Rap is deeply trenched in all things tough and macho, but there is a radio-friendly grey line very few pop rappers have managed to thread confidently. Atop that roster sits artists like Big Sean, whose Billboard-charting, “IDFWU” subsumes his braggart exterior for a squad anthem about hustle, loyalty and skepticism for anyone outside his immediate inner circle. YCEE takes this cue for “N.O.U.N”, the last track off his newly released First Wave EP.
YCEE’s intent for most of First Wave, is apparent in the early moments of the project. For starters, having a track-to-track narrative is less of a priority to YCEE when leveled against his desire to ride the Afropop rap wave he has owned succinctly since his Jagaban debut in 2015. Other observations to take in along with the tracklist, is the relaxed mid-tempo range of YCEE’s Afrotrap and as the EP closes with “N.O.U.N”, his inclination for synth-based bubblegum pop production.
Thematically, “N.O.U.N” carries all the familiar bars you would expect from a squad anthem (see first paragraph for reference). But there is also a strong indication that no one could have pulled it off like YCEE without sounding corny and the reason is obvious. YCEE has flouted his brand of hip-hop as an art solely determined by where he wants to take the music. His slurry pronunciation of words and laid-back tone may be a reflection of trap music’s tendency for codeine rap, it’s however also indicative of YCEE’s veteran-level confidence in contrast to the reality of his actual up and comer status in the game.
Squad anthems always make great aux chord gems for vibing out. But perhaps another way to parse a song like “N.O.U.N” is as YCEE’s refusal to politic with industry square pegs and genre conformity. After all, if a man creates a wave, he should be fit to ride it in any direction he desires, even if it’s with “none of you niggas”
78 days ago, 12 participants walked into the Big Brother house certain that their lives will not remain the same. They all competed to win the 25 million naira cash price and a brand new Kia Sorento SUV car but the fame from merely being a part of the show was already sure to open doors for all participants.
Between the house tasks, beef with housemates and big brother surprises, only 5 participants made it to the finale after Kemen got disqualified and the others were evicted by votes. Efe, Bisola, T-Boss, Debbie-Rise and Mavis were left to campaign for the shows finale.
With 2Baba as the performer for tonight’s finale, the reality TV series came to a dramatic end. Housemate, Efe was announced as the winner of the show against favourites, Bisola and T-Boss, who were both touted as the most likely winners of the show based on popularity. Efe won by a landslide popular votes, with 57.61%, a wide margin from Bisola’s 18.54% and T-Boss’s 13.60% of votes respectively. Debbie-Rise and Marvins who also both made it to the finals, could only both manage to get 8.78% and 1.47% of the total votes.
Big Brother may be coming to an end, but the brighter look of things is that, the most popular finalists of Big Brother Nigeria, are expected to become the new faces of Nigerian entertainment. We have seen in the past with Melvina Longpet, Ebuka Uchendu and Uti Nwachukwu amonsgt other past winners who went into TV production and Nollywood respectively. This year, all eyes will be on Bisola, a comedienne prior to her stint in the Big Brother house. She may not have won the 25 million naira payload, but coming in second place is near-enough to get her into Nollywood. It is not unlikely that we will be seeing more of T-Boss either, but considering how unpredictable she was during the show, it’s hard to tell what comes next for the leader of the #BossNation.
Over the last couple of weeks, Big Brother Nigeria has entertained millions of Nigerians with the dramatic lives of the participants, the occasional celebrity guest visits to the house. After all hashtags and votes have been tweeted and casted, perhaps what will be sorely missed as Big Brother comes to an end, will be weekly music performances that saw artists like Davido, Simi, DJ Xclusive, 2 Face and Tiwa Savage amonsgt others take eviction stages.
In the meantime, we will be looking out for the faces of our new celebrities.
Fresh L of DRB was previously one of the most polarising figures on social media. Whether it’s discussing the latest releases in the rap world on his snapchat, to sharing his opinion on his perfect partner, he always seemed to ruffle a few feathers. While some of his views were more riot-inciting than others, an artist being so transparent was a welcome change in a music industry where everyone seems to be playing a gimmick.
