Emmy Stikxx’s Delightful Drumming Put Smiles on Faces

By Michael Kolawole

Emmanuel “Emmy Stikxx” Ifejika’s delightful relationship with the Bongo Drums has made him the life of every party. His drumming often makes the audience dance and forget their sorrows, making him in demand virtually at every event in and around the UK.

The dance comes first, involuntarily, almost, when the feet find the rhythm and the whole body moves in tune. Then after that comes the slipping away of sorrows, as Emmy Stikxx beats away the unhappiness through the drums until they turn into happiness.

His recent Christmas party performance at Liverpool is a decent example. The DJ plays Young Jonn’s energetic “2 Factor” instrumental along with Emmy Stikxx drumming to warm up the scene. Briefly after, he stops the beat to allow Emmy Stikxx to take control. And he deftly plays the drums, as his practice, to the merriment of the audience, who passionately dance to acknowledge his proficiency.

In another display at Sheffield featuring the Afrobeats artist BoyPee, Emmy Stikxx drives the crowd with his fantastic display.

Emmy Stikxx constructs an array of remixes of songs like Bella Shmurda’s “Cash App,” Terry G’s “Run Mad,” Olamide’s “Omije Oju Mi,” Wande Coal’s “You Bad”, and other popular Afrobeats songs to make the set interesting. Some audience members occasionally stop by to hug, bump fists, or shake hands with him to show their appreciation for what he is doing. Drumming to Asake’s “Uhh Yeahh” to create a different melody, fabricating a subtle remix of the song for the audience’s satisfaction.

The over-reliance on remixing and amplifying songs through drumming risks becoming a signature tic instead of a responsive interpretation. This often makes the audience anticipate the override rather than the original songs, thereby flattening the variety his set lists offer.

The audience interaction acted as a double-edged sword: the same quality that endears him to the audience is also what inflicts his set. Beyond the distraction, the fist-bumps and hugs mid-performance expose the set into a series of interactions instead of a streamlined one.

Sets built entirely on making the audience dance struggle with diversity. There is no contrast in the sets if every song is pushed toward peak intensity, making every set full of high energy levels with no space for introspection. And reworking Afrobeats staples by adding his version of drumming for crowd-pleasing effects raises the question whether he is serving the songs or using them as raw materials for his showmanship.

Emmy Stikxx, despite the occasional distractions from greeting fans and overriding songs with his drumming pattern, is redefining social gatherings in the UK. He deserves all the accolades he is receiving for turning smiles on people’s faces through his drums and reinvention of Afrobeats music.