Belloved is a corny name but by design, only Korede Bello can get away with that title for a highly anticipated debut album. The curly-haired singer first appeared on Mavin Records’ “Dorobucci” in 2014 and he in the 3 year period, has attempted to start a dance craze, become a meme and scored legions of die hard fans in the process.
As the name suggests, “Belloved” is dedicated to Korrede Bello’s fan base also aliased as “Bellovers”. The surprise release of his album comes after months of announcements and reminders. His earlier announced tracklist was composed of 11 new singles with 3 pre-released bonus tracks; “Godwin”, “Romantic” and last year’s Afro-EDM chart topper, “Do Like That”. Belloved is a featureless debut from an artist who had to do very little to win our hearts. The shelf life of this full length project will be tested over the next few months as Korrede Bello attempts to forge ahead beyond the obscurity of his new comer status and evolve into an Afropop firebrand of his own.
London born, Lagos raised singer Eno Williams is currently being touted as one of the most refreshing new wave African sounds. The singer leads an 8-piece band whose music is borne of a multiplex of influences; a fusion of coordinated fast-paced synths, loud trumpets and music rendered in her native Ibibio language. “Let’s Dance”, comes off The Ibibio Soundmachine’s self-titled debut and it bursts of a vibrant energy and of 70s psychedelic funk reminiscent of an sonic era forgotten.
Capture – Seo
Capture is another one of many hidden in the obscure underbelly of SoundCloud. Seo sings of a world where there is too much to capture, a direct reflection of our information age where there is too much to absorb and not enough to learn.
Emotions In Kumasi – Khandie
Ghanian music is witnessing an acoustic renaissance where peripheral sounds are stripped away for lighter production. Even Khandie’s druggy “Emotions In Kumasi” opens with a guitar riff that sounds like the start of a closing movie sequence. Khandie is in Kumasi sailing through the motions and longing for lost love, but she’s “moving on, moving on” and feeling like she “finna turn up”
Maradona – Niniola
Our Best New Music from last week doesn’t need any more brandishing but ahead of the pressing need from a debut album from Niniola, “Maradona” will live on as a bold exploration of the female sensuality, a murky subject matter many artists of her ilk actively shy away from.
From Our Pot of Jollof
Moving On – Asa
As if to remind us of the continued relevance of her Bed of Stone album, Asa released a haunting performance of her survivor’s anthem “Moving On” earlier last week. “Moving On” is a deep cut from the album about forging ahead despite inherent trauma from the past.
If You Ask Me – Omawumi
West African Idols first runner up Omawumi Megbele turned a stint on a music reality show into a platform to become one of Nigeria’s most successful contemporary musicians, period. Omawumi is always on the pulse of contemporary Nigerian issues, using her voice and her platform to promote women’s issues. But one song stands out above all the others. 2011, If You Ask Me from the album, Lasso of Truth. Covering domestic violence, sexual assault, molestation and incestuous relationship. Omawumi brought to the national consciousness the plight of the most vulnerable.
If I Start To Talk – Tiwa Savage
Before the release of an accompanying video that suggested marital abuse and indicated personal battles for Tiwa Savage last year, the original song stood out on her sophomore album R.E.D as a light-weight Afrowave number about leaving the past unsaid because there’s too much pain buried within to do otherwise.
Overseas
Hey Girl (feat. Florence Welch) – Lady Gaga
If you have ever wondered if there is a song about women supporting women that doesn’t sound like an obvious pseudo-feminist propaganda, you should listen to Lady Gaga and Florence Welch’s duet on this chord light track off Gaga’s sixth studio album Joanne.
Patience – RayBLK
BBC’s Sound Of 2017, Ray BLK brings her stylised hip-hop and soul to self reflect on “Patience”. In a world of glossy contracts and the gold rush for fame, Ray BLK will sit on the outside of it all and leave the rat race for those willing to sell their soul because “slow and steady wins the race”.
Player Dave’s clever layering of the piano over disjointed ambient sounds of raindrops and birds chirping sets the tone for this new potential fave that listens like a grey beach day.
Aylo and AZiff reveal their fear of revealing too much at once and wasted love. The aptly named short “Still” follows the minimalist trend Aylo set in his debut EP Honest Conversations in 2016.