However, it seems that even Fresh L himself grew tired of being the talk of the timeline, for any reason other than music. So, a few months ago, he took a self-imposed leave from both Snapchat and Twitter and went into the kitchen. Already known for his high work-rate during the formative DRB days, he went back to basics. We are now seeing the rewards of that, with the first release from his #NoService series putting rap at the forefront once again. A solid start to a series he hopes will have people talking, for the right reasons.
Hitmakers are every DJ’s best friend and DJ Xclusive has made it an habit to feature artists only cream of the crop chart-toppers. For his latest single, “Sexy Girls” he taps Runtown. Runtown’s massive summer anthem, “Mad Over You” is still fresh on the minds of music lovers and he doesn’t disappoint on DJ Xclusive’s “Sexy Girls”.
Runtown sings a pleasantly melody, giving strong indications of a potential club banger that may ease into summer playlists in the coming weeks. Adasa Cookey directs the “Sexy Girls” video and shoots the artist in a Caribbean themed party with models wearing carnival clothes and leis. “Sexy Girls” is produced by Burna Boy collaborator Spellz.
Watch the video for DJ Exclusive latest single below.
Featured Image Credits:Youtube/Superstar DJ Xclusive
Anyone who knows Kenzo Takada’s French based label, knows that they make the best fashion films. They’ve worked with some of the biggest names in film and interpreted some really complex concepts and approached global cultures from which Kenzo has drawn inspiration for it’s collections with the respect they deserve. This is why when Kenzo approached Nigerian born photographer and ‘Igbo/Yorkshire warrior’ Ruth Ossai and filmmaker Akinola Davies to make their next fashion film inspired by the avantgarde expressions of fashion by young people from Eastern Nigeria, I personally expected that something amazing would come out of it.
However, the first images from the collaboration have just dropped, what I see may just be the ugliest, most inaccurate representation of contemporary Nigerian youth that I have ever seen. Not even the SS17 Kenzo pieces these people are wearing can save the series. And trust me, I have seen some seriously atrocious interpretations.
I mean look at this mess.
Photocredit: Ruth Ossai via Dazed Digital
As a Nigerian living in contemporary Nigeria, I feel personally insulted that we will be represented as a people with these pandering images. Nigerians are some of the most stylish people in the world and go to great lengths to look their best no matter where on the poverty line they exist. The PR material for the film suggests that this photoshoot in some way representative of the way Nigerians dress to ‘celebrations’ and ‘rituals’, whatever that means.
I’m not going to even deign this with a robust response, other than the fact that when a person with Nigerian heritage delegitimises the lived experiences of Nigerians and reduces them to harmful stereotypes of illiterate noble savages, they harm all of us. This is the first image of Nigeria some people will ever interact with and this in no way represents even the poorest parts of Nigeria.
I understand that this is the ‘aesthetic’ with which Ruth Ossai has made her name as a photographer, passing off nostalgia from the 80’s as current trends in Africa but she could have asked advice from local photographers, done justice to what it must be like to be a young person in 2017 influenced by the internet and global trends.
The only reason the ‘village’ people on Eastern Nigeria dress the way they do is because they don’t have the economic privilege to afford any better. It is not an aesthetic they are aiming for, like the Harajuku Barbies of Japan or the & Native American nations. Their poverty denies them access to even the cheapest clothes, this is why they dress in second hand clothes from the 80’s and 90’s, because no oneelse with means willingly buy them. To commodify their poverty and package it to appeal to western audiences is the worst kind of representation, devoid of context, empathy or respect for these people’s circumstances.
Even if you claim this is an aesthetic from the 80’s and 90’s, you must then grapple with the fact that the people who lived through these aesthetics in those times were victims of decades of corruption, military oppression and consequential oppressive poverty. Even privileged people cooked with what was called ‘Abacha’ stoves, because they were too poor to afford cooking gas or Kerosene, let alone fancy clothes. How then is any of this truly representative of our history, or our contemporary if it is presented without context.
How can anyone justify this kind of tone deaf representation just when our indigenous designers like Maki Oh are gaining international respect for their representations of contemporary Nigerian life with wit, dignity and respect. We deserve better, a lot better.
Music works best when artists with vastly different styles singing in different language medium collaborate on a single project. One of the ways to stimulate creativity is to find harmony or tangential connections in the most unconventional of sources. In “Buy The Bar”, Zoro plays his very traditional Igbo off Falz’s Yoruba inflected pidgin and creates a hit.
