Teni began her Teni Live world tour in February, scheduled to perform in 9 countries and 20 cities, spread across 3 continents. Asides her exciting performance on stages across the globe, Teni has made the most of her travel experience, making notable pit stops to record funny skits for the Gram. While she was in London, she paid a visit to Tim Westwood TV and recorded this freestyle session, tapping into her Yoruba folk, Hindi film soundtrack and gospel music influences.
Kehlani – “Butterfly”
Kehlani has shared the music video for “Butterfly”, off her recently released ‘While We Wait’ mixtape. The video is surreal take on Kehlani’s seductive performance on the track. While the video starts out dark with dancers choreographing to the sultry instrumentals, “Butterfly” becomes a colorful celebration of growth when Kehlani is shown experiencing a metamorphosis in the stunning clip, directed by 20-year-old Trey Lyons.
Joel Prodigee x Shaurel – “All The Time”
After collaborating on tracks like “Lean On Me” in 2017, Joel Prodigee and Shaurel have finally released a joint project titled, ‘Sunset Vibrations’. The music video for “All The Time”, the second track off the 7-track tape finds both of them expressing their romantic feelings for a lover over a guitar led beat that conjures a sunny beach vibe. Dir. Willkings channels the relaxing ambiance of the beat for the music video, showing Joel Prodigee and Shaurel at a bar where they meet two pretty women they serve as their muse.
Lil Baby – “Global”
Since his “Yes Indeed” feature with Drake, Lil Baby has grown into an internationally renowned rapper. He was in Nigeria last year, performing at the Beat FM show that held in December. The Atlanta raised rapper has since followed up with releases of music videos from his latest project, ‘Street Gossip’, and as you’d expect, features clips from his visit to Nigeria in his music video for “Global”. Directed by Estwst.photos , the video follows Lil Baby in his signature white shirt and iced out jewelry as he performs a tribute to how much he’s grown with the last year. The video contains clips of him speaking to an elderly man in Ankara at the airport, walking on the streets, riding through the third-mainland bridge and of course, the hyped reaction from the crowd when he took the stage to perform to his adoring fans in Nigeria.
Sneakbo – “Gang” Feat. Kwesi Arthur and Darkovibes
UK rapper, Sneakbo tapped into his African roots when he released “Gang” last month, featuring two of Ghana’s most promising artists, Kwesi Arthur and Darkovibes. While the two helped infuse the popular Afropop melodies to the airy production by Kuvie, the song finds Sneakbo weeding out fake friends from the gang. Sneakbo heads to Ghana and Jamaica to meet the gang for the recently released music video, showing the artists performing the song, while dancers perform stunts and tricks.
John Wick – “Chapter 3: Parabellum” trailer
If you’ve seen the last two John Wick films, or really any action sequel, then you already know you can expect some cinematic gun blazing fight scenes. However, the John Wick film franchise always seems to know how to raise the stakes higher with each film. The last one ended on a cliff hanger that guarantees there’d be more action in the coming “John Wick: (Chapter 3) Parabellum”. But the new trailer Liongate just share still manages to top exceptions, introducing Halle Berry to partner with Keanu Reeves and animals to bring more life into the fight scenes. Dogs are used as weapons and a black horse is used in the chase scene.
Featured Image Credits: YouTube/Lionsgate Movies
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Don Jazzy has announced Rema as the latest addition to Mavin Records after Reekado Banks left to start his own Banks Music label. Rema has been building quite a notable buzz online, sharing freestyle clips and confirming on his Twitter that he contributed vocals for “Turn Up”, the DJ Tunez, Wizkid and Reekado Banks collaboration from last year. When he’s not posting pictures with artists like D’Prince and Wizkid, he’s spiting rap bars with the popular mumble rap cadence, proving the 18-year old artists a talent to watch out for.
On “Iron Man”, his debut release under Mavin Records, he displays his ability to fuse Afropop and Hindi film inspired melodies. The result as you’d expect is a fire love ballad which the video Clarence Peters directs portrays in the sultry ambiance of smoke machines, strobe lights and pretty models. “Iron Man” introduces Rema as a passionate lover boy, singing “Anything You Want, Baby Oh/ I Go Give You Love Baby Oh” over an Afropop beat that doesn’t stop the song from sounding like the score for an Indian film.
Though the song is his first release under Mavin Records imprint, Rema already debuted “Corny”, “Dumebi” and “Why”.
You can watch the music video for “Iron Man” below.
Featured Image Credits: YouTube/MavinRecords
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WurlD’s Afro-juju fusion on “Contagious” hinted at the sonic direction the Universal Music artists was heading with for his ‘Love is Contagious’ sophomore project. Subsequent pre-released singles, “Paranoid”, “Wishes and Butterflies”, and fan favorite, “Show You Off” further established the sultry potency of his soulful blend of indigenous sounds with electronic elements.
After months of anticipation, ‘Love is Contagious’ has officially been released on streaming platforms with 5 brand new songs for fans. He explained in a press-release that “Love is Contagious is a conversation about love, from the infatuation stage to drowning in the emotion to the commitment stage. This EP is something everyone can relate to at some point in their lives. It has always been my goal to add a different range to the conversation and ‘Love is Contagious’ does that, taking my fans and family on the journey a man goes through finding himself in love”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu4LwmrnLSH/
The 9-track EP also comes with a promotional video, showing WurlD in the serene embrace of nature while his spoken word poem narrates in the background.
You can stream ‘Love is Contagious’ below.
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/thisiswurld
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It’s been impossible to deny Burna Boy’s medusa touch lately, delivering hit records nonstop since he released his critically and commercially acclaimed ‘Outside’ album. The self-proclaimed Afrofusionist hasn’t set a foot wrong, releasing singles like “Gbona”, “Killin Dem” and “Dangote” which have resonated with his local fanbase in Nigeria, while collaboration like “Location” off Dave’s ‘Psychodrama’ EP debuted as #1 in the UK.
Burna Boy isn’t taking his foot off the gas yet as he shares a new project, ‘Steel and Copper’, in collaboration with Los Angeles production duo, DJDS. Burna Boy is no stranger to the electronic synth sound the duo favors, having worked with Major Lazer’s on “All My Life”. However, The ‘Steel and Copper’ EP offers 4 tracks, blending Burna Boy’s upbeat melodies with slinky trap beats that compliment his confident bars.
Opening track, “35”, sees Burna Boy laying bars he initially freestyled on his “Behind The Barz” episode on Linkup TV. Here, his tipsy and relaxed vocals, perched comfortably atop the chip on his shoulder, take a more groovy bounce, backed by the trap beat DJDS produces. The cocksure raps continue on the next track, “Innocent Man”, switching between his melodic flow to fast paced rapping, with an ever present menacing attitude. The beat eases to a breezy ideal pace for “Darko”, allowing Burna Boy room to tap into his Rastafarian influences. Singing “What You Know About Don Gorgon?”, he clever references his 2014 hit record as if to show off how much his audience has grown since.
The last track, “Thuggin”, takes a sweetly vulnerable direction as Burna Boy sings over a guitar-led R&B beat reminiscent of a church choir worship session. Burna Boy’s tough rap bars are replaced by a more honest set, but he remains as threatening as ever, singing “I Don’t Know No Better/ Just Try’na Get My Bread Up/ This Life Don Took My Brother/ But I’m Still Thuggin Anyway”.
‘Steel and Copper’ picks up from where DJDS left off on their genre-bending antics from their 2018 album, ‘Big Wave More Fire’. Having worked with The Dream, Khalid, Empress Of and other American artists, Burna Boy has proven to be the perfect artists to assist the American production duo explore the more global sound of Afropop and venture out of their comfort zone. Burna Boy’s US tour kicks off in April and the project will certainly be appreciated by fans hip-hop fans when he takes the stage in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, as well as both weekends of Coachella in California.
You can stream ‘Steel and Copper’ below.
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/burnaboygram
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Fela’s renown for using his Afrobeat genre to speak against the political injustice in Nigeria has led the jazz fueled genre to be perceived as politically charged. But hip-hop’s oppressed origins and the aggression it inspires gives politically conscious hip-hop songs a riveting quality to match the Abami Eda’s spite for the government.
Dremo’s has always understood this, blurring the line between his hip-hop influences and his mentor’s flair for speaking against the government on his breakout single, “Fela”, a cover for Desiigner’s “Panda”. His latest single, “Mirror”, however takes a more serious direction, addressing the recent collapse of building structures in Lagos.
Scenes from the collapsed 3-story building on Massey Street, Ita-Faji, Lagos, where a school was reportedly located illegally, made rounds in the media last week. The large crowd gathered to bear witness to the tragedy suggested the extent of the damage as some wept while others tried to help with rescuing trapped survivors. Though there has been reports that over 12 lives were lost in the accident, the survivors from the accident numbered up to 40. Lagosians were therefore encouraged to donate blood at designated hospitals to help with the recovery process and there was quite an admirable turnout of willing citizens.
Dremo’s “Mirror” blames government’s negligence for the accident, asking that people be made accountable for the damage. He also uses the opportunity to speak on the over-policing of Nigerian youths, election malpractice, poor electricity, economic inequality and other issues he has noticed with the Nigerian society. Though his mention of recent incidents suggests that it’s a recently recorded single, his laid back flow, riding the piano led beat Dave Mix produces gives the impression that these politically-charged bars are thoughts that have been weighing on the rapper’s mind for a while.
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/dremodrizzy
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The final and concluding part of our Ubi Franklin vs Iyanya series features Joey Akan’s conversation with Ubi Franklin. To recap the events from the last two parts of this story, here are three important summary notes of the story so far
1. According to Iyanya, Ubi Franklin excluded his name and signature from the official Corporate Affairs Commission documents filed for Triple MG
2. Iyanya also speculates Ubi ran MMMG with funds from all the revenue he was generating, even though he didn’t share the profits.
3. Emma Nyra came up with the name ‘Made Men Music Group’, and allegedly had a tumultuous personal and professional relationship with Ubi Franklin
Ubi Franklin called me a few days after Iyanya went public with his side of the story. On the phone, he sounded hurt, panicky and desperate to clear his name, like he had his back against the wall.