Aylo is following the success of his Billboard-charting collaboration with Odunsi on “Situationships” and his debut full length projcet, “Honest Conversations” released last year. The rapper has featured on Benny Que’s “Fall Beneath” and Genio Bambino’s “Soul”. “Still” is his first official single for the year.
Dare Olaitan’s debut film “Ojukokoro” is expected to be released for public screening in cinemas from the 17th of March but it already got it’s first screening last year November at the African International Film Festival. The press finally got a look at the highly anticipate movie last night and we were left in a sorts of feels.
“Ojukokoro” details the experience of a day in the life of a drug cartel operation. Charles Etubiebi plays the role of the manager who convinced himself beyond any doubt that he had good reasons to steal from the drug cartel. The plot twists and turns, revealing different stereotypical criminals who all feel the same way about the money.
Dare Olaitan and producer, Olufemi Ogunsanwo took a detour from the conventional movie narrative with it’s voice-over narrative designed to make the plot feel like the juiciest gist you’ve ever heard.“Ojukokoro” is eccentric and the back and forth motion of the story gives the film thick layer soul sprinkled across the three major acts of the film.
“Ojukokoro” juggles its multiplex of influences and genre elements all through the movie’s run time with as few plot holes as possible. The film is supported by a strong script that cycled somewhere between action, comedy, crime and drama, tackling a range of subject matters rarely addressed in Nollywood. It’s the early days of the release and we’re rooting for “Ojukokoro” to smash box office records.
Watch this space for our upcoming review. In the mean time, watch the trailer for “Ojukokoro” here
Making it into heaven might top the list but while still on earth, money is one of the most powerful symbols and everyone’s working hard to get some.
Former South African Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni was the first South African black man to have his signature on the country’s banknotes, and seeing an African name embedded on the money was an inspiration to many South Africans. Given their history with apartheid, Tito is more or less an iconic figure to South Africans young and old.
Inspired by Tito’s success, South African Cassper Nyovest released a single named after the icon. On “Tito Mboweni”, Cassper moved on from just bragging about Bentleys and Gusheshes. Now he’s dealing in places where the money talks, and it’s reserved. Soon after its release, Tito himself made a crack on Twitter about not receiving royalties for being referenced on the single but Cassper tweeted soon after that he had gotten the past governor’s blessing to release the single.
“Tito Mboweni” is the lead single off his 3rd studio album titled Thuto set to be released in May 2017.
Last year, Nasty C came out of the obscurity of his 2015 entry to a continent-wide acclaim following the release of his debut album, Bad Hair. Earlier this year, Nasty teamed up with upcoming DJ, The Vinyl Kid on “NDA” his first post-album single. Late last night, he updated the release with an accompanying official video.
“NDA” is directed by Nani Chehore who shares some of the credits with Nasty C. Nasty C and The Vinyl Kid vibe out in the open fields looking cool as fuck. He raps about his new pussy and new money drenched in a red filter between shots of gold grillz, purple skies and mysterious models.
We’re seven episodes in and we need a hail mary of an episode to rescue OBFW from its inability to give us any multidimensional characters. Episode six ended with a cliffhanger that puts Onome (yet again) back in Charles’s orbit. It seems the perfect opportunity to humanize her and show that contrary to all the evidence we’ve seen so far, Charles can actually step up to the plate and act like a decent human being.
Or pigs will fly.
SPOILER ALERT
If you haven’t seen the episode you know what to do.
It’s morning after Onome’s dramatic appearance at Charles’s front door (let’s not forget she has only slept with him once and the second and third time they met, she threatened his job by giving him a bad review and then extorted him) but yeah, Charles is not the kind of guy to turn ANY woman away.
Onome definitely doesn’t seem like someone who got given a black eye and felt so terrified she ran to the random guy she had a one night stand with and proceeded to extort. Not one bit. Instead she’s all ‘flirty’ in bum shorts, tickling his nose with some thread and suggesting very strongly that she won’t mind if he tries to boink her. She then forms ‘I’m leaving’ and Charles predictably takes the bait and asks her to keep him company.
