Victor Essiet taught himself the guitar and took to the stage while still a student at St. Timothy’s College, Yaba. With Peggy Curtis Imanah, he formed The Mandators and cut their first professional album in 1980. Another followed before they’d even left school. But it was Crisis in 1987 that turned them into Reggae firebrands. Songs like Rise to the Top, Inflation, System, and Redemption struck chords across Africa with their fierce calls for justice and black liberation. The tender anthem, I Love You, preached unity and became a major hit.

The following year, Rat Race lit up the Reggae scene. With Essiet as frontman, The Mandators channelled social unrest, economic struggle and political critique into music that moved hearts and feet alike.