Watch Amaa Rae submerged in “Fluid” music video

Posted on by The Native

Amaa Rae released the video for “Fluid”, one of the 6 tracks on her ‘Passionfruit Summer’ project debut. The song and the video stand out from the rest of the atmospheric R&B project because it deals with her sexuality outside of penning love songs.

Amaa Rae’s soothing and sensual vocals can always be relied on to set intimate moods, but “Fluid” is her most pointedly political one. Her lyrics, “I’m Feeling So/ Fluid/ Baby Let Go/ You Can Do It”, listens like the most convincing pro-self anthem as she sings over the atmospheric synth-pop instrumental by MikeMillzOnEM. The record is PFS‘s most colourful moment and the video relays that in one scene with cuts showing a bathtub as the water changes colour from pink, blue and white. Amaa Rae is within it all, bright and sweet as the flowers that capture the flow of emotions.

Watch the video for Amaa Rae’s “Fluid” below.

Featured Image Credits: YouTube/Amaa Rae

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ICYMI: Check out all the essentials from Amaa Rae’s project debut, ‘Passionfruit Summer’

Cynthia Erivo breaks into hollywood with “Widows” and “Bad Times at El Royale”

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British-Nigerian actress Cynthia Erivo is a model example of the power of positivity. “I tend to say them out loud because I think that’s important, then see what happens”, she said in an interview with Healthish. “The things that I want to happen always happen in the most unexpected ways, so I just go with it”. Well so far, Cynthia Erivo has been in a handful of theatre plays including Color Purple, which earned her nine award nominations between 2013 and 2017 [6 of which she won].

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhKSNr1HYPw/?hl=en&taken-by=cynthiaerivo

Between Emmy and Grammy and Tony award speeches, the singer-slash-actress has also featured briefly in a number of British TV series. Erivo adds movies to her list of things shes clearly great at with the release of two crime trailers motion picture trailers she stars in: Widows, to be released in November; and Bad Times at the El Royale expected in October this year

The more first of the two Widows is based on a British TV series of the same name. Like the TV show, the  Steve McQueen-directed film follows a group of women [Led by Viola Davis] who continue a bank heist their husbands were killed trying to pull off while under pressure of police and rival gangs.

Bad Times at the El Royale, on the other hand, is a horror thriller that follows seven characters, all with a secret to bury – cult leader (played by Chris Hemsworth), a priest ( played by Jeff Bridges), a singer (Cynthia Erivo), a salesman (Jon Hamm), a concierge (Lewis Pullman) and two criminals (Dakota Johnson and Cailee Spaeny) – meet at Lake Tahoe’s El Royale, a rundown hotel that also has a mysterious past, and things get real.

Watch the trailer here:

Cynthia Erivo is also to star in a biopic based on the life of Harriet Tubman. She will also appear in Chaos Walking starring Tom Holland, Daisy Ridleandad others, based off the first of Patrick Ness’ science fiction trilogy of the same name. There is no release date for the former, but Chaos Walking is set to be released in March next year.

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Best New Music: Return home with Fatoumata Diawara’s “Mama”

The video for Prettyboy D-O’s “Chop Elbow” brings 90s nostalgia

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The pleasure of listening to music comes in different assorted flavours, and one of them is nostalgia. This is the craving Prettyboy D-O’s “Chop Elbow” video satisfies. The track’s subdued Afro-Caribbean influenced harmonies may have hinted at a retro aesthetic—it listens like a sample from vintage Bollywood clips—but the music video certifies there’s no mistake about it.

San Visuals shots a video that takes viewers back to a time when Nigerian media was still experimenting heavily with greenroom technology and Ramsey Nouah was a face punching, ball squashing badass on our home video screens. As if Prettyboy D-O’s politically charged “Chop Elbow” wasn’t enough to revive memories of equally geared throwback hits from artists like African China, the dancers, flawed greenroom effects and cuts from news channels portray the full extent of D-O’s socio-conscious message and its pleasant marriage to nostalgia.