“Buy the Bar” is of course about money. Why settle for a drink when you can own the bar? Clarence Peters directs, and his work on the video is engaging enough to keep you glued all through the 3:33″ video but nothing we haven’t seen before. Video vixens accessorized in Gold, lots of literal money shots, non-narrative montages of opulence, sequences framed with disco lights as the artists brag about chains and cars, you know, the usual
Hard to dislike to be honest.
Watch the video for “Buy The Bar” below
Featured Image Credits : YouTube/Official Zoro Music
So, before we begin this review of OBFW. a caveat.
I’ve been saying it since episode 2 (episode one of OBFW was perfect) that the show was going to end up a clusterfuck. With every successive episode, instead of resolving subplots and glaring omissions, the show runners and writers chose instead to focus on IllRhymz who basically spent the entire season acting like he’s a jock in a high school movie instead of a smart adult. So I came into this finale with zero expectations, after all if you have none, you cannot experience disappointment, or so they say.
Well, it turns out, you fucking can.
SPOILER ALERT
What the fuck ever, see the episode at your own peril.
I won’t bore you by giving a blow by blow of the OBFW finale, when in all honesty it can be summarized into three lines.
Charles’s mother doesn’t have cancer so he doesn’t have to marry the first girl that is foolish enough to give him face.
Jade is in love with Charles but is marrying Tunde because first to produce engagement ring.
Kemi says she didn’t fuck Charles, but that bitch is lying, she most certainly did.
See, English is easier than they tell you.
Now let’s get to the good stuff; shit that made no sense, abandoned subplots and a general disregard for our sensibilities as data consuming fans.
SHIT THAT MADE NO SENSE
So I know we are all masochistic, for fucks sake we all watched the horrific mess that On The Real (someone please konk the people behind that show for me) but there is nothing we did do deserve having to watch Tolu grovel in front of Tunde and expect him to ‘love’ her back because she fills out his daily planner. Baby girl, that thing you’re doing is called a JOB. Doing your job don’t guarantee you no penis. If you are pressed, quit for the love of God. QUIT.
As if that wasn’t enough, we had to watch Charles as well, in a hoodie sweatshirt and joggers the universal uniform of the depressed, track Jade down to a Cafe Neo and grovel in front of her. After ten episodes of pretending he wasn’t catching feels we are supposed to care that he wants to love her now?
Then there was the whole ‘we were drunk and naked but didn’t do anything’ story Kemi and Charles were touting. The entire season of OBFW we have seen a much older and supposedly more mature Charles, consistently make bad decisions once even the smallest amount alcohol was introduced into a situation. He slept with more than half of his exes after a drink, but somehow when he was even more reckless we’re supposed to believe he did the right thing?
About that big reveal scene. So this entire show is basically built on the premise that Charles’s mother supposedly had cancer. So you’d think the showrunners would take extra care to give us a airtight, foolproof resolution. But NOOOOOOOOOO! After all they’ve stumbled through everything else, why not botch this one too. Everyone conveniently converges at Mama Charles’s house, including her excuse for not having cancer, a new boyfriend. Charles appears in the house, Onome in tow and first thing starts to announce that he’s knocked her up. And next thing they’re explaining that the Doctor is her new boyfriend, and the cancer drugs were for another patient and he conveniently forget them in her bathroom cabinet.
You know what ehn…
Ignored Sub Plots.
PROMISE
Promise is a drug addict. What the hell is going on there? We aren’t told where he found money to pay his rent because last time we check rehabilitation is fucking expensive in Nigeria. Then the drug dealer who put a package of drugs in front of his door with the explicit suggestion that he deliver it. We are supposed to forget all of that?
ONOME
Whatever happened to the money she scammed from Charles? Did he conveniently forget that once she started throwing back pussy? And seriously for someone who lied about a pregnancy and tried to pin it on Charles, Onome was pretty casual in her apology? We know at least one of the people Onome has been sleeping with, and we know Charles’s boss helped Onome scam Charles out of his commission. Since Charles only paid half of the money to Onome, and the man supposedly beats her, how come he just quietly accepted half money?
KEMI
Sure Kemi’s captain husband came back, but we never got to see his face. I know you people want to make him the father of Onome’s baby in Season 2 of OBFW, that much is obvious, but seriously? You tease him for an entire season then not show his face?