On the other end of town Jade has miraculously managed to tear Tunde away from his work long enough to go on a picnic date with her. Let the court note at this point that Oreka Godis has the most laid hurr in all the land. Tunde has news by the way, about work of course. Turns out the reason his startup has been taking so many hits is, his accountant and chief technicians have been siphoning valuable capital into their pockets. His ‘sexy’ assistant Tolu from the last episode was the one who found out, she ordered an independent audit and found the breach. At that point Tolu starts calling (again) and Jade has to seize Tolu’s phone to get him to focus on the date.
Knowing how wink-wink, nod-nod the show runners behind Our Best Friend’s Wedding have been about their plot twists, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that Tolu and Tunde have been boinking, or are boinking.
And Jesus, is everyone on this show except Charles and Promise Yoruba?
Charles and Onome on the other hand are bonding over their family histories. Turns out Charles can cook (+1) and was raised by a single mother (+1). All that is left to tip him firmly into ‘male feminist’ territory is a personal declaration that he respects women. Onome on the other hand cannot seem to relax cos her phone has been ringing non-stop. Our ‘good’ guy tries again to get Onome to open up about how she got her black eye and she asks him to give her one his secrets in exchange for her. It’s official folks, we’re back in high school.
It is actually great that Jade is finally moving on from Charles, because over in Tunde land all the conversations are adult, if a little corny. They’ve spread out the meal for their date and over red wine drunk in blasphemous plastic wine glasses, they get into the nasty about their body counts. Turns out Charles has racked up an impressive 37 women in his knacking career (though we suspect the numbers are a lot higher). Of those 37, he says he’s only dated 5 and only been in love with one, and by one he means Jade. Corny muthafucka.
Jade on the other hand says she’s only been with 12 men (the number is probably lower), dated 5 of that 12 (divide that by 3) and loved one (a.k.a. Charles). They get googley eyed at each other and a ‘moment’ passes between. Issa true love goyz.
Kemi on the other hand, Remember her? The sensible friend who exists to move the plot along? Yeah so they finally remembered her subplot about the absentee husband and they throw us a bone about him and his never ending trips. Still doesn’t say shit though.
Charles and Onome are trading secrets, and Mr good guy’s ‘secret’ is apparently that he bought a ring. Onome knows jack shit about him, how is that a secret? Appaz, Onome’s secret is that her boyfriend gave her the black eye. Charles (and I) were surprised that baby geh has a le boo and the money she hustled from him never comes up. Also this makes it three women with husbands and boyfriends that Charles has slept with. Charles WYD though?
Even worse, he’s actually supposed to meet up with Jade and Kemi for one of their reconnaissance meetings, and he’s ditching them to for this? Jade understandably is panicking that since the Friendzone boo and the ‘I’m too busy to have your time’ boo, Charles has started giving her the cold shoulder. Why wouldn’t he though, when he’s too busy using a battered girlfriend’s vulnerability to get box.
Yeah, Charles and Onome end the day with some good old casual sex.
And Promise, our show’s other plot device get an advancement of his own. Out of nowhere, Tega his drug dealer drops him a second package. You know what happens after that.
So A Rejoinder.
Where is Mama Charley? For someone who is dying, Charles seems not to care at all about his mother’s well being. We shouldn’t be too surprised though, from how Charles treats women on the show, he doesn’t really care about any woman.
I pity whoever eventually marries Charley. I pirry her.
Third, Thirteen minutes is less than a coffee break. Give us proper episode or don’t bother at RED TV.
The international art scene has been unfair in its representation of female artists over the years. Many have risen and sunk in obscurity, barely leaving evidence of their genius behind unlike the male counterparts who make up more than 90% artists on display in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The numbers even rank lower for female artists on display in The Louvre. In celebration of International Women’s Day, Nigerian filmmaker, Jenn Nkiru has created a short film for Tate Modern Gallery to showcase female contemporary artists and their work.
The clip also showcases artwork from Guerrilla Girls, a collective of anonymous female artists who have been working to expose sexual and racial discrimination in the art world. Since its inception in 1984, Guerrilla Girls began a poster campaign that targeted museums, dealers, curators, critics and artists who they felt were actively responsible for the discrimination minorities and female artists suffered. A few of their notable works, The Advantages Of Being A Woman Artist, Women In America Earn Only 2/3 Of What Men Do and a few other pieces prominently feature in the background while Zinzi Minott dances.