Before saying anything, he outlined all he had at stake: A son, for whom he wants to be a role model and his reputation as a businessman. I noticed Ubi didn’t volunteer any new information, except the bits that clear his name. He also repeatedly pressed for implicative parts of my story, promising to show me proof of his innocence. He didn’t.
Instead, I received a large batch of screenshots of conversations with Iyanya. The messages covered money exchanges and a number of requests from Iyanya to Ubi. Ubi Franklin was also keen to find out if Iyanya had spoken to me about Emma Nyra. He revealed that during her contract termination process, one of the settlement clauses was an NDA. In his words, the fine is N10 million if either party voids the specifications of the NDA.
We kicked off our conversation from how Iyanya’s name came to be excluded from MMMG Corporate Affairs documents. According to Ubi, Iyanya didn’t want to be a part of Made Men until they had to secure the bank loan for the business. He says it was during the application for this bank loan that Iyanya was made a director, as a requirement for approval.
Joey Akan: Before Iyanya was made a director, did Triple MG get the loan?
Ubi Franklin: No they didn’t give us the loan
Joey Akan: What was the reason?
Ubi Franklin: That Iyanya must be a director in the company. You can see that he was really disappointed that he didn’t want to be part of the company. So, we went to Abuja, we registered the company and allotted shares to him and the company was set up. We came back to Lagos, presented the document to Access Bank and they said we needed security for the loan.
What really happened?
What I’m saying to you, in essence, is exactly what happened. I’m not really finished. If you see from the emails we exchanged [when Iyanya was about to leave MMMG], I asked him ‘bro, are you sure you want to sign this document?’ Because I didn’t want him to go. I wanted us to fix whatever the issues were. I didn’t know he had made up his mind. Bro, do you know Iyanya left on the same week my wife left?
Wow!
So I nearly killed myself. I attempted suicide several times because I felt my world was down.
How did you react to the news Iyanya was leaving Triple MG?
I went asking people for help, to see how they can help me talk to him to not leave me. But he didn’t listen, his mind was made up because Temple was calling him, Mavins were calling him as well. Which I don’t blame them because of what he told them. Me, I have proof of everything. I’m a documented guy.
What happened with Chibbz?
He came to me. I knew Chibbz for a minute. So he told me he wanted to join me saying he wants to join us. I now told him no problem, I’d talk to Iyanya. He promised to pay us N5 million sign-on fee for our Triple MG imprint. He paid 2 million out of the money. Iyanya took half of the money, I took half of the money. And then, two years into the game – like almost a year doing music he could not even shoot one video. Today he would tell you how he is working on something, I have proof of this. That he is doing this, he is doing that. I told him, I said, I warned you earlier. I don’t want to have an artist that I cannot push because I didn’t plan to sign you. You claim that you can do it for yourself and you just need an umbrella. I now saw his comment saying our deal was fraud. Now I want to ask ehn, in this case how have I defrauded the boy?
So there was no actual fraud?
Yeah, because he commented: ‘Don’t mind him this is fraud’. I think, writing about him is a waste of your time. Because his case is not the case.
Why wasn’t Baci offered a deal, even though he was promised one?
You see where Iyanya is implicating himself. Iyanya promised that he was going to give me money to promote Baci because I was already carrying a load of Tekno and Emma Nyra. One day, Iyanya called me and said he had told Baci that he should buy him a camera to go and be a videographer that he should not sing again. Iyanya promised him a deal. It was Iyanya’s bit to bring the money to promote the guy. The way we were running the company he was not interested in bringing money for the company to run. So I was using my money for promotion, to put those other guys on. Did he say he gave any cash for artists on the label?
The way Iyanya puts it, money he was making was used to run the label?
Bro, that’s a big lie. I go for shows, and as a businessman, I believe that I should not put all my eggs in one basket. And I invest in other people. When Tekno came, he said that he was not interested in signing Tekno, that he was not interested in signing Emma Nyra. That if I want to take those burdens myself, I should take it myself. So why is he now lying? Bro I have proof. Tekno’s first video, “If I Dance”, I have a receipt of when I paid Sesan.
How about Selebobo?
I don’t think Selebobo will want to involve himself with this. Because I and Selebobo don’t have any issues whatsoever. Except there is an issue he thinks I have. The only issue we have is a contractual issue. It expires in May and he wanted me to give him rent for one year. I don’t have any problem with Tekno. Did you talk to Tekno?
Tekno isn’t talking
Me and Tekno don’t have any issues now. All these things Iyanya is doing now is just to hype himself around. I’m not joining issues with anybody that’s why I’m saying Chibbz has nothing against me. And I’d tell you that Baci has a right to be angry. The one person that put in a lot of work in our label was Baci and Emma Nyra. Baci first, he was our driver, he was our houseboy, he was our everything. And I know that for a start he deserved the deal but at a point I was carrying a lot and I had nothing, but Iyanya kept promising he would bring money.
Ask Iyanya if he dropped one pound sterling for any artist to be promoted on the label. Ask him that question. Does he have proof? Iyanya told me that he doesn’t want to sign Tekno and that started our problem from 2013. He said that he is not interested, that Tekno is stubborn. I’m like, “This boy just came. You don’t even know him”. When Tekno came he already had “Holiday” and the song was already out there. And right, Tekno said he deserved a room upstairs and not downstairs (at the Triple MG house) which was right. Before I could tell Iyanya that we have to find a room for Tekno upstairs, Tekno had left. So I started calling him everywhere and I now found him and brought him back. And I gave him a room upstairs. Iyanya now told me that when we are paying rent for that house, I would pay more than he pays because I’m bringing another person into the house. I said no problem. You know why I did that? Because I believed that Tekno was going to blow and it happened. So where is your say in all of this? That I signed Tekno? That I invested in Emma Nyra? That I invested in Selebobo?
You said you only gave Paul Okoye half of Tekno’s management.
Exactly. I only sold management shares to Paulo for Tekno not Made Men Music. He is getting that wrong. I have a contract to back that up. And just because I don’t want to bring Paulo and Tekno into this, I’d just let that fly. When Iyanya left, I was scouring around looking for money to be able to push Tekno. We’ve had our differences, but Tekno always tells me “Baba, I’d stay here and finish my contract and then I can leave”. And if Iyanya says he walked out of his contract and left everything, and that I took his shares and sold to Paulo, I want him to show me the proof.
I’m very sorry. Iyanya needs prayers and they need to check him because he is mixing words. The issue of shares: I was taking 40% he was taking 60%. So I reduced my percentage to 20% so that he can take 80% and also from digital sales and all that. Now he had liabilities which I’m not going to mention in details. Paulo knows about it. One of the liabilities was like three or four different people. And he said he is going to leave those liabilities, that I should talk to the people to let them go. Those were the reasons he had to relinquish his shares. Emma Nyra was the one that told me that, “Ubi register the company. Even if Iyanya doesn’t want to be part of it” She told me “I believe that after sometime Iyanya would come back and want to be a part of the company”. And exactly what Emma Nyra said happened. When we went to get a loan from the bank that was when they found out that Iyanya’s name wasn’t on the document. They now told us to go back to CAC and rectify the document and put Iyanya on the document. We did that. I have the documents, and the day they approved the loan. We went back to Abuja to go and do the document and come back to Lagos. Listen, artists have issues; it is everywhere. By the time you look at the label’s side and look at the artist’s side yeah, you’d see that everybody has where their issues are. I’m not the first record label an artist is leaving. So for Iyanya to open his mouth and say I’ve destroyed a lot of people, I’m still trying to understand how I did that.
What happened with Emma Nyra?
We didn’t agree. You see, Emma Nyra’s situation, I cannot say much about it because I am binded by contract not to say anything about our situation. I am not going to say anything about it. Because if I say anything about it, I have a legal suit that I’m going to pay 10 million naira. So, I’m not going to say anything about Emma Nyra. If she does, I’d have to collect 10 million. Me and Emma Nyra don’t really have any problem. Even when she had the twins, we spoke. I even sent her a message. So, we don’t have problems. These are problems Iyanya is trying to create to hype himself up.
Tell me what you know about what transpired between Iyanya and Temple Music?
Yeah, it was a one-on-one conversation we had at his house. He showed me a heated WhatsApp chat with the owner of Temple, them. That’s why I was able to believe he was having problems with Temple. When he wanted to leave Temple, I told him, ‘Don’t leave Temple the way you left Made Men’. Which is, relieve yourself, settle everything and go. I said, ‘The fact that you want to leave Temple doesn’t mean that you should fight them. It would now become constant. It can’t be like it’s the same thing you do everywhere you go. People would come and be putting some rubbish things around it’.
People you collected money from to pay your house rent when your landlady chased you out. They gave you a car. You were stuck in America they paid for you. Have you spoken to Temple? Ask Iyanya if he told me that he had issues with Temple and he needed to clear up his contract with N60 million. Ask him if he told me that.
N60 Million, to exit his contract?
Yes. And I told him I was going to raise the money. Before I raised that money I spoke to him. It took me 24 hours or less to raise that money. When I raised that money I started calling him, he was not picking up his phone so I just left it. So for me, you see all these things Iyanya is saying ehn, when I look at it, I just laugh. Because I have everything to prove. I have everything to show. If this is what Iyanya is going to do after all my hard work. Now, you know what? People would comment and say ‘This Ubi guy, Ubi is like this, Ubi is like that’. You know why they’d say that?
Why?
All artist managers are hated. You know why? We do the dirty job. So I don’t expect anybody to like me. When we leave these artists and go, that’s when you start seeing who these artists are directly; you start to see who they are. Please, what did he say about Emma Nyra?
That you had problems in your relationship and you physically assaulted her repeatedly.
Have you asked Iyanya what happened between him and Yvonne Nelson?
Was Iyanya physically abusing Yvonne Nelson?
(Laughs) It’s, not my mouth you’d hear that thing from. I promised not to say anything or put Iyanya out.
He said he saw you beating Emma Nyra?
Me?
Did he advise her to leave you?
Bro see, Iyanya is a big liar. He has been saying it for many years that he is going to use Emma Nyra against me. You understand? I did every work for Emma to make sure…I’m not going to speak about Emma Nyra unless she talks. We have a contract binding us not to say anything. Why didn’t he say on his interview that I beat up Emma Nyra?
