As part of the demands to signify that the Nigerian government is indeed committed to the eradication of police brutality, the Nigerian youth populace demanded the inauguration of judicial panels across the country’s 36 states, to collect testimonies from victims of police brutality, provide (financial) restitution, and forward recommendations to the government. In acceptance of this demand, the National Economic Council (NEC), led by Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, directed all state governments to set up panels, ostensibly meaning that these panels were indeed backed by the federal government.
However, it appears that the police is now contesting the validity of these panels of enquiries, claiming that their proceedings should be deemed inconsequential, since the force is a federal institution and isn’t subject to state authorities. Yesterday, reports broke that the Nigerian police filed a suit at a federal high court in Abuja, seeking an order to stop all public hearings and proceedings of the #EndSARS judicial panels across all 36 states. In its petition, the police is claiming that the panels set up by State Governors is “unconstitutional, illegal, null and void and of no effect whatsoever.”
This development is the latest disappointing tactic being employed by a government institution, since concerned Nigerians came out in demonstrations against police brutality, especially by the “disbanded” Special anti-robbery squad. Even with the announcement of the disbandment of SARS, Nigerians have been vocal about the police’s dedication to ending the omnipresent abuse of power amongst its ranks, citing distrust in any word of mouth and it’s easy to see why. During the weeks-long protests, police responded with brutality all over the country, peacefully received “pro-SARS” groups who openly threatened peaceful protesters, stood idly while protesters were attacked by sponsored thugs, and has continued to arrests popular faces from the protests.
In an interview with local TV station AIT, Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike, stated that he was unsure if he had the power to constitute a panel without adequate Federal backing, however, with the directive coming from the NEC and President Buhari’s public backing of the Lagos judicial panel, there appears no reason these panels can’t legally operate for these panels to operate.
Update – 16:00, December 4
The Nigerian Police Force has recently called for the immediate “discontinuation and withdrawal of the suit challenging the legality of the States’ Judicial Panel of Inquiry.” As far as we know, a hearing for the case is scheduled to begin on December 18th, and among the defendants are the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Anthony O. Ojukwu, and more.
The Inspector General of Police, IGP M.A Adamu, NPM, mni has ordered for the immediate discontinuation and withdrawal of the suit challenging the legality of the States’ Judicial Panel of Inquiry into alleged brutality by the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
Hundreds of young people flooded the streets of Nigeria to protest against the SARS unit of the Nigerian police and police brutality. In the heat of the protests, Rema cut off all his hair, at the same time videos of members of security forces forcibly doing the same thing to civilians. After a tumultuous October, it felt like November was a time to recoop, and gain some much needed calm after the wild storm. As the end of the year sparks hopefulness amongst us, the Mavin star has now released a new single, “Peace of Mind”, to calm the current climate’s intensity.
“Peace of Mind” has a soothing highlife baseline produced by Kel P and the tranquil harmonies of the guitar riffs serve as the backdrop for Rema’s narration of his stressful reality as a Nigerian; “Gunshot no let me meditate/ Hypertension full the place/ People dey die/ Police sef dey go deny the case”. Though his introspective songwriting allows him to express his deeply personal discontent with the uncertainty of the moment, he also has the presence of mind to acknowledge that the dissatisfaction with the current state of things is a sentiment shared by most young Nigerians.
All year, we have spoken about the special role music plays in
Stream Rema’s “Peace of Mind” below.
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/heisrema
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You are meeting Debola at a strange time in his life. He wandered into a dream and lost his way back. Tweet at him@debola_abimbolu
The last few months have been difficult. But with four weeks left until the end of the year, we’re trying to find more ways to be thankful and present in the current moment. While we’re still dedicated to amplifying and reporting the issues that have plagued us this year, we’ve now resumed our column, Songs of the Day as a nod to the artists putting out great music that serve as a momentary escape from all the grimness of the current news cycle.
We started this week’s Songs of the day curation with new releases from Tim Lyre, Lil Kesh, Lyta, Loti, Remi Nubi, and more. Now as we get ready to kick off the new month, we’re bringing you new music from Olamide, Bad Boy Timz, Zinoleesky, Ojah B x Oxlade, Di’ja, Reekado Banks, Dremo x Mayorkun, Oma Mahmud, Teffy and more. Dig in and enjoy.
Olamide – “Loading” featuring Bad Boy Timz
December is officially here and although we’re looking forward to the festivities, we can’t gloss over the impact COVID-19 will have on the music industry this year. Concerts and festivals have been cancelled and replaced with socially distanced live shows and everyone from Wizkid to Burna Boy has lined up something interactive but safe for their fans. So it’s fitting that when Olamide chose to release the latest video for his standout single “Loading” featuring Bad Boy Timz, off his recently released album ‘Carpe Diem’, he tapped into some very quirky features to bring the song’s exhilarating message to life.
The Clarence Peters-directed video is an immersive VR experience that takes viewers on an inebriated journey into a world entirely of Olamide’s making. Here, viewers are in full control of their viewing experience, with the ability to immerse themselves deeper into this colourful and vibrant world with just the click of a cursor button. In this reality, everything is vibrant or nostalgic, it’s the perfect video for these times.
Ojahbee x Oxlade – “Dutty Love”
The music industry got a lot of representation from Oxlade and his manager, Ojahbee during the EndSARS protests. They showed great courage in the frontline of the fight against police brutality and Ojahbee is most likely to still carrying scars from when he was illegally detained and harassed by the police. However, the duo shows us that they’re lovers not fighters on their new collaboration, “Dutty Love”, where Oxlade sings over the catchy r&b infused-afropop instrumental produced by Ojahbee. The song is a mixed bag of playful innuendos for a late-night rendezvous as we hear Oxlade sing romantic lyrics to convince his muse he’d do anything to prove his love.
Reekado Banks – “Mama”
Reekado Banks has blessed fans with a new 7-track EP, Off the Record which boasts of impressive features from Tiwa Savage, Mr Eazi, Attifaya, EO, Kida Kudz, and Tanzanian’s top pop star, Harmonize. The Kida Kudz and EO track, “Need More” announced the tape’s aim to highlight Reekado Banks’ diverse sonic pallet as well as his global range of influence as he sang over a grime beat. However, after hearing the rest of the EP, it’s clear that he can deliver a far more convincing performance when tributing his home country.
“Mama” is the tape’s last track and it’s dedicated to celebrating the local sound of the continent. Tee Y Mix produced the groovy instrumentals, inspired by the Soukous sound of Congo while Reekado Banks and Harmonize take turns convincing their muse and listeners of the beauty of the continent.
Di’ja – “Inyamuri”
Di’ja has continued to serve us with tunes that are inspired by her northern Nigerian heritage. Her latest single, “Inyamuri” is a love song which she sings in her heavily Hausa-accented voice. Di’ja has always had a great voice and watching her wield it as a traditionally-inclined artist has been surprisingly refreshing.
On “Inyamuri” her lyrics, “I’m in love with Inyamuri” are desperately romantic as she celebrates her love, singing “Spoil me with money/ he buy me designer”. “Inyamuri” is expected to feature on the Mavin singer’s upcoming EP, ‘Aphropop, Vol. 1’ as she continues to build anticipation for the tape.
Zinoleesky – “Kilofeshe”
The Nigerian music scene is filled with great talents who are appreciated all over the world for our local sound. However, we’ve seen time and time again that our artists aren’t shy to acknowledge great music from other parts of the continent when they hear it. The South African Amapiano sound is hot at the moment and Zinoleesky is the latest artist to tap the sound as he sings over the afro-house rhythm for his new single, “Kilofeshe”.
Saying “ordinary things no fit move me again/ seun ti o fe she”, Zinoleesky continues in line with the cocky celebrity attitude we heard from his last single, “Ma Pariwo”. But it doesn’t get in the way of the catchy Amapiano beat produced by Niphkeys. It’s impossible to resist the beat’s invitation to dance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZGbkhHILyk
Dremo x Mayorkun – “E Be Tins”
One thing you can always count on the DMW boys to deliver, is good humour. On Dremo’s new single, “E Be Tins” he references the funny Ghanaian slang while bragging about the irresistible charm of their good looks. The song also features label mate, Mayorkun who handles the chorus and kills it in usual fashion. Fresh VDM produced the beat for “E Be Tins”, with dominant synths swirling around mesmerizingly to make the song catchy while Dremo and Mayorkun deliver expressive wordplay.
Pheelz – “One Life”
Pheelz has followed up his debut single, “Gobe”, featuring Olamide and Naira Marley with a new single titled “One Life”. The song introduces the renowned producer as a singer and songwriter as we hear him laying down melodic vocals over the self-produced beat. He already showcased his skill at making dancefloor bangers with his catchy production on his debut single, “One Life” as well as his production contribution to the catalogue of hitmakers like Tiwa Savage, Olamide, Fireboy DML and others. For “One Life”, he continues to impress, this time embracing the ambient sound of the South African house genre while infusing horn samples to make it more distinct. The tranquil ambiance of the beat fits with the carefree message of his lyrics, saying “I go live life like I don’t care”. We made it to another weekend and deserve songs like this to remind us to rest and relax.
Oma Mahmud – “NOW!!!”
Oma Mahmud is back with a new release ahead of the year-end. For his latest, the singer releases a new and energetic heavy rock-influenced single titled “NOW!!!” which is rife with urgency and anger against the oppression that many of us have faced through this year. He sings “I want to fight my oppressors but I don’t know how/I need my justice, I need it right now” he chants loudly on the song’s hook, trying to mull over his personal feelings about the actions that have plagued this year including the End SARS protests that shook the nation over a month ago. Though he’s not able to offer solutions to the many problems that Nigerians face in their country, “NOW!!!” is an honest and heavy look into the mind of a young Nigerian who is looking to music as a form of cathartic release.
Aina More – “Destiny”
British-Nigerian rapper and producer, Aina More closes out 2020 with a fiery new track titled “Destiny”. Co-produced by Aina More herself and producer Musiek Mambu, the track begins with an attention-grabbing sample of the Seun Kuti afrobeat classic “Bad Man Lighter” setting the tone for what’s set to be two-minutes of unfiltered, bruising raps. “Black women are the prototype/Too busy working on my EP and too introverted for a chat” she raps cockily over a heavy afro-drill beat, speaking about her come up in the industry while giving listeners a peek into what she’s been up to this year. It’s clear that she’s rouding off with a bang.
$odaman – “On The Way”
Atlanta-based rapper $odaman is back with a new single titled “On the Way”, a boisterous new single which sountracks the rapper’s comfortable life as it details everything that he has experienced from the money to the girls and anything else that comes from the astronomical rise to the top. “Had to get up and go get it, ain’t no other way” he raps on the song, showing that the life he boasts of has not come easy but through constant determination and hard work to stunt on his haters. In the Kharkee-directed visuals, we see the rapper enjoying the spoils of his labour, and we’d certainly hate to be his opps right now.
In the inaugural edition of the weekly Top 50 Turntable charts, we saw Wizkid’s “Ginger” featuring Burna Boy shoot up to the #1 spot in the country after the release of ‘Made in Lagos’. The following week, Davido’s “FEM” stole the show, re-entering the Top 50 charts the week leading up to the singer’s release of his third studio album ‘A Better Time’, which arrivedearlier this month. Since then, Davido has maintained his stranglehold of the charts, bagging subsequent #1 songs for three consecutive weeks, with songs off the newly-released project. After “FEM” came a “Holy Ground” featuring Nicki Minaj number one, and this week the spot belongs to the Mayorkun-assisted “The Best”.
The song tallied 35.77 million radio airplay audience impressions this week, rising from its debut position at #5 to become the top charting song on Turntable’s Radio Airplay Chart. “The Best” also drew in 2.06 million equivalent streams to top the Streaming Chart as well this week. This is an impressive run for Davido who just last week entered international charts including the official Afrobeats UK chart and the Billboard Top 200 Albums. However, this week, the charts aren’t entirely dominated by songs off Davido’s ‘A Better Time’ – as they were last week – but sees artists like Omah Lay and Olamide amongst the Top 10 pack.
Olamide’s single “Infinity” featuring Omah Lay rises to the #2 spot jumping up three spaces from last week. Following the release of his sophomore EP ‘What Have We Done’, Omah Lay’s standout track “Godly” enters the charts at #3. The track also debuts at No. 3 on Turntable’s Top Streaming Chart, after drawing 1.91 million equivalent streams, and starts at No. 5 on the Top Airplay Chart after tallying 29.74 million radio airplay audience impressions. Omah Lay now joins veterens Davido, Wizkid, and Olamide with multiple entries in the top 3 in a week.
Omah Lay’s latest charting success comes after the young star recorded his biggest opening week yet on Youtube Nigeria, earning 493,000 views within the week of its release. Outside the top ten, Omah Lay debuts on the chart with three other tracks off ‘What Have We Done’. “My Bebe” debuts at No. 13, “Can’t Relate” debuts at No. 22 and “Confessions” at No. 23., while his “Damn (Remix)” featuring 6lack returns to its peak of No. 11.
Other songs in the top 10 include Davido’s “FEM” which moves down to #4 and Olamide’s “Triumphant” featuring Bella Schmurda which is #5 this week. Davido’s “Holy Ground” featuring Nicki Minaj drops to No. 6 after debuting top of the chart last week, while another former No. 1 song Wizkid’s “Ginger” featuring Burna Boy drops to #7 this week. Bella Shmurda’s “Cash App” with Zlatan & Lincoln jumps from 13 to 8 after peaking at No. 7 two weeks ago, and Patoranking’s “Abule” rises 2 positions to #9 while Davido’s “Jowo” backtracks to No. 10 from its No. 4 peak.
Staying true to our mission reshape the face of African popular culture, The NATIVE team curates a monthly list to spotlight the best and most exciting new artists on the continent. Some of these artists have dropped songs to some regional acclaim, while others are brand new on the block, working towards their first big break. Tune in to what’s next. Click here for September’s Fresh Meat.