The soundtrack playing in the background is a cut from Sleater Kinney’s One Beat, a protest song very much like many songs from the all-girl indie rock band.
The first person shooter is a visual representation of reading a first person narrative story. Video gaming has come a long way since the days of arcade shooting on Tetris and the times of Contra because of the increase in attention to details. The improvements in graphics and story telling has lead to the birth of a new genre of video games that centers on a gun and projectile weapon-based combat through the eyes of the protagonist. It increases the involvement of the player in the game and makes the experience even more breath taking.
Over the years, the commercial appeal of the first person shooter narrative has heightened with the success of games like Halo and The Weeknd’s video for “False Alarm”. Here are some of the first person shooter games from 2017 that everyone is looking forward to.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands/ PC, PS4, X box One
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands was released on the 7th of March this year. Its a first person shooter game that gives Ubisoft Paris it’s first open world tactical shooter video. It is the tenth installment in the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon franchise and is the first Ghost Recon game to feature an open world environment. The open world idea heightens the core concept of the first person narrative’s freedom to roam. The open world means players are more involved in the movements of their characters and don’t just follow the games story line mindlessly.
Battalion 1944 The Final Sprint/ PC, PS4, X Box One
This game builds off the nostalgia of popular first person games from our childhood like COD and Medal of Honor. While a lot of people might want to see more futuristic weapons in games, the Bulkhead Interactive franchise are taking us back to the 2nd world war era. Asides from being historically accurate with the locations, they are also focusing on a multiplayer platform which means you get to relive your Medal of Honor days with friends over the net. The game is expected to be released by May 2017.
Escape From Tarkov/ PC
Its a wildly ambitious First person shooter game from Battlestate Games. Its based on surviving gun battle confrontations in a the Russian town of Tarkov. Escape from Tarkov is very engaging and promises an extensive attention on weapon accuracy and realism. Because the game leaves almost everything to the players discretion, there are all sorts of ways for your character to survive.
Residence Evil 7 Biohazard/ PC, PS 4, XBOX ONE
This is on our list because it’s in first person and you do actually shoot things but anyone who knows anything about the Residence evil franchise would tell you the draw of the game is more about the scare. Capcon took the path of first person shooter for Resident Evil 7 that came out 24th of January this year. Though the change has generated a lot of skepticism from the fans because it changes the vibe of the game and there is also the criticism that its copying The Walking Dead‘s game play, first person shooter does actually add to the trill of the scare. Its challenging as players take on the role of Ethan, a man whose search for his missing wife leads him to a derelict mansion, where he has to escape from the cannibalistic Baker family.
Strafe is an incredible looking faced paced, first person shooter inspired by a 1996 game with the same name. Its very violent and gory but the game is colorful enough to be fun because of how “relaxingly” low budget the graphic are. It is first game from newcomer game company, Pixel Titans. Strafeis a classic throw back to times when story lines weren’t so important for game play and it looks like they might just pull of a retro work of art with this game.
Star Wars Battlefront 2/ PC, PS4
The sequel to Star Wars Battlefront is expected to be released this year and fans of the Star Wars franchise can’t wait for them to redeem the errors from the first version of the game. The first installment from EA Dice and Electronic Arts lacked the first person and single player game play but Battlefront 2 promises to fix that with it’s first person shooter narrative. We are really looking forward to this new release considering they have all the lovable Star Wars franchise’s characters and in-game purchases.
Call of Duty 2017/ PC, PS4, X Box One
Because what’s a first person shooter list without the COD franchise. They have released a fresh mind blowing stories year after year and we can’t wait to see what the Activision franchise has in store for us this year. Most fans aren’t too happy about the futuristic direction the game is taking with it’s Infinite Warfare universe but over the years we’ve learnt never to write off Call of Duty. Their first person shooter has a cult following very few games can rival. Call of Duty is expected for release and the tail end of the year
Seyi Shay, former British band girl and current ascendant to Nigeria’s Pop Queen throne has struggled to settle into a sound. Her debut album Seyi Vs Shay saw her fully explore the range of afrobeat, afro-pop and island inspired genres with mixed results. Her biggest hits on the album were collaborations with more visible male artists and many have wondered if Seyi Shay can really hold her own with help.