He did say that…
Bro, I’d advise you not to. Because I would put out all the married women he slept with. Their pictures side by side for me. Bro I don’t want to talk. Because if you allow me to do that to him, I’d drag him through the whole of this country. I’m not scared of shit. What I want about this matter is for people to see clarity. If Emma Nyra has issues she would come and say it herself. Emma Nyra is a mother now. I think her focus is different. And she even wouldn’t want to be involved in all this. I wish Iyanya was a father. If he was a father, most of these things he is saying, he would not do it. When I kept watching his interviews I kept laughing. Bro, don’t let me do this to this to this guy. If you’re writing your story, take out the Emma Nyra situation because if you’re writing about something like that, Emma Nyra needs to speak for herself and with the way I and Emma Nyra are tight, we cannot speak about each other. We had our issues and the issues were settled and I have a legal document to back it. So for me, leave her out of this and focus on something else. Write your post. See, I never really wanted to get to this point bro. For everything that happens, there are two sides to the story.
Do you think you treated everyone fairly?
I treated everybody fair. I’m not perfect bro. See, there’s nobody—even you talking to me right now—that would say they don’t have issues with people. Check the whole entertainment industry. Am I the first person that an artist is leaving their record label or an artist is having issues with? I’m not the first now. When did artists start leaving record labels? Let’s be very diplomatic about this thing. Did they say that I had their money, I ate it and I didn’t give them?
It was just about you not treating them right that they had expectations and those expectations were not met.
Okay, what expectations?
A more hands-on promotion and marketing perhaps?
Can I ask you a question? Iyanya says he was a partner and he was investing so why are they not blaming that on Iyanya? Exactly. Why is it that it is Ubi they are blaming it on? Why is it that they are all coming together to fight? Do you understand where this thing is going? You said you are a partner abi? You were investing. So why are they not fighting you? Is it that you gave me money to push your music and I didn’t do it? So you see the twist? Now, if they say that the label is not treating them right who is the label? Ubi, Iyanya. Why are they not fighting Iyanya?
Maybe he has done nothing to warrant that?
All these people talking, how much did they make me? Chibbz, how much did we make from him? The only person that can talk and I would respond to the person is only Iyanya and Baci. I know Selebobo would not say anything to you because for a fact, he doesn’t have anything to say to you.
What role did you play in the tension between Iyanya and Tekno?
He (Iyanya) says Tekno is rude and ill-mannered. The issue between me and Iyanya—that made me and Iyanya break up finally—was that I hired a driver for Iyanya. Iyanya and the driver fought and he fired the driver. And Tekno hired the driver. Tekno was living on his own. So one day, I now went to meet Iyanya that ‘just in case you come to Nigeria before me, what I just heard is that Ken your former driver now works for Tekno’. Tekno, on the other hand, said he saw this guy on the road, he had a baby at home and he decided to hire him. And he asked him “what happened between you and Iyanya”, and the guy explained his side. So he was like “let me just hire the guy because the person you know is better than the person you don’t know”. And the guy worked with Tekno for a very long time.
So Iyanya started accusing me, of using Tekno to disrespect him. That how would I know that Tekno is about to hire his own driver that he sacked and I allowed that happen? That’s how he turned and said he wants to leave the record label. Every time issues happen, he says that I am the one not making them, Tekno to respect him. I’m like bro, Tekno is a man of his own. Everybody, they are men. And I don’t think any of these guys disrespect you, they respect you. From Selebobo, they respect you. They call him “Baba.” They don’t call him by name. Do you understand? Ask him what happened between him and Tekno and what happened between him and the driver Tekno hired. Do you understand?
Already, everything he said is a lie. A lot of the things he said are lies. So, there is a legal document that is going to be sent to him soon for him to retract everything he has said because he is lying. Whatever I tell you, I have proof. You see the story I told you about these women? I have proof of it and I warned him. I said ‘Listen, I’m going to spoil your career, let it go’. Do you understand? I’m going to let it go. Now he is the one going to tell you that I beat up Emma Nyra.
Joey Akan is an award-winning music journalist based in Lagos, Nigeria. He is a public relations consultant and commentator on African music and pop culture.
Since she released her “Versus” single last year, Tomi Owo has established a renaissance of the soothing soul sound of the 90s she specializes in. She claims her place as one the exciting voices of our present music scene with her latest offering, “Night Rain”, a song that opens up a dream space to the throwback soul sound through the mix of ambient harmonies and charming vocals.
Oddio produces the dexterously looped melodies, blending guitar lines, laid back drum riffs, rattling samples and synth harmonies. But what gives “Night Rain” its enchanting quality is Tomi Owo’s vocal phrase double, multiplying her voice as if she’s singing in a hall of mirrors till she becomes a choir of one. Singing “Night Rain, Darkest Beauty I’ve Ever Seen/ You Came Just When I Needed You To Wash Away The Pain” over the soft beating of drums and bass guitar harmonies, her tribute to a great friend carries a seductive undertone lovers will appreciate.
You can stream Tomi’s “Night Rain” below.
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/tomiowo
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South African House beat-maker, Heavy-K, released his debut single, “Yebo Mama”, in January with, Moonchild Sanelly contributing vocals. The duo just shared the music video for the Gqom-House fusion, transforming their conscious intentions into a pulsing club banger while still paying homage to their mothers.
Dancing, red cup sipping, bottles popping, smoking, selfie taking and other conventional things you expect to happen at a party are displayed in the music video for “Yebo Mama”. But then you look at how much fun Moonchild Sanelly seems to be having with her weird and experimental outfit changes, and you realize how much more surreal the partying experience can be.
You can watch the music video for Heavy-K and Moonchild Sanelly’s “Yebo Mama” below.
Featured Image Credits: YouTube/Heavy-K Drumboss
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Sound Sultan has always had a thing for making goofy songs with strong sociopolitical messages. However, for his latest offering, “Twin Broda”, his message is less political and more social, speaking on the condescending use of the word “Bro”. As the opening scenes of the music video shows, the seemingly innocent greeting can be very upsetting when immediately followed by a phrase that clearly shows they don’t care about your feelings; “Bro, I Have a Job for You. It’s a Job that When You Finish You’d First Faint”.
Over the percussive instrumentals and groovy fast-paced traditional drum riff Niyi P produces, Sound Sultan reminds listeners why business and family don’t mix well. Singing “Show Me the Money, Don’t Call Me Your Bro/ I No Be Your Brother”, he seems upset and rightfully so, social exposure should not replace profit in paid labor market. However, he infuses some humor and excitement in the music video which Mic David directs, featuring popular comedian on social media, Josh2Funny and dancers. Self acclaimed street ambassador, Small Doctor also contributes a verse on “Twin Broda”, emphasizing the ridiculousness of people who think he’s the type to get fluffed in a business deal.
You can watch the music video for “Twin Broda” below.
Featured Image Credits: YouTube/Sound Sultan
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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
As promised, this is the second part of Joey Akan’s Ubi Franklin vs Iyanya series. This segment of the story features an uncut interview with Iyanya. The artist goes into his side of the story, opening up on strained relationship with his former business parter, working with other MMMG label mates, moving to MAVIN and his new management deal with Temple.
Part 2:
“Ubi destroyed my life” – Iyanya
By Joey Akan
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu7Kjhegn2u/
Over the past months, I have spoken to Iyanya and Ubi Franklin extensively about this. The men speak from a vulnerable position. Iyanya, as a hurt soul, seeking to turn his sad story into fuel for a rebirth. This Q&A has been left largely unedited, in an effort to convey the emotion and all the nuance of the conversation.
Joey Akan: How Did MMMG Start?
Iyanya: We started that label from scratch. I was the major sponsor of the label till my last day. I was in charge of everything. Yeah, once in a while here and there, he go support when he fit, but I was in charge of everything; house, videos, everything.
I was in charge. I was actually the boss of the Triple MG, but I no carry am for head. I dey believe say e get where I go come out now tell you say I be boss, you no go even need spell the ‘boss’. All these guys wey dey rush CEO, I no dey crazy about am like that cos I know say na something wey you fit get. Time no dey wey them go talk say you no be boss. So I just focused on the music, say make I focus on the music, make I focus on my performance. Let me just focus on being an artist, believing that we don turn brothers, we don turn family.
People go dey come meet me tell me these things. People wey dey close to me go come dey meet me. But in the past, most of them too been don reject me. So it now started sounding like “oh maybe them dey beef us, or them dey beef the guy say now maybe him don come make am’. Ubi, go con meet me say ‘remember that guy wey been no give you show.’ So e go come make sense to me say the guy just dey talk him shit. Because, the same people wey dey come report am to me, I dey see them with am dey ask for favours. Him go dey do them favours. So I was just like ‘okay, let me wait.
When it dawned on me that I was just in a mix of some fucking guys, na that CAC thing. I just dey like this for my house like one number dey call me, dey call me
Joey Akan: What year was this?
Iyanya: Bro, I can’t really remember what year it was but I think it was like 2012 or 2013 around there. I didn’t pick up the call. The guy messaged me saying “you don’t know me o, but I’m trying to save you.” Na one of those messages wey go touch you. I come reply am say ‘who is this?’ He now said, “just pick your call.”
I picked, and he said, “Bro, I’m a big fan. I love your person. I’ve never met you but I’ve heard good things. I love your music. But this thing I’m telling you, I can lose my job. That’s why I won’t tell you who I am. But I’d tell you what to do’.” Till now, I do not know who that person is. He said, “bro, demand for your CAC.”
I no tell Ubi. I buy ticket, fly go Abuja. As I come reach Abuja, I come demand from the girl wey na one of my control wey dey there. She come facilitate am fast. After two days e don come out. We bring am come my room. Ah bro, when I read this thing ehn, bro, I shock. As at that time We don dey make bar, we do “Kukere”, do “Ur Waist”. When we dey make that bar, because we no get any investor, and because as I dey see am say as we dey put we dey progress, so I now focused more on just building the label and building everything. So I put all my investment there. And him too, if I no approve money for song, if song no do well him go con meet me say ‘you know say I tell you to approve this money.’ Since then I con feel say make him no dey give me that excuse, so I con dey approve moni, I no know who say everything wey I dey do all these years, all the shows. Even that Dana flight, na God use me save the whole Triple MG from that Dana flight wey crash.
