Liberia’s Young Singers: Breathing New Life Into the Country

Rabbie Nass

Monrovia, Liberia - Rabbie Nassrallah’s mother is a businesswoman, born in Liberia’s Nimba county and a member of the Mano tribal group. His father is an Israeli businessman who partnered for years with Lebanese merchants in Liberia. By the time he was a teenager, Mr. Nassrallah had seen all too clearly the destruction, devastation and gut-wrenching trauma produced by the country’s civil war.

But through the crisis, as his family was held at gunpoint by rebel soldiers who looted their home and burned it; as he was reduced to selling small pieces of dried fish to make money; as he became a refugee within his own country, Mr. Nassrallah kept on singing and songwriting.

“I always sang, no matter what,” he said. “I always felt I had something important to say. Any chance I had to sing, I would sing.”

And that singing is paying huge dividends. Mr. Nassrallah is now one of Liberia’s best known singers. His blend of reggae and traditional Liberian music has taken him to the heights of this country’s music scene. He has sung at every major venue in Monrovia, opening and headlining at important music events here. He has performed in Nigeria and Sierra Leone. With Liberia’s lengthy civil war now over, Mr. Nassrallah — who is best known by his stage name “Rabbie Nass” – is bent on not only developing his own career, but also highlighting the work of his contemporaries in Liberia’s evolving music culture. Their music, he insists, breathes new life into Liberia.

“The appreciation for the work of young artists is gradually picking up,” Rabbie Nass said. “Things are much better than they were even a few years ago. People here are now starting to respect the work of Liberian artists — and they are starting to pay for it, too. There are a lot of young artists coming along now who are doing great things. I would really like to see all of their work get more attention outside of Liberia.”

While it may not have the caché and sales prowess of its counterparts in, say, Nigeria or Ghana, Liberia’s contemporary music scene is nonetheless showing signs of increased vibrancy and activity. There has been a growing number of music festivals here each year. More recording is being done here and radio stations are playing more of the music of home-grown musicians.

“There are a lot more music events and international concerts here now,” said Backue Tubman, who left her job as a music industry executive in New York to return to Liberia and immerse herself in entertainment and event planning here.

“The young artists here are getting more exposure; some are traveling outside of Liberia with more frequency,” Ms. Tubman said. “To be honest, the recording studios here have not been up to standard. But that is changing and more and more places are using more up-to-date, computer-based equipment. Good things are happening here.”

Front, Sametta Morris, Sundygar Dearboy, Back Row, left to right, Nicholas Buigar, Friday The Cell Phone Man, Slo Diamond

Indeed, some young singers have become household names in Liberia. For example, Nicholas Buigar won Liberia’s most recent “Star Is Born” competition, propelling him to local fame with his style of lush R&B singing infused with a distinctly West African flavor. He and another young Liberian singer, Sametta Morris, were finalists in the American Idol-style “Project Fame” competition in Lagos earlier this year. The competition, one of the most widely watched in West Africa, has catapulted them into high visibility. Meanwhile, Friday the Cell Phone Man (yes, that’s his actual stage name) has reenergized the appreciation of traditional Liberian among young music buyers. And Marcus Davis, who is known by the stage name of Sundaygar Dearboy, has become one of the most successful artists here, a singer whose love songs and political anthems have earned him fame even outside of the country.

Many of these young artists came of age professionally in the music industry as the war was winding down or even afterward. As a result, the nearly 15 years of civil war here plays only a peripheral role in their music. “In my music, I talk about corruption and about hypocrisy in government,” Rabbie Nass said. “I often refer to those leaders who are corrupt and about the problem of poverty.”

Whatever their message, it is clear that more Liberians are paying attention to them. And these young artists contend that a flourishing arts community offers a healthy way for Liberia to show the world that it is more than a depository of tragic reminiscences of civil war. “I’m very encouraged because, people here were not supporting Liberian artists that much just a few years ago,” Ms. Morris sad. “The country suffered for so long that people were paying attention to other issues. But if you look around now, you can see that something is going on here. Something great is happening. And that’s important for us.”

Mr. Nassrallah said he is thrilled by the place life has taken him to at last. “I am thankful for the way things have turned out for me,” he said, recalling performances in the Samuel K. Doe Stadium here, where he was greeted by an audience of 30,000 screaming fans.

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” he said, standing in the stadium named for the man who came to power after a bloody coup here in 1980. He beamed while looking on to the field in the stadium. “It’s really overwhelming. When you’re out there doing your music, you don’t think of anything else but that thrill. You don’t think about anything else. I’m in a good place right now.”

By Jonathan P. Hicks