AV Club: Sutra’s ‘Waves/The Water’ takes on contemporary Ghanaian spirituality

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Sutra, Waves, In the Water

There is a renaissance of contemporary spirituality. Spirituality outside of the conventional Christian and Muslim religions enforced violently through campaigns and crusades and offered as way of conforming to a changing world has never stopped existing, but it has hidden or mutated into shroud itself with culturally acceptable veneers, like the Santeria of Cuba and North America. But as millennial youth grapple with the inconsistencies of conventional religion and find them wanting, they are making their way back to a spirituality which does not acquiesce to one divinity, but rather cobbles one’s own beliefs from personal convictions and epiphanies.

This spirituality is finding its way into the creative work of young Africans, as metaphors in their fashion, and themes in their music and films. Mami Wata is once again celebrated, Orisas are super heroes, and water, once feared for its wildness and its ability to take a man’s soul is being explored again with the reverence it demands.

Ghanaian singer/songwriter Sutra, partners with film maker Edem Dotse to create #W,  a short film for songs off her songs ‘Waves’ and ‘In the Water’ from her mixtape The Art of Being, using water as a multiple metaphor for cleansing, healing, reincarnation and faith. Shot in Legon’s Botanical Gardens and following in the path worn by fellow Ghanaian immigrant creator Blitz Da Ambassador, Sutra weaves a magical tale of a woman torn from familiar lands and thrust into an unforeseen situation, she grapples with dissociation and longing for her home, but grows to find identity in her new land. It probably draws from Sutra’s own experiences as an immigrant and how her travels have shaped her connection to Ghana, her home country.

Edetso and Sutra uses the Legon Botanical Gardens as a frame for some gorgeous shots and the video itself is ethereal, and its story important.

Some will draw associations between #W and Beyonce’s Opus, Lemonade, and that would be doing it a disservice. Sutra is a storyteller and the place from which she speaks is entirely her own.


Watch ‘Waves/In The Water’ here.

 

AV CLUB: Bariga Sugar is a masterclass in subtlety

Mich Straaw’s CTRL is a sublime ode to the chase

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Mich Straaw must be tired of people being genuinely surprised that he’s only been a professional musician for a year. Few new age musicians have the kind of stage presence and artistry that Mich Straaw has shown or the enthusiasm with which he has embraced performing live, doing a number of small intimate shows across Lagos, earning his fan base one heartfelt performance at a time. It is even more impressive that Straaw only has one official single to ‘Yours Sincerely’ and performs a set list of self written but unreleased songs, and hardly ever leans on covers from other more established musicians. He’s the real deal, with dedication to the craft and respect for the listener.
But he’s changing that little bit about having just one single by releasing his second “CTRL”. Did your mind immediately travel to American singer SZA? That puts him in good company. He uses the voicemail intro, a trick she employs to set the scene for the song’s themes, drawing us in before the music drops. CTRL is heavy on the self introspection and a willingness to explore male sexuality and vulnerability around the kind of woman that inspires a man to ‘chase’. 90’s inspired synth chords hum like a carpet of sound, with simple 808 loops chasing light piano runs while Straaw switches between lush vocals and a throaty 16 bars, as he boasts about his prowess and her hesitance to give in to him.
There’s never any urgency, and there needn’t be, Mich Straaw is in control on every note, and he knows it.
Listen to “CTRL” here.

AV Club: ‘Honey’ shows length is no hindrance to a great story

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Really great things are coming out of the Nigerian short film genre. Perhaps because there is less pressure to recoup financial investments and there is a higher standard for personal excellence among amateur film makers, short films out of Nigeria tend to impress and tell the important stories in ways that conventional film hasn’t quite managed. There was the excellent Bariga Sugar and subversive Rahman and the exultant Monochrome, all diverse short films that touch on black identity in vastly different ways. Now you can add to 2016’s great offerings, the short film ‘Honey’.

Right off the bat Honey is not your conventional short film. For one, the director Olu Yomi Ososanya forgoes dialogue entirely in the short film, trusting that his lead Jennifer Nneoma Onwuegbwu will carry the film based on the force of her personality and through nuanced method acting. Onwuegbu succeeds, and the film, at a modest five minutes, is one you’ll be hard pressed to look away from.

The premise is simple at first, our lead, is part of a network of high prospect sex workers, at the very heart of  a complicated system of pimps and agents and long term johns. You are not sure if she is merely a victim or a willing participant in the exploitation of her body. But then you find out it is more complicated than that, as all situations involving young women with personal agency are. There are no obvious tells, no signs pointing you to the film’s message, you have to parse it all yourself.

