Ayo Jay’s “Your Number” Is Now An RIAA Certified Gold Single

Posted on by The Native

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In 2015, Ayo Jay released “Your Number” but it took nearly a year for his song to blow up through DJ plays in the New York underground bagging him a contract with RCA Records and a Fetty Wap feature on the official remix. Earlier today, Ayo Jay announced an RIAA Gold certification for “Your Number” on via his Twitter account.

Last year, Ayo Jay peaked at no. 40 on Billboard’s R’n’B/Hiphop Airplay. The certification confirms that his single has sold 500,000 copies. RIAA certification are no longer restricted to physical/digital sales and Ayo Jay’s mark is cumulative of streams across digital platforms.

Revisit Ayo Jay’s summer hit below:

Featured Image Credit: Iamayojay/Instagram

Listen to our Best New Music, “One Call Away” by Legendury beatz and Maleek Berry

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

Posted on by The Native

 

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Over the course of the past year, upcoming indigenous Igbo rapper Zoro has collaborated with new school highlife singer Flavour, released a few singles and released his first single of the year, “Bianca” earlier this month. He has resurfaced with Camoblaizz his collaborator to release the video for “Bianca” directed by Kyle White.

On “Bianca”, Zoro embodies late military leader Ojukwu’s confidence and oratory ability with ease. He took it a step further by rapping about wanting a woman as beautiful and loyal as Bianca Ojukwu, the past beauty queen and wife of the pro-Biafra political leader. The song is almost entirely in Igbo but good music cuts across language barriers so it’s worth a listen.

This is not the first song inspired by the past beauty queen as several Igbo highlife bands and indigenous Bongo singers have done the same. On the other hand, Zoro’s take on extolling Bianca is decidedly different from the others and is as a result, quite refreshing.

Watch his latest cut below

Featured Image Credit: ZoroSwagbag/Instagram

Watch drunk Jidenna gatecrash ex-girlfriend’s wedding in “Bambi” video

Here Are All the The Nominations for the 18th Annual Vodafone Ghana Music Awards

Posted on by The Native

On April 4th 2017, the 18th Vodafone Ghana Music Awards will take place at the Accra International Conference Centre. Rapper, Sarkodie, leads the way again this year with the most nominations. Having previously won a record 18 awards at Ghanaian Music’s Biggest night, he has been nominated for 8 different awards this year, ranging from Hip Hop Artist of The Year to Record of The Year.

Interestingly, there are minimal nominations for Nigerian artists this year, other than the all Nigerian category for African (Foreign) Artist of the Year. This is following on from the controversy surrounding Mr. Eazi’s nomination blackout last year. The annual celebration of Ghanian Music will be broadcasted live on local station GH One. Check out the full list of nominations below.