THE LEAGUE OF EVIL EXES
So Chioma comes and gives half gist (according to Kemi and Charles), one ex is wombless, another is getting married, another is married with a kid, blah blah blah. If you guys were never going to actually tease even the semblance of compatibility why drag us through episodes of that? WHY?
BONUS ROUND
What the fuck is going on with the back of Jade’s wedding gown?
What?!
Jesus, what a mess of finale.
Of course this is supposedly to set us up for a second season of OBFW but Jesus! What is wrong with having a great first season? What? Is that too much to ask of you people?
Straff is the eternal hipster. Everything the rapper releases is drenched in that Tumblr aesthetic, suggesting a perpetual state of trippy vibes and drug addled benders. Jesse Jagz has been our most successful trippy rapper, dominating genres like trip-hop, dancehall and alt-pop. Other rappers have tried to mimic this stoner vibe but none have quite gotten as good at it as Straff, especially on his new single “Hotel Tokyo”. Singer Orinayo Ojo is featured on the song and he uses the opportunity to debut his new incarnation as JethroFaded, shedding his good boy image. Straff employs the captivating singer for “Hotel Tokyo”, his follow-up single to Vanilla SkyEP.
Remy Baggins who worked on Vanilla Sky produces the relaxing guitar riff heavy beat that Straff and JethroFaded have no trouble singing melodiously on. Straff sings the chorus and even his verse isn’t as serious as we’ve grown to expect from the rapper. He takes a more melodramatic tone on “Hotel Tokyo” with JethroFaded taking the second verse. Both artists describe the low buzz effect of drugs and JethroFaded’s soothing voice accomplishes that while Straff’s voice is given a vocoda make-over to help emphasize the song’s hippie vibe. The lyrics don’t materialize into any sort of scripted story but they contain enough buzz words and help decorate the single enough to play like a light-weight trip.
Listen to Straff and JethroFaded on “Hotel Tokyo” below.
DJ Juls is currently defining the scope of music in Ghana and on a greater scale, Africa. Over the last two years, the producer and Mr Eazi became a power pair, championing the cause of Afropop and other neo-Afrobeat sibling sub-genres. The British born Ghanaian Producer asides being credited for most of Mr Eazi’s song has worked on other hit songs including Nonso Amadi’s “Radio”. Juls latest single, “Bad” features British rappers, Not3s and Kojo Funds who are known for their occasional detour from hip-hop to Afropop. The single also features producer and Mr. Eazi collaborator, Eugy who infuses Jamaican patois on the last verse.
“Bad”, like most songs produced by Juls plays on a slow tempo and has a primary piano baseline. Not3s mans the front line taking the first verse and the hook while Kojo Funds takes second verse and Eugy wraps up the song. The collaboration adds up to another classic Juls chill reggae infused Afropop song meant for the club and the accompanying video directed by Mira Jebari runs with that narrative. The video is set in a club with the singers and models bath in disco dim lights while slow dancing.
Wale has been working on his fifth studio album Shine for quite a while, and by his own admission, a lot has changed since then.
Wale’s previous releases have been met with fluctuating reviews and levels of apathy from certain spheres of the Hip Hop community, but most can agree that his last LP, Album About Nothing was a step back in the right direction, building on the phenomenal works that came before it in the same series (Mixtape About Nothing & More About Nothing, respectively).
His latest album Shine is slated for release on May 5th under MMG. Peep the tracklist below, with some eye-catching features from Davido, Olamide, Lil Wayne, Wizkid and more.
The NATIVE Mix is a weekly fusion of African and Alternative vibes from all over the world. Hosted on Thursdays by SMOKING INDOORS & DJ WAYNE with special guests.
The inaugural episode features London-based Nigerian producer SMOKING INDOORS. Having worked extensively with Focus The Truth in the past, he has turned his focus to mercurial R&B talent Tau Benah (formerly known as Tobenna). In his NATIVE Mix, SMOKING INDOORS takes listeners through sounds that are inspiring his own production. Transitioning from Sampha deep cuts to Korede Bello, and back to a Myth Sizer remix of “Bad & Boujee”, the producer/DJ showcases his eclectic music palette.