Last month, due to the civil unrest throughout Nigeria, we were unable to present our picks of the best new artist of October. After a full month filled with sober reflection of the injustices we face as African citizens. Whilst in Nigeria we were calling out for the end of police brutality, the women of Namibia were standing up against gender-based violence, our brothers and sisters in The Congo were fighting against the poor government and exploitation of young citizens.
This month, however, even though nothing has changed, we’re getting back into the groove of things and music is starting to sound better again. Of course, new artists from all over the globe have been holding it down as usual, and the artists all over Africa haven’t disappointed.
This month, before the nightmare of 2020 comes to an end, we’ve scoured all corners of the Internet for all the music we may have missed throughout the year. With a mix of artists who have been in the game for a few years, to people who have made their debut only a few weeks ago, here’s our pick of the best new artists this month.
Marcus Harvey
In late October 2019, South African singer Marcus Harvey made his official debut with “Mosadi”, a booming, electro-r&b song where his raw voice was the main draw, amidst the delightfully icy layers of sound crafted by KaeB. Having cut his teeth with open mic showcases, Marcus’ impressive debut outing indicated an artist already several steps deep into the developmental stage of his craft. The same conviction in his nascent abilities carries into his sophomore collaboration with KaeB, “Sweet Seduction”, singing in a spectral, sensuous vocal tone over a jazzy hip-hop instrumental.
Capitalising on the growing interest generated by these confident showings, Marcus released his debut album, ‘I Am Marcus Harvey: You Don’t Know Me Yet’, in April, led off by the lilting lead single, “Find Your Love”. Marcus’ debut LP is a function of an omnivorous sonic palette and his unflinching dedication to expressing himself openly, unifying into a resounding statement from an artist still finding himself, much in the same the album subtitle motions towards the audience. The opener, “Areyeng” leans into languid tribal folk, as he sings of the zeal required to press on, while paying homage to the women who raised him. On the closer, “Let It Burn”, Marcus rolls his anxieties into hydroponic buds and puffs them out over a sparse reggae groove.
The major portion of the 11-track album is defined by romantic concerns, with Marcus mostly singing enthusiastically about the highs of mutual parties falling into one another. “I believe that what we have is so special/girl, you so precious/what’s your desires?” he sings atop the slightly off-kilter hip-hop drums of “Walk N Talk”, symbolic of the plaintive writing embedded in the project. Sometimes, it can veer towards cheesy, but Marcus’ voice—which can trail into a slinky falsetto and swing into bouncy, rap-adjacent cadence—helps to bolster his developing lyricism. Although unified by a recognisable ambience, ‘I Am Marcus Harvey’ pulls in a variety of influences from neo-soul, outré folk, electro-soul and the ‘90s flavour of r&b pioneered by Timbaland, culminating in a bricolage of sounds that adds colour, several textures, and teases out the expanse of Marcus’ voice.
Since the release of his debut and the support it has accumulated from an increasing pack of supporters, Marcus has scored several major co-signs, appearing as Apple Music’s spotlight rising artist in June, and he was part of a recent Adidas campaign. Fat Joe, The Game and Monte Booker are amongst high profile names the singer’s music has captivated; collaborations with these artists even seems very likely. It’s difficult to term Marcus’ breakout as meteoric, especially considering that we’re in a time when the Internet makes superstars within moments, however, the strides he’s achieved in just over a year since his debut are impressive. The best part is, he’s figuring it out right in front of a growing audience, a sign that he’s interested in strapping for the long ride.
Moliy
Two weeks ago, Amaarae released her much-anticipated but album, The Angel You Don’t Know. The takeaways from the album were innumerable, but arguably the most invaluable finding was our discovering of the rising Ghanaian singer, Moliy, who seamlessly assisted Amaarae and starred on standout tracks, “FEEL A WAY” and “SAD GIRLZ LUV MONEY” respectively.
This alliance was almost indistinguishable; Moliy expertly moulded herself into a twin flame for Amaarae’s uniquely enticing vocal technique, but that did not, by any means mean Moliy’s own sonic identity was lost. Matching Amaarae’s high pitched vocals, Moliy’s performances on TAYDK complement her host’s American accents with Ghanaian intonations that invite the local soundscape onto the celestial tracks with more attentive singing practices. Envious singing abilities and an afro-pop tongue are what you’ll find on Moliy’s debut EP, Wondergirl. You’ll also find all the songs she’s ever put out on that project, ironically (though not unprecedentedly) ending with her first discoverable single, “Jonny”.
A typical laid-back, slow-paced afropop number, “Jonny” was a strong start from the 22-year old Molly Ama Montgomery, who made the debut last December. A reasonable introduction to Moliy, in this respect, “Jonny” doesn’t quite compare to its preceding track, “Ghana Bop”, which sees Moliy singing and rapping over a dynamic beat, whilst putting her home on the map. Repping Ghana worldwide which is one of Moliy’s professional goals, the second is to empower and support women working within the male-dominated music industry, as she knows all too well of its androcentric difficulties. After a bar of Latin-inspired strings, “Ghana Bop” begins with Moliy proclaiming, “everything I do, I’m killing it,” in a spoken rap cadence that she later swaps out for more melodic bars, expected considering her singing talents. Full of pop music quips such as, “now you mad over me Runtown, I dey do bad girl Rih man down”, Moliy’s lyricism, her dexterity and her vocal skills are all on show on this laid-back yet dance-inducing number.
As a true Gen-Zer, Moliy is not confined by four walls belonging to one style or genre. Though she does have a pop-leaning forte, as “Ghana Bop” and her featured appearances (on TAYDK and “Medellin” by Fresh Meat alum, Hermez) reveal, Moliy will eat up anything that is put in front of her. Her versatility is palpable not only in her small but mighty discography so far, but also in her lyricism and subject matter. A keen fan of romance novels and poetry – which has helped refine her writing skills – of course, Moliy knows how to deliver a love-inclined tune; but she also has much more to offer her ever-growing number of listeners. On Wondergirl alone, Moliy is longing for love, stirring up the party and fondly recalling her high. Aptly titled “Loud”, this fitting intro informs listeners of the state of mind they should be in to enjoy Moliy music. Whether it’s the blunt, “four, five shots in a row,” or another substance of your choice, Moliy promises to take you even higher.
Deshinor
Deshinor is not your typical Fresh Meat, given that he’s been in the music scene for quite some time, marking over five impressive years in the game so far. His career has been more of a slow burner with a handful of loose singles under his belt landing the artist the 2017 Nigerian Entertainment award for Most Promising Act to Watch. But Deshinor’s career began to truly blossom when he went through some personal growth, and came into a more well-rounded view of his sound. It’s his debut project ‘Desh the EP’, released earlier this month that cements the Nigerian-born artist as a formidable vocalist and songwriter.
On the 7-track project, Deshinor paints the picture of a colourful, infectious, and musically varied body of work that showcases his stellar penmanship and his mastery at sounding off honeyed-toned words of affection for the object of his desire. The album opener “Adura” is a soft-sounding ballad that incorporates acoustic strings and vivid percussive patterns creating a rich, soulful atmosphere. Deshinor sings praises to God and his woman, thanking both of them for standing by his side through all the tribulations for all these years. After graciously welcoming us into his world, things begin to pick up steam on the Runtinz-produced single “Pemi” where Deshinor dips into his romantic bag. Listening to the record, you can tell this is where Deshinor feels his most confident, chanting off romantic lyrics with the intention to score the attention of the woman of his dreams. And there are fewer lines as romantic as a love interest serenading their lover with lines such as “if you need somebody to fight for you, I go slap soldier” and Deshinor clearly knows that.
“Gawu”, on the other hand,is afropop at its core, infectiously catchy and likely to have you busting your best zanku on the dancefloor. Couched between percussion and deletable drum patterns, Deshinor turns his affection back to what’s familiar–women. He’s is clearly unafraid of letting his desires and affections known, and he uses many of the songs on this project to show off this romantic side of him. “Fade” is perhaps the album’s centrepiece, where we see the artist singing over pop-tinged production about a love interest. Deshinor is on his best form, digging into the frustrating romantic moments of his life to produce a number that is equal parts pensive and sanguine. The song’s production provides the backdrop for his message: he promises to give all of himself towards this love and only asks that the feelings be reciprocated from Fade.
On the album’s final track “Ire”, Deshinor rounds things off with a final glance at the past life he is leaving behind, as he steps into a new phase of his life. He sings “make my sounds dey blow/make the money pile high high” succinctly surmising his intentions for wanting to make it big in the music industry. It’s clear that the artist is not merely wishful thinking but making a concerted effort to do the work and actualise his visions. His contribution to Laycon’s latest single, “Hip Hop”, has been felt in waves, given that the song consistently maintains a spot in the Top 50 songs on the official Turntable charts, placing the singer in the limelight. We will no doubt get more jams to enjoy from Deshinor. Watch this space.
Sipho the Gift
Sipho the Gift has been dreaming of his life as a rapper since he was seven years old. A diligent student of the works of Dr. Dre, Eminem, and 50 Cent, and South African legends like Skwatta Kamp, Khuli Chana, and more, Sipho the Gift constantly fine-tuned his craft until he was ready to invite listeners into his world. But now his world has grown into a carefully mapped out sonic universe where he audaciously explores his feelings, thoughts, and fears without any drawback.
Now well-armed with three EP’s and two full-length albums, it’s clear that Sipho the Great is as hardworking and conscientious as they come. The rapper/producer has been operating within the South African music scene since 2015 when he released his debut self-produced mixtape ‘Coming of Age’ at the age of twenty-one, the decisive genesis for his brand of introspective rap infused with alternative and melodic elements. Two years later, he followed this up with the 6-track sophomore EP ‘Kintsgui’, an introspective project which put his darker thoughts on full display and unearthed his penchant for vivid storytelling. Each new body of work is akin to discovering a newer, well-refined side of the artist who clearly has command and understanding of his psyche and translates this graciously in song.
Regardless of the beat, Sipho the Gift effortlessly glides across it, taking no prisoners as he decimates his contemporaries and shows off his lyrical chops. His sophomore album, 2019’s ‘iNDiGO’ is home to some of his most introspective work to date. He has conversations with himself on the beat, switching from existential questions on “YOuNG AND LAZY” featuring Lucille Slade to comparing himself to late political figure “MANSA MUSA”, contemplating father-son relationships on “A FATHERS LOVE” and skittishly glides over a drill beat on “BOY” as he hurls out relentless raw raps. Throughout the project, he never fails to remind listeners of his roots, the album is bookended with snippets of his native tongue and pidgin at other moments, grounding the work in his South African heritage.
This year, Sipho the Gift continues to expand his arsenal releasing a string of singles and contributing guest features to artists of his ilk. It’s no surprise that this year, the rapper/producer linked up with our Issue 004 Trybe album, Psycho YP for a bouncy new single titled “ON MY JOB” which sees both artists feeding into each other’s flashy, trash-talking bars. Their synergy is impeccable, as they list off profane boasts with ease over a frenzy of bass and hi-hats. “They fucking with me like it’s Diddy in his prime” Sipho boasts, his bars audibly cocky, though with his impeccable pen, it’s hard to imagine him not getting brash. Earlier this year, Sipho the Gift also released his third EP ‘Bloom’ earlier in the summer, as a way of soundtracking his growth so far. In a recent interview, the artist shared “I’m at a stage where I can masterfully dictate my sound and express my thoughts and I love it. It’s a celebration of my growth artistically, gratitude for everything that’s brought me here, and a statement of my future intentions: keep growing and refining.” From the masterful grasp of his cadence and structure on the project to the rapid-fire verses, it’s clear that Sipho the Gift is here for a long time. Give him his flowers now.
Yellw
In the 90s, heartfelt confessional songs were the hallmark of r&b music. These days, that vulnerability seems to have been replaced by disrespectful and flashy lyrics in our current hip-hop and dancehall dominated music space. However, artists like Tems and Odunsi who are radically rewriting the sound of Nigerian mainstream music with their charting r&b songs confirming that expressing sensitive emotions isn’t completely out of fashion.
Though Victor Dagogo (AKA Yellw) is from Nigeria, a country that seems like it raises its GDP via dancefloor-filling music, he doesn’t shy from making hyper-emotional songs about his yearning for love. In 2018, he shared some snippets of himself singing on his Instagram, yet, kept his face hidden because he wasn’t quite comfortable with showcasing his singing face yet. The snippets which are still accessible via his Instagram account, indicate that like the serene yellow sunflowers that inspired his stage name, Yellw’s voice evokes passionate sentiments from listeners with meaningful and distinct lyrics as he sings over acoustic instrumentals that let his voice take centre stage. The post was met with positive feedback about his meticulous attention to acoustic sounds and his lush voice that transformed heartbreak into wistful bliss as while narrating his relatable tale of romance.
Yellw eventually released “Tell Me”, his official debut single the following year, 2019 and proved that the heartfelt sentiments of the 90s era of r&b still remains today as he turned the lens on himself and excoriate the deepest recess of his mind, offering listeners catharsis in the process. Singing “You gotta tell me/ is this real or fantasy”, the song questioned why anyone would love him knowing how unattractive he can be and it established him as a bonafide voice for this generation, tortured by our search for something real in the superficiality that characterises our lives.
He has now shared his debut tape, ‘Wishful Thinking’, offering four wholesome R&B tracks that narrate his relationship woes. The opening track, “Hello” is an instant classic of telecommunications-themed romance, and in the vein of every love song previously featuring a telephone, the chilling dial-tone of his lover’s answering machine provides context for the melancholic mood he sustains through most of the tape. On the next track, “Stay”, we hear him pleading with his lover to stay with him forever before he then goes the risqué route on the 3rd track, “Can We ?”, where he channels his romantic passion to perform a lustful tribute to his muse.