You guys were supposed to have a show?
Bro, that Dana flight wey crash, we were not far from 18, 20 minutes to the airport. In fact, the guy wey book our flight don call us say him go delay the flight small cos of us. Because say him wan collect him ‘egunje’ (commission). Bro, we dey go airport- you see me ehn, my instincts no dey lie. E never lie to me before. I tell them say make we turn back. Everybody con complain. I remember for car that day everybody con dey say ‘ah Iyanya you don get one babe wey you wan fuck’. I actually get, but that was not the main reason. I just ask say ‘what are we going to do in Lagos?’ they say ‘nothing’. I say ‘why can’t we just do a Sunday evening in Abuja and go back tomorrow morning and start work? Na Sunday now, you just spend your Sunday for air dey waste time dey go dey delay flight. I just use idea turn that thing down. We no reach where we dey go. We try one place to eat, e no work. Before we reach the next one, my phone dey ring, everybody dey call me ‘Are you okay?’
I say wetin happen? them say flight don crash. I say which crash? Them say the Dana that took off from Abuja. As I dey answer that call, Emma Nyra dey call me for inside that restaurant with tears con hug me say ‘I love you, you just saved my life’. Emma dey cry, she no fit hold that tears, Emma dey look me say, “G, I could have been dead today.” It was a very emotional time.
That one con pass. I no know say all these things wey dey happen when these CAC papers come, my name no dey anywhere. So if I bin die for that flight, nothing, ehn? The people wey Ubi pack full Triple M G documents na him brothers. I keep quiet, I no tell am. Na one of our egbon (Godfather) wey dey show us love, I come go meet. He shock! That time I dey date Freda Francis. I tell Freda. She shock too! Everybody shock. That our egbon con call am come I con talk say I wan leave. Him always dey get one way of convincing our egbon and because say na he dey support us that time, he con say make I no leave, make we just settle am.
But from the day my interest, my happiness, my zeal, ended.
What did he say was the reason why he did it?
He didn’t say anything
How was his disposition when he entered the room?
You know him ehn, he always has his ‘bro i’m sorry.., you know…it happened…and it happened because I was not very sure.’ I was not very what? You brought me a paper and I signed it. You took the one I signed and did whatever you did and put your own. Long story short, we went back and forth they now corrected it. But by that time, I don already give up on everything. I con dey live with one kind fear say men, this guy can actually kill you. If this nigga dey watch you dey spend all this money, this nigga dey watch you dey put in all this creativity, this nigga dey watch you dey do all these things, this nigga know say you get two sisters wey you dey take care of wey no get papa. This nigga knows all this shit but this nigga still kinda thing. So if say, God no use me save us for that flight, all of us go die, him family go enjoy all my sweat. At that point too, the label was shaking. People didn’t want to invest because people don already know the story. You know, from that day till I left Triple MG, Ubi was my enemy, but we dey together. I played safe because I saw what he did to Emma Nyra. I saw how he oppressed her when she left him. You understand? I saw all the stunts wey him go dey do. You know how all this industry shit dey be.
How did the people in the label feel about the Emma Nyra situation?
We were not happy yeah, nobody was happy. My own advice to Emma at the time was: “Yo, if the nigga is treating you like this, I’d support you to leave.” But sometimes when you give people that kind of advice, they may think you’ve actually been wanting them to break up since
You understand me? Instead of seeing you trying to save them. Cos I was like; ‘look, this shit is getting out of hand man, we no know the next one wey go happen where they go hit your head somewhere you die.’ Before that time, I dey tell her say, report to your parent. let your parents step in. She no dey tell them, because them too don’t dey get their relationship, so it was almost like, Emma is a real one. Emma na Akata. (Local slang for black American Woman). And you know say akata dem dey loyal. Akata girl, her boyfriend fit beat am now, enter this dining here dey do cocaine. Akata go enter here tell am say ‘You motherfucker, the cops are out there, get your shit’. You understand, but naija babe no dey loyal reach like that. So she just feel say ok.
Emma dey for the table when we dey try form that name Triple MG. In fact, na Emma suggest ‘Made Men’. Na she bring up the name actually. Emma say ‘I just see you guys as young guys, very hard working.’ Bro, this hard work wey you see me dey work now, no be forming o. na who I be. I no dey carry work play, ask them. I no dey carry work play. So she just come up with the name.
How was your relationship with Ubi Franklin at this time?
From that time wey I see that CAC paper, even after them correct am, me I don dey look am. This man, my brother, I no think say I wan share anything with you. Ubi came up with all kinds of business ideas after that CAC thing. I refused to do anything. I always told him to his face that, ‘bro, this one that I’m doing with you, I never see result. So I no go fit do anything.’ Me and Ubi dey enter plane, dey sit down next to each other, but we no dey talk. When we see people, you know how industry be. But deep inside, we know say, man, me I dey look this nigga like, “who the fuck is this nigga? like, how heartless can you be?
Where was Tekno in all of this?
I dey for Europe, I no even know say him don sign Tekno. Because na him actually invest in Tekno. When him wan invest in Tekno, when him wan sign Tekno we never dey alright. I tell am say make we try make our money first. Make Iyanya brand stand so we go fit do more. Him say no, him believe in Tekno. I say no wahala. Na two of us get label, so feel free to bring in your boy if you want. I go push am with my own platform, which is what I did. His first tours, his first shows, he opened for me.
One day, I dey with am for America, Tekno say – you know as I dey na, playful, laugh everywhere. I con dey play with am, dey laugh, I just notice say him quiet, him say him just dey confuse because say the way I dey play with am, dey laugh with am like say him feel say I hate am. I say ahn ahn, wetin happen, wetin you do me. Him talk say Ubi bin dey always talk say I hate am na. Say I dey jealous am. Say I dey feel say him get talent, him go con blow.
God wey keep me alive today, all those boys, everything I did. Bro as you see me ehn, I get free spirit. If you hurt me I’d tell you. Because I need to dey happy to dey fit function for this job. So I no go allow your stupidity or your fault or your negativity to come stress me. I tell am say, ‘boy I got love for you man. I’ve got love for you and I’d always have love for you. It’s nothing. I don’t have anything to struggle with you. You’re Tekno, I’m Iyanya. No matter how many songs you do in this world you’d never be Iyanya, I’d never be Tekno. You can’t say’, oh because you are Tekno, I’m no more Iyanya. I can’t say because I am Iyanya, you can’t be Tekno. I say no worry, just dey patient, you go soon dey make money.
Omo, Tekno say ‘baba I don make like N30 million. That was just for “Duro”. I shock! Him say ‘Duro’ alone, him go don make 30 million at least. Like, after Ubi comot him share, Tekno own na 30 million. That means he made more. We dey America, I con call Ubi say, is this true? Him say ‘I invest money.’ You know e no dey hard am to cry crocodile tears. I con say, this tour wey I dey do sef how far for the money? I never see the money, I just dey do these shows. Big A (A top Afrobeats show promoter in the USA) dey give me small-small money. I con go confront Big A.
Before that 2face rendition wey I do for AFRIMMA, Big A don already plan me, don already write am for the program say Iyanya go do a rendition for 2face. I go meet Big A say ‘I’m not doing this shit unless you tell me what is happening’. Big A tell me say, “Bro, I’d tell you the truth. ‘Part of your tour money, I sent Ubi a car.” Guess who the car was for? Selebobo. It was a Camry. I was doing my tour, Ubi was giving Selebobo car just to prove that he was the CEO. Sele would come to me and say, “Ubi said I don’t like you.” So imagine where I was in the midst of these guys. Ubi, Sele, Tekno. All negative vibes. There were times in the house that I pay for rent. Those boys go wake up, dey form like say them no greet, I go call Ubi and I’d tell Ubi, “Ubi, see, talk to these your boys I’d chase them out.”
Him go talk to them, them go come meet me for back say, “Baba no be like say I get any beef o ..” Him go make am be like say na the boys hate me. But the boys go come meet me say, “Na lie o. This guy dey constantly tell us say you no like us.” In fact, the way he was training them, he dey give them that motivation wey be say for inside their heart, they go dey reason say ‘I must blow fuck this guy up’.” That’s why Tekno would see me today pass. Then when him wan form social media hype him go con post picture, me and Iyanya are doing a song but we no dey talk. Me sef I go, go under go answer am na, ‘brother let’s do it.’ But this nigga would see me outside and not greet me. I dey look am dey laugh because you sing Pana or because of what? That’s by the way.
Tell me about the day you decided to leave?
Exactly. So it was BET week, out in LA man, with one of my boys. Before I went for that BET trip, because I had some shows too, I don already call Ubi say, ‘Man how far?’ I don already tell am say my contract don expire. Because what I did is, before my contract expired – because I know how cunning he is, you know – what I did was that I added extra two years. You know why I added extra two years? Because I wanted to see how he would come out and tell me that we signed something that was eight years or six years. So I added extra two years, so we couldn’t do anything. So, immediately I gave him that info that my contract is expiring, he started his underground battles. People con dey post some negative things about me. At that point, Instablog con dey target me badly.
Since I left him, the battles no be here. People wey owe money sef, wey Ubi talk say make dem no pay. Some of the money wey I collect, him need to talk to them before them go even pay me the bar. Some songs wey I suppose release, him go call them, tell them say make them no give me the song. Say him wan give another of him artist. Bro it wasn’t easy for me. You know how I dey feel when you dey see somebody wey you live your life for, dey try destroy you.
I con text am. I tell am say, “See, let me tell you the problem wey you dey make yeah, you no fit fight the dragon wey you train. If you be criminal, make you train another criminal, you con hear dey hear say na him be the baddest criminal for the city, you need to dey careful. Because him know where to come find you. Na you train am. Na you tell am say if somebody hold gun you suppose shoot left. So If you come no change wetin you train am, him go escape your bullet shoot you.” I tell am say, bro don’t try me. I no want to fight you. But I can destroy you. Na why, you see all these things now, normally artist don come out dey talk am up and down, I no talk am. You know why I no talk am? cos even me sef, I dey try just focus on my own new life. Try get my own life right.