2 Things About Di Bombs (SMOKING INDOORS EDIT) – Ikwunga vs Basket Mouth
Finally ft. Flavor & Sarkodie – Masterkraft
Do like that – Korede Bello
SLUSHY – Tau Benah
Under – Sampha
Feds Did A Sweep – Future
Dionne – Osunlade
승무원 – XXX
Situationship featuring Aylo – Odunsi
Outta Sight – D.R.A.M
Bad and Boujee (Myth Sizer Remix) – Migos
Hot Sauce In My Bag Swag (Lenny & Jarreau Vandal Edit) – Beyonce vs Kanye West
Different artists have different ways of promoting their brand. For DMW signee, Dremo, fans are a priority and “Next Single” is set to reassure their support for him. Composed and released as a teaser to his forthcoming single, Dremo’s new release is primed to wet ears ahead of an upcoming official single in the coming weeks.
On “Next Single”, Dremo talks the pressure to be at the top of his career. As he puts it, the growing popularity of his music has been a “curse and a blessing”, but he is optimistic about what’s coming nonetheless. There is no way to confirm if there is any truth to his self-affirmations or not, but he is both cocky and persuasive enough to make you wonder what he has been up to.
Niniola has had a number of acclaimed and commercially successful singles since her post-Project Fame debut “Ibadi” in 2014 but she’s still yet to release her debut album. That might change this year after “Maradona”, her first single of 2017, reaffirmed just how talented she is and immediately earned a spot on our Best New Music. She has released a complementing video for the Afro-house song and it has all the edginess that we loved about the single.
“Maradona” like most Niniola songs borrows from the South African Afro-house. She sings about her unfaithful lover using the footballing legend, Maradona as a metaphor for his tricks and faux-clever moves (remember the hand of God goal?). If there was ever any doubt on the sensual context of the song, the video helps demystify the Yoruba heavy metaphors. Mex directs the video to show Niniola and her relationship with her charming yet cheating lover. She finds out about his dubious adventures and gets about as feisty as any woman with self respect can at a pool party; she throws his phone into the pool.
Niniola is breaking into the mainstream of Nigerian music and we’re well overdue for that debut album.
Enjoy the solid video for Niniola’s “Maradona” below.
2nd overall pick of 2013 NBA Draft, Victor Oladipo immediately made his mark as a promising talent by quickly rising to starting position at Orlando Magic and eventually Oklahoma Thunders. While his rendition of Bill Withers’ classic “Ain’t No Sunshine” at the draft game interview was dismissed as just a young happy-to-be-here stunt, the guard has proven again and again that his skills are not bound within the four corners of the court.
Thanks to his Nigerian mother, Mrs Joan Amanze Oladipo, the Thunder guard has no worries about what to do if his jump shots ever stop swishing. Since Victor was 7, she made him sing at church and while honing his basketball skills, he found time to develop his singing voice as well. His side talent stopped being a secret after winning a talent show with his “I Believe I Can Fly” performance in front of the star studded 2015 NBA Dunk Contest crowd.
Oladipo might have lost the Dunk Content to Zach LaVine‘s massive throw down but it’s safe to assume artists like Rihanna and Nicki Minaj who witnessed his jaw dropping performance of R Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly” took notice of the young Nigerian’s music ambition. It’s only his fourth year in the league and his career still looks promising but a music recording deal would be the perfect cushion for his retirement.
While we wait on that record deal, Rolling Stone magazine has gifted the Nigerian born shooting guard video on YouTube. It’s just as melodious as it is hilarious but it could be a move that gets the attention of prospective record labels. He wouldn’t be the first NBA star to hop into the booth, to varying levels of success. The question is, would he be more Damien Lillard or Tony Parker? Your bet is as good as mine.
Watch Victor Oladipo’s rendition of “I Believe I Can Fly” below.
As far as bands and groups go, Nigerians make notoriously fickle bedfellows.
Nigeria’s longest surviving(ish) group is Styl Plus, who have had enough roster changes that they might as well be a new group altogether. We have the continuing sagas of the explosive disintegration of the Remedies (Eedris Abdulkareem is still talking shit about everybody else till today) and Plantashun Boiz (BlackFace can’t seem to keep 2face’s name out of his mouth) and of course Storm Rex who was part of the insanely popular Desperate Chicks. Zulezoo fell off the earth, Ashionye murdered Emete and used it’s carcass to start her solo career. The Psquare duo and their manager brother used the better part of a year to drag each other through the dregs of the internet before ‘reconciling’ because nobody gave a shit about them as individual artists.