Ososanya, who has written for more overt shows like Africa Magic’s The Johnsons is flexing his screen writing and directing chops with Honey, and it is a great case for why he should be given the adequate funds to the make the kinds of independent art films he so clearly is born to make.

Watch ‘Honey’ here.

Why you should be excited to see Ojukokoro this month

Watch Reason And Gemini Major Turn Up For “All The Time” video

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South African rapper, Reason released his GIRLS album on the 10th of March to celebrate the International Women’s week. He has described the album as a concept album that shows him reinventing his image from being a flame spitting rapper looking for someone to murder on his track to a more laid back rap artist. GIRLS contains 12 tracks including his late 2016 single “All The Time” featuring Gemini Major.

“All The Time” is a perfect mix of a turn-up song and rap. Both rappers make good use of the bouncy fast paced beats and rap with lyrical poise despite the beat’s catchy dance rhythm.

“All The Time” is directed by Studio Space Productions who turned out a very impressive use of greenroom technology. The video features dim lights, Reason, Gemini, a model and just the right amount of geometric transition for a trippy effect

Watch the video for Reason and Gemini’s “All The Time” here.

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/ReasonSeason

Listen to Cassper Nyovest’s get money anthem “Tito Mboweni”

See all 6 teaser videos from Jidenna’s “The Chief” album

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After Beyonce up-turned the album roll-out format with two back to back releases of albums that neither followed regular scheduling or hit the stores in the expected manner,many artists have imperatively followed the path of the queen. Jidenna has taken that cue to update the roll-out of his “The Chief” album released last month with six accompanying videos from the debut LP. Earlier today, the rapper released the teaser videos for all six videos off the album. Get a first look all the cuts below

A Bull’s Tale

Safari

Trampoline

Beware

2 Points

White Niggas

Watch Jidenna gate crash his ex-girlfriend’s wedding in Bambi video

Listen To “Hurting” Oma Mahmud’s Ode To A Lost Friend

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Pain, like other emotions, has been a well of inspiration for different artists. Frida Kahlo’s paintings often depicted her suffering on canvas in stark, disturbing and even bloody images. Amy Winehouse’s music and Ernest Hemingway’s literature both came from a place of personal suffering and torture. After experiencing the loss of a loved one, Oma Mahmud has gone down this worn path to create “Hurting” in collaboration with Fuego Senoras‘ DJ Yin.

On “Hurting”, Oma describes the motions of dealing with the heartache that comes with losing one close to him. He sings about how the pain never really goes even after a long while and the hurt still remains while he remains hopeful about better days. On a striking note, IAMBEATZ’s drum-heavy production is decidedly upbeat which stands out against the sober lyrics. Perhaps, it was an intentional twist hinting at man’s ability to still create happiness from a place of sorrow.

Listen to “Hurting” below

Featured Image Credit: Omamahmud/Instagram

Genio Bambino Teams Up With AYLO for “Soul”, Off Upcoming Project

Chocolate City Boss, Audu Maikori’s Court Case Adjourned Till May

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Audu Maikori, the founder of Chocolate City Entertainment was first arrested in Kaduna on the 17th of February after making a tweet concerning the killing of the five students of College of Education. He alleged that the Fulani herdsmen were responsible for their deaths and since then, the government has been on his case. Despite his  admitting  he was misinformed by his driver before taking down the controversial tweet, the Kaduna State Government still called for an arrest of the pseudo-activist in the weeks following the incident.

After a first arrest, Audu was released amidst sighs of relief from fans and well wishers but their relief was short lived by a second arrest on the 10th of February. Although police deny being responsible for Audu’s second arrest, reports confirm that the entrepreneur  was confined in a police facility till the Kaduna State Ministry of Justice took his case file from the police. Audu’s second arrest comes a week after Kaduna State governor promised to ensure that Audu got prosecuted for attempting to spur up violence in the Southern part of the state.

Considering how quick the Chocolate City boss was to retract his statement and apologise for his error, it is easy to understand why he has won the support of many Nigerians who have taken their protest to social media with the hashtag #FreeAudu. The government however saw the situation as an opportunity to impede on the civic rights of a citizen and persecute anyone trying to oppose the government. This follows a similarly hostile government reaction to 2face’s planned protest earlier this year and has been flouted in some quarters as the government’s lack of tolerance for opposition.

In spite of the government’s aberrations we can not ignore Audu’s initial error. We can’t argue for what his intentions were or weren’t, but considering his law degree and celebrity status, he should know better than to put his integrity and influence behind disruptive statements. Spreading information capable of inciting violence without verification is merely adding to ills of a ‘Fake News’ phenomenon that has become one of the biggest problems of modern information dissemination in recent times. It’s people who say things without first confirming if it’s true that makes the job of civil rights activists harder.