Did you give Ubi all your MMMG shares?
Bro, I gave that company to Ubi. I signed off my shares. You know why? I was so broken that I said to myself, “I don’t want to wake up in the morning and see any email saying Triple MG. I said to myself ehn, this is where God is going to prove to me if I did this on my own or he did it for me. Those are the only two reasons why I left. I left so I can find my happiness.
I remember when Temple signed me, I dey with Idris for office. Idris dey sign me, I say baba I no even know as I dey like this, if I fit sing. I dey broken. I’ve been so hurt wey be say, I’ve been in that situation wey be say, I go dey ask myself wetin I fit do to pass out come back. After I don give you company, I no come out con talk your dirt, he even still fight me, still dey block my ways, make people for industry dey see me like ‘after all Ubi did for you, you left him’. But they no know the inside story. Some people no know say I give am the company. So he dey go round dey tell people say, Temple sign me give me millions. Temple no give me shit. They wan give me but I say I no want because they be investors.
Imagine say I tell them say I need 150 million, they con give me 150 million, I con start to dey spend all that million. Now like this, my debts go dey go haywire. So I don reason all those things ahead say look. Let’s build this shit together.
Did they pay you for the shares?
No. I didn’t want.
Did they offer?
No.
Would you consider working with Ubi Franklin again?
Ubi is a born manipulator. Him con enter the industry wey need manipulation. Him con dey use am very well. E get so many people wey no dey talk.
See ehn, instead make I work with Ubi again ehn, I’d go and start farming. That one na suicide wey you just go carry. You no hear the people wey him dey with already? This one get court injunction, the one fight am yesterday. You see Tekno own na him even worse. You know wetin him dey do now, he dey do the same thing wey I do. Of course na, he get where him post say he’s too frustrated, blah blah. See as them dey like this, Ubi no dey touch him money o. Them dey give Ubi him shares.
So now, you have a joint venture with Temple Music?
Exactly. I can show you my contract. In Temple, I have a right to bring my artist and groom my artist there, not one, not two. Even, I can bring 40. E dey my contract. So it was not even like a label way. I be boss for Temple too. Na why I fit talk, them go answer. Na why I dey fit chance them dey go keep quiet, because you don see say, them put money, but them no put the kind money wey I put for myself to reach where dem sign me. But them don see bar. They know, them dey tell me say na good business. I play you Chairman (Temple CEO) voicenote wey him say ‘Since you came, it’s been amazing’ cos they know, the brand is so strong that’. You dey see me, I no dey stay one place na. You dey see me I dey travel everyday. I dey go Europe in the next three days, one month per 10 shows. I still get things wey dey lineup. And I still never drop any new jam, just old songs and “Iyanu”. So imagine now make we drop these new songs and shit, the guy still dey follow me everywhere.
How would you describe your life post-Ubi, with Temple?
Life with Temple, honestly. The thing I like about life with Temple is that it’s visible. It’s a transparent business. As you dey make your money, you dey see your money, they no dey cut you. I dey get statement every month end and Temple no dey do anything without my approval. My only problem, they no dey want make you dey spend money like every other artist. You know, them no believe in am. Na our only fight be that. Them want make you drop video with OAP them, drop am with letter. Or they want say e be say maybe the video na N6 million now. Them go say, “No, we are your management now, we can’t encourage six million video now. We are making you spend too much. You know you need to make money, we need to make money.” Na our fight be that since I join them. Nothing else. Nothing do them. Everything is transparent.
The third part of this story featuring Ubi’s interview will be published 8PM tomorrow 21st of March, 2019
Joey Akan is an award-winning music journalist based in Lagos, Nigeria. He is a public relations consultant and commentator on African music and pop culture.
After releasing her debut single for the year, “Ayo”, Simi continues to share her joy with fans with the surprise announcement of her coming project, ‘Omo Charlie Champagne’. She made this announcement on her social media platforms which quickly generated likes and positive comments from fans, showing their support and excitement for new music.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvMCkJOn7Bg/
‘Omo Charlie Champagne’ will be Simi’s 3rd studio album, following the release of her critically acclaimed ‘Simisola’ debut under X3M and her less popular 2008 debut, ‘Ogaju’. Since her last project, the singer has started her married-life journey with Adekunle Gold and her latest single, “Ayo”, suggests the honeymoon has had some influence on the mood of her songs. Even the project’s title indicates this could be a more pleasant Simi than we’ve seen before. Plus the album has been scheduled to be released as she celebrates her birthday on the 19th of April. We’re excited and can’t wait to hear what the singer has in store for us.
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/symplysimi
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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 establishing his villainous intentions on his last single, “south”, Tochi Bedford just shared a new song, “L.A”, featuring Zarion Uti. Here, he remains in his spiteful character, reminding listeners of the dangers of doubting his potential; “No You Cannot Ride My Wave/ Cause I Do Not Forget the Day/ That You Left me Out/ But Now Your Boy Got Shit on Lock”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvDRUZzH3ZW/
“L.A” opens with a noise reminiscent of the sound of travel: a windshield wiper struggling across a dry surface, or a reel dragging backwards in slow motion. It could be a play on refreshing the memory of his two-faced fans or a set up for his “Bad Bitch Coming From L.A” bar, but it certainly shows Tochi’s adept understanding of music production. He mixes ambient droning synths samples with 808 machines and hi-hat riffs to form an impressionistic sound as if the instrumentals congeal into a single whole and move with the crawl of a cloud. The lightweight vibe of the beat adds an endearing quality to his cautionary tale, you’d be forgiven for assuming “L.A” is a turnup song.
You can stream Tochi Bedford and Zarion Uti’s “L.A” below.
https://soundcloud.com/soundofbedford/losangeles
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/tochibedford
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Tay Iwar continues to share his highly anticipated ‘Gemini’ album in bits and pieces. Last year saw him release a 3-track EP, ‘1997’, which he explained were songs from his coming album. But it wasn’t till he dropped “How” last week, we got an official lead single for the project as it announced the expected 29th of March release date for ‘Gemini’.
“How” already suggested Tay’s heartbroken intentions, but after hearing “Sidelines”, his latest release also expected to feature on the album, we get a clearer picture of his crushing tale of romance. Here, he returns to his neo-R&B sound for a smoldering song about letting go of an insecure lover. A groovy mix of shuffling drum riffs, synth harmonies, percussion and echoing backing vocals serve as the foundation for his breakup anthem. But with Tay’s typically sweet and composed delivery, his lyrics on “Sidelines”, “Tell Me, Is It So Hard to Communicate/Don’t Have To End This Way” seem affectionately cruel.
While we wait the release of the full-length album scheduled to be released next month, you can stream Tay Iwar’s “Sidelines” below.
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/tayiwar
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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
Asides being one of the biggest flex in the music industry this year, Sarz’s 6-track EP, ‘SINYM (Sarz Is Not Your Mate)’, also highlights the wide range of the prolific producer’s sonic palette. With just the one feature from Dr Alban on “Hello Africa Riddim”, Sarz’s production dictates what direction the project takes, favoring a mix of African harmonies with EDM inspired samples.
The opening track, “Good Morning Riddim” is a hearty song, celebrating the pleasant mood his music inspires. Ifeme C.S. brings that point home in the music video he directs for the song, displaying a collage of people dancing and having a good time as the energetic beat plays in the background. As if to emphasize music’s unifying quality, the same cheerful expression is mirrored across all the different faces that appear in the video; from street kids playing to celebrities like Wizkid, Niniola and Reminisce. By the time Sarz makes an appearance halfway into the video, the sense of kinship he shares with his listeners has already been established before the video moves from the individual cheerfulness to a more festive gathering under the bright lights of a concert.
You can watch the music video for Sarz’s “Good Morning Riddim” below.
Featured Image Credits: YouTube/Only1Sarz
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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
Timmy Knight debuted for 2019 with the release of “Afrofire”, where he featured Boybreed for a romantic serenade. His follow up single, “KPO”, continues right where he left off on his sultry sentiment as he professes his affectionate feelings for a love interest the best way he knows how; singing over a catchy beat set to the lightweight swing of percussive Afropop harmonies.
SynX produces an atmospheric beat for “KPO”, blending ambient synth work and catchy Afropop drums. The resulting chill vibe of the beat inspires a sultry set from Timmy Knight, exploring desires inspired by a great time on the dancefloor; “She Got the Wickedest Whine to My Ringtone/I’m the Baddest She Seen Cause My Thing Long”. Though the sparse songwriting doesn’t offers much description beyond the sensual nature of the relationship, Timmy Knight’s charming and melodic vocals, never betray the fun and ecstatic sentiments of romance within the four corners of the dancefloor.
“KPO” is expected to feature on Timmy Knight’s coming EP, ‘Knight Rising’, expected to be released on the 22nd of March.
You can stream “KPO” below.
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/Iamtimmyknight
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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
In this 3-part special for The NATIVE, Journalist Joey Akan takes you into the intrigue and inner battles that characterised Made Men Music Group (MMMG). Speaking with Ubi, Iyanya, and many other key players, he takes you behind the scenes of how and why MMMG is fractured beyond repair.
The conversations have been edited for clarity.
**Note**: Some real names have been swapped for fake names, in an attempt to protect the safety and wellbeing our sources who agreed to speak to Joey Akan. These names are denoted through italics.
The background
On the evening of Saturday, June 30, 2018, Ubi Franklin walks into his Lekki penthouse bar and lounge, Tilt Terrace. The bar is uncharacteristically full, with young, colourful musicians, drawn from the rank and file of underground hustlers in Lagos crawling the place. They are buzzing, calling for drinks while paying attention to the reason for the gathering; Squeeze Tarela, on stage giving a live music performance.