PrettyBoy D-O delivers the song against a backdrop of the chaotic society we live, alluding to the SARS problem with shots of a dancing traffic warden. It’s a precise euphemism as the playful song addresses the daunting—and occasionally life-threatening—struggles of being a youth in Nigeria. With the national elections lurking in the horizon, “Chop Elbow” is a timely release to shake youths apathy.

Watch the video for “Chop Elbow” below.

Featured Image Credits: YouTube/PLUGG Media

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ICYMI: Read Prettyboy D-O’s feature on NATIVE 11 here

Listen to Lady Donli’s lush new single, “Games” featuring GJTheCaesar

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Timing is everything in music, purposeful collaborations come next. After the release of Letters to K earlier this year, Lady Donli’s Freedom Park live in concert and innovative living room tour culminated the campaign that followed the intimate project that inspired it. These days, the singer is rumoured to be setting up a band with Mr Eazi who recently inked a deal with Colombia Records UK, and while fans await what will come of that collaboration, her first single of the year, “Games”, is here just in time for the summer.

Sonically, Lady Donli’s has made a lot of cerebral shifts over the past couple of months. Blended with electronics and ambient synths, “Games”, is the epitome of the kind of the soulful music style Lady Donli has been silently unpacking into her own genre-defining element. Laced with her airy vocals about giving up the losing games of love, “Games” sweetly sits atop the line between heartfelt soul and good dance music.

Stream Lady Donli’s “Games”

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The Shuffle: Between Sinzu, “Carolina” and a phone call with Davido

Listen to Lily Allen and Burna Boy on “Your Choice”

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Before the release of his Outside earlier this year, Burna Boy released “Heaven’s Gate” featuring Lily Allen as the lead single which. And from watching the video, Lily’s telling half-smile in the video combined with Burna Boy’s pensive and assertive lyrics confirms a soul bond Burna himself has reiterated, before.

Shortly after the release of “Heaven’s Gate” song, Lily Allen announced that her own album No Shame. The recently released album features 14 cheekily and unapologetically honest pop songs, one of which is “Your Choice” featuring Burna Boy.

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

“I’m not Gonna lie but this might be dying”, Lily Allen sings, Over the pop-dancehall fusion beat produced by Pro2Jay. She sings to a man who seems to have gotten the terms of their relationship mixed up. He’s “Crying everytime” she gets a text from other people, which is surprising to her because as she sings “I’ve always said no man can own me”. She doesn’t necessarily want him to leave, but she’s cool with it “If you really wanna go that’s fine/That’s Your Choice Not Mine”. The beat picks up organically as Burna Boy takes the position of the responding lover trying make sense of the relationship. But again, she makes it clear what the dynamic is “I’m yours for the night”

Listen to Lily Allen’s “Your Choice” here:

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Watch Burna Boy in his video for “Devil in California”, off his ‘Outside’ album

Watch A$AP Rocky and Skepta in their video for “Praise The Lord (Da Shine)”

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Last year’s “Ghost Ride” with A$AP Nast made it impossible to have ruled out having Skepta on an A$AP Rocky track, it was more of a question about when it would come. Thankfully, fans didn’t have to wait too long with the release of A$AP’s long-awaited third-studio record Testing featuring “Praise The Lord”, a chemical combination of Rocky’s Harlem style and Skepta’s coldest flow yet.

A$AP Rocky just released the video for “Praise The Lord (Da Shine)”. The video follows both rappers in a split screen view of their hometowns, New York and London. The charismatic energetic of the record is displayed in the erratic nature of the video, done in vaguely psychedelic filter frames where the scenery refracts and wobbles around them.

Watch A$AP Rocky and Skepta in the video for “Praise The Lord (Da Shine)” below.

Featured Image Credits: YouTube/ASAPROCKYUPTOWN

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ICYMI: Listen to “King”, Nasty C’s new single featuring A$AP Ferg

Best New Music: Return home with Fatoumata Diawara’s “Mama”

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Of all the odd shuffles that kept on popping up on replay at the NATIVE’s office last year, Fatoumata Diawara’s 2011 album, Fatou was the most loved. Born in Cote d Ivoire to Malian parents, Fatoumata’s profile in film and theatre provides some context for a climatic storytelling style but nothing substitutes for her compelling silky smooth vocals. After years of acting across Francophone Africa and France and performing with greats like Oumou Sangare and AfroCubism, Fatou picked up the guitar somewhere along the way and started writing her own songs.