Groups don’t last even when they are populated by people who share geographical and ethnic similarities. So it is somewhat surprising that Nigeria’s most successful super group Phyno and Olamide, aren’t officially a group, or even from the same part of the country.
Olamide and Phyno’s bromance is doing a better job of integrating the Yoruba and Igbo than any thing government has done or will ever do.
The only reason we can think of for why Olamide and Phyno have continued to work together, support each other’s music and even release joint albums is that they have transcended industry pettiness and politics and genuinely come to care for each other as friends. Their perfect bromance started in 2011, Olamide had just released Yahoo Boy No Laptop (YBNL) and was getting compared to the recently deceased DaGrin for his extensive use of Yoruba and his unconventional punchlines. Phyno on the other hand was well known in Eastern Nigeria’s high-life and hip-hop circuits as producer but he was looking to make the jump to rap. Perhaps it was because they both rapped in pidgin but someone somewhere insisted they collaborate and they made “Ghost Mode”. With visuals that ripped of Nicki Minaj’s Massive Attack and complementary rap styles like we’ve never heard before, by the end of the year everyone was rooting for both of them.
But what really sold Olamide and Phyno to us as a super group was their stagecraft. Olamide and Phyno together on a stage are electric and promoters knew it. Olamide featured Phyno on 2013’s Baddest Guy Ever Liveth and 2014’s Street OT and Phyno returned the favor on his 2014 debut album No Guts No Glory, remastering Ghost Mode as a second collaborative single on the album. This was sans one off singles that they put out solidifying themselves as the kings of the ‘local rapper’ movement. By then promoters and fans knew these one off collaborations was simply not enough and began to agitate for a joint album.
We got one in 2015’s Two Kings. This was a few years after Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch The Throne, so everyone knew two rappers could work a project together. But Olamide and Phyno proved that it could happen in Nigeria. The album was given a surprise release in April and Olamide brought in long-time collaborator Pheelz to produce, Young John the Wicked producer (who would go on to work a madness at Made Men Music Group) represented for Phyno. It was a measured album, only ten tracks long in an industry where artists routinely put out twenty track albums without a forethought and covered a whole range of themes. Finally Olamide and Phyno had material they could tour with as a super group and they rode that train into the sunset.
Together Olamide and Phyno have collaborated on 19 songs in 5 years, including an official LP. They are a constant at each other’s concerts and Olamide helped Phyno sell out the Naira Bet sponsored #PhynoFest, and when Olamide had the very public beef with Don Jazzy, Phyno took his side, publicly condemning Don Jazzy for underhandedness. When Phyno was humiliated at the 2016 Headies after winning Song of the Year for ‘Fada Fada’, Olamide offered to give him one of his plaques.
We need to protect what Olamide and Phyno have, this kind of public support and camaraderie between two impossibly successful high profile artists at the top of their industry is the kind of example that we need to celebrate. Olamide and Phyno have overcome the hypermasculinity of the hip-hop, promoted inter-ethnic bonding through their music, elevated Nigerian languages as a respected medium of expression and continue to prove that black boy joy is a thing. Sure they are Nigeria’s most successful super group, but they are also our most high profile bromance, one forged on excellence, craft and mutual respect.
Yxng Bane is among the increasing number of rappers who blend other genres as their music aesthetic. He released “Fine Wine” last year featuring Kojo Funds for the Afrobeat single. To prove his appreciation of the Afropop beat he features Wizkid on “Fine Wine Remix”.
Wizkid released “Fine Wine remix” on his SoundCloud account, delivering a slow charming-casanova verse to the RemySounds produced beat. The Starboy borrows fellow Nigerian artist, Runtown’s flow from “Mad Over You” to add a Nigerian vibe to the slow-wine dancehall song.
The lyrics in well written songs usually carry a personal message and while other artists don’t point that out, Derin Falana’s Audio Journal project emphasizes the image of music being a way to record experiences. Confessional journaling is no new phenomenon unless you are completely alien to creative circles. But it’s a smart decision to keep an audio Journal as an artist whose music is influenced by these experiences and perceptions. And trust, Derin’s decision to form his written Journal is ingenious enough to help him build his music career and fan base, who will follow his life’s journey with him.