In Ubi’s company is his personal assistant, Omini Otah, a gymed-up, barrel-chested bro. Barely 30 minutes later, the place is in commotion. Ubi is bleeding with a cut to his face, while four boys drag him downstairs, with brutal blows and kicks interrupting the hurried journey. Bouncers and barmen are stunned, and before they can react, the deed had already been done. Ubi Franklin, a popular Lagos entertainment entrepreneur, father to a son, ex-husband of Actress Lilian Esoro, and the CEO of numerous companies, had been beaten by four young men.
The perpetrators of the violence were led by a musician named Chibbz, a singer who had been unveiled as a MMMG (Made Men Music Group) signing in 2016. “Ubi isn’t the subject I want to discuss,” Chibbz told me with conviction when I reached out to him for his thoughts. “He is dead to me.” Attempts to further contact Chibbz and his management for further comments have been nought, as all parties have since requested privacy on the altercation.
Industry insiders who heard about the attack on Mr. Franklin, say it is no surprise that label boss was assaulted. They say it has been a long time coming – they legitimately sound surprised was that it took so long for it to happen. “That Ubi guy is a very shady person,” says Adeshina, a prominent booking agent and talent manager. “He deserves more than just to chop that beating.”
Deserving of assault or not, Ubi Franklin remembers the night differently. Fractures in his relationship with Chibbz began in 2016 when the singer approached him for a deal to use his record label as a public cover to kickstart his music career. “He told me he wanted to join us, his father was wealthy and he has the cash to pay for his bills and stuff. So I told him no problem, I’ll talk to Iyanya,” Ubi says in a telephone conversation with me. He says Chibbz agreed to a deal where he would pay a N5 million sign-on fee, and use the label’s name for promotion. But that money wasn’t paid in full.
“So he paid 2 million out of the money,” Ubi says. “Iyanya took half of the money, I took half of the money. And then, two years into the game – like almost a year doing music he could not even shoot one video.” Ubi, claiming a strong desire to help out and save the artist, offered him a proper recording contract, which all parties signed after Iyanya’s exit from the label.
“Now, every time you tell him to go for an interview, he tells you he is not around,” Ubi continues. “You’d tell him to go and perform a show, open a show, and he’d tell you he is not around; he has travelled to Owerri, to Aba, he travelled to this place or that place. I shot a video for him o! A very good video shot by AJE. One day I told him, ‘you know I’m a businessman and all this money I am investing is my personal money I’m putting in. I don’t want you to come and be taking my investments for granted. I didn’t hear from him again. One day I got a letter asking that he wants his contract terminated. I just laughed and ignored him.”
Why did they attack him? He says when they walked into his lounge, Tilt Terrace, he approached them and asked them to leave because “once artist does that and you want to leave, go, don’t come around my space.” Ubi continues: “So, he fought me, I have pictures of wounds, I just left him. His sister called me and asked me why are we doing this? She said Chibbz is a kid that I should leave him. I said ‘okay, no problem.’ I just left him, I didn’t say anything to him anymore”
Part 1: The misadventures of Made Men
By pure coincidence, on July 1, 2018, the next day after Chibbz attacked Ubi, I was in a duplex near Jakande, Lagos, sitting in a living room and waiting to meet with a man called ‘Illskills’. Over several weeks, he had tried to reach me via Instagram but we had failed to connect. Two missed appointments later, and a brief conversation with his assistant and we finally meet. He was a tall, lean figure, with a beard, whose first words to me were: “Iyanya is finally ready to talk and I want you to write the story.”
We were later joined by a group of people. Among them, I recognised an old music industry acquaintance, a guy named Demola Bishop. Bishop had worked with a few people in the industry. I first met him in 2014 when he was managing an artist named Zaina. She was signed to R&B singer, Darey Art Alade. Later, he pitched tents with Kiss Daniel, but was released by G-Worldwide after the singer had his breakthrough. Sources tell me that he was a troublemaker, who was fired because he tried to cause a rift in the label. One of his core brags, which he tells anyone who cares to listen, was that he was instrumental in splitting up Kiss Daniel and his ex-record label, G-Worldwide Entertainment. He got his revenge, I guess.
Being experienced, I understand that he had been drafted in by Illskills, who is his close friend for the meeting. Why? As they discuss, I find out that they were setting a plan into motion to release Iyanya from his recording contract with Temple Music, a record label which the singer joined earlier that year. Bishop, a self-proclaimed artist extractor, was to play a supporting role in the plot.
An hour later, an elderly man walked in with a small bag under his arm. Illskills tells me that it is his Uncle, a lawyer, who he had “flown in from London”, to assist with ending Iyanya’s contract with Temple Music.
He also says that Iyanya’s story – which they were about to give me as an exclusive – was to be a key part part of their PR onslaught. That story would paint Ubi bad, shock the world and generate enough controversy to bring Iyanya back to relevance. They would use that momentum to release a project. I was interested. I am a journalist, I was being offered a story. Get that story! So I stuck by them, nodded and got on board.
It’s also important to note that I was offered an undisclosed sum of money to help them execute this plan. They offered to pay me for my journalistic services, which they wanted to co-opt for a fee and use as promotion for Iyanya, while dragging Ubi through the mud. I never demanded, requested or agreed to collect their money for a story. I just wanted to hear all sides of this particularly compelling saga.
We drive to Iyanya’s house somewhere in Lekki, where numerous people have told me was a rental paid for by Temple. There was no car outside. We were ushered into a palatial home, with a butler who served everyone. Iyanya sits, and everyone takes a position around the dining table. We gather and introduce ourselves. As Iyanya begins to talk about his contract, I leave the room.
I go outside, and standing in the drizzle, smoked a cigarette and caught up on music. After an hour, the legal meeting was over. I was ushered back into the room whilst everyone shook hands and laughed. The mood was optimistic. Iyanya sat back smoking something rolled up. It was almost dark outside, I joined the elderly lawyer and his driver in a ride back to the mainland.
Two days later, on Tuesday, July 3, 2018, I was back in the house playing video games with Bishop and Illskills, while we waited for Iyanya. When he showed up, he hugs everyone, and they play us some songs. One of them is his single “No Drama”, which they all agree to be his next single. Another single had Don Jazzy on it. They were all optimistic that a hit was present in their current batch of recordings. Orange juice was shared to take the edge off the loud that we all smoked at the table. Someone offered us food, White rice and chicken stew. We hold off on the food, Iyanya readies himself emotionally and begins to talk.
“See ehn, where do I start?” Iyanya breathed into the quiet room, exhaling a thick cloud of smoke.
The story of Ubi Franklin in the music industry is long and winding, but much of it is connected to the man that stood before me, ex-business partner and pop superstar, Iyanya. The duo were “co-owners” (more on that later) of Made Men Music Group (MMMG), a former powerhouse of the music industry which at some point was home to producer Selebobo, singers Tekno, Iyanya, Baci, and Emma Nyra.
Today, with the exception of Tekno, none of those artists are signed to the record label. Tekno, who is currently one of Africa’s most popular and bankable musicians, isn’t in a 360 deal with Ubi Franklin. He is a product of a joint venture between MMMG and Upfront and Personal Global Management Consultants (UPGMC). UPGMC is owned by Paul Okoye, the entertainment veteran businessman, who is also the founder of One Africa Music Festival.
Ubi Franklin (real name Ubi Ekapong Ofem) was born on February 2, 1986. The artist manager and entrepreneur is the founder of popular music label Made Men Music Group, Triple MG and two businesses, Instant Pickup and Instant Apartment, that provide tech solutions for laundry and real estate businesses.
Ubi made his bones as a manager and partner of Iyanya. In 2014, I was in Victoria Island, Lagos, at a special edition of the weekly concert series, Industry Nite. This edition was dedicated to MMMG, as a celebration and launch of their group album, Evolution. On that night, Iyanya led all artists onstage for various performances. In between joyful choruses and verses from the team, he kept expressing his happiness with the lines, “It was just a dream.”
Ubi echoed his sentiments too, beaming proudly in happiness. His team cut a public figure of a house in array, where music was their business, and each member was an integral part of the team.
4 years later, that night has become a distant memory. Only Ubi Franklin and Tekno still fly the MMMG name, Iyanya had pitched camp with Mavin Records, and later Temple Music. Tekno got half of his business signed over to Paul Okoye of Upfront and Personal, and Emma Nyra is far removed from the picture in France, where she has just given birth to twins. Selebobo has an affiliation with the company but is keen to exit. Baci cried his way out of the house. In their place, the company did become a management home for a new wave of artists including Ellyman, Kizz Daniel (who left almost immediately he joined), Rogerlino and a few others.
Ubi has always been a hustler. He started off as a índustry guy; a slang widely used in the music industry for people with no defined employment status who are present at music gatherings and events. His first major gig was with comedian Julius Agwu, whom he served as a personal assistant. He also had stints working with AY Makun, and a few others, as well as promoting concerts, and getting paid for gigs.
Iyanya on the other hand, was catapulted to fame once he hit the public eye. He began his journey as the winner of the debut edition of the reality TV show, MTN Project Fame West Africa. His victory, the first of its kind in Nigeria, was a watershed moment for the industry. But the euphoria failed to make his debut album succeed. Iyanya dropped My Story, but it was received with apathy from critics and fans alike.
In 2009, he relocated to Lagos from Abuja, and found a sponsor named Kelvin Orifa. Orifa was a top management staff at a telecommunications firm, MTN, and he picked Ubi Franklin as his manager. All the planning and execution of Iyanya’s breakthrough single, happened at this point. After the release and subsequent success of “Kukere” a couple of years down the line, Iyanya and Ubi struck out on their own. Partners, bound by music, the Nigerian dream, and the promise of wealth in the future.
“Iyanya had just enough money for that video,” says Ade, a music industry veteran who was close to Iyanya before his breakthrough. Ade describes how Iyanya spent a night in his house, on the week of the video shoot, fretting over the video and if the song would become another failed attempt to fly. His fears were unfounded. ‘Kukere’ blew. The boy from Project Fame finally had become a star. “If that song had not blown, do you think Ubi would have happened?” Ade asked. We both don’t know the answer.
