Mide Michael will go to extreme lengths for love on new single “Pepe”

Posted on by The Native

Not all great love makes you a better person, just ask Shakespeare. Or listen to Mide Michael’s latest single, “Pepe”, nestled between the carefree cheer of a love song and the threat of a diss track to the ops. “The Things That You Do/ Make Me Act a Fool/ When The Guys They See Me For Room/ Them Dey Say You Give Me Juju”, Mide Michael sings over the sparse beat Johnson IP produces. Dressed in sensual tones, his love seems to draw its fire from the underworld and gives a dark spin to us-versus-the-world narrative lovers are so quick to adopt.

Threatening to show anyone who tries to stop his love ‘Pepe’, Mide Michael isn’t looking for redemption or looking to be ushered out of a past life into a purer one. Love is a means and an end in itself—and if it happens to turn you against your friend along the way, so be it.

You can listen to Mide Michael’s “Pepe” below.

Featured Image Credits: Instagram/midemichael1
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ICYMI: Listen to Johnson IP and Psycho YP’s existential musing on “No More”

Mystro and Wizkid’s “Immediately” is your typical nightclub music video

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Off of Mystro’s ‘Sugar’ album debut, “Immediately” featuring Wizkid was released as the standout track for the summer playlist primed project. Fortunately, it’s summer almost all year round in Nigeria, and the video still resonates with the song’s party themes. Directed by Sesan and styled by Jennifer Eleto, the video for “Immediately” is set at a nightclub where Mystro and Wizkid are bath in neon lights and surrounded by pretty models. While the lyrics of song’s chorus, “Immediately She Starts To Feel The Sound/ Immediately, She Begin To Turn Up”, already emphasizes the proficiency of Mystro and Wizkid’s Afropop vocals on dancefloors, the dancing models and cameos from Maleek Berry and Kelechi Anyikude bring that point home.

You can watch the video for “Immediately” below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAuRCMsOMPA&feature=youtu.be

Featured Image Credits: YouTube/Mystro Official
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ICYMI: Mystro’s album debut, ‘Sugar’ has all the right blends of Afropop. Check out the essentials

Cholera outbreak reveals that over 35% of Nigeria’s population has no access to safe water

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The 2016/2017 edition of the National Bureau of Statistics’ Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) states that over 1 in 3 Nigerians have no access to safe water. The study, conducted with support from  Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHDA), the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF also found that only 9.2% of households in the country have constant access to clean drinking water.

This report comes in the wake of a cholera outbreak that slowly spreading across the country. Two weeks ago, Yobe State Ministry of Health declared a cholera outbreak in the state, identifying a total of 989 cases of suspected cholera have been recorded. Earlier this week, Borno State was found to have the same problem after similar casualties hit the state. Of the 3,000 suspected cases in both cities, 97 deaths have occurred.

Poor water supply and hygiene practices were recognized as two pronounced issues in the areas most affected by the epidemic. Worrisome a UNICEF rep says, is how many Nigerians have more mobile phones than toilets. This, along with the reduction of water supply due to global warming, is why there isn’t enough free clean water to go around.

According the the MICS’ breakdown, 90.8 percent of households in the country drink water contaminated by faeces and other impure substances such as Escherichia coli (E.Coli), a bacterial pathogen. This plight has lead to child sickness and deaths from waterborne diseases. According to the MICS report, diarrhea is one of the major causes of child illness and death in Nigeria. It also identifies that 41% of the cases go untreated, increasing the risk of spreading.

A specialist from UNICEF’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) initiative, Drissa Yeo, said: “You can easily get your food and drinking water contaminated even though it is coming from a borehole. This is where E.coli comes in”.

“Diarrhoea is one of the main-killers in the world, today if you get contaminated with cholera, and if you do not receive the appropriate treatment in 24 to 48 hours, you can pass on. Dysentery can give you some time to take care of yourself but not cholera”, He emphasized.

He recommended that people should purify their water, adding that whether a community has borehole or not, with open defecation, handmade wells are not protected because they are prone to external contamination and therefore do not qualify as safe drinking water.

Diseases aren’t the only issues tied with poor water supply. UNICEF identifies inadequate sanitation as a challenge on food security, livelihood choices and educational opportunities around the world. Especially in the rural areas where many children in spend hours daily searching for water, and missing out on school.