Yellw’s newly released EP introduces him as a singer returning to the dark halls of r&b and finding himself in the process. With each track, he delivers hushed bedroom confessions that take each component of r&b to its most-felt heights— he explored the genre’s sly seduction on “Can We ?”, was unapologetic blunt on “Stay” and grieved for lost love on “Want This”. He told us at NATIVE that for him, recording these songs was a way for him to escape from his struggle with his identity, relationships and toxic traits, hence the title, Wishful Thinking. And with his earnestly expressive songwriting, acoustic production and dreamy vocals, it’s a conversation shifting tape that earmarks the singer as one to watch.
Vader
Although Vader dropped his debut project, ‘King of the Night’ on SoundCloud in 2017 (a generation ago in internet time), he still remains on the cusp of breaking out to the mainstream. This hasn’t kept him from releasing new music for fans who have continued to show cult-like support for Vader’s music.
Vader mostly performs as a rapper, but he has shown that he’s also an accomplished singer who can hold a note on tracks like “Missing You”. He recently shared a new EP, ‘Stars Die, Knights Don’t’, extending his volatile instincts through the angsty 7-track tape that blurs the lines between trap and afropop to create a cohesive sound that genuinely radical, but also polarising. Though the beats were inevitably influenced by hip-hop, the songs weren’t bound to it. On the afropop-influenced track, “Farawe” for instance, he laced the celebratory vibe of the dancehall melodies with trap productions that will turn any spot into a party.
“This for the pretty young thang that’s trying to figure out what to do”, he sang on the tape’s standout track, “Bye Nebula”, before advising listeners not to give up on their dreams. In a statement shared along with the tape’s announcement, Vader explained that the project was inspired after the events of this year made him realise he was naive for wishing he was a star. He now believes that surviving alone isn’t enough as we must fight to keep our dreams alive. This combative attitude gives the tape a brooding ambience that’s heard from the opening track, “If I Die” and still retained on the boastful tracks, “Vices” and “The Man”, where he delivers a Travis Scott-esque melodic rap performance.
The tape marks him as the latest in a linage of artists like Kida Kudz and Prettyboy DO who’ve been moving in this direction lately as they nudge the sound of afropop and hip-hop towards a middle ground. It feels natural that after a fleet of talented artists spent the 2010s reviving indigenous melodies by fusing in elements from r&b and EDM, another wave of acts would come along to transmute that decade’s aesthetic into the hip-hop sound dominating radio all over the world. His latest EP shines with immersive production that earns the tape critical acclaim. For the first time since he debuted in 2017, he seems to be reaching more people than ever before during his stint in the game.
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Featured image credits/NATIVE
Words by: Adewojumi Aderemi, Dennis Ade-Peter, Debola Abimbolu & Tami Makinde
Multifaceted creative, Nneoma Kanu doesn’t like to refer to herself as a videographer even though her penchant for visual storytelling makes the label hard to run away from with each creative project she embarks on. That said, this year alone, she’s been tapped by creatives like rapper and Fresh Meat Alum, SGaWD who saw potential in the budding videographer and trusted her with the lyric and music video for her latest single “Feel Alright”. For a young woman who taught herself to code and shoot during her formative years, it feels like a full-circle moment for the DC-based creative who is now rolling out her very own website.
Unveiled last month, her exciting new website (found at the shiny dot.com nneoma.work) is an immersive and interactive space for the multidisciplinary creative to properly document and account for all the incredible work she’s taking on, boasting of everything from her inimitable videography skills to her knack for design, creative writing, playlist making and photography. The decision to create her website now was borne out of her desire to work with more creatives and expand her growing resume as she taps directly into the creative scene in Nigeria.
“I have this hunger to tell a story and to document and really just give my own perspective because my experience is multicultural and that has afforded me this unique perspective on a lot of different things.”
Nneoma’s passion for storytelling was borne from her non-traditional upbringing. Her parents, who were first-generation Igbo citizens were deeply fascinated by the arts and amassed a vast collection of artistic relics and valuables, teaching a young Nneoma the importance of history and documentation of culture and tradition from a very young age. It was her desire to reconnect with her Igbo ancestry and spirituality in the last year that informed a lot of the work she now undertakes as she reveals that everything she does is in a bid to exalt her ancestry and tap into these lost memories that help guide her work.
She believes that it’s her job to document the monumental times in history she is privy to witness. She says, “I wouldn’t even call myself a videographer, but I am just someone who is very passionate about telling stories exactly as they occurred,” and this is what she has spent the majority of the year doing. Earlier this summer, we audaciously fought against police brutality following the death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and as a creative living in D.C, the epicentre of America’s socio-political affairs, Nneoma felt compelled to document the protests that took place right on her doorstep.
“I felt obligated to pull out my camera and take note of what was going on for the present and for the future,” she tells me. History is very important to the visual archivist who sees it as a personal mission to document everything for fear of our history been whitewashed, wiped out, and erased. It’s this same passion that she brings to the current #EndSARS protests taking place in Nigeria. Though she’s not home to record videos herself, she’s been collating an archive of videos and pictures from protesters on the ground in the country, in preparation for a video collage that celebrates the drive and determination of young Nigerians. For her, this is quite unlike anything many young Nigerians have ever experienced, and as a creative, she’s vowed to take an active step in joining this current movement in her own way.
The influence of her stylistic inspiration is palpable in her work especially that of Emmy-nominated Kahlil Joseph whose avant-garde cinematography has earned him a league of his own in the art and pop culture scene. She’ll modestly deny this if you draw these parallels, which she chucks up to the battle with anxiety to share her work publicly. “I don’t think I am ever going to get over that fear of putting myself out there, it’s almost like you’re naked in front of people,” she tells me. Her creative work, therefore, can be best described as an emboldened attempt to work past the self-doubt and become a consistent player in the budding creative scene sprouting up in the cities she now calls home – London, Lagos, and DC.
Though she’s nowhere near where she wants to be, Nneoma is still growing her CV religiously and she’s most proud of her work with the young rapper SGaWD who she connected with earlier in the year. “I love Seddy’s work and when she came up with the idea to include her supporters and make a fan-inclusive video, I really admired her vision and hopped on board,” she tells me. Due to the tumultuous year, we have all had that demands we remain socially distanced from each other, Nneoma knew that the importance of SGaWD’s vision would shine through and she saw an area to diligently hone her skills.
The video titled ‘When Does It Feel Right?’ is an honest exploration of love in all its many phases; examining the tell-tale signs that young people feel when they are in love. Right at the onset of the visual feast, we are introduced to cinematic films that touch on romantic love from black love represented in Mati Diop’s Atlantics to queer love in Barry Jenkin’s Moonlight. This stylistic choice was necessary for Nneoma to drive the song’s heartwarming message home being a die-hard romantic herself.
Nneoma reminds me that the entire point of her new website is to be a one-stop hub where she could present all her work in a way that puts her in total control of her vision. One quick look at the website reveals that this is not a regular run of the mill content that she’s churning out but ostensibly an immersive and creative world of her own making. She channeled her love for video games from her younger days and her nostalgia for websites like Tumblr into the site’s creation and now she’s ready to share it with the world.
At the moment, Nneoma is just trying to make it through this year unscathed as living between America and Nigeria has been bleak this year. Caught between both worlds, Nneoma is channeling all her energy into her work and her undergraduate degree in environmental sustainability. She tells me, “everything I am doing is just an exaltation of myself, my body, my family, my past, my ancestors, my future, my children” and that’s the reason she deftly works in her lived experiences into her art. So even when she seems to be playing by the rules, she finds her own way to break and remold them.
“I want to be able to reach more like-minded people and more people that are willing to collaborate.
One thing I am looking forward to with putting this out there is that just building connections with people and being able to add my perspective to someone’s vision or them being able to add to my vision”.
We doubt that it’s a coincidence that Timaya’s new album, ‘Gratitude’ has 15 tracks and was released 15 years after the singer released his debut single in 2005, “Dem Mama”. The Bayelsa-raised singer is the type of artist to leave Easter egg trails for fans to find, and the album is essentially his way of expressing his appreciation for his successful music career so far and sharing his approach to life’s uncertainties – “This life I can’t kill myself oh/ Allow me to flex oh”. And with his numerous accomplishments—including a Grammy nomination in 2017 for his contribution on Morgan Heritage’s album, ‘Avrakedabra’—Timaya has the range to flex on anybody as he flexed his muscles by performing all the tracks on the album without including any guest features.
Timaya has never been afraid of saying it exactly as it is when it comes to expressing how he feels. On “Dem Mama”, his debut single which broke him out to the mainstream, he gave an unflinching portrayal of the brutality he experienced at the hands of the Nigerian security forces in 1999, when soldiers attacked his village in Bayelsa. The Odi Massacre, as it was called was carried out on the 20th of November in Odi town in Bayelsa state, where Timaya grew up. The attack was triggered by the Niger Delta conflict over indigenes’ rights to the region’s oil-rich lands. And just like they’ve done with recent Lekki Massacre, the Obasanjo also denied involvement with the attack. According to the government’s claims, the military was ambushed on their way to the village at the time of the attack. Unfortunately, we didn’t have access to social media live broadcasts or CCTV camera recordings to show proof that the military did in fact attack villagers in Bayelsa in 1999, however, Timaya made sure that the incident won’t be swept under the rug by narrating his personal account of the attack.
Singing “This na reality. Well e bin happen for Bayelsa oh/ 1999 oh/ I swear I no go forget am oh/ when them kill the people oh/ And them make the children them orphans oh”, his message was pointed and conveyed a sentiment that’s familiar to us today after experiencing the Lekki massacre and watching the government refuse to take accountability for their actions and loss of innocent lives during the protests. Even with all the evidence in the world, they still wouldn’t admit to the killings.
Thinking back, I never realised the weight of “Dem Mama” when it was getting massive radio play back in 2005. It was very popular and I’m sure I even joined in to sing along with the catchy rhythm of his lyrics, “I say them don killi Dem mama eh, dem papa eh/ I say them don killi dem mama, dem papa, dem mama eh”. It’s hard to imagine such violent words being sung endearingly, but many of us have sung joyously to the upbeat record that announced Timaya’s arrival into the Nigerian music scene.
Timaya has since made other types of songs including 2013’s soundscape-defining hit song, “Ukwu” that showed he can be as carefree and as he’s conscious and self-aware. The subversive message of “Dem Mama” didn’t stop it from becoming a stadium anthem and it certainly didn’t keep Timaya from becoming one of the biggest Nigerian artists of the last decade. Though we’ve seen the government clampdown on EndSARS activists by blocking bank accounts and even detaining some, Timaya’s unapologetic affront to the government on “Dem Mama” should encourage artists to channel our current political climate into making the type of fist-pumping anthems that can provide the motivation we need to fight against any oppressive government.
Watch the video for Timaya’s “Dem Mama” below.
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You are meeting Debola at a strange time in his life. He wandered into a dream and lost his way back. Tweet at him@debola_abimbolu
After a mostly quiet run this year, Teni the Entertainer is back with a bang unveiling the announcement of her forthcoming album, the follow up to her debut EP ‘Billionaire’last year. To close out the year, she’s just released her latest single titled “Jo”, an up-tempo bop that’s in usual Teni fashion is guaranteed to get you on your feet and dancing to its infectious rhythm.
On “Jo”, Teni teams up with talented producer, P.Priime for an upbeat number that reminds listeners to unplug from the stress of life and enjoy themselves by dancing away their worries–even if just for a moment.
Over the energetic beat, she sings, “I can’t come and kill myself, ontop another man/dance like Michael/dance away your sorrow”, with a relaxed vocal inflection throughout the song. Her message is simple but she makes even the mundane sound exciting and sings with unbridled confidence about focusing on your enjoyment. Speaking about the new single, the singer shared that,
“It’s been a crazy and emotionally draining year, and I just feel the world needs to end the year with a bang.”
Listen to “Jo” below.
Featured image credits/michaelsopejohnson
.@tamimak_ is just trying to make it to the end of the year
Back in October, Boiler Room x Ballantine’s welcomed their first True Music showcase since the coronavirus ravaged the Earth and placed crowd restrictions on public gatherings in most countries around the world. Returning with a new series, Boiler Room x Ballantine’s True Music ‘In The Round’ was conceived with the aim of joining communities in an intimate setting, whilst adhering to social distancing measures. On the day, the reimagined structure of this live show consisted of an in-person live audience of fifty members, joined by an online community of faces tuned in via a live stream on Zoom. Those that weren’t able to attend the event weren’t left out either. Since the show, Boiler Room x Ballantine’s have released videos of Zilo and Mr Eazi’s performances as well as a short film that depicts how Mr Eazi made his grand return to the main stage, for the first time since the pandemic began.
Preparing for his tour right as the WHO issued the global warning that COVID-19 was a certified global threat, Mr Eazi has had, up until this Boiler Room x Ballantine’s True Music In The Round headline, a year devoid of live shows. As an artist whose music lends itself to raves across seas, who is known for hosting and performing at festivals around the world – from his Life Is Eazi Culture Fest in London, 2017, to his debut at Coachella last year – the ‘rona’s effect on live music showcases certainly took its toll on Mr Eazi. However, as much as the banku don is a party-starter, the positivity expelled from his music is one that has blossomed from within. Where others might wallow and dwell in missed opportunities, Mr Eazi created new ones for himself, for example, conquering his fear of busking, accompanied by guitarist Tim Newman.
“Having that new experience was initially daunting but, in the end, really exciting for me,” Mr Eazi tells NATIVE. As the world has continued to adapt to a new way of living, we’ve all been encouraged to find new ways in which to convey our creative expressions. Mr Eazi tried his hand at busking, photographer, Daniel Obasi took a step in front of the camera, Amaarae delivered a full animated music video, Homecoming collaborated with Browns to bring the youth their usual streetwear marketplace, this time accessible from the comfort of our homes. Although this year has been excruciating and traumatising, in coping with the innumerable curveballs 2020 threw our way, we have grown more innovative, experimental and resilient; “it’s a learning curve, and I love a new challenge,” Mr Eazi tells us, going on to express that to still be able to do what he loves (performing), no matter how different that looks these day, is ultimately “a real blessing.”