Still, in all respect for basic human rights, we are glad that sanity has been restored by the judiciary who have stepped up to take up the case from the police to ensure that between Audu and the State government, both parties get a fair hearing.

Featured Image Credit: Instagram/audumaikori

Meet Oscar Ekponimo, the Nigerian allievating hunger with his app

Hear Dee Moneey and Efya’s soulful vibe-out on “Only One”

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Dee Moneey became one of the new school rap acts to watch since his “Finish Line” West Africa-Connect remix featuring Paedae, J.Town, M.anifest from Ghana and  Nigeria’s Ice Prince and Reminisce. To celebrate his birthday yesterday, he released his second single for the year, “Only One”  featuring songbird, Efya.

“Only One” shows two artist who know how to balance their differences together without lapsing on their individual roles. Efya’s soulful opening is complimented by Dee Moneey’s rhymes on a base heavy beat produced by Ghost 88 (LXXXVIII).

The video for “Only One” is directed by KTO for Hawk Eye Cinema. Dee Moneey released his first single for this year back in January and this follow up single is expected to do just as well as the first.

Watch the Video for Dee Moneey’s “Only One” featuring Efya here

Featured Image Credit: Instagram/iamdeemoneey

 

Ghana meets Nigeria to the world on Bond’s “Neighbours”

The Shuffle: Let Klever Jay’s “Koni Koni Love” take you all the way back in time

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Perhaps the greatest save for the future of Nigerian Afropop is the existence of a broad range of song types and styles to draw influences from. The mid-to-late 2000s witnessed a renaissance of Nigerian music, more attention was paid to detail and production evolved out of its shell of American hip-hop samples and debased local reworks of mainstream hits (See Maintain “Catch Cold”, Banky W’s “Ebutte Meta” et al). This was also the era of compositions so uniquely original, that due to its multiplicity of old and new influences, any genre-definition beyond ‘Afropop’  would have never sufficed. 

Out of that chaotic freeverse have come many one-hit wonders and producers alike, who rabidly turned out a slew of hits, before cashing their chips early and moving their careers to foreign lands. One unforgettable name from the lot is Klever Jay, the man that gave us  “Koni Koni Love”,  a fast paced Reggae-R’n B song about unrequited love off his 2008 debut, The Beginning.

“Koni Koni Love” works for many reasons. The single leans towards the Island Calypso Kevin Little and Rupee had popularised in the late nougties with era-defining global hits like “Turn Me On” and “Tempted To Touch” respectively. It also subtly runs a narrative of a tortured lover while maintaining a tempo clearly built for the dance-floor by default. Klever Jay features Danny Young and a largely unknown Chris Don, but the trio’s harmony could have as well been taken for a group effort.

At face value, “Koni Koni Love”  is pop music at its most mindless, a preppy attempt more or less to snag a radio hit off a relatable emotions. But it also captures an era where Nigerian producers and artists alike experimented with a wide range of ideas. The music encapsulated in this time can serve as a literal goldmine for samples and interesting reworks by younger generation of Nigerian artists who are broadening the soundscape to accommodate more fringe patterns and alternative genres.

Listen to Klever Jay’s “Koni Koni Love” below

The Shuffle: Go back in time to Shank’s “Julie”

Best New Music: “If” is proof of another legendary thing Davido can do

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Davido can do many strange but oddly phenomenal things. Hitmaking aside, he can rise to the top in an elemental style so bawdy only few have and will ever dare. He can get away with cheeky brags so ridiculous, its breaks (or questions, when you think about Dele Momodu) many laws of nature and physics. Davido, can and will also body every artist willing to sacrifice the solo glory of a potential hit for a guest verse.

But if you still have doubts about what the man can do, you should listen to his latest single “If”, a super laid-back acoustic rework of “Pana” you never knew you needed. Unsurprisingly, “If” is produced by Tekno, but its not impossible to tell which is the superior song.

“If” is stripped bare of many distractions to save Davido’s vocals from the obscurity of over production. A problem many producers trying to place his gruff voice on mellower melodies have misunderstood in the past as the need for auto-tune.

Nostalgia is one of pop’s most effective tools and Davido sleekly incoprates a sample of Lagbaja’s “Gra Gra” off the millennium album We into “If”. While Lagbaja’s cut sounds like a vocoded incursion of Daft Punk’s “Instant Crush”, Davido’s spin leans into an emotional melody, screams with raw urgency and is sprinkled with just the right amount of auto-tune for pizzazz.