Featured Image Credit: Web/weflex

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 These kids in Rivers State are being taught to code for free amidst soot blanket

Essentials: ‘Honey’ by Tau Benah

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A 4-track EP gives you the feel of a man who doesn’t want to say too much, but with Tau Benah such expectations never add up. Honey, his latest EP wraps up just under fifteen minutes, but the themes that surface across the project only need a couple replays to stick.

Opener “Honey” features a verse from Stanley GTK, who slips into an electrified bass baseline. Though the R&B inspirations for the track are obvious, “Honey” plays like it was intentionally slowed down to be a step ahead of listeners expecting a funkier turn around whenever Benah breaks into chorus. The tack exceedingly pays off when synths are replaced with guitars on “Honey 2.0” where the titular track is transformed into pure soul music. Elsewhere on “Honey”, Tau Benah shows off the multitude of his influences on “Calls”, the most creative hip-hop fused track on the project.

Honey concludes right where it started and there’s no surprise there. After last year’s debut G.G.Y, where even a notoriously pop singer like Davido had to work in a world where Tau Benah controlled all the outcomes, you get the sense of an artist who will only indulge in guilty-pleasures if it advances his agenda. With a sensual central theme and tracks like, “Smoking Indoors”, a tribute to ‘the stoner blues’ and the project’s cover art, Honey, may in fact, be Tau Benah’s guiltiest pleasure yet.

Stream Honey via Apple Music below:

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Essentials: M.I’S ‘YXNG DXNZL: A STUDY ON SELF WORTH’

Major Lazer releases video for “Tied Up” ft Mr. Eazi and Raye: Watch

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Since Major Lazer released their Afrobeats mixtape two weeks ago, they have wasted no time to follow up with promotional music videos. The video for the 10th track on the mix with Burnaboy, “All My Life” was released just about the same time the mixtape was released. The 17th track, “Tied Up” featuring Mr. Eazi and Raye, who is part Ghanaian, now has a music video for public viewing. “Tied Up” is a brief mix of Caribbean, pop and Afropop influences, the accompanying music video is not far far fetched from the culture of the three influences. Mr. Eazi and Raye head to the native country, with shots of dancers and bikers doing extreme sports on the streets of Ghana.

While the production trio are set to perform in Lagos on the 5th of October (next week Friday) for a tour at Hard Rock beach, be sure to keep yourself up to date with Major Lazer’s catalogue just before then, by clicking play below.

Featured Image Credit: 

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ICYMI: Best New Music: Major Lazer and Burna Boy’s “All My Life” brings on a vibe for a lifetime

Mannywellz teams up with Adekunle Gold for “Yeoo”: Listen

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US-based Nigerian singer, Mannywellz has teamed up with Nigerian singer, Adekunle gold for the remix of “Yeoo” off his recent EP, Soulfro. Just as the title implies, Soulfro is a compilation of synths, guitars and keyboard instrumentals that play out in different variations over 7-tracks, where Mannywellz expresses an array of emotions ranging from the desire for love to a desire for an honest living in a mix of English and Yoruba.

On the original “Yeoo”, Mannywellz sings of a desire for the freedom that peace and love affords a man. He ponders on the lengths people go to for money, reaching an understanding that happiness is beyond material possessions. The additional vocals from Adekunle Gold on the remix of “Yeoo” echo Mannywellz’ original sentiment, he sings “Where Do We Find Love”, after  Mannywellz, conveying in his lyrics that those things we believe will buy happiness, ultimately do not. The remix is set on fast-tempo drums and electric guitars, switching the track up from a head shake music to a dancefloor bop.

Listen to Mannywellz and Adekunle Gold on “Yeoo”

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Watch Adekunle Gold and Seyi Shay on the video for “Damn, Delilah”

See Efya and Mr Eazi in the video for “Maame”

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“Maame” Efya’s highlife-tinged pop single with Mr. Eazi, which was released in April, is the duo’s sequel to their 2015 love ballad, “Skintight”. Like the 2015 track, the duo take to expressing their feelings over drum loops and percussion beats produced by MOG Beatz. This time however, Efya takes the narrative of a tough lover only willing to give what she’s receiving, taking a page from the chorus of Busta Rhymes and Mariah Carey’s 2002 collaboration–“If you give it to me, I give it to you”, while Mr. Eazi offers convincing promises about love and dedication. For the “Maame” music video, Xbills Ebenezer directs colorful, dark scenes that show Efya and Mr. Eazi dancing in florescent-lit rooms and on a backdrop of dark skies, performing their lines solo, together and with the support of dancers in various scenes

Watch the video for “Maame” here:

Featured Image Credit: Youtube/Efyavevo

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See R2Bees and Efya in “Could This Be Love” music video

There will be no registration fee for Miss Nigeria 2018 pageant

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Folio Communications Plc, organisers of Miss Nigeria, announced in a statement earlier this week, that registration for the pageant is now free for all participants. Bonaventure Melah, the media adviser for Folio Communications, said that this decision is the organisation’s attempt at ensuring all economic classes in Nigeria are included and represented in the national beauty competition.