Her new song, an unexpected collaboration since she’s been on hiatus since the end of the Seyi Vs Shay era is for the South African production of MTV’s iteration of the phenomenally successful British teen drama ‘Skins’, MTV Shuga. The team behind MTV Shuga commission a soundtrack of original songs for the show each season and releases the soundtrack as a compilation album. Past albums have included work by Banky W, Tiwa Savage, Iyanya and P-Square so Seyi is in good company.
‘Down South’ is the lead single from the OST for the South African production and South African rappers Nasty-C and Ma-E offer superior verses in line with the theme of the show. But Seyi Shay is the real surprise on “Down South” with a rapid fire trap delivery that immediately will draw comparisons with nu-soul acts like Tinashe and Jhene Aiko.
Is this the new era of Seyi Shay? If it is, we ain’t mad.
At 11, Oscar Ekponimo would stare down the empty fridge and pantry in his home, hoping for a meal to miraculously appear for him and his siblings. His father had lost his job after a debilitating stroke and his mum’s nursing job earned a paltry salary that could only substantially feed the children once every other day. His only consolation then were his mother’s words telling him their predicament was temporary.
Now at 30, Oscar has created an app to prevent other children from suffering through the same problems he did at 11. His app Chowberry, a cloud-based application addresses the problem of food waste and hunger by linking stores to orphanages/NGOs. As food items near their expiration date, the app initiates discounts that grow larger as the items remain unsold and alerts local groups and NGOs to take advantage of the discount. The app also informs the users when supermarkets are giving away free food thus saving food that would have gone to the trash for orphanages and needy families.
In a recent interview, he revealed that his team of four completed a three-month pilot involving 20 retailers and fed around 150 orphans and vulnerable children. “Our system helped [orphanages] cut down on their spending by more than 70%,” he says. He also revealed his biggest challenge so far is the reluctance of get bigger stores to adapt his app due to red-tape policies.
Despite the challenges the app faces, Ekponimo revealed he can’t imagine a different life for himself. “I had several job offers from big [technology] companies over the past few years,” he says. “But Chowberry is what I am passionate about and find fulfilling. I want to see it grow and continue to benefit people’s lives.”
Interested individuals can volunteer for to work with Food Drive, another Chowberry-inspired initiative where he and other volunteers collect products within a week of expiry and distribute them to orphanages and homes for the elderly.
Singer-songwriter Johnny Drille, has come a long way from his days on MTN’s project fame to bagging a record deal with The Supreme Mavins Dynasty. “Wait For Me” , a pre-signing single he released last year has now been turned into a debut official music video for Johnny Drille.
“Wait For Me” is an alternative folk-inspired song that speaks of lovers in a long distant relationship. Johnny Drille’s accompanying video tells the sad story of a couple who are torn apart by the circumstances beyond human control. Johnny Drille sets off to war in the most typical romantic-drama manner, while his lover waits for him to return. But things don’t exactly turn out like you’d expect.
Don Jazzy’s imprint SMD once again shows wiliness to allow artists take creative risks. “Wait For Me” is set through a melancholic emo filter and a dark ending that sees Drille bawling over the death of his lover. The narrative of a solider coming home to meet devastation is an inversion of the “dead solider lover at war” theme, common in love stories. The video builds on Johnny Drille’s flirtation with the soft rock groups like Passengers and Coldplay have made popular over the years.
Watch Johnny Drille’s “Wait For Me” directed by Mex Ossai (Mex Filmz) below
Don Jazzy’s signing of Iyanya last year earmarked the producer’s expansion efforts for the Supreme Mavin Dynasty. Many may have questioned Iyanya’s decision to ignore a potential indie entree and remain under a label after his MMMG debacle with Ubi Franklin, but the Project Fame alumnus seems to be settling in just fine at his new management and creative head quarters. Last year he tapped Don Jazzy and labelmate Dr Sid, for “Up 2 Something” , a musky slow-grind-worthy single hinting fierce comeback. On Iyanya’s latest single “Hold On”, the singer returns with his usual brand of edgy Afropop, sprinkled with the right amount of vague sensuality and crooning melody.