In line with the personal style Derin’s compilation, Audio Journal is going to take, “These Days” plays out a narrative of the present events in his life, as alluded to by the single’s title. Over the subtle vocoder work, repeated bass, rubbery drums and g-funk style synth lines of the track, Derin raps introspectively about ‘Laryngitis’, ‘women’, ‘music’, ‘getting paid’ and other minutae of his life.
Derin shows just how versatile he is as performer, switching between rapping and singing as Jahmal Gittens well synthesized production goes where Falana needs it to.
“These Days” is released in addition to his two other singles on the Audio Journal compilation, “Live From Hollowgrove” and “cruising”, on his sound cloud.
Chalk it down to Nigerians fighting spirit or pure talent, but Nigerians in diaspora have a history of doing amazing things that make us proud. In 2015, Emmanuel Nwamadi came third in the live finals of BBC’s The Voice UK but this year, a Nigerian has gone on to win the series. Mo Adeniran was crowned winner of The Voice UK ahead of fellow contestants, Into The Ark, Jamie Miller and Michelle John after impressing the judges with his performance.
Mo won after a standoff against Into The Ark on Sunday. His sensational rendition of X Ambassadors’ “Unsteady” was impressive enough to outshine the “Not A One” by The Young Wild performance Into The Ark did to secure the win.
Alexandra Burke having won an edition of a UK music competition, went on to release “Hallelujah” which became the European record holder for single sales over a period of 24 hours, selling 105,000 in one day and topping UK singles chart in 2008. Mo Adeniran earned the much coveted Polydor recording contract after winning the 2017 edition of The Voice UK and the 20 year old Nigerian is now expected to start recording his debut project and release songs befitting of his title. No pressure.
Watch Mo’s The Voice UK winning performance of “Unsteady” below.
Kendrick always goes for spectacular videos that do justice to his hit singles because lets face it, his fans around the world accept nothing less. “Humble” talks on the fake hype of being a rap icon by using religious symbols of the church and a crown and how people need to stop pretending and lying. “Humble” sees the Compton rapper take on the “rap gods” and though he didn’t call out names like he did in “Control”, a few fans have tried to connect the jabs at Drake and or Big Sean. Forget the shade, Kendrick has once again taken the rap game to church. “Humble” is a peep into what to expect from the rapper’s upcoming album, IV.
April Fool – Adomaa
Adomaa started getting popular in the Ghanaian music industry after her mash-up hit single, “Evolution of GH Music”. She has since gone on to release an EP, AFRABA the EP showing her versatility as a musician. The Ghanaian artist who has a Nigerian mom shows off her multi genre aesthetic once more on her latest single, “April Fool”. Though we’ve seen her switch between afro-jazz, Afropop, highlife and Rock, hearing Adomaa dominate a rap beat still comes as a surprise. Oris sets the video for the single at an abandoned looking house and shows a small choir with Ghana print uniforms as well as a fetish looking room with voodoo dolls. It’s unclear if these symbolic images are related with Adomaa’s lyrics or just the church harmonies playing over the instruments.
Fight feat. Dj Cuppy – Mr Eazi
While Mr Eazi’s Accra to Lagos mixtape wasn’t exactly as big as the Starboy Records would have wanted, the video for the tracks off the Afropop project have more than made up the EP’s lacklustre performance. His appeal has increased and taken him as across the African territory to other parts of the globe. The singer has returned from his tour promised to release more videos from the mixtape with the release of two teaser videos on his Instagram account. “Fight”, like most songs off the Accra to Lagos, is a romantic song and the video shows the singer’s search for a love interest. The plot doesn’t show much else but Mr. Eazi’s ‘Vibez Videos’ aren’t known for compelling story telling.
Cherry Game Girl – Straff
Straff released his debut project Vanilla Sky earlier this year and has since gone on to release his debut video “Cherry Game Girl”. It offers a glimpse into the goofier side of a hardcore rapper who has fallen in love and the video which was directed by the rapper builds on that scenario. He has described the video as “A compilation of one of the sweetest things going on in my head without restrictions, just my mind in a place full of colours.” The hipster romance and the cartoons are right for the rapper’s aesthetic which makes us curious for what else he has in store as far as visuals go.