Until now, one of the prerequisites for the annually held competition was a fee of N 5,000, which Melah identifies as a barrier for young Nigerian women; “Young women, especially from rural communities may not be able to pay even N500 to participate in the contest”, he stated. “The management therefore decided to abolish payment of entry fees from this year’s edition so that many more doors and window of opportunities are opened for everyone that has confidence in their selves to dare”.

Melah also hinted at a development of new selection criteria in the absence of the fee. Which Ezinne Akudo, 2013 Miss Nigeria who was recently appointed the creative director of the pageant, echoed in her statement “We are committed to finding a young lady who defies the stereotypical perception of beauty queens as just superficial”

The competition is open to young ladies within the 18-25 age whose values “align excellently with the organisation’s mission to empower women beyond beauty”. The competition will be selecting values that align in 5 areas: education, environmental sustainability, arts & culture, health, financial management and technology.

The winner of the pageant will be awarded N3 million, a luxury apartment and a car. Call for entry starts September 26 and will end October 14. Melah assures that “any qualified young Nigerian woman is free to take advantage of [the] new policies and register through the appropriate platforms”. To register, interested contestants are expected to visit MissNigeria.ng.

Featured Image Credit: Instagram/missnigeriaorg
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Nigeria’s anti-trafficking agency launches “iReport” app to give awareness

Nnedi Okorafor will launch Sci-fi Comic Series “LaGuardia” in December

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In July 2017, we wrote that Okorafor’s Who Fears Death, will be adapted into an HBO Series, produced by Game of Thrones creator George RR Martin, who Okorafor attended the Emmys with last week Monday. While that book has steadily been behind the scene for production works, Nnedi has been in the media rounds for her other books, including the final issue of her fascinating Dora Milaje spin-off, which she released just last month.

Now, Nnedi Okorafor has announced another original comic series, LaGuardia; the first in the series is set to be in shops on December 5th. She announced this on her twitter, briefly describing the premise of the new project, LaGuardia: “It’s about African and alien immigrants in a Brooklyn apartment building called New Hope”.

As she states, the new sci-fi project is set in the same universe as her previous work, Binti. Through the link she shared to BleedingCool.com, other details are seen, including the project’s illustrators, Tana Ford and James Devlin, and thanks to Dark Horse Comics, a brief summary of the work is also written on the site.

LaGuardia is “a very modern story of immigration”, which is set in an alternative world where aliens have come to earth and integrated with society. “It revolves around a pregnant Nigerian-American doctor, Future Nwafor Chukwuebuka who has just returned to NYC under mysterious conditions. After smuggling an illegal alien plant named “Letme Live” through LaGuardia International and Interstellar Airport’s customs and security, she arrives at her grandmother’s tenement, the New Hope Apartments in the South Bronx. There, she and Letme become part of a growing population of mostly African and shape-shifting alien immigrants, battling against interrogation, discrimination and travel bans, as they try to make it in a new land. But, as the birth of her child nears, Future begins to change”.

A major question the novel seeks to unravel is, “what dark secret is [Future] hiding?”

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ICYMI: Nnedi Okorafor’s “Who fears Death” gets the greenlight from Game Of Thrones Creators

Watch Zoro and Mr Real on the streets of Onitsha for “Upandan”

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Zoro’s fire dance track with Mr Real, which was released a month ago, is only one of the latest adaptations of Nigerian street-hop held together with a synth percussion and drum loops, worked by T spize. For the video, the two artists Owoh Chimaobi (Zoro) and Uchenna Okafor (Mr Real), enlist Promise Charles to direct it on the the streets of Onitsha and he does so fittingly. Unsurprisingly, like any viral street hit we’ve encountered —from Junior Boy’s “Irapada”, Small Doctor’s “Penalty”, Mr Real’s “Legbegbe”, to Olamide’s “Wo”— the video for “Ugandan” captures Zoro and Mr Real surrounded by the vibrant spirits of people dancing energetically to the track on the streets.