Ubi and Iyanya struck out on their own to create a partnership and launch the music company, Made Men Music Group. Like all good business partnerships, they defined their roles and responsibilities. Iyanya was the evangelist; the passionate artist who brought business and opportunities into the door with his powerful singing, branding, machismo and chiselled abs. Ubi was the swift executor, with a head for numbers, and a business acumen that bordered on legendary. He was swift, he was cunning, and he got whatever he wanted done. On paper, this looked like a winning team; a fusion of talent and the brains to monetize it. They were a good fit.
The success of “Kukere” ignited a wave. The single was the spark for his sophomore album, “Iyanya VS Desire” which was a hit. It came ready with super singles “Ur Waist”, “Sexy Mama”, “Flavour” and others. It was the pop record designed with a winning formula. Ubi Franklin and Iyanya were the winning kids in the game. They had crossed over from music hopefuls to Made Men. Money was being made.
“Iyanya was generating as much money as Ubi Franklin was ready to spend,” says Jide, a former fringe staff at the company, who left after a fallout with Ubi Franklin. When I asked him how they were able to sign artists and invest in their art, accommodation and cars, he sighed, looked to the sky and shook his head.
“If you see how much Iyanya was making, you would know that there was nothing they couldn’t afford. Iyanya was never in the house. It was one flight to another, one event to another. He was making plenty money.”
Ubi Franklin handled the money, the conversations, the bookings, and many more. He was the one who put things in shape, structured MMMG and signed artists. In football parlance, he played the number 10 role. That’s why the next set of events could happen. That’s why he was able to carry out one of the most heartbreaking scams in music history.
Two years into his contract, Iyanya was at home when a strange number rang his phone once. He didn’t pick up. The caller was relentless, and as the hours progressed, the number of missed calls were amplified. Iyanya refused to pick it up. It was a strange number, and superstars don’t take strange calls. Might be a groupie, might be a conman, might be the father of your ex looking to shoot you for breaking his daughter’s heart. Best not to touch it.
And then the SMS came. The message was short and simple, sent to Iyanya’s phone: “Hello Iyanya, I am trying to save your life. Please, pick your call. It is very important.”
According to a close friend who was in a room with him, Iyanya was disturbed and curious. He had never received a message with this tone and urgency. He pondered over his next steps for a little while. His curiosity won. Iyanya dialled the number.
His world was put on a fast spin.
A male voice told Iyanya to go to Abuja. “I don’t know you, you don’t know me. But I am trying to help you. Go to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and ask for your Made Men Music Group company papers.”
All efforts by Iyanya to find out the owner of the voice and verify the person’s identity proved futile. The caller didn’t want to be known. According to him, he would lose his job if this tip was discovered. He just wanted to help because he liked Iyanya and his music. He was just a well-placed fan, looking out for his idol.
Iyanya obeyed. He flew to Abuja, found a hotel and began processing his papers at CAC. It took two days for it to be ready. When it got delivered to his room. Iyanya broke down in tears.
The papers brought on a very grim reality: Iyanya was never a part of Made Men Music Group. His name was not found in any of those papers, neither was his signature located in those papers. While creating and registering the company, these were not the papers that his lawyers reviewed and got him to sign. Those were forged. In his place, equity for the company was shared between Ubi Franklin and his siblings. Iyanya did not own a piece of his company. He was only an employee and talent signed to the company.
It broke him down and led him to depression. Friends who saw him at this time recall that he was a different person. They said he “moved like his world was ended,” and also stopped all activity and retired to his room, alone. “He just wanted to sleep, eat and stay indoors. He didn’t even want to drink or see any of his female friends,” one explained.
It was a grave betrayal, premeditated and executed by Ubi Franklin. He had dealt Iyanya a wicked hand and had broken the man.
“What made things worse was that Iyanya almost lost his life at the 2012 Dana Air Crash. So if he had died, it would have been all for nothing,” his friend said.
The 2012 Dana Air Crash is a sad event in the recent history of Nigeria. A Lagos-bound Dana Air from Abuja, On Sunday, June 12, 2012, crashed into a two-storey building at Ishaga, at the outskirts of Lagos, killing all 153 passengers.
The aircraft, marked 5N-RAM, disappeared from the radar scope of the Lagos Air Traffic Control after communication from the tower to the pilot in command failed, before it crashed into the residential building on Tolulope Street, in Toyin area of Ishaga.
The General Manager of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, said that the aircraft hit a power line and subsequently crashed into the building which comprised of six flats. The aircraft exploded on impact and razed the building. Iyanya narrowly missed that fight.
“When its not your time.. Its not yours.. it took me 30mins to convince my manager that we should stay back in abuja.. God is great. I don’t think I had an authentic reason to stay back in (Abuja). I just came up (with) an excuse that I (wana) go to the studio in (abuja)….” Iyanya shared on Twitter, on the day of the tragedy.
What happened? According to a member of the crew who was with them in Abuja, Iyanya, Emma Nyra, Selebobo and other members of the MMMG travelling party went to Abuja for a concert. On their way back that Sunday, they were booked to fly on the ill-fated aeroplane. They got too busy and ran late, to ensure that the celebrities got on, the plane was delayed for them because the booking agent wanted a token monetary appreciation gift. But Iyanya was restless. He didn’t want to be on the flight. He had not had enough of Abuja’s finery and fast life. He wanted to spend another night in Nigeria’s capital city.
First he had to convince the team to concede his plan. He argued endlessly on the way to the airport, fighting for them to have another go at the city, for one night. There was resistance. Everyone wanted to get home as fast as possible except Iyanya. And he won, thanks to his position of power within the group. 10 minutes to the airport, the vehicles were turned around on Iyanya’s insistence.
They hadn’t arrived at their hotels when they heard the news. The crew had stopped to buy food at a restaurant. And while eating, everybody’s phone was blowing up. People kept calling to check up on them. Iyanya stood up, as he walked outside, Emma Nyra rushed in, tears streaming down her powdered cheeks and ruining her makeup, as she hugged him and cried. In between sobs, she kept repeating the words: “You saved our lives. I would have died today.”
Iyanya and the team were shaken, but grateful. That would have been the end of the career and lives of Iyanya, Tekno, Emma Nyra, Selebobo, Baci and others. To this day, they are grateful to Iyanya for that.
“If Iyanya had died, Ubi Franklin’s family would have inherited all of his sweat and hardwork,” a former staff said. “You see Ubi, he is very wicked. Far more wicked than you can imagine.”
The reconciliation process was long and winding. But it happened at the home and behest of their mutual Godfather. Ubi had no reason for what he had done. He attributed his criminal actions to the fact that “Iyanya was not very sure about the company.” Their Godfather persisted, reunited all parties, and brokered a peace that involved a rectification of the crime, and also a reinstatement of Iyanya’s equity and entitlement.
“It was a scary time for all of us working at the company,” a former employee said over the phone. “Nobody admitted anything openly, but somehow, someone who knew about that event shared it via gossip, and we all couldn’t believe what just happened. In the end we knew not to trust Ubi.”
From here, the relationship between Ubi and Iyanya changed. The trust from Iyanya had been broken. Friendship was no longer a possibility. It was all business. Prior to this event, Iyanya was inundated with numerous complaints about the business practices of Ubi Franklin. Every week, there was a new story of someone complaining about Ubi, and his allegedly shady ways. Iyanya paid no attention to it. Two people who were a part of their crew at the early stages admitted to Iyanya placing an unhealthy amount of trust with Ubi.
“I remember once when someone came to complain that Ubi had taken money for a show, and Iyanya didn’t show up. When he confronted Ubi, all he got was that ‘these people are making up stories because they are envious of our new success’,” says Iyanya.
Artists who have been under Made Men Music Group till date
Another reason why Iyanya found it hard to believe the numerous accusations was because, the same people laying the complaints, are usually later pictured with Ubi, hanging at celebrity parties and events, and asking for favours. It’s hard to believe people who party with their oppressors.
Things were never the same after that. Iyanya legitimately feared for his life. The label became shaky. Their investors were wary after these numerous stories. The duo appeared as a cohesive unit in public, but when the cameras went off, they were two enemies, installing a number of checks and balances to protect themselves from each other. Paranoia was their common bond. Sources close to the house said the tension was always felt, and they never spoke to each other, or enjoyed any semblance of a relationship. It was all work or nothing.
A source told me how Iyanya was torn on leaving, mainly because he didn’t have the industry network that Ubi Franklin had, and to be honest – business was going well. “He saw how Ubi treated Emma Nyra, and all the moves he made against her, and was biding his time.”
Iyanya was stuck between a rock and a hard place. It was either go to war with one of the strongest figures in the Nigerian music industry, or continue to live out your career looking over your shoulder.
It was time to stick or twist.
The second part of this story featuring Iyanya’s explosive uncut interview will be published 8PM tomorrow 20th of March, 2019
Joey Akan is an award-winning music journalist based in Lagos, Nigeria. He is a public relations consultant and commentator on African music and pop culture.
The last time we saw R2Bees was in their music video for “Yesterday”, where Darkovibes cameos as a presenter on a romantic match-making game-show. For their latest video offering however, Mugeez and Omar Sterling head to the streets to celebrate their passionate hip-hop track, “Site 15”, off their recently album of the same name.
While they brag about their accomplished hustler instincts over the gritty hip-hop beat, the accompanying music video authenticates their street credibility through an affectionate tribute to the Site 15 neighborhood in Tema, Ghana, where they grew up in. David Duncan directs the video, glorifying the tough reality on the street with captivating images of people working out at a makeshift gym, eating local dishes and some mob action to hype up R2Bees while they perform their verses.
You can watch the music video for “Site 15” below.
Featured Image Credits: YouTube/R2Bees Music
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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
Nasty C’s emotionally-driven sophomore album, Strings and Blings, tilted the rapper towards conceptual narratives. To capitalise on his new artistic direction, the rapper has released two videos for “S.M.A (Send Me Away)”, one of the standout heart-tugging tracks on an album.
“SMA” invokes memories of Eminem’s award-winning “Stan”, as Nasty C tells two sides to a story of love seemingly beyond the point of no return. For the double video treatment, the love story is broken into two. Vol. 1 features a couple going through the motions as adults, while Vol.2 sets the story between high school sweethearts who are also experiencing emotional highs and lows
When Strings and Blings first dropped, The NATIVE featured “S.M.A” as best new music, this double video treatment only confirms the validity of that choice.
