Wondering what gave birth to such a name? We are about to find out about what this sparkling, visionary, and Unique singer stands for, his objectives in the music industry, and most especially, where he got the guts to sing about the things we get from him. Sparklyn is unusual thus the write-up shall follow suit.
“Bum Yomba” means “Don’t keep it cool” in other words “Keep it tough”. One of Sparklyn Black’s most outstanding messages is specially directed to the queens of mother earth (WOMEN). This of course is beside the most outstanding, most with views:
“The Ghetto”
Noticing the unfair treatment women face in the field of dating, relationships, and their encounters with men in general, Sparklyn Black took it upon himself to preach to the women in his song “Bum Yomba”. According to the singer, women face so much stigma that men could hardly experience. A man can become a criminal, in and out of prison, commit rape cases and so much more, and decide to become a changed man, follow religion and all of a sudden everyone accepts him, but if a woman doesn’t live according to society’s rules, maybe becomes a prostitute, the stigma is placed on her for the rest of her life. “We need to balance it” requested the singer. So many men are around he explains who sleep with almost everything in skirt they come across and when the time comes to get a wife, they go to the village and get a virgin wife.
Everyone is looking for a good wife yet nobody wants to raise one. The singer revealed that men exercise on women and later go for a new one and this is unfair. Sparklyn advises women saying that he can only speak to the ladies because men will never change and continued that women should wake up now, and either be the main chick or nothing else.
The singer is not advocating for people to stop dating or stop having fun but to have whatever you are having with a man that wants and respects you. Women should not allow any man to come into their lives, have pleasure and leave at any time he wishes. Again he said he cannot preach to the men rather it is the ladies that need to change and make things difficult for men. And only then will positively change be realized.
The singer expressed sympathy for women that has fallen victim to exploitation from men they once thought loved and cared for them because they’ve been devalued and made less than they are and for this cause Sparklyn urges every woman to be conscious of the value they possess and extended his message to women who face abuse in their workplaces, on the streets, and in all other aspects.
Men should help these women he said and added that these things happening is at the point of being normalized: side chick cases, secret lovers, etc., and these are not in favor of women because it puts them down the drain and coming out of it isn’t always an easy one.
Women should say no to sex in exchange for favors and men need to stop asking women for sex when they are in need of help, this is rape the singer says and added that after all of these the same men go out spreading lies about these women calling them prostitutes. A single person cannot become a prostitute because it takes two to commit the act and from the look of things, there are more male prostitutes than female ones because every female prostitute has about 10 to 20 buyers therefore there are more male prostitutes than females why then are they not called names as they do to the women?
“The name Sparklyn Black is a self-made name, a name/title that I gave to myself” says sparklyn. The singer explained that he sees himself through the name because of the meaning of the name. We may however say that this is a meaning he attached to the clause Sparkling Black, Sparklyn for sparkling and black as it is.
Going further he said “Sparklyn Black means the vision, the solution to see things. When you look into your eyes you see black and white and I represent the sparkling black spot in your eyes that sees the things around you. I see myself through the title and, therefore, could not take up any other name but that as my artist name” he paused.
The singer tells us that he has been a lover of music for long that he cannot remember when exactly it hit him that music was it for him but 2015 stands out as the year he decided that music was the tool he wants to use to advocate for the things he believes in, preach against those he feels should be cleared out and also for livelihood.
The journey has not been an easy one for the singer but he explained that he had no fewer expectations of the toughness of the road. Financial challenges hit him hard, physical support was also lacking which he narrated to be part of the branches of music. “Music is a combination of three things namely finance, physical, and the mind for smooth navigation.
Despite the tough journey, the singer explained that the love for the art serves as a barricade to giving up. He expressed gratitude that things are getting better and people have started lending him their ears and genuinely developing interest in his messages which he defines as nothing less than adding to the betterment of the future we belong to.
The singer was motivated to venture into the music industry after hearing many complaints from other singers. Reggae has been one of the main tools he used in understanding societal dynamics and this has contributed greatly to his way of thinking and paved the way for his musical journey.
The singer explains that he has a great connection with reggae and was mostly drawn by the messages reggae music beholds: consciousness and righteousness. Social issues are also another push factor for the singer. He explains “walking around seeing unhealthy behaviors being neglected and the like made me want to be among those to speak up.
If you pay attention you’d see that I hardly sing about things I enjoy because there’s little to smile about therefore my music is more about preaching against societal dysfunctions. I have a task and mission to correct the ills of our society and so as a secondary tool, I founded an organization called “Street Degree” which is tasked with the mission to rehabilitate people on the streets like drug addicts, the homeless, and less privileged”. The singer believes that these people should be brought closer to society, interact with healthy members of society to easily find their way out of the mess they are in.
Going further, Sparklyn Black pinpointed that his music is street music and the reason for this is because, at the mention of youths, he sees much attention being put on the university graduates and those that have had a chance in the formal education and too little if nothing, being done for the dropouts and those who have not had any chance of going to school. The Carpenters, the Mechanics, etc. are left disorganized and underrepresented.
