His effervescent lifestyle, appealing contours of his smiles and personality laced with his traditional lyrics and sometimes ambient rhythm of his songs, personified “Steady Bongo,’ the stage name for one of Sierra Leone’s foremost legendary artist and producer, Lansana Sheriff. Couple of weeks ago, his fans and the public were shocked to learn of the tragic death of Steady Bongo, in a road accident on one of Liberia’s highways. When he first came to Freetown in the early nineties, Bongo had a Mid-sized synthesizer, from where he would churn out what one would refer to as insipid lyrics that lacked depth. But he would work assiduously to fine- tune, perfect and produce those lyrics which later became house name songs across the country.
While in Freetown, Steady Bongo met with a colleague of mine, ‘Junior” Mani of the original “Mob,” a social group of young dancers that was founded in 1989 and used to perform at variety shows and dance contests alongside other groups like; The “G-Force,” American Tourists, American Break Dancers, Kool & The Gang, etc. Together with Junior Mani and other “Mob” members, we decided to help promote and feature Steady Bongo in many of the shows that were organized in the east-end and central business district of Freetown. We fondly referred to him as “Star Man.” In the Spring of 1992, we organized a show together with Steady Bongo at the St. Michael’s Primary School enclosure at the Low-Cost Housing estate in Kissy at the time. He sang most of his songs and the lyrics and performance got the crowd, mostly mid-aged women on their feet. The cacophony of cheers amplified by the deafening sound of the speakers in that school enclosure left many of the show attendees in awe.
But, as the man and his music grew, he like many other artists and song writers in the country decided to align his work with politics. He became a political “Bongo Man.” His songs were also interspersed with other genres. In the Spring of 2002, when President Kabbah won his second mandate from the people Steady Bongo headlined the celebratory parade that followed. He was hoisted on top of a vehicle that was surrounded by a sea of people in green attires majority of whom also had palm fronds thrusted in the air as they danced and sang along with Steady Bongo. I stood adjacent the centenary Law Court building and shouted: “Star Man!” He turned and waved to me as if to say, I know this dude.
Four months after I arrived in the United States, I was fortunate to meet up with him In Washington, DC where he was a guest of honor at an event organized by an NGO that had offices in DC and was also operating on the ground in Freetown. The last time I met up with him again was at a friend’s wedding in Ohio in the summer of 2010, where he and Vickie Fornah put up a gripping performance at the reception party. However, in the decade that followed I was meant to understand that Steady Bongo became a complete antithesis of the man whose lyrics and songs used to cut across tribal and regional divide. He immersed himself in the dark politics of the country. His frightening and incendiary rhetoric tormented many. It therefore came as no surprise that instead of pitiful condolences, his death was met with vitriolic statements from many who took umbrage with his political diatribe. That being said, I hope that the public would separate the music of the “Star Man” and Steady Bongo that I know, from his dark divisive politics he espoused during the past few years leading up to his death.