Watch Zoro’s “Ugandan” featuring Mr Real below.

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ICYMI: Hear Zoro’s Tribute to Bianca Ojukwu on ‘Bianca’

Watch Juls, Kwesi Arthur and Akan in the beautiful Ghanaian video for “Saa Ara”

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While Juls is currently working on a major jam with Wande Coal and Davido, which the two artistes have teased on their Instagram accounts, the award winning Ghanaian producer has released the music video to his song, “Saa Ara”.

Upon release last month, “Saa Ara” immediately sounded like a beautiful tribute to Ghana, and Africa at large. It’s no surprise that when he premiered the video for the track today on OkayAfrica, Juls explained that “Saa Ara”, translates to “We working hard to make it, despite all the obstacles that come our way” and he needed the video to be as traditional and iconic as possible.

So like the vintage highlife track, the video for “Saa Ara” exhibits the culture of Ghana through Babs Direction, who takes us into the beautiful landscape of the country, from the coastline to Elmina Castle (the oldest European building south of the Sahara Desert) which was built by the Portuguese in 1482. The setting of the video couldn’t have been any better. It proceeds to show us the young unassuming people of Ghana on the streets of their country. While Kwesi Arthur and Akan sing their verses, producer Juls is continuously present as an onlooker.

You can watch Juls’ video for “Saa Ara” featuring Kwesi Arthur and Akan below.

Featured Image Credit: Instagram/Julsbaby

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ICYMI: Watch Juls’  “Normal” featuring Kojey Radical

Nigeria’s D’Tigress secures first win at 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup

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The 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup began on Saturday, the 22nd of September at Tenerife in Spain. After losing their opening game against Australia 86-68, Nigeria’s D’Tigress team recorded a landmark victory in their second game, defeating Turkey 74-68 to become the first African team to record a win in the group stage of the competition. Since making their debut at the tournament in 2006, this is only the second time the Nigerian team has qualified for the Women’s Basketball World Cup.

With their first victory in the bag, the now reigning African champions have set the ball rolling to make even more landmark statements as they take on Argentina today. A win against Argentina will guarantee that the D’Tigress will qualify for the next round of the competition and set yet another record as the first African team to make it to the round of 16 stage of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.

Featured Image Credits: Twitter/nigeriabasket
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ICYMI: Victor Oladipo shares interesting retirement plans after OKC Thunder

Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s highest selling artwork is a 2017 piece valued at $3.4 million

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Los Angeles based Nigerian visual artist, Njideka Akunyili Crosby has a 2017 botanical painting, titled “Bush Babies”, which recently sold for $3.4 million USD —her highest sale yet. The painting was initially valued at $80,000 by Sotheby, a New York Based art dealership reported to have sold the painting. The sale, albeit unexpected, reflects the spike in the value of Akunyili Crosby’s paintings, which she says she has witnessed of late.

Like many of her paintings,  Akunyili Crosby’s “Bush Babies” was inspired by her heritage, and draws from her own experiences as a Nigerian woman living in America for work. Born in Enugu to J.C. Akunyili and the late Ms. Dora Akunyili —who was the Director General of NAFDAC until she passed away in 2016—  Akunyili Crosby, now 35, moved to the United States at 16 and has since studied variations of art.

Her work has been described by Victoria Miro Gallery in London as “densely layered figurative compositions that, precise in style, nonetheless conjure the complexity of contemporary experience”. The gallery also noted how the combination of lives she lived in Nigeria and the US manifest in her art, stating that the two lives produce “a hybrid identity that is reflected in her work”. 

Akunyili Crosby says that as recent as three years ago, her paintings sold for an average of $3000. But the value of her work steadily began to rise after her 2010 painting titled “I Refuse To  Be Invisible”, sold at $5,000 at an auction. “I Refuse To  Be Invisible” is a painting of her dancing with her husband, Justin Crosby.  Shortly after, three of her works sold for $8,000 each at an auction in Fredericks & Freiser gallery in New York.

However, Wall Street Journal reports are worrying. Writing for the publication, Kelly Crow reports that in an attempt to keep her prices from swirling out of control due to auction sales, Njideka Akunyili Crosby has sought to gather careful records about who owns her works and has even gotten into a legal dispute with one of her galleries. “My friends tell me I should just be happy my works are selling, and I am” Crosby said in the interview, “It’s scary how vulnerable I still feel”.