“Things can go on in different ways,” Mr Eazi opens the Boiler Room x Ballantine’s True Music In The Round short film, which followed the headline act through his evening at the event, “the fact that it’s different isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” he said privately to NATIVE. Greeting the Zoom audience with the same effusive excitement as he did the sit-in members, Mr Eazi’s live performance was typically as bubbly and dance-inducing as it always is, despite the fact that UK government restrictions prohibited live audiences from standing up. At-home audience spectators, however, were able to join the Mr Eazi’s energetic up and downs as he reached the climax of ‘Life Is Eazi, Vol. 2: Lagos To London’ hit single, “Miss You Bad”. Given time in the short film to narrate the peculiarities of enjoying live music in this detached way, both the at-home audience and the audience present on the night, could be seen throughout the film, delivering nods, in some cases head-bangs, of approval for our apparent new reality.
“Music is that one thing that keeps us going – sad times, happy times, crazy times”
Mr Eazi’s performance came at one of the most turbulent times in Nigeria’s sixty-year history – at the height of the #EndSARS movement. Nigerians have always had a keen affinity for music, it colours our most important experiences, so it was no surprise that music was also a focal point during the #EndSARS protest period. As Davido’s “FEM” took on a new life as a resistance anthem of the Nigerian youth who will not be fooled by the empty promises of our leaders, viral verses blossomed into full blown songs that narrated the ongoing fight for our basic rights. But beyond the music itself, its artists also played a key role in the protests, using their platform and influence to inspire, inform, donate and, most importantly, serve. From his distant London location, Mr Eazi was doing so too.
“Supporting people on the ground in any way possible is so important, whether as a mouthpiece, signing petitions or through monetary donations – these are all things that will help strengthen our community that will lead to improvements,” he tells NATIVE, when asked about the poignant message printed across his concert hoodie. “Just because I have a presence, doesn’t mean I am disconnected from what’s going on and I want to raise awareness as much as possible in order to promote healthy change in the system.” More than a musician with a platform, Mr Eazi himself has been victimised by the criminal element masquerading as a police unit before, for non-issues as simple as having dreadlocks; Mr Eazi was always going to join in the campaign to #EndSARS.
“Ultimately, the collective consciousness of the Nigerian youth across the world has been elevated and now we are holding the government accountable, so we pray that from this comes change.”
This week, End SARS protesters have returned to the streets in a resurgence of the movement, owing to continued, brazen lawless on behalf of our government. Noting the structural barriers to justice and freedom in Nigeria, Mr Eazi is now looking beyond the protests, at ways in which we can see our revolutionary movement through to the end. “We must view the protests on the streets as a step forward and the next step is every one of us, such as you and I, getting more involved in selecting our leaders,” Eazi explains to NATIVE.
After a deeply dejecting year, most of us have been feeling understandably deflated. Using his first live performance since his COVID-cancelled tour to spread a message of hope for a better future, in our conversation Mr Eazi reminds Nigerians that we must keep going in our fight for justice: “We need to keep the energy and momentum.”
Image Credits: Vicky Grout/Boiler Room x Ballantine’s
Over the weekend, several disturbing reports reached that a number of farmers have been killed in northeastern Nigeria after gruesome attacks were allegedly carried out by the Boko Haram terror group. The reports came during the weekend in the early afternoon of Saturday when assailants descended upon the village of Koshobe and other rural communities located in the Jere local government area near Maiduguri.
“Armed men on motorcycles led a brutal attack on civilian men and women who were harvesting their fields,” Edward Kallon, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria shared. The incident is the most violent direct attack against innocent civilians this year. I call for the perpetrators of this heinous and senseless act to be brought to justice,” said in a statement on Sunday. Although only 43 lives were first accounted for, the official numbers show that many more brutally lost their lives with the death toll now hitting over a 100 and is still on the rise.
Insurgents killed over 100 people in Nigeria’s Borno state. Attackers targeted farmers in rice fields, slitting their throats. At least 10 women are reported missing.
Attacks by militant groups Boko Haram and ISWAP have killed over 30,000 since 2009 and forced 2 million to flee. pic.twitter.com/Faosxb6tUG
News of the killings sent Nigerians at home and in the diaspora into an uproar as many feared that the government were incapable of tackling insecurity and had grown unbothered by the causal loss of human life as evidenced from their treatment of the Lekki massacres just a month ago. However, this would not be the first time that farmers are slaughtered for doing their job in the North as several reports coming from the area detail the worsening food crisis experienced in Borno and the ensuing targeted attacks on farmers.
According to the Cable, there were also reports that women in the area were kidnapped and taken from their homes forcefully during the attacks on Saturday afternoon with 10 women reported missing, AJ Plus confirms. The incumbent President Muhammudu Buhari expressed his “shock” over the killings but no one has been held accountable for the untimely death of many lives. A funeral service for those who died was held on Saturday and the Borno State Governor Babaganan Umara Zulum was in attendance of the ceremony. Zulum urged the federal government to recruit more soldiers, Civilian Joint Task Force members, and Civil defence Fighters to protect farmers in the region.
Over the past few weeks, the Nigerian government has employed a number of tactics to clamp down on young Nigerians who were involved in the End SARS protests that swept through the country last month. From the news that attorney, Moe Odele’s passport was seized pending investigation by the DSS, to the unlawful imprisonment of the Abuja Six and Eromosele in Lagos, it has now become increasingly clear that the government viewed the protests as an affront to their long-standing rule and are taking steps to ensure that no uproar of similar magnitude occurs again.
Following the protests, the Nigerian government has been clamping down on the spread of false information and calling for reconsideration of the Social Media Bill in a bid to put more online censorship in place and control the narrative about affairs taking place in the country. Though steps are yet to be taken to ensure that this bill gets passed into law, it seems as though the government’s bid to enforce erasure and censorship was not just empty threats as news reached yesterday that the Feminist Coalition website is currently inaccessible to view when using local mobile networks in Nigeria.
The FemCo website is currently inaccessible in Nigeria except through a VPN.
All the writings on the wall are clear so it is important that everyone is aware of the tactics.
It seems bizarre that the government would restrict viewing and traffic on the Feminist Coalition website, when the members of the female-led group expressly stated that they would be bowing out of funding and assisting with the logistics for the End SARS protests over a month ago, following the brutal killings that took place in Lagos on October 20th. Just as they allegedly employed the CBN to hinder seamless transactions during the protests, the Nigerian government continues to show that they would rather make more effort to trump the demands of its citizens, than make the change we are merely asking for.
Up until yesterday, the FemCo website only contained the detailed breakdown of the allocation of pooled funds from donations and crowdfunding with the Coalition’s final statement, expressing their desire to remain committed to the group’s core mandate: championing the advancement of the Nigerian woman. Now, however, when you visit the website, the webpage does not load unless through a VPN. Damilola Odufuwa, one of the founding members of the Coalition shared that:
“It appears many people in Nigeria using various network providers cannot access our website without a VPN. Upon discovery, many of the coalition founding members tweeted about it and a lot of people confirmed. Someone actually tweeted it on November 12 but we missed it. It’s ridiculous that the website of a women’s rights organisation (with harmless details about who we are and a summary of our work so far) has been blocked. Why is a website with numbers and tables being blocked? Why are we being censored?”
This story is developing.
Featured image credits/FeministCoalition
.@tamimak_ is just trying to make it to the end of the year
Collaboration is one of the most important elements of music making. Right from orchestral compositions to modern-day artist/producer collabs, working with others always has a way of elevating the music making process. Rising musicians, Na-Ku and Trill Xoe – who air their latest collaboration, “8am in Lekki” with us tonight – view collaboration as one of their biggest assets.
Singer/rapper, Na-Ku and producer, Trill Xoe, have been collaborating with each other for a while; “Trill has been with me since the beginning… I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Trill,” Na-Ku tells me. So fond are they of working with others that they even have a group chat of like-minded creatives, including Davis who designed the poster, and it was in this creative mecca that “8am in Lekki” was born, just three weeks ago.
Producing the beat during one of the many rough patches this year has thrown at all of us, Trill Xoe shared “8am in Lekki” (which was almost called “8am in Lagos”) with his group chat, and instantly, Na-Ku gravitated towards the song, laying down vulnerable vocals that reflected Trill’s state of mind when making the beat.
Over the slow tempo track, Na-Ku opens up about a love gone sour, because his partner is going through it and projecting their pain into the relationship, as opposed to communicating and laying all things bare. “Say you’re fine but I do not believe ya,” Na-Ku sings, pointing at the mistake, we all make, of denying anything is wrong, when the opposite is blatantly true, because we wish to be strong. Speaking as the person wounded by the understandable dishonesty, Na-Ku’s melodic rap freestyle finds a way to be relatable from both perspectives.
Emotionally mature and honest, Na-Ku’s performance makes a sound accompaniment to Trill Xoe’s pensive beats, lined with shakers and light tinkers that add a spark of hope to the melancholy notes. As the song reaches its final minute, Trill Xoe’s beat is given a lot of space to shine, lulling listeners out, soothing, yet somber.
In advance of the single, NATIVE had the opportunity to speak to the rising artists about the new collaboration, and their plans for the future, in light of the fact that they have both come off the back of an extended musical break. Read below:
Interestingly, both of you have had long breaks before this last quarter, why did you decide to press pause on release music then?
Na-Ku: The hiatus wasn’t voluntary. If I could have not been on a break I would choose to do that, but some things were just happening in my life and I couldn’t make music for a while. It was just circumstance. If there’s anything about my journey so far that I regret the most, it’s that – that wasn’t part of my plan, I feel like it’s been really really a hindrance, but we’ll see what happens in the future.
I’ve planned my releases for next year. Compared to what I’ve dropped so far, everything from now is planned, it will be more strategic. I have basically just set myself up for the near future.
Trill Xoe: I didn’t want to drop music because I don’t really like promo, I don’t like working on those things, so I just said ‘you know what? I’m not dropping music.’ The last song I dropped was in 2018, so I took a two-year break. Then I came back, dropped “How To Act”. That song just came spontaneously, it’s one of those songs that I just felt, ‘this needs to be out.’ So now, I can take another break and just work on other people’s stuff, because I just really don’t like working on promo and everything, so that’s why I don’t drop music regularly.
N: The thing about break is, if you’re not already established, if you [fail to] put yourself out there for long enough, you risk being forgotten or starting over again, and that’s long.
T: But I mean, if you love the music you’ll just be like *shrug*
You are part of a group chat of creatives who all work together on the art, why is collaboration so important to you?
Trill Xoe: I love collaborating. Almost everything I work on is a collaboration, because I believe that I learn from other people when I work with them. [I] collaborate a lot; [I] collaborate with artists, collaborate with people on the internet, because I feel that it’s a learning process for me. I just love working with other people.
Na-Ku: Working with other people is great. With artists, for example, there are a lot of artists that I really want to work with, but we just don’t have the time or the songs to work on with other people. That sucks but it’s fine, when it’s meant to be, it will be. I recently started producing and collaborations are actually the only thing that’s really helping me, besides YouTube. Collaborations are really helping me make myself a better musician, because now – besides recording, being a rapper and singer – now I’m a producer. I’m not a producer like Trill [Xoe], but I’m getting there.
What did you learn from each other from this collaboration?
Trill Xoe: Na-Ku’s range. This is the first time he’s doing something like this.
Na-Ku: I don’t know, let me not lie. When I did “Love Like This”…
T: No, this one is different because there’s a slower tempo, the vibes [are different]. I feel like I learned his range, and [how to] push the guy. I didn’t even expect this; I just sent the beat because I was sad and I just sent it to the group chat. I know he can do a lot but when I heard the freestyle I was [speechless]. It’s been really amazing working on this song with this guy
N: Me, what I learned is that we work very well together, because that was fantastic. It was a really nice process.
In today’s world, citizens of countries from New Zealand, to Australia, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Germany and US states including Nevada, Arkansas and Colorado can legally register to identify as “X” gender or existing outside of the confines of the male or female binary tickbox. Over here in these parts, however, gender is approached as strictly either/or male and female, erasing and othering the experiences of many other Nigerians who are discovering their true selves: a self that exists outside the gender binaries and expectations that rule our patriarchal and misogynistic society.
Here in Nigeria, the idea that a person can choose to exist outside the two widely recognised and accepted genders is treated as foreign from the Nigerian experience. You need only think back to the vitriol that influencers such as Bobrisky and James Brown have received endlessly over the years for maintaining visible social media profiles as they audaciously flout expected gender norms. But for all their visibility, these two only represent one side of a multilayered experience that also encompasses but oftentimes leaves out transmen. Writer Vincent Desmond succinctly stated in NewsWire NGR a few months back that ‘…for many Nigerians, trans-ness is usually equated to being a transwoman, and…the concept of being non-binary typically exists outside the mental reality of many Nigerians.’ There’s no one right way to be transgender or nonbinary and it’s extremely harmful purporting such ideals.
Earlier in the year, Netflix rolled out a new documentary titled ‘Disclosure’, a deep look at the history of transgender representation in American media spanning from the beginning of film history to present-day portrayal in media. The documentary took into account the real-life experiences of trans and non-binary persons including Laverne Cox, Indya Moore, and many more, drawing out the ways in which media has been complicit in the erasure of trans and non-binary identities. But for all it’s honest portrayal of these identities on a global streaming platform, trans and non-binary representation has never been a more topical issue than today – at a time where authors like J.K Rowling and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie are able to pass off transphobic comments without facing any repercussions.
Back in 2018, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie came under heat for comments she had made on Britain’s Channel 4 News regarding trans identities and their experiences. Adichie had said, “When people talk about, ‘Are trans women women?’ my feeling is trans women are trans women.” But she later clarified that she wasn’t saying that transwomen weren’t women, only that there are “real differences between transgender women and women who are not transgender without suggesting that one experience is more important or valid than the other”. Though she later apologised for the ways in which her comments invalidated the experiences of transwomen, the writer came under heat again this year when she referred to an essay by Rowling on gender as “perfectly reasonable”. To Adichie, “JK Rowling is a woman who is progressive, who clearly stands for and believes in diversity” and who should not be scrutinised for the transphobic rhetoric that she shares online and in essays.