On paper, it makes sense that the EbonyLife movie, Chief Daddy continues to do as well as it is. It has all the makings of a good movie: totally relatable, fun content made into a salacious comedy-drama by the entertainment industry current faves and veteran actors who still kick ass.
What you’ll quickly find out within minutes of the film, however, is that it doesn’t live up to the talents of its stars and the Osuofia character trope is exactly where it needs to be: in distant, fond memories. We love our movie stars, but there’s only so much a good cast and fine performance can do to salvage insufficient screen time that ultimately plagues ensemble films like Chief Daddy.
Because there is a sharp limit to the quantity of time that one performer can get onscreen, these films rise and fall on the creation of vivid moments and characters being distilled into gestures and inflections. Ultimately, the substance and the style of the individual actors that emerge in alluring flashes throughout the movie is engulfed by a black hole of an overly dramatic framework, a central emptiness that is a built-in problem of an already blase story-line.
When the uber-wealthy Chief Beecroft dies in his home, it’s a devastating blow to his immediate family of four. That is until the troops are rallied by his lawyer and it turns out Chief had a penchant for mistresses and families outside the provisions of his marriage to Joke Silva. In the true colour of a patriarch, he holds his family to ransom even in death by hinging the sharing of his estate on their working together as a unit to plan his funeral, however much disdain and heartbreak they might harbour towards each other. The family grows from two socialite sisters, Funke Akindele and Kate Henshaw who harbour a seething disdain for their stepmother and brother, played by Joke Silva and Falz to include two mistresses: Shaffy Bello and Ini Edo and five extra children.
There’s the heir who has his heads stuck in the clouds imagining a massive payout, the chaos that surrounds seemingly straightforward decisions like picking a theme colour, going through proposed vendors never forgetting the thin line between scoring a bargain and getting your event royally fucked up by an underachieving planner. The film is directed to play to its strengths: the stars and the familiarity of the drama, tugging firmly at the tropes of aesthetics and nostalgia to maintain a super delicate balance that unfortunately doesn’t hold up well as far as cohesiveness is concerned.
Chief Daddy is a kind of funny comedy-drama, almost in ways, Instagram skits are: sometimes its a hit, other times you curiously want your time back. Beverly Osu, Falz’ girlfriend and perhaps the only one who believes in the rapper is one to watch in this movie, her performance is a lot more believable than Linda Ejiofor who is assumed to be the deceased’s youngest mistress.
Chief Daddy‘s first major plothole becomes apparent here. Given the role of Chief Beecroft’s conniving and self-serving sister (Rachael Oniga) who appeared the most conversant with his rolodex of extracurricular activities, It was odd she also didn’t know about his adopted daughter. The film manages to skirt around gaps like this one through it’s run time. An example of this is Shaffy Bello’s own certificate of a customary marriage to a married man: the authenticity of which is confirmed by all persons present including the family lawyer.
Where Chief Daddy really collapses on itself is in the climactic funeral and will reading; as expected the funeral did not go hitch free. As it turns out, a promised payout is not enough to keep a group of people nursing both grief and the heartbreak of being completely blindsided by the deceased’s secrets at the same time. The continued undermining of Mrs Beecroft and the legitimacy of her marriage to Chief Daddy throughout the film sends her over the edge and a fight breaks out at the funeral. No money for anyone right? Only, Chief Beecroft anticipated the meltdown and only arranged it as such to leave his big family with the burden of fostering healthy relationships before pulling the rug from under their feet with the news that his estate couldn’t be split or liquidated at the time.
Chief Daddy is not the film to look to for original storytelling; it’s essentially Yvonne Nelson’s 2013, even more, stellar-ensembled “House of Gold” with a few tweaks. If you’re looking to have a few laughs watching your favourite entertainment stars in really nice outfits, this is the one.
Chief Daddy is a parade of really good actors that has you looking forward to the next faces to pop up on your screen. That coupled with the fact that when it comes to the weird family stuff that surrounds planning a party and splitting inheritance in this part of the world, the film is spot on, will work to keep your interest till the end if you’re a sentimental person.The only caveat is that you don’t expect too much of anything.
Myspace has confirmed the loss of over 50million songs from 14million artists and bands, uploaded to the social networking website between 2003 and 2015. Last year, news of broken music links on surfaced via a technology subreddit thread, but Myspace temporarily allayed fears that all files would be restored, without stipulated time-frame.
In a new statement, the interactive platform now says the files were lost during a server migration process. “As a result of a server migration project, any photos, videos and audio files you uploaded more than three years ago may no longer be available on or from Myspace”, the statement reads. “We apologize for the inconveniences and suggest that you retain your back up copies.”
Created in 2003, Myspace, apart from being one of the earliest social media websites, served as the pre-streaming era platform for artists and bands looking to build a global fanbase, and avid music listeners looking to discover new music. Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen and Sean Kingston are amongst the prominent names who advanced their careers through the platform.
Since the advent and eventual domination of Facebook in 2008, the popularity of Myspace has dwindled. While it’s a miracle that the site still functions, the news of the lost files has been met with criticism from older users, even if it’s for nostalgia sakes. It has also sparked comments on the reliability of digital storage. If anything, this situation is invaluable proof that backing up important files locally is invaluable.
They may not be markers for quality, but generic pop hits are indicators of popular trends in music. As a genre subject to the whims of popular demand, an overwhelming percentage of Afropop tends to mirror the dominating sound.
Usually, the norm is a rampant proliferation of whatever music style, practice, or even artist aesthetic that is garnering the highest appeal.
Just last year, Duncan Mighty made an auspicious re-entry into the mainstream, with “Fake Love” , a collaboration with Wizkid. Within months of the hit, Mighty stacked a host of collaborations with A-list stars effectively becoming the hottest commodity around.
Because music is inadvertently a commodity, the perception of opportunity means financially-buoyant artists, record labels and other gatekeepers, are always on the prowl for bubbling musical trends already turning heads, like investors hungry for profitable innovations. If this sequence seems exploitative, that’s because it is. Unsurprisingly, this voyeuristic tendency for popular trends is also most glaring in the trajectory of Nigerian street music and its firebrands.
The mass concentration speedily moves artists from novel to modish to oversaturated, at which point there’s either normalization or a fade into obscurity. What follows is the pervading desperation for something/someone new to introduce the next predominant thing, so the cycle can be repeated.
In the last days of 2017, the ‘Shaku Shaku’, a dance move involving quick leg and arm movements became a global phenomenon. The dance was accompanied by bonafide street hits like Mr. Real’s “Legbegbe” and Idowest’s “Omo Shepeteri”, which featured Slimcase. Not only did this sudden spotlight throw the more underground street artists into overnight stardom, but the novelty of their sound would also erode in time due to its unmitigated adoption by the mainstream.
At the end of last year, Zanku replaced the Shaku Shaku as the new preferred dance move, thanks to the seismic success of Chinko Ekun’s “Able God”. Zlatan, who had a stand out verse on “Able God”, has since become the newest sensation. In the time since “Able God” became a national hit, Zlatan has dropped verses alongside Davido to Burna Boy and (gentrifier-general), DJ Xclusive.
In the post-internet age of heightened exposure and access, it’s not uncommon that something or someone random becomes the rave of the moment. These days, an inexplicably street-looking group of young boys in a freestyle video, is a recipe for virality. YBNL scooping up Picazo Rhaps, off a video freestyle is perhaps the greatest indicator for why rappers like Lil Frosh, have surfaced and more of them are expected to pop up, till year end.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BuQgNTDgJDL/
While this availability of new choices should be an exciting break from the monotony of Afropop, the mainstream’s penchant for limiting, or even altogether precluding itself of the moral responsibilities owed to what/who is profited off, is a jarring downside.
The increase in omnivorous tastes has broadened Afropop’s scope amongst a wider audience range, but the genre’s cultural value hasn’t elevated past its objectified state. Incoming sounds considered as oven baked and lowbrow especially, are tugged at incessantly, simply for the sake of hits. This treatment effects a serialisation, one that creates a perception that the genre is, more or less the sum of its most economically valuable parts at a point in time.
The domino effect of this vulturing is two-fold. At the local level, originators of temporarily predominant styles face either mainstream inattention or flat out obscurity after brief intense popularity. It is telling for example that Small Doctor’s innovative Fuji-Pop, didn’t push him into pioneer reverence.
On a wider scale, this exploitative trend-adoption culture affords unguarded leeway for specious narratives to be peddled. Narratives are often owned by those who popularize them, especially where none pre-exists in definitive terms. This is why it is important to understand why the oversimplification of African music is dangerous; on one end, the music becomes more accessible to non-Africans, but undefined context behind the music also subjects it to a potential loss of history.
For example, The discord associated with ‘Afrobeats’, the misnomer, propagated in the UK, wraps contemporary African pop music into a neat box, complete with a bow, a conundrum actively aided by the self-styling of Afropop as a revolving door of fads. But when we Africans rob each other of true origin stories behind our music, it would be hypocritical to be surprised when outsiders do the same.
While the Shaku Shaku started on the streets of Lagos, it was accompanied by music brazenly owed to the South African House subgenre, Gqom. This detail, though vivid and of utmost importance, wasn’t widely acknowledged and probably for good reason. In early 2017, Mr. Eazi caught flak online after stating that Ghanaian music has been influential to Nigerian music. While the since-deleted tweet was a little to blunt to escape the ire of prideful Nigerians, his claim is actually backed by proven history that goes all the way to Fela.
It is disingenuous that many wouldn’t accept that cross-pollination is important to Afropop. Genre identification not only signals diversity, but it also offers the opportunity to emphasize the genre’s encompassing range and hybrid capabilities. The broad but definite identity of Latin Pop offers a great example, a genre that spans subgenres from the ubiquitous Reggaeton and Salsa to the lesser known ones like Dembow and Merengue. The recognition of various subgenres explicitly respects that Latin Pop is a nebulous aggregation, thereby owning its narrative in the process.
For Afropop to own its full narrative, it needs to go beyond exploiting its own sounds solely for monetary value and respect the potential for impact and longevity each style has to offer. Charity, as they say, begins at home.
