘Marlians’ are expected to be able to smoke weed, drink and also mix local concoctions/herbs which boost sexual performance as rendered in his song ‘Mafo’.
- Zero manners: This is one of the famous ways to identify a ‘Marlian’. They are expected to fear nothing as explained in his song titled ‘Mafo’ (Don’t break). Also recall that Naira Marley posted on Twitter saying, “Admit it, life would be boring without me… Having a big booty is better than having a Master’s degree.”
However, the post didn’t go down well with many especially from some ladies who claimed to have big butts. Following the reaction, having been tagged a bad influence to society on several levels, Marley came out to advise his fans on the use of drug and drug abuse. Taking to his Twitter, the singer sent a note of advice to warn his fans not to do drugs.
He then went further to say they could do so only if it was prescribed. “Marlians don’t do drugs unless it is prescribed”, he wrote.
- None or minimal education: Naira Marley has always prided himself as being a self made individual having dropped out of school abroad and returned to Nigeria. So, according to the unwritten rules of his followers, real ‘Marlians’ don’t graduate!
No respect for the police/law: Like he sang in his song ‘Japa’, daring the police to shoot if they dare, Naira Marley preaches defiance in the face of the law.
These are some of the most popular guidelines to becoming a ‘Marlian’ and sadly, have become a trending issue that is currently causing concerns for parents and the society at large in present day. While Naira Marley may be oblivious to how ‘effective’ his behaviour, and songs have become in the society today, many are concerned that if not nipped in the bud, a generation of societal nuisances may have been born unknowingly.
Growing societal concerns