But what Adichie’s comments fail to realise is that she is not the voice for transness and non-binary experiences when she has been privileged to live her life as a cisgender heterosexual woman. Transgender and non-binary people face discrimination in bathrooms, in housing, in employment, in dating, and in almost every other sphere of human life. They have alarmingly high rates of poverty and suicide, and often fall victim to violent and targeted hate crimes. And when narrowed down to Africa, they are imprisoned or worse killed for simply living their lives. This is most often because society thinks that transgender and non-binary people aren’t “really” the gender they claim to be and enforcing hateful ideas that they should be forced to conform to their born sex.
Chimamanda being asked about trans women is like Lena Dunham being asked about Black women. It doesn’t work. We can speak for ourselves.
In the three years since Adichie’s first transphobic comments, it became increasingly clear that the writer had failed to learn and listen to people from the community who are better placed to speak on their experiences. Though Adichie is well versed to speak out against feminist issues, she is by no means the voice to speak out against trans and non-binary issues and she may very well never be. What needs to happen is that we need to bring to the forefront of conversations those who have lived their entire lives being hated and vilified simply for existing, those who are constantly denied their rights because it is illegal for them to exist, and those who just want to be respected as people like you and I. More education, more understanding, more acceptance, and more willingness to constantly grow and challenge ourselves are what’s needed for protecting and safeguarding trans and non-binary rights.
To this end, the NATIVE spoke with Three (she/they), a non-binary Nigerian who has now relocated to Canada where she/they are able to live freely without judgment or fear of violence as an identifying non-binary person. Our chat, which follows below, has been lightly edited for clarity.
NATIVE:How did you discover/know that you were queer and non-binary?
THREE:I guess I’ve always kind of known. I knew, but I was always terrified about it and I always said there’s no way I could be queer because if I am then that’s a sin. I come from a very religious Christian background and though I would see women and have crushes on them, I never acted on it. I always questioned who I was because I struggled with body dysmorphia and what my place in this world was, and it wasn’t until I had been in a relationship with a non-binary person and made some friends within the community that I realised that I don’t navigate the world thinking I’m a man or woman, I navigate the world thinking I am this genderless being existing in between all of these states. This is when I realised that I am not female, and so I changed my name to Three.
I am still scared of identifying as non-binary because my family is super religious and so, on the one hand, I want to do it as soon as possible. But on the other hand, I am worried if my parents find out and how that would affect my life. Even though I am more financially stable than I was before, I still depend on them for certain things so I’d have to make sure I am totally independent of them.
NATIVE:How was dealing with that realisation while living in Nigeria with Nigerian parents?
THREE:I only came out when I left Nigeria but I remember being so scared of my parents, I still kind of am but when I came to Canada and I started talking to queer people. I had a crush on this queer person and I was just scared. I can’t even explain it but the fear was consuming even to the point that when I was in Nigeria and in a relationship with a queer person, I was literally deleting my texts like every couple of minutes. It’s not just that my parents are Nigerian parents but they are Nigerian parents who are pastors. So it’s so layered for me in the sense that I literally fear for my life. There was a time someone threatened to out me to my family and I went into shock because of the fact that someone did that because I knew the repercussions I would face and I knew I would not be able to make it back from that. Even now, talking about it, the anxiety is a lot and scary.
NATIVE:What are your pronouns and how do you enforce them with friends or people you meet?
THREE: My pronouns are she/her, they/them. But I think for me, the most important thing is my name. I feel like even if people don’t use the right pronouns, not using my name correctly really hurts me and so I tend to let my friends know. Sometimes, I just let it go and not hold people to it but other times, my old name doesn’t even feel like mine anymore. T* is the pastor’s kid, the one who does good and Three is the non-binary queer person trying to struggle with depression and living her life and deal with all of this without drowning in everything happening. It’s so hard to reconcile those two parts of me. I do appreciate that I have a ton of queer friends who are able to enforce these boundaries for me and if I am not able to enforce it, I am glad I have spaces like this where my people come through for me if people are misgendering me and protect me from that. It’s really hard to navigate the world and putting your foot down when you’ve gone around not having this identity and not knowing who you are.
NATIVE: Do people ever refer to you as they? Or is that often sidelined like so many non-binary people complain about?
THREE:At a point in time, people kept calling me she/her when I insisted on they/them so I just said okay both work when addressing me. And it’s not a defeatist attitude, we have to do what we have to do to survive and if that’s by going as she/her then I will go by that. At the end of the day, putting yourself in situations where you can be open to discrimination is not a path that everybody is willing to take. There are times when I feel more strengthened and I correct people but there are times where I am so exhausted because I am a black immigrant who is queer and non-binary and I am doing all these things while online and hypher visible so I cannot muster the strength to deal with extra shit. But I do feel like I am able to be myself outside Nigeria although my community is mainly online. I think knowing people who were in Toronto for instance really helped me settle into myself when I moved here. They allow you to be yourself and it’s so easy here because more people respect pronouns and it’s not hard to enforce rules or step into your truth here.
NATIVE: How did you feel about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s recent transphobic comments?
THREE: In 2017, before I even realised who I was, I realised that Chimamanda was not the person I wanted to associate with as a feminist. I realised that what she was teaching was not feminism to me and I kind of just dissociated from her. People always try to make excuses for her and say that she’s not educated enough and this is what she knows being an older African woman but it’s like there are African trans people and non-binary people like myself and this is what I know. Everyone is always trying to invalidate trans identities and people love her because they feel like she is speakng her mind but she doesn’t represent queer voices. For the past three years, Chimamanda has been on this platform and she’s been repeating the same harmful ideas during this time. She called transpeople complaining about what she’d said ‘trans noise’ and this is clearly not someone that is trying to be a better person or trying to show growth. This is someone who has made up her mind that she is not going to acknowledge trans people or non-binary people as people who deserve the kind of respect or rights that they have been demanding for.
One of the things I always remember is that viral video of Dominique Jackson receiving an award at the 23rd annual Human Rights Commission dinner. She’s addressing the crowd and she said something that has always stuck with me. She said where I am not asking for your acceptance or tolerance, I am here and you will respect me and that’s literally how I have gone through life. Once I remember this video, I am just like this is how I want it to be, I’m not asking people for their acceptance, I am here and you will respect me.
NATIVE: You do a lot of work for members of the LGBTQIA+ community who are struggling or homeless online. Why is it important to you to amplify the voices of marginalised people?
THREE: Before I realised I was queer, I always wanted to be sure that all my queer friends were good. It’s so important to me that everyone is able to live a full life and when I realised that people are really being maligned in this world and not able to be themselves while having to struggle financially, it woke something up in me. I knew that I could not just sit down and watch. I have enough privilege that I have a good-paying job but a lot of people are not able to experience this life and the fact that I am, then I can make things better for other people. I need to be able to stand up for people in the community who are struggling. I am in Canada, I have the option to stay here forever and not come back to Nigeria but there are people back home who have their lives threatened and in danger every day, it’s so important when you realise the amount of privilege you have ahead of others.
NATIVE: Finally, what does identifying as a non-binary person mean to you?
THREE:It’s a lot of things. On the one hand, it means dealing with a lot of gender dysmorphia because you have things that happen to your body that don’t necessarily align with the idea of who you are. But on the other hand, I can navigate the world in a way that is not hinged on gender and I don’t feel the need to adhere to gender norms or do certain things to prove that I am a man or woman or non-binary. I just exist and move through the world every day being who I am and that’s just it for me.
When I realised I was non-binary, the amount of peace that washed over me was immense. That’s just it for me. Before, I was trying to figure out who am I, what am I doing, and what is my place in this world but now that I know who I am, I am just okay and existing. Sometimes, it is hard to navigate but a lot of times, I am just existing and moving through the phases of the world, I wear whatever I want to wear and shop in the men’s department and I don’t really care. It’s so freeing to just be able to exist.
Featured image credits/Parents
.@tamimak_ is just trying to make it to the end of the year
In a year as tumultuous as the one we’ve collectively survived, turning to music and entertainment as a source of relief from the harrowing events that have taken place is a mainstay. In fact, a few months ago, many members of our community revealed that they had found solace and peace in returning to nostalgic shows and movies to ground them in the familiar and ease their minds about the seemingly dystopian year we’re all coursing through.
Well, it seems our favourite alté group, DRB are also finding peace in the familiar, as they reimagine what the Matrix could look like within a Nolly-esque context in the new video for their Piooners standout, “Trouble” featuring Tems
In the Ademola Falomo-directed video for “Trouble”, sponsored by Jameson Nigeria’s exciting initiative, Seen and Heard, we see snapshots of The Matrix-inspired scenes, where the famous green computer codes and wired head jacks make an appearance as the group along with Tems escape their present reality for one that’s entirely out of their control. DRB depict a dystopian version of Nigeria–although we’re arguably already in one–as they venture into a virtual universe complete with a series of disconcerting landscapes, which transports them from a hallway full of mirrors to rooms of fire and death.
Tems is undeniably steals the show with her voice and her wardrobe, she transforms into a darker alter-ego of herself as she tries to make sense of her new reality. Given that the song’s lyrics soundtrack a tryst with danger and adventure, the video seems very fitting.
Speaking about the new video, the group shared:
“To us, it depicts a dystopian universal version of Nigeria. We wanted to cross-reference stuff from classic Nollywood, movies like The Billionaire’s Club, and mix that up with stuff like The Matrix. We loved the juxtaposition of how those two worlds collide, and that’s what DRB is all about -mixing up all the stuff we know culturally and putting it together.”
Watch the video for “Trouble” below.
Featured image credits/Youtube
.@tamimak_ is just trying to make it to the end of the year
WurlD is one of the busiest artist in the Nigerian music space. In the twenty months since he released his first project in the limelight, ‘Love Is Contagious‘, WurlD has delivered a joint project with producer extraordinaire, Sarz, a 9-track appreciation of his ever-growing African fanbase, ‘AFROSOUL‘ and over the weekend, he upgraded the later project to Deluxe status, adding two more records to the early summer release.
Most Deluxe editions you’re familiar with will likely have thrown in their bonus tracks at the end of the familiar show, but WurlD is giving his added tracks priority position, adding “BOSSY” and “CHOP ‘N’ PRAY” to the top of the project, ahead of the previous opening song, “NATIONAL ANTHEM (GROWING WINGS)”. Given the strength and poignance of the original project opener, leading ‘AFROSOUL‘ with an alternative record is a risk – but a risk that works well for WurlD, as “BOSSY”, with is Cuppy cameo and Kida Kudz feature, packs a heavy punch.
After a breezy, strummed introductory bar, “BOSSY” opens with a voice message left on WurlD’s line, from none-other than Cuppy. Demanding – not requesting – his presence at her residence for her one night in town, Cuppy emerges as WurlD’s muse for the record, upon which he poses the typically insulting adjective as an alluring trait.
Most women with authority have experienced the double standard that describes the same assertiveness and confidence, defined as such in men, as bossiness or bitchiness in women. Throughout our lives, women have been made acutely aware of the social repercussions of self-assured decisiveness; we know all too well of the bad branding that comes with knowing what we want and going after it with candid conviction; being termed “bossy” isn’t unfamiliar to women who assert their authority accordingly. So – though subtle (and, in this context, inching on superficial) – the reframing of this typically negative adjective as a favourable characteristic is a welcome change from the misogynistic connotations commonly attached to the word. After his first verse, which detailed how time and money are essential assets to his muse, whilst men are not, WurlD concludes singing, “but I gotta learn to treat you right” before he goes into his chorus that gushes about her bossiness and admits that she only wants him for the sex.
Kida Kudz takes over seamlessly from WurlD, instantly admitting that he is crazy for his bossy lady, reiterating WurlD’s desire to impress her with the line, “make she no go think I be silly person.” When we first heard ‘AFROSOUL‘ back in May, we noted it’s diverse topics, from perseverance and survival to romance, heartbreak and self-awareness. “BOSSY” is a romantic track that explores yet another area of the self – confidence, through WurlD’s framing of his self-assured muse. When it comes to the sound, like the other songs on the album, “BOSSY” shows WurlD’s versatility, especially when paired with its second bonus track, “CHOP ‘N’PRAY”, which has a vastly different vibe to it. Titled, ‘AFROSOUL‘, West-African sounds are, naturally, favoured on this project, more so than any other of WurlD’s work, and those tastes aren’t omitted from the newly emerging opening track, adorned with dance-inducing shakers that keep the rhythm of this colourful afro-fusion track.
As the song comes to a close, after an unexpected by triumphant third verse, which flaunts WurlD’s well-known vocal dexterity, DJ Cuppy resumes her role as the boss of their fling. Although certainly not as compelling an actor as her sister, Cuppy’s casting here couldn’t be more inspired. Her opulent social media presence, and the fact that she is rarely ever associated with any guy, remaining very private about her romantic life these days, means that she plays so well into the stereotype WurlD is trying to convey. Even the script has Cuppy written all over it; “let me know if I need my driver to pick me up,” she says, nodding at her affluent lifestyle that affords not only a driver, but one who is on call even for late-night booty calls. This witty ending might be silly and superficial, but Cuppy’s continued voice note adds that extra charm to the song, which leaves listeners with a grin on their faces and a feeling of all-round enjoyment.
Peering into the role of music during, or in the aftermath, of civil uprisings worldwide, through the lens of the recent #EndSARS protests, Emmanuel Esomnofu argues that beyond serving the important function of documentation, such art portends a phenomenal, career-defining influence on any artist and often, a genre of music.