Brenda Adigwe didn’t make it past the final four on last year’s first season of The Voice Nigeria, but the vocalist inked a record deal with Universal Music Group and released a debut single, “Stand!” anyway.
The accompanying video for the newcomer’s single was directed by Matt Maxx who matched the vibrant energy of Brenda’s “Stand!” frame for frame. Brenda herself comes to life in her video as she dances with reckless abandon. If the 21 year old’s textures and colours are indicators of anything, Brenda may evolve into a vessel for the kind of good bubblegum Afropop we all expect Di’Ja or Yemi Alade to make.
To celebrate his birthday, Praiz’s label X3M music has released two remixes of his pre-released singles, “Body Hot” and “Heartbeat” featuring Wizkid and American singer and songwriter, Kenny Lattimore respectively.
The original “Body Hot” is an Afropop detour from Praiz’ usual RnB, featuring rapper Jesse Jagz and dancehall singer, Stonebwoy. For the remix, Wizkid takes on the beat with confidence and expert fluidity that comes from years and years of honing his skill. This is a second collaboration since both artists collaborated on, “Sisi” , off Praiz’ Rich and Famous double album.
This year, women across the world are celebrating International Women’s Day with a day-long strike, to protest inequality and woman rights amongst other core gender issues.
Sarah Leonard, spokesperson for the strike says the strike tagged “A Day Without a Woman”, will focus on “broadening the definition of violence against women”. In addition to protesting domestic, sexual and physical violence against women today’s strike is also focused on rejecting the “systemic violence of an economic system that is rapidly leaving women behind.”
Inspired by two strikes last October, one that successfully quashed a Polish parliament bill banning abortion, the other a protest condemning violence against women and girls in Argentina. Organizers in more than 50 countries have coordinated the day with a variant of strategies including strikes, rallies and other gatherings that parley with the cause.
As a result of criticism that the previous Women’s March marginalised non-white minorities, the strike’s organisers have created guidelines for women in solidarity who might not be able to take time off by not shopping today. However if shopping is totally unavoidable, supporters should only shop at “small, women- and minority-owned businesses” and wear red in solidarity.
Not many Nigerian women have touted their support for the International Women Strike and in a patriarchal society like Nigeria, its not very unsurprising. Funnily though, the global event takes me back to Government class in high school, particularly the infamous Aba Women’s riot of 1929 and how history will do well not to subvert the stories of women who stood for something and inspired others to do the same. Ultimately, the win for this strike will be how history will re-tell their efforts in ensuring a fair and just world for women.
Rivisit Milck’s Woman March Anthem “We Won’t Keep Quiet” below
KCMG rapper King Klu’s been one of the more prolific artists on the label releasing music approximately every other week in 2017. With his laid back flow with understated punchlines that hit you after the last note has played and an preternatural ability to body any genre, it is a mystery that Kings Capital Music Group (KCMG) his home label hasn’t put the money into a proper LP with all the works. But at least they’re rectifying that with a series of EP’s featuring the artist.
You’re So Beautiful, his first 18 track EP dropped in January and while it has so many great singles, 18 songs is just too much music to put out without any promotion, and many of the songs never made it off Soundcloud rotation into the mainstream. KCMG is retracing their steps and doing things right this time around with a second EP Triple Threat 2. Right off the bat you can tell that a lot more thought went into the conceptualization of this EP, Triple Threat 2 only has three singles, each a completely different genre from the last.
Promises produced by ClassixsBeats rides on the current Afro-trap wave artists like Wizkid and Davido have brought to the mainstream, he is a juggernaut, riding the beat with the experience of veterans. Trails and Vultures produced by RoboDruma takes on afro-futurist Neo soul with a persistent bass riff like a spine that grounds a wandering island melody. Klu gives us his best Drake-esque sung rap, occasionally dipping into pidgin and twi when English doesn’t quite convey the emotions he needs to pass on. RoboDruma also lends his production chops to Wait No More, the last of the album’s trifecta that pays homage to classic 90’s hip-hop with a simple piano melody and stripped down percussion. Klu is at his most earnest here and his earnestness is infectious. The song ends with you motivated as fuck.
