I told his story some weeks ago.
Permit me to tell it again because the dial of life has moved up since then. There are interesting developments and new stories to tell.
About 10 years ago, I met DJ Abrantee.
He was the UK’s most popular African celebrity Disc-Jockey and music presenter on radio.
He was a pioneer promoter of the Afrobeats genre of music in the UK and, with May7ven, registered the global Afrobeats trademark.
7 years ago, at the peak of his career, very successful and still in his 30s, he suffered a massive stroke that almost took his life.
It took an entire year of hospitalization with four major brain surgeries, for Abrantee to miraculously survive. The price was permanent physical and mental scars – scalpel marks on his head, paralysis of his entire right side, severe impairment in his speech, extensive loss of memory, and regular depression from the extremely slow pace of recovery.
Through all those years, till now, he religiously followed a daily regime of 3/4 hrs of grinding physical exercises in the gym and hours of psychological workouts and speech therapies.
In the past four weeks, however, life has taken a new turn for him.
I was with him in London.
One night, at dinner, I shared my thoughts with him on the possibilities of what he could do despite his disabilities. He listened. He was excited. He accepted my challenge. We decided to take some positive steps immediately.
He broke loose from his mental incapacitation. That night, together, we went into his garage and scrummaged through the litter of junk and whatever was left of his old music equipment. We managed to salvage a few items. Several parts were either missing or obsolete. Re-assembling his old D-J equipment was impossible.
However, he had been bitten by a bug. The process had ignited a new spirit in him.
Before retiring that night, we agreed to dare to confront any physical and mental challenges in the way of halting a possible return to his career by taking a new direction and heading for new frontiers.
The physical re-set of things took 4 days within a four weeks period.
On this platform, for the next 3 days, I shall recall in a short diary what happened on each of those 4 days. Fascinating stuff!
Abrantee is now able to drive a regular car. He uses only his left hand and left foot with confidence and dexterity.
This morning, he drives us to Central London. It is interesting watching him as he meanders through the narrow, overcrowded, winding streets of the West-End of London. He is immune from Congestion charges and No-parking areas. The Disability Badge that he now carries gives him free access to restricted routes and special parking spaces in Central London.
We roam around for a while looking for Westend DJ. Suddenly he remembers and we locate the corner store. It’s been 8 years since he last visited to buy equipment.
At the store, Joe, one of the 2 attendants, remembers him from the past. We discover that technology has long left Abrantee behind. There is no question of getting new parts for his old equipment.
We are taken through the latest technology DJ equipment, smaller, more elegant, more compact and more advanced. Joe manipulates the consoles as Abrantee’s eyes light up in excitement.
Abrantee starts to make his choices in new equipment based on ease of manipulation, level of sophistication and the quality of sound emitting from the speakers in the store.
One hour later, Joe escorts us to the car loaded with the newest and latest equipment in the DJ business!
We head home excitedly. The look on Abrantee’s face says it all. The elements are now involved. A miracle is about to happen.