On October 3rd, a young man was shot dead, and his car was driven away, in Ughelli, Delta state by members of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS. Two days after the Delta incident, reports surfaced of a musician, Daniel Chibuike aka Sleek shot in Rivers State after being chased by rogue police agents. The #EndSARS movement, as we know it today, was revived in the wake of these two events, which led thousands of Nigerians to protest nationwide. On one of the protest days, Fikky, a young rapper, found himself staged on top of a vehicle, spitting a rousing verse in Yoruba that fired up the crowd, returning home an internet sensation. After seeing Fikky’s performance on Twitter – where the video spread like wildfire – ace producer Adey communicated his intent to help and within days Fikky’s freestyle was made into a song.
Customary to most Nigerian gatherings, music was instrumental during the protests. Playlists spanned generations, evident in repeated spins of “Jaga Jaga” and the more recent records, like “Monsters You Made”. Davido’s “Fem” was especially a favourite, often sung at the top of their voices, protesters reworked a line from the song which became “I dey live my life, SARS dey turn am to shoot on sight”, and in addition, the now-popular phrase “why dem come dey para for me?” offered a more potent question than originally intended. Ajebo Hustlers on the infectious mob justice number “Barawo” sang: “This country na wa” and we agreed, filling the streets and demanding only the bare minimum from the government, which was to guarantee the safety of our lives, especially from them.
It’s is the biggest injustice of all for society to kill its young; in good conscience, one cannot just scroll through the Twitter feed. “Nigeria jaga jaga/ everything scatter scatter/ poor man dey suffer suffer/ gboa gboa, gun shot inna the air,” Eedris Abdulkareem bluntly sang in his 2004 classic, referencing the insecurity, the damning poverty numbers and the hopeless despair felt by many Nigerians over the years. Pressing play on “Jaga Jaga”, you welcome Nigeria into the room as casually as a visitor; its infamous heat, you smell the putrid public toilets, its many decrepit houses, the overfilled rickety danfos. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in a report about poverty and inequality from September 2018 to October 2019, said that 40 percent of Nigerians lived below its poverty line of 137,430 naira ($381.75) a year. That number has surely risen considering the adverse economic effects of the coronavirus, egregiously worsened by politicians who unnecessarily hoarded palliatives meant for their struggling citizens.
That streetlike quality to “Jaga Jaga” could have passed the record as a Ragga effort, specifically, the boisterous conscious form, popularised by Ajegunle acts like Danfo Drivers and Baba Fryo in the early 2000s. Ragga songs were meant to shock and educate, those two often go together. The production never failed to grab you, not unlike the situations being described on wax —it was under these conditions the street cultivated movement thrived. Danfo Drivers at some point even toured Europe. Also omnipresent in Nigeria at the time were evergreen cuts like African China’s “Mr. President” and Daddy Showkey’s “Fire”. A nation that has had its fair share of riots and death, the government continues to prove their cluelessness about anything that doesn’t include filling their already stuffed pockets with national funds.
As the name suggests, Ragga took cultural precedence from a more developed scene, that of Reggae in Jamaica. Sharing a history of violence with the motherland, Caribbean art, music especially, has always been committed to the task of sociopolitical commentary, advising against rash actions and advocating for peace. In 1992, Nigerian artist Majek Fashek appeared on the American television show Late Night with David Letterman, performing the hit “So Long Too Long”. That memorable chant “Arise from your sleep, Africa!” was the artist’s alliance by the subject matter of his Reggae forebears, Bob Marley and Culture; years on, the haunting lyricism peculiar to records about gritty city life in Jamaican cities like Kingston and Spanish Town would be found in a record like “Jaga Jaga”.
Odi, a small riverine city in Bayelsa was, in 1999, invaded by the Nigerian military in a most grotesque manner. Civilian deaths numbered in the hundreds and buildings were burned to the ground. Ten years later, in 2009, an artist from the region, Inetimi ‘Timaya’ Odom would record a piece of music that made for history notes on the gross violation of human rights that happened in Odi. “I say dem dun kill dem mama, eh eh,” Timaya sang with clear anger in his tone, the first ‘dem’ referring to the army which descended on the latter – the people of Odi. Too often the erasure of black lives is considered statistics, numbers rather than lives. The burning desire to make sure the massacre of real humans wasn’t lied about in the history books, that those murdered by soldiers were neither forgotten or disregarded as mere data, charged Timaya to record what has become an epic protest song and arguably his best record.
Innocent ‘2Face’ Idibia was another such artist to elevate his craft by deciding to sing what he saw, whether bomb or flower. Initially one of the three musicians who made the Nigerian pop group Plantashun Boyz, he was first to exit in 2004, embarking on a solo career with Kennis Music, the most influential record label of the modern music era. On “Nfana Ibaga“, the opening track of his immersive debut Face 2 Face, 2Face rapped “My mission is to let you all see/ that there’s more to this life than just faking up reality”. As media veteran Osagie Alonge explained on his podcast, A Music in Time, 2Face knew well the Nigerian reality and with his favorite genres (R&B and Hip Hop) historically famous for their political and social relevance, he’d gleaned the framework necessary to convey his innermost thoughts, creating peerless records like “E Be Like Say” and “4 Instance“. Rightly considered among the great artists in Nigeria’s music history, 2Face laid down the blueprint for any pop artist: as important as happy bops are to the party, a threat to regular life discourages thought of a fun night out to begin with. In pop culture parlance, Na who dey alive dey catch cruise.
***
There’s a Chinua Achebe quote I’m reminded of, “the trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a problem of leadership.” Among Nigerian artists, none embodies the angst of that quote like Fela Kuti. The trajectory of Fela’s life –and indeed his music– is a unique one, literally the stuff of legends. His mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, established the Abeokuta Women’s Union in the 1940s, a body which successfully agitated for women’s rights, demanded an end to unfair taxes on market women and got them better representation in local governing bodies, no mean feat considering this happened in the colonial period. Later in life, Fela would himself show some of that dare, ditching a familial interest in medicine and instead became a professional musician. According to his friend and biographer Carlos Moore, touring the US in 1969 with his band Koola Lobitos, Fela befriended Black Panther member Sandra Izsadore, who introduced him to pro-Black ideals and gifted Fela a book he considers the most influential in his life: Alex Haley’s autobiography of Malcolm X. It challenged his philosophy, leading him to adapt his music –until then an easy-going fusion of Highlife and Jazz– to the intolerable African experience he was born from. His lyrics became harsher and his music employed in full service to a conservative nation that didn’t share his pragmatism.
“Unknown Soldier”, the Fela song, is identical to “Dem Mama”, the common enemy being the Nigerian military. Fela’s intense recording invokes a stage-like scene where his Lagos residence Kalakuta Republic is the setting and the visiting soldiers the antagonising cast. By the closing minutes, Fela speaks of soldiers throwing his 77-year-old mother from a window, so full of pain his voice threatens to break. With the dutifulness of a memoirist he notes the consequent inquiry led by Justice Dosunmu and Justice Agwu Anya, seizing his properties their primary intent –”government magic”, Fela calls it. Other records like “Sorrow, Tears and Blood” and “Coffin for Head of State” also project the harrowing vision of what it means to be Nigerian. In Fela, we find the necessary language to engage the ruling class. If the several incriminating lies, the incessant inquiry boards and the great discovery of Fashola Holmes has proven anything, it’s that “soro soke” and “Buhari has been a bad boy” are revolutionary embraces, comparable to Kuti’s utterances, more than popping phrases on the internet.
Although infrequently, the Nigerian music industry has kept a ready playlist of timeless protest songs. “Ole (Bush meat)” from Sound Sultan comes to mind. “I’m not a chicken, I’m a rooster” was an epic line and M.I’s call to dare on “Crowd Mentality” so catchy you felt excited following the example of his raised fist. “Oga Police”, P Square’s classic is still as relevant today as it was fifteen years ago when it was released. Burna Boy throughout his career has embodied conscious pan-African struggles–from “Yawa Dey” to “Monsters You Made”– and has proven dedicated in honoring Fela’s credo. Of course, Fela’s own sons, Femi and Seun Kuti, too have produced classic albums such as the Grammy-nominated ‘No Place For My Dream’(2013) and ‘Black Times’(2018) to go with their activism. Veteran rap group Show Dem Camp as well: their famed ‘Clone Wars’ series includes the 2019 album ‘These Buhari Times’, a cult classic that engaged previously unexplored nuances of personhood and society and how that influences one’s outlook on life.
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The story of the great American musician Marvin Gaye shapes the perspective for artists creating in the midst of some trouble. A series of unfortunate personal events, most painful being the loss of his partner Tammi Terell, led Gaye into seclusion and the artist stopped recording. Gaye thought deeply of the music he made during this time and in his brother Frankie’s return from war in Vietnam, he knew where to go. They spent time trading stories, and Gaye, writing from Frankie’s perspective of a returning American soldier, produced “What’s Going On” in an attempt to diffuse the tensions of America, especially racially. That led to him unlocking a mastery of his famed vocals. NPR wrote that “[Marvin Gaye] might have set out to deliver one of those call-to-action sermons he’d heard growing up, but he veiled it in the sweet butterfly anguish of his voice and all kinds of musical seductions.” To biographer David Ritz, the artist said he felt like he’d finally learned to sing. “I’d been studying the microphone for a dozen years, and I suddenly saw what I’d been doing wrong. I’d been singing too loud.”
The novelty of Gaye’s ‘coming-of-age’ tempts one to relegate the backstory of that record but that’s what we won’t do. Marvin Gaye’s boss at Motown Records, Berry Gordy Jr., didn’t see the commercial sense in Gaye’s brash deviance from the label’s niche of love numbers and, for a long time, delayed its release. The artist stuck it out and decided he wouldn’t record for Motown if he wasn’t allowed a song cut from his deepest artistic impulses. On January 21, 1971, almost a year after he submitted the record, it was released by the label (without the knowledge of Gordy Jr.) and soon after became a smash hit, reaching number two at the pop charts and earned Gaye much-desired creative freedom.
On May 30th this year, rapper Elveektor released Nsibidi 2, a tape of seven songs that dabbled in Igbo-centric ideals such as brotherhood, capitalist ambitions and most importantly, the recognition of one’s history. The Igbo Landing of 1803, where a number of Igbo people being transported as slaves drowned themselves in Dunbar Creek, Georgia, inspired the first song off the Nsibidi 2 tape. Track five is titled after the Asaba Massacre of 1967, a heartbreaking pogrom perpetrated against an entire city during the Nigeria-Biafra Civil War. A roll of gunshots and screaming opens the record. This protest song will raise hairs of discomfort even as it honors the slain victims of that malicious event. “During the [Nigeria-Biafra] war, if you listen to [Highlife veteran] Osadebe’s songs and the Oriental Brothers, those were songs about how the military came and killed us. There’d been some protest songs before but those weren’t formally recorded in a studio. Those were more like war songs,” said Elveektor over the phone, speaking on the culture of protest music as he observed in Enugu, where he spent most of his life. “The first actual protest song I heard was in 2012, during the Fuel Subsidy. [Contemporary Nigerian Afro Highlife artist] Flavour remade an Osadebe song. The original record was more like a consolation tune after the war but Flavour turned the record to a protest song. It was quite popular when he released it.”
It took the #EndSARS protests for a large section of Nigerians to recognize the relevance of detailing our national struggles on wax. They found the typical hedonist themes insufficient. Burna Boy, days after the Lekki massacre, released “20.10. 2020”. Here the strength of Burna’s technique is on full display as his baritone ponders the Nigerian experience, the corruption and injustice, the madness of it all. The most poignant lyric of the song assures the complicit persons behind the massacre that the ghosts of the slain will haunt their dreams.
As time progresses, we see that artists can be competent voices for change. It’s an economically tough decision but a greater reward means that, like Fela, 2Baba or Gaye, they emerge refined as never before and confident of purpose. That, I think, is a very important reason to surrender one’s art to a cause greater than oneself. You see, the excellence among black communities has never been independent of its many struggles, and the trajectories of these great black artists epitomises that.
Emmanuel Esomnofu is a Lagos-based culture journalist. Someday he’ll pen The Great Ajegunle Novel but for now, find him winging life as a 21st Century philosopher. Tweet him your favourite Burna Boy deep cuts @E.Esomnofu
Yesterday evening, the self-proclaimed African Giant, Burna Boy, earned his second Grammy nomination, mere months after he lost to Beninoise icon, Angelique Kidjo, who herself featured on Africa Giant. Realising Twice As Tall back in August, just a year after his critically acclaimed, commercially resounding middle finger to Coachella and the big font mockers, Burna Boy’s latest album was indubitably positioned for the Grammys’ consideration. Executively produced by Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, featuring hip-hop legends such as Timbaland and Naughty By Nature, it’s no surprise that Burna Boy, once again, caught the attention of the Recording Academy. But, it is still in the air as to whether or not he will emerge triumphant or if this year’s Grammy campaign will end in another disappointment for Burna Boy and the African listeners who are so fervently rooting for him to bring it home.
Up for the controversially-titled ‘Best Global Music Album’ alongside Burna Boy are: Antibalas, a Brooklyn tribute band also seeking to keep the spirit of Fela alive through their afrobeat music, and most recently the Grammy-nominated album, Fu Chronicles; Brazilian music royalty Bebel Gilberto, who released her first album in six years this august, Agora; British-Indian classical musician Anoushka Shankar’s Love Letter; and 2011 Best World Music Album winners, Tinariwen with their latest instalment, Amadjar.All these albums are unique in their own merits, but Burna Boy does stand out amongst the rest for his album’s commerciality – which may or may not prove to be a drawback for Twice As Tall.
Heavily contended over the years, the Grammys recently made an attempt to appease audiences by changing the ‘Best World Music Album’ category to ‘Best Global Music Category’. Mentioning that they worked with linguists, amongst other experts, our hopes that this category would be expanded to reflect the multiplicity of music from non-American regions – as opposed to just cosmetically rebuffed – were completely dashed when these nominations came in. As usual, nothing aligns, however, its Burna Boy’s pop tendencies that particularly stick out like a sore thumb.
