Mayorkun – Home Training

Anybody who grew up here knows how that phrase is used. It is what an aunty says when you forget to greet an elder, when you speak back at the wrong moment or when you eat before the older people have been served. Nobody is asking about your school or your grades. They are questioning how you were raised, and that makes it one of the sharpest things a Nigerian adult can say to you.

What makes the idea interesting is how far it stretches beyond the family compound. It is used on strangers who cut queues, on people who shout in public, on partners who disrespect their lovers and on anyone whose behaviour embarrasses the people watching. A single phrase can be a joke between friends or a serious insult, depending on who says it and how loudly.

Mayorkun is a Lagos-born singer who rose through the DMW camp, and his name carries expectations of melody and bounce. I will not describe the beat, the production or the vocal delivery here, since your own ears are the fair judge of that. Even so, a title like Home Training tells you the record is working from a situation everyone can picture, and that is a strong place for a song to begin.

It is the kind of record to expect at a hangout where the group chat has already been arguing about somebody’s behaviour. We all know a person who needs to hear it, and most of us have been that person once.

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