Despite attmepting to mimic the light drum and synth patterns of his own prior hit, Tekno’s production is not near-tactless as it appears at first glance. Davido’s often ignored ability to successfully tap into the wavelength of a broad range of instrumentation only further defines him as a top-class act. Tekno should’ve known better than to give his wave to a man that resurrected a ‘Lagbaja hit’, then casually decided to make it a ‘Davido hit’ from then on.

See the video for Davido’s “If” below

Revisit “Maradona”, last week’s Best New Music here

Euphonic Music Presents “Xoe’s Ode” Off ‘Tales 2’ EP

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The acclaim of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories, Kanye West’s Yeezus and Young Thug Jeffery amonsgt other records have spurred a renaissance for sparse production and electronic chords. Local interest may be low now , but auto-tune and other electronic synth-based genres have come under the spotlight as the future of sound evolution.

To prove our point, The Euphonic Music Company, a homegrown collective that recognizes this potential just put out the independent work of producer, Xoe in an EP titled Tales 2. Tales 2 is a sequel to Tales, an instrumental EP Xoe released via Euphonic’s SoundCloud a month ago. Xoe’s EP, Tales 2 relies solely on musical notes and sounds to express the story of it’s subject’s struggle. It’s not literal as you’d expect, but we doubt it was intended to be.

“Xoe’s Ode” is the third track off Tales 2 and it is a great entry point for the rest of the body of work. The instrumental starts with a piano chord anchored on a somber violin baseline and by the time the beats drop and the drums are introduced, Xoe’s angst and skepticism about hope comes in full circle.

The atmosphere of “Xoe’s Ode” is a broody one. It yearns for hope inspite of retribution, a release that never comes and longing for a journey to a place far away from here.

Listen to “Xoe’s Ode” by Xoe here.

Listen to Euphonic’s Neighbours EP by Bond

Simi Goes On A love Voyage In ‘Smile For Me’ Video

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Amidst fan clamour for Simi’s debut album, “Smile For Me” comes as her first single since the release of Chemistry her joint album with Falz. The single was unveiled earlier in the year to be a potential lead single off her upcoming album (expected later this year) and as part of promotions, the roll-out has been accompanied with an adjoining video.

“Smile For Me” is directed by Clarence A  Peters and cuts from the video takes us back to a time of record players and bicycles. Simi is lead on a romantic quest to find her lover who has prepared mysterious hints that would help her journey through romantic scenery and traditional drummers. She finds her lover, actor Ayoola Ayobami whose love gestures has her smiling all through the video.

Follow Simi’s quest for love in the video for “Smile For Me”

Featured Image Credit : YouTube/X3M Music

Check out our all woman bumplist to celebrate women’s history month

Bond’s ‘Neighbours’ is a fascinating multigenre experimentation

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As the Sound Engineer for Nigerian music collective Euphonic, sound engineer Bond has helped craft his fair share of the Nigerian ‘New Age’s sounds. But now he’s stepping into the booth with a few bops of his own. Bond is the consummate Nigerian Millennial dabbling in multiple pies apart from Euphonic; specifically an indie record label Vision Inspired Music based in Ghana. With plugs to Ghana’s musical renaissance and it’s insistence on process and Nigeria’s ‘New Age’ preoccupation with wil experimentation, Bond is in a perfection position to bridge both disciplines. And he does so on his new ‘concept’ EP “Neighbours”.

With just two songs on the EP, there’s not quite enough music to gauge the breadth of its experimentation but Bond does show his chops on both songs. The first “Come Over” featuring Robin – Huws and Reynolds TGM (both signees to Bond’s Vision Inspired Music) is an afropop bop, heavy on the hand-held percussions and that non-committal tempo that Ghanaian hip-life has mastered excellently, occasionally shaking things up with classic EDM techniques, the bass heavy breakdown and a short piano sample that works as the song’s instrumental hook. Robin – Huws and Reynolds TGM acquit themselves quite well, but it is obvious that the song remains a showcase for Bond.

The second song “Labalaba” despite its very Yoruba title, is entirely a hip-life song, thanks to the force of nature that is the song’s vocalist and V.I.M signee Adomaa. She completely dominates the song, turning it into her own thing. Her breathy vibrato, dipping occasionally into lower octaves, demands attention and holds it, right down to the last note. Bond is a lot subtler on “Labalaba” too, playing with harp arrangements and and very electronic-y synth trumpeting to create a convenient wall of sound. The tail end of the song shifts into 90’s inspired dance percussion, an appropriate reprieve from the all the unrequited love that Adomaa builds through the earlier parts of the song. We definitely want a more extensive project from Adomaa.