The fact that Twice As Tall isn’t as classical or traditional as the other albums in the category indicates that it doesn’t quite fit into the ideal specifications of the awarding body, especially when looking back at winners of the category over the years. In the past, wins from Yo-Yo Ma’s Sing Me Home in 2017, Ladysmith Black Mambazo in 2014 and 2018, Soweto Gospel Choir in 2019, and Angelique Kidjo in 2015, ’16 and ’20, suggest that the ‘Global’ or ‘World’ is emphasised not in the artists’ country of origin, but in the proximity to ‘foreignness’ of the music itself. In this light, Burna Boy’s commercial success might actually be a hindrance to him, which is utterly unfair, considering the strength of the body of work. It seems obvious that instead of Burna being nominated amongst composers and instrumentalist, perhaps another category should be made for contemporary productions, separate to the classical compositions that tend to succeed in ‘Best World/Global Music’ – after all, these distinctions do exist for American music in other areas of the award ceremony.
Nevertheless, Burna Boy’s Twice As Tall has been excellently received and is a legitimately solid album, that many have praised as worthy of the Grammy. Unfortunately, however, from looking at the other categories announced this year, a case for commercial success being a deciding factor looks thin. The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” broke several Billboard records this year, but received not one nomination, nor did The Weekend himself or Lil Uzi Vert. These were amongst other snubs at popular Black music, such as Pop Smoke and Roddy Ricch nominations being omitted from album categories where they very clearly soared. Clearly, ubiquity isn’t a factor that matters much to the Grammys so we wouldn’t bet on charting success increasing Burna Boy’s chances. We will always be rooting for one of our own, and we do have faith that this Grammy is Burna’s, but one must err on the side of caution.
With that said, in a bid to avoid another shocking disappointment like January’s, the NATIVE team had a look at all the albums Twice As Tall is actually up against, and, below, weigh in on his chances of securing the win, for himself and our continent. We do hope the Recording Academy do the right thing for once, but if they don’t we’ll have a lot of fun calling curtains on the show. The evil they have done is truly enough.
Anoushka Shankar – ‘Love Letter’
British-Indian classical music artist, Anoushka Shankar is one of the strong contenders for the 2021 Grammy Award for Best Global Music Award. Her latest EP, ‘Love Letter’ met the category’s criteria for containing at least 51% playing time of new vocals or instrumental of global music as she personified the deeply complex and meditative intricacies of Indian classical music over the 6-track tape. The EP is her 11th project and just like Burna Boy, Anoushka Shankar is still waiting for her first Grammy win though she’s been nominated more than once. In fact, this is her 7th Grammy nomination since she debuted her self-titled album, ‘Anoushka’ in 1998.
Anoushka Shankar is a Sitarist like her father, the legendary Ravi Shankar who popularised classical Indian music among young westerners of the 60s and 70s with his catalogue of more than 75 albums and 15 film scores. She has continued to perform the Indian inspired music, offering a modern and more accessible progression of the sound. Considering how she’s a veteran of the Grammys’ Best World Music category that has now been renamed as Best Global Music, it’s my opinion that she’s the one who Burna Boy really has to beat to win the Grammy that slipped through his fingers last year.
However, unlike ‘Twice as Tall’ which saw Burna Boy touching on many different topics from growth and loss to our struggles as African, ‘Love Letters’ is deeply personal with Anoushka Shankar speaking on heartbreak, her health issues and domestic troubles. She also worked with a host of trailblazing women from around the world include the principal collaborator, Alev Lenz, twin sister duo, Ibeyi, singer and cellist, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, renowned Indian singer, Shilpa Rao, American mastering engineer, Heba Kadry and British audio engineer, Mandy Parnell.
Debola Abimbolu
Antibalas – ‘Fu Chronicles’
The legendary afrobeat group, Antibalas isn’t like many other bands we hear today. The 17-person collective comprising of jazz players, singers, saxophonists, drummers, guitarists, and more, originates from Williamsburg, New York. For the past two decades, the group, through its propulsive music, has established New York as one of the centres of afrobeat in the world, with music heavily rooted in the rhythmic afrobeat sounds of late pan-African pioneer Fela Kuti.
Having recently celebrated their 20 year anniversary as a group since 1998, the musical ensemble released their seventh studio album ‘Fu Chronicles’, a 6-track medley of afrobeat-inspired sounds and martial arts, a form of attack that originated from East Asia which was heavily influenced by the Antibalas British-Nigerian percussionist and lead singer, Duke Amayo, a Kung-Fu instructor. Given that the Grammys has now renamed its former category, Best World Music Album as Best Global Music album, it seems fitting that a collection of work that pays homage to two widely distinct cultures would be a shoo-in for the title. Seeing as the group offers a modern look at the way afrobeat intercepts with the meticulous art of kung-fu, it could very well be seen as offering a more rounded global view of culture and its interconnectedness today.
Last year’s winner, Angelique Kidjo’s album ‘Celia’was a 10-song project dedicated to Celia Cruz, the singer widely regarded as the Queen of Salsa whom the Angelique shares many similarities with, including being exiled by their home countries as a result of political unrest. Notwithstanding, the fact that Kidjo had won the award three times before last year’s win, ‘Celia’ was a standout album and a fitting win for Kidjo owing to the project’s deeply honest exploration into the work of a Spanish singer from an African perspective while showing that Black people are interconnected through our struggles and our music. The Antibalas‘Fu Chronicles’ is similar in this regard, offering a multi-cultural perspective on music from both the East and West. China is one of the world’s biggest powers today with a large influence on many other nations including Africa, and by exploring this narrative, the Antibalas have contributed to a very pertinent and timely conversation about the nation’s relationship with Africa.
Tami Makinde
Bebel Gilberto – ‘Agora’
Bebel Gilberto is a Brazilian musical icon. Daughter of Samba singer, Miúcha and João Gilberto, who is the pioneer of the Brazilian bossa nova sound, 54-year-old Bebel Gilberto is also the niece of Chico Buarque, a master of the performing arts (vocalist, guitarist and composer, as well as a playwright, songwriter, writer, and poet). In short, Bebel Gilberto is musical royalty in her part of the world, a status that has earned her international acclaim, including regular attendance in Billboard 200’s top ten – where she earned a number one spot for her 2014 studio album, Tudo. Despite her global reach, her deep-rooted influence in Brazil,and three previous Recording Academy nods (for Bebel Gilberto, Momento, and All In One), Bebel Gilberto has never won a Gramophone award. This year, she hopes to alter the trend, but first her lates album, Agora will have to boot our Twice As Tall, and the other projects that share chances under the Grammys’ ‘Best Global Music’ album.
Popping off right from the start, with effusive drums and theatrical string instrumentation, Agora is a pretty captivating body of work, that flaunts Gilberto’s unique grace – for which she is best known – as well as the alluring dynamism of the ‘bossa nova’ soundscape within which she composes her music.Developed in Rio De Janeiro between the 1950s and ’60, bossa nova is a type of music stylistically evolved from Samba music. Carrying on the mantle from her legendary father, who pioneered the subgenre, with Agora the junior Gilberto continues to put her city’s indigenous music on the map; only this time she is infusing electronic production styles – thanks to her friend Thomas Bartlett, who produced the album with her in NY – into the, now classical, soundscape.
Of course, on this journey, Gilberto lulls us with her soulful vocals in her vernacular tongue exclusively. Where we think we might be getting an English tune, catering to her sprawling global audience, the introduction for “Cliché”turns out to be nothing more than an intro. When she opens with, “for those who do not know me well/for those who do not know/I’m singing for you,” Gilberto isn’t attempting to pander to non-natives, but simply expressing comfort in her bilingual skills, continuing on in Portuguese, as she does through the whole album. This is where Agora might have a leg up against Twice As Tall. Although Burna Boy does speak Yoruba and Pidgin English through the course of his project, given its pop proclivities, Twice As Tall doesn’t sound nearly as ‘indigenous’ as Agora – which has historically been what the Grammys favour.
When it comes to critical acclaim however, the African Giant scores leaps and bounds over Agora. Unlike Twice As Tall the Bebel Gilberto album failed to enter into the Billboard charts this year, and also received a less than favourable review from largely trusted music critics, Pitchfork. Of course, as Burna Boy is a pop artist, his name is more familiar to contemporary music audiences, but the same could be said of him last year, and he still lost to Kidjo, who took home her fourth Grammy award. In terms of quality, given the completely disparate notes of the album, it is impossible to compare the two albums, especially considering that Bebel Gilberto’s is a sound with which most of us listeners are not familiar. Of course, her soulful vocals (which actually remind me of Sade), her versatility with tempos and her theatrical, innovative compositions are all to be appreciated – Agora is certainly enjoyable. We might not be used to the sound, but within the album exists many commercially viable songs, that could fit within our typical listening tastes. “Na Cara” is an exciting tune whose deep string chords and speedy hand drums invite us into the playful duet between Bebel Gilberto and Mart’nália; “Deixa”’s upbeat tenets and jazzy horns explain the Apple Music star of general approval, whilst the powerful ballad “O Que Não For Dito” moves listeners, even if we are yet to learn that “What Wasn’t Said” was written for Bebel’s father, who passed away last year. Since she started recording in 2017, Gilberto has lost her mother, her best friend and her father, but has still managed to put out a peaceful body of work that rivals the triumphant strokes of Burna Boy’s Twice As Tall. As much as I’d love to see Burna bring it home, I won’t throw any hands if Bebel Gilberto finally secured her Gramophone.
Adewojumi Aderemi
Tinariwen – ‘Amadjar’
Comprising a group of Tuareg musicians, Tinariwen represents a lifestyle that is threatened is by extinction. The Tuareg people are descendants of nomads who lived and roamed around the Sahara desert, settling in varying regions of several countries that intersect the large expanse of land, without being physically tethered to those locations. Due to the geographical constraints of (imaginary) borders between nations, and the continued unrest that plagues the Northern Mali region from which the core band members of Tinariwen hail from, their music is largely one of longing, both for a time past when modern rules and conflicts didn’t impede on a idyll lifestyle, and a future where peace and unity coalesces into utopia.
This central mission might scan as corny, but in the context of their experiences, Tinariwen’s optimism is rebellious. Formed in 1979 while living in Algeria, during a period plagued by a civil war in their native Mali, Tinariwen was formed and has had majority of its story defined by strife. At age four, founder Ibrahim Ag Alhabib witnessed the execution of his father; the band is consistently targeted by militant Islamic groups that have taken their home region hostage, with one of its members abducted for several weeks; and they’ve had to live in intermittent stints of exile from their own, despite being one of the biggest musical exports out of the country, and Africa in general.
‘Amadja’ is Tinariwen’s ninth studio album, and it continues to refine the band’s uniquely captivating brand desert blues, while also longing to carry on the legacy of the Tuareg people “who grew up in the meanderings of the desert”. According to the album liner note, ‘Amadjar’ was composed and rehearsed during a 12-day road trip from Morocco to Mauritania, via the Western Sahara and Atlantic coast. On every evening during the journey, band members would refine “guitar motifs, thoughts and long buried songs” into material for the album. Setting up a final camp in the desert around Nouakchott, capital of Mauritania, the band recorded the songs live in a few takes, working with several collaborators, including famed Mauritanian griotte Noura Mint Seymali and her guitarist husband, Jeiche Ould Chigaly.
Mainly sung in Tamashek, one of the local dialects of the Tuareg people, the album does have its language barrier, but as the band has proven adept at over the course of previous album, the mixture of emotions—desolation, anger, hope, cheerfulness—are palpable in the choice of instrumental arrangements and vocal delivery, which is alternately led by band members and always backed-up communally. Of all the nominees, Tinariwen is the only past winner of this category, picking up the award for their 2011 album, ‘Tasilli’. Similar to that album, ‘Amadjar’ makes use of acoustic guitar far more than their other LPs—they’re heavily reliant on electric guitar—but it’s clear the band is not pandering; Tinariwen has remained dedicated to evolving its sound and staying true to its message, even in two decades of being the fascination of western audiences. Their familiarity, coupled with the undeniable excellence of ‘Amadjar’ gives Tinariwen a strong chance for another triumph come late January, 2021.
Yesterday, Burna Boy’s recently released album, Twice As Tall was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Global Music category, making it his second nomination. The project was released in the middle of the global pandemic, filled with reflective music which suits the current climate of the world, and luckily, we’ve been able to see Burna perform these songs live, through various late night shows. Last week, however, he put on a full-on concert at the O2 Brixton Academy, making us miss outside even more than we already do.
The demand to see your favourite artists perform in the flesh hasn’t quelled because of a global pandemic but has actually seen a huge spike due in large part to the steady influx of singles and albums we’re still receiving this year. Though experts have predicted that it could be a year, or more, until concert experiences are back in full swing, artists around the world are finding more inventive ways to bring the music directly to the fans. Last week, Wizkid had a 3-hour live stream in partnership with Youtube, very shortly after Burna Boy took the stage at O2 Brixton Academy.
Burna Boy has always been renowned for his live performances and though we couldn’t physically rage with his in this instance, he still brought the energy and delivered an unmissable performance for all.
Two years after he first graced the O2 Brixton Academy for his highly-anticipated Outside tour, Burna Boy returns to the mainstage for his first live performance since the release of his fifth studio album ‘Twice As Tall’. The special virtual event took place at one of London’s most iconic venues and in collaboration with Ticket Master and MelodyVR. Speaking about the performance, Burna Boy shared that: “I can’t wait to come at you, live from London with MelodyVR. This virtual show will be from the heart to my friends around the world. It’ll be twice as close, twice as realistic, and twice as tall.” And he wasn’t kidding about the twice as realistic part, the live show streamed directly from the O2 Brixton Academy was one of the first of its kind to be experienced by fans and listeners at home virtually on their smartphones and VR headsets via the MelodyVR app – with the option to choose from multiple camera angles to get up close to the action as it happens – or on a browser via the MelodyVR web player.