Unlike Fatoumata’s intimate genre-mashing debut Fatou, Fenfo, her latest sophomore project is directed at where her heart will always be: home. Fenfo is Fatoumata singing against beliefs that prevent intermarriage on “Kanou Dan Yen”, emphasising the dark skin and honour for black heritage on “Kokoro”, and laying vocals on Vincent Segal’s beautiful cello baseline for “Don Do”, a haunting track about unrequited love.

Across 11-tracks—no more, no less—Fatoumata delivers a perfect album that peaks at the Afrobeat-infused dance number, “Negue Negue” before segueing into a somber second half, starting with seventh track, “Mama”. “Mama” is only lightly dabbed with a touch of synths, allowing the acoustics from her band, serve as the bedrock for lyrics praising her mother in an endearingly daughterly way that invokes Asa’s similarly-themed “So Beautiful”. There is even a casual shoutout to her dad: Baba yo, Baba yo my only Baba

It’s a sharp contrast from “Willie” a rebellious stand-out off Fatou, where Fatoumata sings of a young woman who was labelled “stubborn girl” because she refused to be forced into early marriage, and chose to run away instead. The story is very much like Fatou’s own life, as a young woman who found solace in theatre to escape a being forced into an arranged marriage. In a way “Mama” feels like a do-over for some of the choices, the same girl in “Willie” may have made on her journey. Going against odds of norms deeply intertwined with family will leave everyone involved with a lot to say if the wounds are to ever heal. Thankfully, Fatoumata presets the mood with “Mama”, as guitars melt the whole arrangement into an emotional mind warp.

Stream “Mama” via Apple Music below:

Image credits: Guardian UK/ Aida Muluneh

Toye is the Team lead at Native Nigeria. Tweet at him @ToyeSokunbi

The Shuffle: Between Sinzu, “Carolina” and a phone call with Davido

Listen to “N.W.A”, a new single by Phyno featuring Wale

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Since Phyno’s feature as a cameo in the recently released video for Wale’s “Staying Power”, many speculated whether Phyno and Wale were working together on a single or even a project. Phyno’s new single, “N.W.A”, confirms they have indeed been working on releasing new music together and with the synergy shared on the vain new single, they keep the hopes of a joint project alive.

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

While Phyno is comfortable singing about his acclaim and his grass to grace story, Wale spits boastful bars bragging about everything from his chain to his Yoruba genes. Their lyrics stands as a sharp contrast to the mellow piano-led beat IamBeat produces, but the combination authenticates their brags by infusing an air of seriousness.

Listen to Phyno and Wale’s “N.W.A” below.

Featured Image Credits: Instagram/phynofino

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ICYMI: Listen to Wale’s energetic single, “Staying Power”

YCee teams up with Joyner Lucas for “Juice” Remix

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There was a time in 2017 when it was nearly impossible to be anywhere for more than five minutes and not hear YCee’s “Juice”. You can probably hear it in your head even now: the catchy drum riff, YCee’s coy and sugary vocals, delivering that euphoric hook, “Too Much Juice, Too Much Sauce”. Despite the foray of hits single that punctuated the year, there was no denying its impact and ubiquity.

While we wait on the dust to settle on the rush of new Afropop releases this year, YCee is reviving last year’s summer hit, “Juice”, with a remix featuring American rapper, Joyner Lucas. Joyner Lucas takes the first verse as he tries to impress a love interest before he switches to a more melodic vocal performance that mirrors YCee’s penchant for mixing his rapping with singing. YCee also adds a new verse blurring the lines separating rap and R&B as if to say he never needed the Maleek Berry feature to make the song melodic and catchy.

Unlike previous international collaborations, Joyner Lucas’ feature on the remix of “Juice” seems organic and free from industry politicking; They are both relatively new artists making a wave in their respective states. The balanced alliance makes their team up sincerely cordial and that, in turn, reflects in the chemistry.

