Nigerian curator launches Lagos nostalgia music game with $300 prize

John Eni-ibukun, an African Gospel and Afrobeats curator at Audiomack, has released an interactive web-based game called “Memories with Nostalgic Flaws” that blends music from his early-2000s Lagos upbringing with puzzles and storytelling. Players decode clues tied to highlife, communal play, and cultural rituals to unlock narratives, with a $300 prize awaiting the top solver. Eni-ibukun says the project began as a poetic album before he partnered with a developer to turn lyrics into a quiz format, aiming to challenge artists to treat their work as both message and code.

He explains that his curation path stems from lifelong taste cultivation—consuming diverse artforms and refining what resonates. For aspiring curators, he advises trusting personal taste and consuming widely to identify affinities. Regarding technology, he uses data dashboards to gauge listener preferences but notes that platform algorithms often favor artists with major-label backing, which can manipulate visibility through coordinated influencer campaigns, while independent creators rely more on grassroots reach.

The game offers a novel way for fans to engage with Nigerian nostalgia and for creatives to experiment with distribution beyond traditional rollouts. Those interested can try the web-based experience; Eni-ibukun encourages listeners to see how deep their connection to early-2000s Lagos runs and whether they can claim the top prize.

SOURCE: https://techcabal.com/2026/05/29/quick-fire-%f0%9f%94%a5-with-john-eni-ibukun/