Winning feat Nasty C – Emtee
South African rappers, Emtee and Nasty C linked up back in 2015 to deliver “Winning” off Emtee’s album, Every. If there was ever any doubt about the rappers winning claim, they have finally released video proof. The video for “Winning” is full of regal imagery such as thrones, ornate sculptures and models in grecian inspired gowns. Though both artists have switched labels since the track was original released, there is no love lost among the rappers who are obviously happy about where their careers are.
Diary feat. Tiwa Savage – FuseODG
Fuse ODG is almost at this point an honorary Nigerian. His latest single “Diary” features Nigerian pop singer and latest Roc-A-Fella records signing, Tiwa Savage. Killbeatz delivers that mid-tempo chill-life vibe that Ghanaian music has ever so delicately mastered. “Diary” is a love song with Fuse playing the role of the suitor and Tiwa, the damsel who has to make time for him from her busy schedule. Of course, usual tropes abound.
As far as relevance goes, Saeon Moruda is a middling artist whose years of being in the industry has not panned out into mainstream success. Her career started on a sour note after her brief moment of fame for lashing out at Wizkid after his feature on her song, “Boogie Down” didn’t get her music the type of popularity she wanted. The Baseline Music recording artist has since changed from her brand from overwhelmingly feminine, to hypermasculine in “#Aii”, her most public acclaimed song till date. “#Aii remix” featuring 3 Nigerian rappers just surfaced on the internet and it shows that the singer turned “trapper” is still trying to use the shine of other artists to get recognized.
Vector throws the first punch on the hip-hop beat referencing Michael Jackson’s “They Don’t Care About Us” to depict the conscious nature of the song. Or so we thought since the other artists; Iceberg Slim, Terry Apala, Ycee and even Saeon Moruda herself seemed to be more passionate about stunting on their haters. To be fair, this paints an accurate portrait of the apathy that defines Nigeria’s Generation Y. The video was directed by C Dub of 8000Films who tries to represent the Nigerian society in a 6 minutes long video set in streets of Lagos. The imagery of long fuel queues and lit candles is a nice tough but the Instagram funny video cuts are unnecessarily long and do nothing to advance the plot of the video.
The song starts off like a conscious rap song meant to instigate a political revolution in the country but it derailed pretty quickly into shit town. That said, Saeon looks more comfortable in her new look having abandon the girly looks for dreadlocks and T-shirts.
2016 saw Iyanya part ways with his label and join Don Jazzy’s Supreme Mavins Dynasty team. The move was a curious one considering Don Jazzy’s reputation as the man who turns budding talents to hit makers but fortunately we didn’t have to wait for too long before Iyanya released Signature, his debut project under Mavins management. For the 8 track EP with only 2 pre-released singles, Altims, Baby Fresh and Don Jazzy get production credits.
Signature begins with “Odoyewu” an Afropop cut featuring Iyanya’s signature pseudo-sexual romanticism. Produced by Don Jazzy who adds his auto-tuned baritone harmonies on the up-tempo beat, the song starts off with the theme of a romantic apology but somewhere along the swing of the beat that narrative gets lost and the singer is just happy to be winning. Regardless, “Odoyewo” just like Mavin’s hit single, “Godwin” is catchy because of the sweet melodies and the subtle religious undertone.
Iyanya teams up with label mate, Poe for “NotForgotten” a reflective song dedicated to loved ones lost. It is a broody shift from other Afropop songs on the EP. Iyanya carries high notes comfortably while Poe picks up on the somber mood Iyanya has set.
“Nobody Has To Know” is the 6th track on Signature and just like pre-released single, “Hold On” it is designed for slow waist whine dances that Iyanya evidently enjoys doing. Only people with silky smooth voices can pull off the corny erotic intro on “Nobody Has To Know” and Iyanya brings puts his pipes to work and makes sure his RnB reputation is intact. The song plays like a perfect fit for sex playlists containing songs like “Birthday Sex” and “Pink Matter”.
Signature is melodious though the lyrics lose the cohesion and detailing in well written songs. Don Jazzy and the rest of the Mavins production crew came through on the project and Iyanya doesn’t look as out of place as he could have been considering how much experience he has as oppose to typical Don Jazzy signings.