Listen to YCee’s “Juice Remix” featuring Joyner Lucas below.

Featured Image Credits: Instagram/iam_ycee

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ICYMI: Listen to YCee get in his feelings for new single, “Your Love”

Check out Chike Frankie Edozien’s book”Lives of Great Men: Living and Loving as a Gay African Man”

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Nigerian-born journalist Chike Frankie Edozien latest release Lives of Great Men is a memoir that follows his life as a gay man within and outside his country of origin. In his book, Edozien illustrates instances and stories that counter the narrative that homosexuality does not exist or has only recently become a thing in Africa.

Homosexuality is not new on the continent, what is fairly recent is the shift from generally ignoring the community to outright criminalisation. In Nigeria and Uganda for example, homosexuality was criminalised as early as five years ago. Now anyone who is found guilty in either country is threatened with 14 years to life in prison.

The book is to tell stories of the people who have lived through these time, before and after these new laws were established. He intends to tell the stories of their lives, as opposed to the usual narrative which almost always an alteration between disdain and distress. “I didn’t just want to talk about the bad stuff”, he said in an interview with OkayAfrica, “I wanted to talk about the wonderful people who are being very supportive of their gay friends and children, and those who are living fulfilled lives and doing things, in spite of all of this.” and those who are living fulfilled lives and doing things, in spite of all of this”.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjcQeVTBQlL/?taken-by=livesofgreatmen

LGBT advocacy has become more pronounced around the continent. Last year, Rafiki, a Kenyan drama about lesbian love and the first Kenyan LGBT film was produced. Though it was banned by the government shortly after, it was largely celebrated both on and off the continent. Others have been silently and actively opening up room for dialogue around the continent. For instance, in 2004, Nigerian rights activist and founder of Bisi Alimi Foundation, Bisi Alimi became the first Nigerian man to come out as openly gay on national television, through Funmi Iyanda’s show New Dawn with Funmi.

Though people within the LGBT community are still understandably wary of opening up, as Edozien observed during his encounters and interviews, he hopes his book will encourage more people to share their stories. The book will undoubtedly add to the steadily growing number of advocacy and discourse materials being developed by people living within and outside the continent.

“Tomiwa is figuring it out…” Tweet at her @fauxxbella

Piggybank.ng raise $1.1 Million in seed funding and announced a new product, Smart Target for group investment

Adekunle Gold shares the music video for “Fame”

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Adekunle Gold continues the roll out for his recently released sophomore album, ‘About 30’, with the release of a gripping music video for “Fame”. In line with sentiments already heard on the stand out track from the project, the video is a show of celebrity and solitude.

In order to convey Adekunle Gold’s solemn confession, director, Scott Jaeger’s camera moves in constant motion, mirroring the singer’s sluggish and anguished gestures as he moves around a spacious loft. The empty room seems symbolic to the most reoccurring lines from the song, “Sometimes, I Feel Alone” while the antique set and guitar prop plays to the song’s folk influences.

Watch the music video for Adekunle Gold’s “Fame” below.

Featured Image Credits: YouTube/Adekunle Gold

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

ICYMI: Pre-released single, “Ire” off ‘About 30’ is everything you need to make you feel better

Tomi Agape released Video for “In The Night”

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Tomi Agape’s “In The Night” is a taste of what is to come from her yet-to-be-titled EP, scheduled for release later this year. The upcoming EP is expected to reach for a blend of contemporary R&B and Afro-Caribbean dance music. “In The Night” features Nonso Amadi, who cameos under the strobe lights in the accompanying video directed by UAX. Tomi performs in an antique store, lit by sunrays peeking through holes in the window. “In The Night” is light on lyrics, but the concept is unmistakable as the preview of the project that’s to come.

Watch the video for Tomi Agape’s “In The Night” here.