It was a jaw-dropping production and visual show, with a setlist that spanned the African Giant’s greatest hits including “Soke”, “Yé”, “Killing Dem”, “On The Low”, and newer tracks such as “Monsters You Made”, “Comma“, “Real Life”, and “Onyeka” from Twice as Tall. Burna Boy also played fan-favourite collaborations of his from “Jerusalema” with Master KG to Wizkid’s “Ginger”
The most heartfelt part of his performance came right at the middle of his set when the African Giant played the sombre number “20-10-20”, the song dedicated towards the young Nigerian protesters who lost their lives tragically last month. Two days ahead of the one-month anniversary of their tragic passing, Burna Boy lays his emotions bare on the world stage singing his heart out about the police brutality rampant in our country and the government’s involvement in harassing End SARS protesters. This rendition is followed closely by his performance of “Monsters You Made”, another one of his politicly charged numbers that features Coldplay’s Chris Martin.
With this performance, Burna Boy, Wizkid in addition to the virtual award show performances we’ve seen, have shown that the future of concerts and festival experiences is not all lost yet, and there could even be an emergence of a new normal when it comes to live performance. We can still feel the fervour and passion of witnessing our favourite artists perform through the comfort and safety of our screens, as we continue to maintain the necessary socially distancing requirements.
As December, our official party season draws nearer, it would be really nice for us to see even more of these.
The rollercoaster of a year is finally drawing to a close, but artists are keeping us excited and on our toes right till the very end. Ghanaian r&b and neo-soul singer Ria Boss returns to our screens with a new video for her single “Blood Bound”, first released two years ago on her EP ‘Born Day’.
Back in 2018, the soulful artist had embarked on a grand endeavour to release an EP every week for several months for a project she coined as the #THANKGODFORRIA Series. And now finally, she’s expanding the world around the series by releasing the video to “Blood Bound”, a song that speaks to the value and importance of our family, chosen or otherwise, released as the singer celebrates her birthday.
Our nuclear families are the first social point of contact for many of us growing up, many of the values that we hold today can be traced back to our nuclear families which shape the way that we view the world today. On the reflective track, “Blood Bound”, Ria Boss knows the importance of her family and sings about their unwavering love for each other despite what life may throw their way. She’s sombre, contemplating who has really got her back in the world but rather than lose all hope, she remains fortified knowing that her family who is “bound by blood” will be there for her no matter the weather.
The self-directed music video, in collaboration with Elikem Akpalu, shows the singer in the garden surrounded by the women she loves the most. Ria delivers a snapshot of a family who stands together, sitting beside her mother in silence as they both majestically wait at the foot of her grandmother. The scene warmly shows three generations of women bonded together by blood but strengthened by their love for each other. As Ria Boss echoes the words “family is soul” over the song’s neo-soul ready strings, she burns sage and cleanses her environment, wading off whatever would be a threat to such a beautiful familial moment. Keeping in line with her earlier release “Call Up”, Ria Boss uses her music to remind listeners about the importance of finding and cherishing your people. It’s sweet and sentimental and the perfect pick me up for the mid-week blues.
Established in 1996, the MOBO awards is dedicated to honouring “music of black origins”, nominating and awarding artists making music that fit under this ambiguous umbrella, in the UK and across the diaspora. After the 2017 edition, the annual award event went on a 1-year hiatus which turned into an indefinite break. On December 9th, however, the MOBO awards will be returning for its first edition in three years.
This year’s MOBO awards will continue from where it left off, championing some of the best music and artists from the year in review—September 2019 to August 2020. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the award show will be held virtually and live-streamed on YouTube at 7pm (GMT) on the allotted date. This year’s edition will be preceded by special programming on BBC Radio 1Xtra, including a talk show on Sunday, December 6 (9-10pm), which will look back at the last 24 years of MOBO history. The 90-minute ceremony will feature performances by Headie One, Ms. Banks, Tiwa Savage, Kojey Radical and more, and it is set to be co-hosted by TV/radio presenter Maya Jama and artist/comedian Chunkz.
Nominees for this year’s events have also been announced, with veteran rapper Nines leading the pack with five nominations, while Lianne LaHavas, Mahalia and Tiana Major9 follow with three nods. The categories are mixture of voting and non-voting, meaning that fans have a say in the winners of the former category types.
Burna Boy and Rema are the only African artists with multiple nominations, both scoring nominations for Best International Act and Best African Act. For the year in review, Burna’s fourth studio album, ‘African Giant’, vaulted higher into global prominence, historically selling out London’s SSE Arena, and his latest studio album, ‘Twice As Tall’ has been critically acclaimed and commercially successful across continents. In Rema’s case, the chameleonic artist finished the past year as a global breakout star with his immaculate trio of EPs, and he continued his fine run this year, with hit singles, including the ubiquitous smash, “Woman”.
Joining Burna and Rema in the Best International Act category are Drake, Koffee, Megan Thee Stallion, Pop Smoke (R.I.P), Popcaan, Roddy Ricch, Shensea, Summer Walker, H.E.R and Lil Baby. The other nominees in the Best African Act category are Tiwa Savage, Davido, Fireboy DML, Master KG, Adekunle Gold, NSG, Afro B, Wizkid, Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy. Both these categories are open to public voting, interested fans can go here to cast their votes. You can also find the full nominees list here.
[Featured Image Credits: Web/Guardian]
Dennis is a staff writer at the NATIVE. Let me know your favourite the Cavemen songs @dennisadepeter
Let’s be honest, 2020 has been a shit show. From battling a global pandemic with seismic effects on the global economy and life as we once knew it, to rallying together in strong opposition against police brutality, racism, and years of corruption and violence in several parts of the world it has been a strife-filled year. Luckily, we’re near the end with only 5 weeks left, and are looking ahead into next year, with one of the music world’s biggest nights, The Grammy Awards looming.
Ironically, before the pandemic The Grammys were one of the last awards shows held in person, and other award shows throughout the year have become a virtual event, in efforts to remain socially distanced. However, come COVID-19 vaccine or not, the prestigious night is set to take place next January, celebrating the best of the fold for their achievements and contributions to music and wider pop culture this past year.
So far this year, the rookies seem to be dominating conversation, and seem to have been preparing for this pivotal moment. Roddy Ricch’s “The Box” remained at number one for over 10 weeks, and also racked up over 68.2 million weekly streams, which became the highest nonseasonal stream total since Lil Nas X’s almighty “Old Town Road” last summer. In addition, Roddy also joined Lil Baby as the only two rappers this year to go double platinum this year with the release of his single “My Turn” back in February. Both artists are a definite shoo-in for even more accolades 63rd Grammy Awards having already bagged similar awards at previous shows this year such as the MTV EMAs, the AMA’s, and the BET Hip-Hop Awards. The Weeknd’s ‘After Hours’ spent 34 weeks in the #1 spot on the Billboard R&B album charts and Summer Walker’s ‘Over It’ spent 58 weeks in the charts. And black women stole the show with Megan thee Stallion’s standout single “Savage” taking over the quarantine, and populating social media platforms from Twitter to TikTok before landing a Queen Bey stamp of approval with the “Savage Remix”. Cardi B and Megan thee Stallion’s “WAP” also broke the US record for the most first-week streams for a song and riled up misogynists in one clean sweep landing them the Best Hip-Hop/Rap song at the AMA’s yesterday.
Over in these parts, this year has been cosmic for African music on the global scene. There’s no denying that the world has turned its focus on Africa and the wealth of talent that exists across the creative arts, upping the stakes for many African artists and fostering an environment where they can attain global cultural relevance. Last year, Burna Boy was nominated for the former Best World Music Album category for his 2019 album, ‘African Giant‘, though he missed out on bringing the golden gramophone to Nigeria, this year the self-proclaimed African Giant returns with his third major-label release ‘Twice As Tall’, an undoubtably Grammy contender. Since he was nominated last year, conversation surrounding the Grammy’s have mostly been about him, however, he’s not the only one gunning for the glory. Many of the afropop’s current frontrunners have been positioning themselves for recognition on this scale for quite some time, and with big wig label signings, have increased chances of global recognition. Tiwa Savage and Sauti Sol are currently signed to Universal Music Group, while Nasty C recently penned a deal with Def Jam Records, Adekunle Gold with UK’s Virgin EMI Records and even younger, less mainstream acts such as Cruel Santino have bagged a joint venture deals with LVRN giving them higher chances of a cultural impact on a worldwide scale. This year also, the cross-Atlantic collaborations have only multiplied with standouts including Pop Smoke and Burna Boy, Nicki Minaj and Davido, Burna Boy and Naughty by Nature, Tiwa Savage and Sam Smith, Nasty C and T.I Tems, Davido and Khalid and so many more.
In the year after Burna Boy’s widely discussed Grammy nod and the Coachella fiasco, currently, Nigerian albums such as Burna Boy’s ‘Twice As Tall‘, Wizkid’s ‘Made in Lagos’ and Davido’s ‘A Better Time’ rank respectively at nos. 54, 80 & 170 on the Billboard Top 200 albums, typifying the current level of recognition that African music is garnering on a global scale. It doesn’t hurt that the music is also getting recognition on smaller circuits, Burna Boy bagged the MTV EMA awards in 2019 but was unsuccessful the following year losing to South African artist Master KG for his hit single “Jerusalema” (which the African Giant later featured on). Burna Boy later won the award for Best International Act at the BET Awards two years in a row and Mr Eazi recently won Best Best Urban Music Album for his work on J Balvin’s ‘Colours’. Given that award shows like the Grammys portray themselves to be the forebearer of music, culture, and entertainment, it only follows that recognition or nod from the Academy is seen as just indication that an artist has reached the upper echelons of success and popularity on a global scale.
In the past years, the Grammys have made a couple of changes to their set structures to be more inclusive to the diverse range of artists and music that we’re getting today. Earlier on in the month, the Grammys announced that they would be renaming the coveted ‘Best World Music Album’ category, to ‘Best Global Music Album’ stating that the change was pushed to better show cultural sensitivity.“As We Continue To Embrace A Truly Global Mindset, We Update Our Language To Reflect A More Appropriate Categorization That Seeks To Engage And Celebrate The Current Scope Of Music Around The World”, the statement read. The move was seen as long overdue as the former term ‘world music’ had always been under contestation given that it connotes the harmful colonial idea that there’s a catch-all phrase for every style of music from around the world that isn’t familiar to an American audience.
However, although the Grammys are just recently waking up to this development, it is yet to be seen how and if at all the scope of the award would change, possibly suggesting that nominees under this category would still remain wildly disparate and encompass artists from a diverse range of backgrounds and sounds, as it has in the past from Nigeria’s Burna Boy to The Netherland’s Altin Gün. Previous Grammy award winners such as Angelique Kidjo have been vocal about the outdated categorisation of the award show, in an interview with OkayAfrica, Kidjo, pushed back against the patronising attitudes embodied by the Grammys and emphasised that African music was far too distinct to be lumped into one category that failed to do justice to its diversity.
This time around, the stakes are even higher for the ‘Best Global Music Album’ win, in West Africa, both Burna Boy and Tiwa Savage have dropped albums that are eligible for nomination in the category. Over in South Africa, Nasty C made his first major-label release under Def Jam Records with ‘Zulu Man with Some Power’ and over in the East, Sauti Sol’s ‘Midnight Train’ is also eligible for nomination. Winning the award especially would mean so much in this year, where the pandemic and the global struggle for freedom on all fronts united our hearts and ears through music. We believe that the 63rd Grammys would show a lot of diversity this time around, encompassing artists from around the world. Owing to the remarkable run that afropop has had this year though, we’re hopeful that one of ours will take the prize home again this year. Burna Boy seems like the obvious potential for this year’s nomination seeing as the ‘African Giant’ lost out on the award last year to Angelique Kidjo but bounced back a year later with ‘Twice As Tall’. Coming back this year with a star-studded guest list that featured Naughty by Nature, Chris Martins, Stormzy, and Youssou N’Dour, Burna Boy’s global-facing agenda is clear, and he could very well bring the award home.
With artists such as Tiwa Savage, Sauti Sol, and Nasty C, the prospect of nomination is hinged on the cultural impact that their albums have had since release. Earlier in the year, following the release of his album ‘Zulu Man with Some Power’, Nasty C set a new record for the most pre-adds for an upcoming album on Apple Music, as announced on Apple Music’s Africa Now radio show. He also featured American rappers like T.I, Lil Keed, Lil Gotit, and Ari Lennox, which earned him the title of the most streamed hip-hop/rap artist in Africa.
Similarly Tiwa Savage’s third studio album ‘Celia’ featured guest appearances from Sam Smith, Stefflon Don, Naira Marley, and more, earning the artist her well-deserved stripes as she made chart history throughout the country. ‘Celia’ was also very important culturally, as a female entertainer (and a mother) Tiwa Savage is chided by critics for the way she addresses sex and sexuality in her music, much like we find to be the case with other female artists such as Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B and even Beyoncé. With ‘Celia’, African women are getting the nuanced and detailed representation of their lives by a woman who has lived through similar experiences and bounced back each time. Kenya’s Sauti Sol have become one of the musical groups to reckon with in recent times, with the group attaining a mainstay spot on many afropop albums that emerged from Africa this year including Burna Boy’s ‘Twice As Tall’, Niniola’s ‘Colours and Sounds’ and Davido’s ‘A Better Time’.
As the clock ticks and the time for the announcement of this year’s set of nominees draws closer, the team at the NATIVE compiled our predictions of 2021 nominees and potential winners across 10 categories including Best World Music, Best New Artist, Rap Song of the Year, and Best R&B Song. Have a look at our picks and see which ones you would stick or switch.
Best Global Music Album
Burna Boy – Twice As Tall
Tiwa Savage – Celia
Sauti Sol – Midnight Train
Nasty C – Zulu Man with Some Power
Davido – A Good Time
Best Rap Album
Roddy Ricch – ‘Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial’
Run The Jewels – ‘RT J4′
Megan thee Stallion – ‘Suga’
Pop Smoke – ‘Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon’