The singer’s view is that the government is focusing on youths that have fewer problems and disregarding those that need more attention, those that already feel like victims in their society without even committing crimes. He goes on to say that he has not seen any opposition party that is preaching a different message in consideration of the underprivileged youths. Looking at the situation, Sparklyn decided to be the mouthpiece of those people to advocate for them and make their voices matter because they deserve that respect.
Sparklyn spoke about the perception of people about him and said “I take whatever people say or think about me lightly because I am already amazing and don’t need more than I am. Some people take me as a criminal and others think I am just rude which is because I proudly stand for the street which has already been painted dark and so I could not have expected anything different.
On the other hand, some see me on a bright spot and think I have a different philosophy and so on but the overall importance is that I know who I am and what I stand for”. The singer continued that whatever the case people will know what he stands for and who truly he is if they take the time to read through the things he does. He claims to only stand for the good and betterment of society, for the children of those who judge him and paint him as bad.
The singer said that he is fighting to make the generation we live in bearable and he does not need to look a certain way before preaching what he believes in. Going further he said, “People from the ghetto don’t listen to the minister, Imam or Pastor because they feel like those people don’t know the pain they go through and thus can’t relate.
“I am from the ghetto” Sparklyn reveals and although I am moving forward, I will not disconnect myself from them because I know what I left there, and to be able to advocate for them, I need to stay connected with the current affairs. Again he says, “There is so much talent in the ghetto” talent that could have been utilized for the betterment of our country but unfortunately nothing is been done for them and this is harming both the youths and the country” he concludes.
The singer explained the journey of becoming an artist in the Gambia as a sacrifice. He said that wanting to become an artist in the Gambia should be accompanied by the readiness to make sacrifices till the end. Little money is earned, support may be lacking and fame is not guaranteed. According to Sparklyn, his coming into the industry was not for any of the above but rather to bring changes he felt were necessary and so anything that comes along the way is received as a bonus and this is what differentiates him from other singers. Finally, he said, “I am not generating cash but I am generating love and my message is being heard”.
Sparklyn Black urged his fellow singers to be mindful of the lyrics they put on those tracks. The singer emphasized that point saying “we live in a tiny community” and added that the Gambia is among the poor countries in the world and parents struggle to send their children to school thus if the music produced here is negatively consuming the young people, then the artists are misusing the funds of our country because the kids look up to them and equally imitate them whether we like it or not. The singer also expressed disgust at the dude music videos produced by his fellows.
“It is the artists that nude these females because little was known about the hidden things in women but now the entertainment industry strip them, out naked through the lyrics we write and the songs we sing which most of the time is advocating to see women necked and so the women feel like they have to transform themselves to merge the lyrics of the songs they hear.
The singer gave an example of a strategy that could help correct the ills of fashion saying that if the twenty hottest artists in Africa produced songs advocating for women to dress modestly, (this could be a brand) it won’t take too long before people will start seeing changes on the mode of fashion for African women:
it will become a trend and if any lady dresses inappropriately, she would appear outdated and this he said is an easy way to fix the problem of lack of reckless fashion styles. On the other hand, the singer urged the government to help make music industry after claiming that Gambian music has not reached a stage where it could be called an industry. Nobody is paying anybody for the music they produce and so it is more like a black market thing for now.
Sparklyn has over twelve tracks on air all of which contain heavy messages drawn from societal dysfunctions.
Sparklyn Black claims that there is no educational background in Africa and as long as he is concerned, nobody is educated in Africa. The singer said education to his knowledge means nothing close to what we have now and in his view, all schools should be closed and keys sent back to the slave masters. Africa will never be itself because the tool we are using to fight our battles is the enemy of progress yet this is what Africa uses every day to stand up when in actual sense it is why we are going down every day.
To throw more light on his views on the banking system of education, Sparklyn Black reveals that he is currently working on an album educating people on what we lose by using this type of educational system. To add to it, he says he is working on a master plan to request for the funds parents lose in taking their children to school because parents have been lied to believe that education is the key to life and this prompted poor parents to use the resources they could have put into better use to send their children to school and after 12 years of education, all they can do is read and write.
Zero skills: we cannot repair a bulb, make a stool, etc. 12 years he exclaimed, learning something that we could have known without sitting in the classroom. The singer said we only go to school to learn to communicate and this we could have achieved without wasting 12 years of our lives being in the classroom because he has seen people who read and write without spending so much time in the classroom
Sparklyn makes demands that our school fees should be refunded. Back in their school days, he explains when a teacher asks his pupils what they wanted to become and one happened to say a Carpenter, he was laughed at while the one who says minister receives applause because the promise was that after so many years of education, good jobs, good life and more was to be the reward but nothing is seen, people complete their studies and still stay jobless or obtain jobs that cannot solve half their problems, therefore, something is wrong and he is ready to work towards correcting those wrongs.