Features Image Credits: YouTube/Tomiagape

“Tomiwa is figuring it out…” Tweet at her @fauxbella

Tomi Agape and LadiPoe’s “Complicated” is not as cliche as the title suggests

Davido and Odie lined-up for Jay-Z’s ‘Made In America’ festival this fall

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For 7 years, Jay Z’s, ‘Made In America’ festival has hosted a range of artists from hip-hop’s front-liners like, Eminem, to the alternative and obscure like Grimes. This year, Nicki Minaj and Post Malone have been listed as the headlining acts along with Meek Mill, Diplo and 6lack. Last year, ‘Made in America’ fielded two Nigerian artists, Maleek Berry and Tiwa Savage and Nigerian-born Canadian singer, Odie and Davido will be continuing the tradition of Nigerians featuring at the festival. ‘Made in America’ is set to hold on the 1st and 2nd of September, at Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.

Check out the full line-up here:

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Featured Image Credit: Instagram/tidal

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The Shuffle: Between Sinzu, “Carolina” and a phone call with Davido

Listen to Magnom’s “Stress Free” featuring DarkoVibes and Nana Benyin

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Ghanaian producer—turned artist—surprised many with the release of his 3rd studio album, ‘We Speed 2’, a 20-track offering with over 20 featured artists. ‘We Speed 2‘ fuses hip-hop’s trap bouncy with Afropop’s catchy feel-good melodies and does a good job of it thanks to the collaboration with artists like Kwesi Arthur, $pacely, Kidd Black and Sarkodie.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjiN7yfnmxZ/?taken-by=magnombeats

“Stress Free”, one of the highlights of the album features DarkoVibes and Nana Benyin. Backed by the chirpy beat from Moor Sound and Foreign Local, both artists channel a cheerful summer vibe that makes the song listen like an invitation to party by the beach even before DarkoVibes sings, “Stress/ Free/ Life E/ Sweet/ The Whole Clique Dey Ball For The Beach”. Though the high spirited nature of “Stress Free” is its most distinct feature, the rose-colored veil both artists insist to see the world through is what makes the cheerful song so affecting.

Listen to “Stress Free” featuring DarkoVibes and Nana Benyin here.

Featured Image Credits: Instagram/MagnomBeats

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

ICYMI: Here’s an energetic song by Darkovibes for your next turn-up

Nasty C debuts “King” and “Jungle” from his forthcoming album

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Nasty C’s forthcoming album, ‘Strings and Blings‘ is one of the most anticipated albums of the year. A few weeks ago, the South African rapper promised that the album was “0.9999999999% Done” in an Instagram video post before he was in Nigeria and gave an interview confirming that Runtown, A$AP Ferg and Ycee were for among the featured artists on the album.

The album is set to be released on the 6th of June but he just debuted two singles off the project to give a taste of what to expect. His social media posts leading up to the album had us contemplating various directions the album could take, but after listening to his latest releases, “King” featuring A$AP Ferg and the solo track, “Jungle”, it is clear what direction the album is taking.

According to Nasty C, “King” is “about the kids who talk too much”. Over the Tweezy produced beat, Nasty C raps about the kids who call themselves ‘kings’, questioning if the ‘lifestyle’ is really all they believe it to be.

Though the Cody Rhones produced “Jungle” is more about society at large. Nasty C raps about society as a jungle and how things that should be scored tend to go unnoticed because they’re believed to be the norm.

Featured Image Credit: Instagram/Nasty_csa

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Nasty C gets super self-aware on “Changed”

Listen to “Agidi”, the latest single from D’banj

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“She Say Change Religion From My Religion, Make I Move Down To Her Region” is the most cutting line from D’banj’s latest single, “Agidi”.

Produced by Chopstick who lays down a spacious beat with horns, guitar harmonies, drums and claps, it finds D’banj taking listeners down a familiar path for those conscious of the pop-star’s history and his Fela influences. More than a handful of artists from around the world have listed the Afrobeat legend as among their influences, few can lay claim to adapting Fela’s daring personae as much as D’banj has. On “Agidi”, he combines the Afrobeat harmonies with his penchant for gutsy songwriting to give a holistic Afrobeat experience; live music ambiance and pseudo-romantic but too cocky to be bothered about charm.

Stream D’banj’s “Agidi” below.