Featured Image Credit: Web/Njidekaakunyili.com

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 ICYMI: Ben Enwonwu’s “Tutu” painting sets new record for auctioning at over £1,000,000

Eugy and Kwesi Arthur team up for a new hustler’s anthem, “Pray In The Morning”

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Eugy’s eclecticism, switching between melodic Afropop and the more provocative lyricism of hip-hop has allowed his music achieve a galactic variety. From churning up Ghanaian high-life influenced dancehall songs to downbeat UK grime releases, he retains an enthusiastic poise that makes sense across genres. On his latest single, “Pray In The Morning” featuring Ghanaian rapper Kwesi Arthur, he marries his delicate inner-thoughts with a materialistic swagger. But it’s his confessional rap verse, narrating his presumed ‘started from the bottom’ story in London, that turns “Pray In The Morning” into an inspirational hustlers anthem. Over the high-hat drum riffs and ambient synth harmonies Team Salut produces, Kwesi Arthur also contributes a few rap bars in his indigenous Ghanaian dialect while Eugy’s takes the hook, highlighting the desired result of hustling; “Balling, Balling, Count The Money Up, No Stalling”.

You can stream Eugy and Kwesi Arthur’s “Pray In The Morning” below.

https://soundcloud.com/samuel-budu/eugy-ft-kwesi-arthur-pray-in-the-morning

Featured Image Credits: Instagram/eugyofficial
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ICYMI: See Eugy and YCee in their music video for “Say Bye Bye”

Gbenga Akinnagbe set to play boxer, George Lee Martin in biopic

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American-Nigerian actor, Gbenga Akinnagbe has been cast to star as boxer, George Lee Martin in the Angela Shelton-directed indie movie, “Heart Baby”, about the boxer’s life.

The film tells the true story of Martin, who at 18, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for armed robbery in Tennessee and became known in the prison system as the unbeatable boxer, nicknamed “The Hammer”. What he is famously known for however is turning down an opportunity to fight for Team USA in exchange for his freedom. Akinnagbe is joined by Jackson Rathbone, who plays an inmate, “Doc”, a musician who becomes Martin’s best friend and spotter in prison.

The trailer follows Martin’s life as he rises to champion status. It also shows  growth in the strength of his relationships as the often manipulative law enforcement agents present their consideration. It begins in a dark room in the prison, where Martin, in his boxing gear, fights a fellow inmate, knocking him down within minutes. His protective best friend, Doc, acts as an ally, often confronting people that Martin is too conflicted to face.

Watch the trailer for “Heart, Baby!” here

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 Harriet Tubman biopic starring Cynthia Erivo sets production date

Ego Nwodim Joins cast of 44th season of Saturday Night Live

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Saturday Night Live (SNL), the NBC comedy series that earned  Kenan Thompson his first Primetime Emmy award this year, for his performance in the previous season, is set to start its 44th season next weekend. In preparation for the forthcoming season, the show has shuffled a few regulars around; Last month, executives announced that Luke Null won’t be returning for the next season. Earlier this week, they announced that he will be replaced by comedian and actress, Ego Nwodim.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BoA9bygA_OJ/?hl=en&taken-by=eggyboom

S.N.L has constantly been under heavy scrutiny for diversity issues since since 2013, when Kenan Thompson implied that the show’s reluctance towards black female comedians was due to the difficulty finding black women who were “ready” to join SNL’s barely racially diverse casting. The controversy that followed forced the show to sign two black women —Sasheer Zamata and Leslie Jones— in the same year. Though Zamata left the show last year, Jones still remains.

Nwodum, who recently perfromed a one-woman show titled Great Black Women . . . and Then There’s Me to a sold-out audience at the UCB Theatre, will join Jones on  SNL from the 29th of September 2018.

Featured Image Credit: Instagram/Egoboom

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 Deborah Ayorinde has been added to the cast of Harriet Tubman biopic

See the video for Kida Kudz and Geko’s new single, “Again”

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After collaborating on “Issa Vibe Remix”, which also featured Burna Boy, Kida Kudz and UK Afropop singer, Geko, are teaming up for the second time this year. This time, Kida Kudz features Geko on “Again”, where they both sing a tribute to partying. The mid-tempo beat S.O.S produces sets the mood with sweeping synth instrumentals, catchy drum riffs and percussion samples that add a bounce to the drums.