Album art by Kofi Note tries the whole thing in a neat little bow, ready for you. You should hit play and keep it on repeat.

Listen to “Neighbours” here.

Listen to Yinka Bernie give sublime storytelling on Silhouette

Kuraye’s ‘Alomo’ is an interesting twist on the hood anthem.

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Things they do for the alomo eh

Rap is all about your bonafides. The very history of rap abhors the vacuum of a rapper without any kind of history or pedigree and since the 70’s rappers have made a statement of repping their ‘hoods’, shouting out their ‘cliques’ and ‘gangs’ and featured or bragged about their mentors. Even Nigerian rap isn’t immune to the phenomenon of Rap bonafides, it actually has spread into most of Nigeria’s musical genres with rappers like Olamide claiming Surulere and Bariga’s agberos as his family, Phyno repping Enugu, M.I and Jesse Jagz putting Jos on the map, Terry Da Rap Man repping Kaduna and Wizkid bringing Ojuelegba to the world.

Every contemporary rapper has to fight the temptation to provide their bonafides but most fail, and few have been as ingenious as Abuja based rapper and producer Kuraye asserting his street cred without losing his originality. Kuraye takes the route of the populist by making an homage not to a specific hood but the preferred beverage of all hoods, traditional herb infused alcohol, Alomo. 

Alomo Bitters, originally from Ghana (like a lot of the contemporary facets of our lives that scale) has become synonymous with traditionally made herbal drinks preferred by the ‘hoods’, and comes with it’s own street cred Kuraye featuring singer XL Spliff and extra production credits from DaReKasali, asserts this over a trap beat, asserting his street cred over and over and his allegiance to all hoods. It is an interesting bop, bound to get more than a few replays.

Listen to “Alomo” here.

Listen to Aylo and Aziff talk wasted love and revealing emotions on “Still”

We love a good ballad and Nana Atta’s ‘Bang’hlebhile’ is just right

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At Native Mag we love to shake things up every now and then, break the monotony that can come from constantly covering male dominated afrobeats/afrotrap/afrotrap genres and branch into something new or something classic. South African music has been hitting that spot for us, providing that other perspective that we often miss in our testosterone driven industry. Nana Atta is one of those women.

Nana Atta, currently signed to Universal Music South Africa released a debut EP in 2016 that featured the hit “Don’t Lie” with a feature from artist WTF. She is making a play for 2017 with “Bang’hlebhile” accompanied only by synthesized organs and an occasional guitar riff ad libbed by concert chimes. But Atta’s voice is the song’s main focus, and she rides the melody with ease and skill, transcending language barriers. Considering her EP was primarily sung in English, this might be Nana Atta’s way of appealing to her South African fan base.  Eitherway we’re not complaining.

Listen to “Bang’hlebile” here.

 

See Tiwa Savage, Lady Gaga and others in our Bumplist for this week

You can now cop Korede Bello’s debut album ‘Belloved’

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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.

Stream Belloved via YouTube below

Featured Image Credit: KoredeBello/Instagram

LISTEN TO KOREDE BELLO’S REWORKED “DO LIKE THAT” FEATURING KELLY ROWLAND

The Bumplist: Lady Gaga, Asa, Ray BLK and 6 other women you should check out this week.

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From Cloud

Let’s Dance – Ibibio Soundmachine

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”.

https://soundcloud.com/thenativemag/sets/the-bumplist

See our Bumplist from the previous week, featuring Migos, JHus and other choice picks

Aylo and AZiff talk wasted love and revealing emotions on “Still”

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https://twitter.com/ArkhonEllz/status/838075449334972417

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.

Listen To Aylo’s “Still”

https://soundcloud.com/arkhonellz/still-x-aziff-prod-by-player-dave-sumthin-sumthin

Featured Image Credit: Arkonhellz/Instagram

Genio Bambino Teams Up With AYLO for “Soul”, Off Upcoming Project

You should be excited to see ‘Ojukokoro’ this month

Posted on by The Native

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

Featured Image Credit: Youtube/Dare Olaitan

Watch short film ‘Bariga Sugar’ here

Listen To Cassper Nyovest’s Get Money Anthem “Tito Mboweni”

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https://www.instagram.com/p/BRdM7ZIF1xb/?taken-by=casspernyovest&hl=en

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.

Listen to “Tito Mboweni”off Apple Music below

Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@casspernyovest

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Watch Nasty C And The Vinyl Kid Look Cool As Fuck in “N.D.A”

Posted on by The Native

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.

Watch “NDA” below

https://youtu.be/CfetI9yjJLQ

Featured Image Credit: Youtube

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