Featured Image Credits: Instagram/iambangalee

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

ICYMI: Here’s an energetic song by Darkovibes for your next turn-up

Tekno has a new deal with Universal Music Group Nigeria

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Universal Music Group subsidiaries, Universal Africa and Island Records UK have teamed up to sign Tekno. Tekno joins the growing list of names that have been affiliated with the brand since they began operations in West Africa last year—other artists include Tay Iwar, Nonso Bassey and Idyl. Though the nature of the deal is unclear, Tekno believes this is an opportunity to actively present his music to the global community and the right step in furthering his career. In his words; “I am extremely excited to sign with UMG as I’m ready to take my music to new heights, have a platform to showcase my versatility, push my music and ideas, and show the world how diverse African music and musicians can be. I want the Tekno brand to reach the global stage. Being with a full team in Nigeria, in Africa, and working with Alex and Island UK means that there are machines in place to ensure my music is delivered to my fans and the world with the best quality possible”. Universal Music may just be establishing itself in the soundscape but the label already partnered with Odunsi for the rollout of “In The Morning”, spurring speculation that UMG will only be working with Nigeria’s Soundcloud undiscovered. Tekno is the first mainstream artist to align forces with the label, glimpsing the potential for more deals to come.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjfuqMIDkQ3/

Featured Image Credit: Instagram/teknoofficial

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Meanwhile, check out Tekno’s makossa moves on “Yur Luv”

Here’s what we know so far about Wizkid’s coming album

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Three months ago, Wizkid announced that he will be releasing a joint EP with the members of his label to, “bring it back home”. It was an expected direction for a follow up to his more intercontinental previous project ‘Sounds From The Other Side’. Via his tweet, we were assured that Wizkid’s EP would be a more African project by him and his Starboy crew titled ‘Made In Lagos’. He reaffirmed this in the statement release of the supposed first song off the EP, “Soco” featuring artists under his Starboy label imprint, Terri, Spotless and Ceeza Milli.

It appears the Starboy has since changed his mind though. In an interview with Tim Westwood, after his sold-out Afro Republik concert in London. Wizzy told Tim that he has been working on an album of the same name “With no features” to be released “very soon”. The constant changes leaves fans wondering what the eventual project will look like, considering we still have the Skepta feature he has been hinting at to look forward to. But for now, the only thing that seems unshakable about Wizkid’s coming project is that it will be named ‘Made in Lagos’ and will be made in Lagos for his Nigeria fans.

Either ways, if the recent slew of Starboy releases are any marker for the direction the project will take, we are looking forward to the 10 songs expected to be on the project.

Check out Wizkid’s interview with Tim Westwood below:

Featured Image Credits: Instagram/wizkidayo

“Tomiwa is figuring it out…” Tweet at her @fauxbella

Essentials: Of ‘Sounds From The Other Side’ and the place of Wizkid in African music

DJ Neptune and Kizz Daniel release video for their latest collaboration “Wait”

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DJ Neptune’s recently released project, ‘Greatness’, is a 15-track Afropop album with a multiple of collaborations, perfectly curated for radio playlists. Along with the previously released audio and video for “Why”, featuring Runtown, the album also features contributions from M.I, Kizz (formerly Kiss) Daniel, Pasuma, Burna Boy and almost everyone you’ll expect to hear playing on radio.

For the second video release from the ‘Greatness’ project, DJ Neptune picked “Wait”, featuring Kizz Daniel. Coming at the project’s mid-point, “Wait” is the 7th track on the album and has an uptempo baseline and lyrics, fit for exciting times on the dancefloor. The Adasa cookey-directed video follows two young boys working enthusiastically to get to a beach concert staged by Kizz and DJ Neptune.