Kida Kudz in a press release was quoted saying; “When SOS played me the instrumental, I just pictured myself in an empty club with my headphones on, by myself dancing, with the most random dance moves. Weird, I know, but when I make music, I feel free and I want people to feel free and express their selves in any way they want when listening to me.” And that’s exactly what “Again” listens like with lyrics expressing sentiments that one would expect from a night out at a club; “DJ Bring It Back Again? Put It On Repeat Again”. The video KC Locke directs highlights the club inclined direction of the song with purple lighting and pretty models smoking and performing with Kida Kudz and Geko.

You can stream the music video for Kida Kudz and Geko’s “Again” below.

Featured Image Credits: YouTube/GRM Daily
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ICYMI: Listen to Kida Kudz, Burna Boy and Geko on “Issa Vibe Remix”

Hear Shizzi and Ceeza Milli’s new party anthem, “Wasted”

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With a title like “Wasted”, you’re inclined to instantly file Shizzi and Ceeza Milli’s new single into an Afropop party playlist. The catchy beat Shizzi produces, laying bouncy drum riffs over a sultry mix of guitar harmonies, percussion, synths and a familiar flute sample sets the party mood as he masterfully uses horns and DJ scratch effects to conjure club scenes. But while Ceeza Milli’s vocals also emphasize the partying plot of the song —“Can’t You See I’m Wasted? All of My Guys Don Mesebu”— his introspective lyrics expand the narrative to include some cocky brags that are striking enough to be inspirational for hustlers.

You can stream Shizzi and Ceeza Milli’s “Wasted” below.

Featured Image Credits: Instagram/iamshizzi
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ICYMI: See the video for Tiwa Savage and Duncan Mighty’s “Lova Lova” here

Nasty C has a new video, “King” with A$AP Ferg: Watch

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In the lead up to Nasty C’s Ivyson tour of five states in South-Africa, the young rapper has released a new video with A$AP Ferg, “King”. On it, the two rappers deliver lines that literally ask people who are not in their league to shut up and mind their business. In the video that Meji Alabi directs, he kicks off with an establishing shot of Contract Packers, indicating that they are in New York City before a medium shot of Nasty C is shown posing in front of a black Mercedes-Benz. As soon as Nasty C feigns a smile with his solid gold grills, the song kicks off and the video accelerates in tune with the pace of the rappers’ bars. The video becomes more exciting as it progresses with Nasty C and  A$AP Ferg amidst an entourage. As a whole, their performance is delightful and confounding in the best possible way.

Check out Nasty C’s “King” featuring A$AP Ferg below.

Featured Image Credit: Youtube/Nasty_C “King”
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ICYMI, Best New Music: Broken hearts don’t heal on Nasty C’s “Send Me Away”

Jameson Connects Lagos with Boj and Seun Kuti for Independence Day Concert

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Jameson is inviting Nigerians and Lagos City dwellers to the Independence Day celebration on the 1st of October. In line with the patriotic theme, the event will be held at the Afrika Shrine in Ikeja, Lagos for its significance in the history of the country. The event will begin at 3pm, with food vendors, games,  body painting, Jameson’s pop-up baebershop, and cocktail bars. It will continue into a concert where Boj and Seun Kuti will grace the historic Fela Kuti stage before ending at 10pm.

Tickets are available for N1,500 at nairabox.com, and will include a complimentary Jameson Whiskey cocktail.

 


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Best New Music: Seun Kuti’s “Last Revolutionary” channels rebellion through Afrobeat

Deborah Ayorinde has been added to the cast of Harriet Tubman biopic

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The production team of Harriet, has added Nigerian-American actress Deborah Ayorinde (Girls Trip star) to the cast of the autobiographical film, which also stars British-Ghanian actress, Cynthia Erivo. Harriet is centred on the life and times of freedom fighter and abolitionist, Harriet Tubman.

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Ayorinde, who appeared in season one of Netflix series, Luke Cage and is also set to appear in the forthcoming third season of True Detective, will be joined by Vanessa Bell Calloway, Zackary Momoh, Vondie Curtis-Hall on Harriet. This adds to the original cast of the biopic, which includes Leslie Odom Jr., Joe Alwyn, Jennifer Nettles, and Clarke Peters.

Harriet follows Tubman on her escape from slavery and subsequent missions to visit slaves through the Underground Railroad in the face of growing pre-Civil War adversity.

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 Harriet Tubman biopic starring Cynthia Erivo sets production date