The world is ready for a King Klu album, we’ll settle for the Triple Threat 2 ep for now, but KCMG need not waste a good thing.
Ghana new rap movement has distinguished itself by its willingness to collaborate, to meld minds and produce work that is more than the sum of it’s parts. This insistence on community instead of the petty rivalries that is normally associated with hip-hop is a welcome direction and Ghana’s acts have always been forebears for African music. Ghanaian label Kings Capital Music Group (KCMG) is at the heart of Ghana’s hip-hop movement and they’ve assembled the most impressive roster of hungry mc’s for their new single more shit.
The line up includes King Klu (who’s made more than one appearance on our site), Jean Feier (who single we featured here), Abladzo Kwadme, Too Fresh, Jae Ghost, Bebelino and Kwame Jhosef with word play that covers the gamut from indigenous rap to chi-town rapid fire punchline ala Andre 3000. The accumulations of 16 bars racks up an impressive 7 minutes in total and every second of it is fire. Jean Feier’s verse is something to watch out for, she truly holds her own in all that testosterone with a punchline that lull into a sense of complacency before they hit you with an unexpected punch to the gut.
If this isn’t a case fro more rap collectives, we don’t know what is.
The classic Marvel comic series, Marvel’s Inhumans will premiere later this year on ABC and among the actors with key roles in the film is Eme Ikwuakor, who will play the role of Gorgon. His character was described on Marvel’s site as Black Bolt’s cousin, member of the Royal family, and leader of Attilan’s military. Gorgon is described as a fighter who would rather use his fists (and hooves) than talk to solve his problems.
The Nigerian-born actor will join the previously announced Anson Mount, who will play Black Bolt, Iwan Rheon, who will play Maximus the Mad, Serinda Swan, who will play Medusa, and Ken Leung, who will play Karnak.
On Marvel’s official statement, the head of television Jeph Loeb Showrunner stated “We’re thrilled with this cast. Eme, Isabelle, Mike, Sonya and Ellen round out an incredible array of talent that will finally bring the Royal Family of the Inhumans to IMAX and ABC”.
Eme has played other roles in the past on Concussion, the American sports drama and Halle Berry’s sci-fi thriller Extant.
Marvel previously announced the first 2 episodes of The Inhumans will screen in IMAX theaters on September 1, with the show set to continue on ABC on September 26.
The true test of an artist’s ability is linked to versatility and over time, L.A.X has explored a variety of sounds within the Afropop sub-genre. Earlier this year, he released “Big Daddy” a braggy synth-based Afrowave song. On his most recent release “Stay With Me”, producer, Lekka’s wavy synthesised strings are layered over drums and cymbals.
Though he’s yet to release his debut project, L.A.X is experimenting with genres and finding a niche for his sound. “Stay With Me”, attempts to balance sensuality with his childish candour as he alternates between declarations of love to loud brags typical of his Yoruba-influenced brand of Afropop.
L.A.X announced this “Stay With Me” with a caption suggesting it had the wherewithal to improve sexual performance. You can confirm this fact or delusion by yourself by listening to the song below
Though unstated, Asa celebrated the first day of international women’s week yesterday with the release of a video for her performance with a 60 piece orchestra at the Simphiwe Dana Symphony Experience last November. There is no doubt that Asa performed a full set but asides from her spell binding rendition, the choice to upload this cut from her set is directly linked to the song’s core subject matter.
“Moving on” is the fifth track from Asa’s bed of stone album. On the song, Asa sings of a dark event that causes her to run and hide but she also details how she’s moving past the trauma of it all. It’s vague, but Asa’s metaphors unmistakably fits the description of rape and abuse, and a survivor’s attempt at forging on with a semblance of a normal life.
The imagery of the performance stays true to the song. The all black Orchestra playing behind Asa who strolls the stage in a white flowing dress conveys the message of hope in spite of pain from the past. The world’s cold reaction to the theme of rape and suffering is also expressed through the blue lights illuminating the entire stage.
Asa addresses a core woman struggle in our patriarchal society in the most poetic way she knows. The performance was effortlessly graceful and builds the narrative for women all over the world trying to make the best of their situations.