Watch DJ Neptune and Kizz Daniel’s music video for “Wait” here:

Featured Image Credits: YouTube/DJ Neptune

 

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DJ Neptune taps RunTown for potential club smash, “Why”

Essentials: Deena Ade is self-assured but sensitive on ‘The Cries of My Subconscious’ EP

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It took over three years of releasing music on streaming platforms before Deena Ade finally released her first proper project, ‘The Cries of My Subconscious‘. Among the pre-released singles that made it to the luxurious 6-track project is “Melo”, produced by ThaBeatSmith. Asides proving her to be an explorer of both contemporary pop and retro R&B  “Melo” also amplifies her reputation as the self-assured founder of SLUTWALK Lagos. Her birdlike voice cooing about physical intimacy invokes cocktails and caftan weather, like Deena Ade, recorded it by the beach. It serves as the perfect opener for a project that unveils her as self-assured but sensitive; a dedicated music fan with an earnest attentiveness to craft.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjH98ashupI/?hl=en&taken-by=deenaade

‘The Cries of My Subconscious’ opens with an “Intro” track where Deena Ade shows her proficiency at spoken word. The nearly a minute long rendition describes her struggles with anxieties and how it affects her relationship. It offers further context to “Melo”, making her lyrics, “Melo Melo La Fe So” more affecting than initially perceived. However, on “Lover”, it’s her resonant alto and ability to imbue a dreamy love track with a wistful melancholy without giving up any of her power that draws in listeners, wondering if love was really strong enough to bring Amy Winehouse back from the dead.

Deena Ade’s ability to shimmy between genres is accomplished thanks to her taste in collaborators. Though there are no artists featured on ‘The Cries of My Subconscious‘, her work with producer, TiwaDara, provides the chance to experiment with her sound. On “Shere”, she sings over guitar riffs that makes her confessional love rendition listen like a highlife number, but the EDM influenced baseline, and instrumental solo interludes veer into house music territories. The same house influences are heard on the EP’s closing track, “Down”, also produced by TiwaDara.

Deena Ade has always been interested in speaking truth (however painful) to power, and she mines her personal relationships for a slyly political backdrop that feels neither too obvious nor preachy. Like most good projects, ‘The Cries of My Subconscious‘ listens like a  journal, using the artist’s raw confessionals and experiences to deliver the message for the understated strength in vulnerability.

Listen to Deena Ade’s ‘The Cries of My Subconscious‘ below.

Featured Image Credits: Instagram/deenaade

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

ICYMI: Deena Ade is crazy, sexy and cool on “I Miss You”

The Shuffle: Between Sinzu, “Carolina” and a phone call with Davido

Posted on by The Native

When Davido announced that he’d be unveiling a new artist many suspected DMW may unveil a woman as its new act. As rewarding as that would’ve been for the culture, Sinzu, the latest addition to the DMW family is no less a vital nerve for the spot DMW has held since its inception; as the platform for deserving artists to get recognition. The unveiling, however, has a more elemental backstory that dates back to a song Sinzu (who was Sauce Kid at the time) recorded with Davido nearly seven years ago.

In the world of pop, where music and collaborations go as quickly as they come, with artists, even the most successful, constantly releasing music for airplay, six years may seem like a lifetime. But with the quality and obvious chemistry on “Carolina” is one that stands the test of time.

In a recent interview with Sinzu shared that this timeless collaboration is how his new partnership, the new chapter in his life, came to be, starting with a phone call from Davido:

“I was listening to Carolina the other day, and 6 years on, there is nothing that sounds like that, I liked how we rocked that. But my man [Davido] was like, we could do that or, we could do this, I feel like we should do this. And I’m like, aight let me think about that. I didn’t take too much thinking, you feel me”. 

Produced by Maleek Berry, “Carolina” dropped at the peak of Sauce Kid’s career and in Davido’s formative years. Fast forward to 2018, shortly after Sauce Kid returns from his inexorable break from the music industry, Davido is ready to take a chance on his old friend in his growing establishment. The announcement came in the form of a performance reminiscing on their old friend chemistry at a Davido concert in DC and is followed shortly after with an official announcement.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjUAPbZh7ph/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=1rrugwcpwitai

The DMW recruitment begins a new chapter in Sinzu’s life. We’re looking forward to the new music the synergy between him and Davido will produce. Dremo is pumped, and so are we.

Watch Sinzu and Davido’s “Carolina” here:

Featured Image Credits: Instagram/Davidoofficial 

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