Being a happy guy who likes the world and likes people, I also like happy music. That's why I dig a lot of Naija stuff which is earnestly happy and optimistic in ways which would just be totally embarrassing in any European or American mainstream music. This stuff is as positive as American gospel music, but you also get songs about hot chicks, spending money and other gospel-unapproved subjects. That's a great combination. I had an unexpected revelation when listening to the below track with its totally cheesy refrain.

I realized that I'm completely unlike Timaya in one way. My mother never told me I had to be strong. Neither did my father, or any relatives, any friends, coaches, teachers, bosses... no one. No one's ever told me I need to be brave or manly, either. That means that either no one ever actually says that stuff in real life, only on TV and in songs, or that I've done a pretty good job at being manly, brave and strong and haven't needed any encouragement.

It's an interesting exercise - to think about phrases you'd expect to have heard but have never heard in your life. You can learn quite a bit about yourself that way. Thinking about this subject some more, I realized that only one person has made any homophobic remarks in my presence during the past ten years. That person is a male-to-female transsexual. But I don't wanna think about what that implies!