African Artist of the year

Patoranking
Mr Eazi
Runtown
Tekno
Nathaniel Bassey
Reggae/Dancehall Artist of the Year
Stonebwoy
Ras Kuuku
Samini
Ebony
Rudebwoy Ranking
MzVee
Highlife Artist of the Year
Bisa Kdei
Becca
Kofi Kinaata
Gospel Artist of the Year
Joe Mettle
Piesie Esther
Sonnie Badu
Jeshrun Okyere
Nacee
Hiplife Song of the Year
Guru – Samba feat. Singlet
Donzy – Club feat. Piesie and Sarkodie
Flowking Stone – Go Low
Sarkodie – RNS
Criss Waddle – Bie Gya feat. Stonebwoy
Kofi Kinaata – Sweet Pie
VVIP – Alhaji feat. Patoranking
Afro-pop Song of the Year
E.L – Kaabu Ame
Eugy – Dance For Me feat. Mr Eazi
Article Wan – Solo
Joey B – U x me
Medikal – Too Risky feat. Sister Derby
Adina – Too Late
Vision DJ – Grind feat. A.I
Hip-hop Song of the Year
Manifest – god MC
Sarkodie – Trumpet feat. Tee Phlow, Koo Ntakra, Strongman, Pappy Kojo, Donzy, & Medikal
E.L – Lalafalama
Medikal – Confirm remix feat. Sarkodie
Edem – Egboame remix feat. Tee Phlow, Cabum, Gemini, Ayat, Mac M, Medikal, Darko, & Bebelino
Okyeame Kwame – Tension feat. Cabum, Medikal & Sister Derby
Best New Act
Medikal
Nii Funny
Fancy Gadam
Article Wan
Feli Nuna
Ebony
Rudebwoy Ranking
Eugy
Record of the year
Nacee – Me ne wo aa
Akwaboah – Hello feat. Sarkodie
Adina – Too late
Joey B – U x Me
Trigmatic – Motromodwo feat. A.I
Best Female Vocalist
Adina – Tool Late
Becca – Beshiwo
MzVee – Nobody Else
Piesie Esther – Agye won nsam
Petrah – My Man
Best Male Vocalist
Ogya Mensah – Get Serious
Afriyie – Here to Stay
Joe Mettle – Onwanwani
Akwaboah – Hello
Sonnie Badu – Still You Reign
Ernest Opoku – Yewo Nyame a yewo adze
Best Music Video of the Year
Wiyaala – Leno
Okyeame Kwame – Small small feat. MzVee
Nacee – Yewo Nyame a yewo adze feat. Ernest Opoku
Flowking Stone – Rapping Drums
M.anifest – W’ani aba feat. Bisa K’Dei
Edem – Nyedzilo feat. Rekaado Banks
Songwriter of the Year
Joe Mettle – Onwanwani
Kill Beatz – Too Late
Kofi Kinaata – Confession
Nacee – Yewo Nyame a yewo adze
Hiplife/Hip Hop Artist of the Year
Guru
EL
Flowking Stone
Medikal
Sarkodie
M.anifest
Joey B
Best Rapper of the Year
Flowking Stone – Fire Bon Dem RMX
EL – Love God
Meidkal – Connect
Yaa Pono (Ponobiom) – Mind on Money
M.anifest – 100%
Sarkodie – Fire Bon Dem RMX
Artist of the Year
EL
Sarkodie
Stonebwoy
Joe Mettle
MzVee
Medikal
Song of the Year
Christy – Dobble
U x Me – Joey B
R N S – Sarkodie
Solo – Article Wan
People Dey – Stonebwoy
Kaabuame – EL
Bie Gya – Criss Waddle ft. Stonebwoy
Sweetie Pie – Kofi Kinaata
Alhaji – VVIP ft. Patoranking
Yewo Nyame a Yewo Adze – Nacee Ft. Ernest Opoku
Go Low – Flowking Stone
Album of the Year
CounselorNacee
Bar 3 – EL
Nowhere Cool – M.anifest
Gifted – Flowking Stone
Sounds of Africa – Sonnie Badu
Best Collaboration of the Year
Alhaji – VVIP ft. Patoranking
Yewo Nyame a Yewo Adze – Nacee ft. Ernest Opoku
Confirm Rmx – Medikal Ft. Sarkodie
Bie Gya – Criss Waddle ft. Stonebwoy
Nwansina – Ras Kuuku ft. Luther
Samba – Guru ft. Singlet
Best Group of the Year
VVIP
R2Bees
Dunsin
Gallaxy
Reggae/Dancehall Song of the Year
People Dey – Stonebwoy
Nwansina – Ras Kuuku Ft. Luther
Gborgborvor – Gallaxy Ft. Stonebwoy
Kupe – Ebony
Yonnah – Samini ft. Luther
Pain Dem – Rudebwoy Ranking
Arostor – Kaakie Ft. Yaa Pono
Highlife Song of the Year
Jwe – Bisa Kdei
Confession – Kofi Kinaata
Beshiwo – Becca ft. Bisa Kdei
Mintse Bo – Wisa Greid
Christy – Dobble
Bokor Bokor – Kill Beatz ft. Mugeez & Fuse ODG
Unsung Artist
Kwame Eugene
AJ Lyricx
Afezi Perry
CJ Biggerman
Eshun
Deon Boakye
Cina Soul
Gospel Song of the Year
Yewo Nyame a Yewo adze – Nacee ft. Ernest Opoku
Change Over – Mary Agyemang
Mewo Jesus – Mabel Okyere
Still You Reign – Sonnie Badu
Healing Stream – Jeshrun Okyere Ft. Nathaniel Bassey
Agye Won Nsam – Piesie Esther

 

 

See full list of Oscar winners

Listen To Blackmagic Reveal His Sensitive Side On “Trouble”

Posted on by The Native

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On Blackmagic’s latest single, “Trouble”, he sings of a relationship with the right one, describing the emotions as a different type of high. Myst his featured artist, belts out the hook in Yoruba over looped recording of horns and drums. Xela’s production should have been more toned down as it almost threatens to drown their voices on the track.

In March 2015, Blackmagic revealed that his third studio album Version 3.0 was “complete and ready”. There was silence on news regarding the album till 2016 where he released 3 singles off the album “Wonder” and “Loyal” and “Like This”. Still, 2016 ended without Blackmagic releasing the long overdue project. Perhaps his latest release might just be a late Valentine’s release for the last day in the month of love

Featured Image Credit: EjayBlackmagic/Instagram

Jidenna Gate-crashes Ex-Girlfriend’s Wedding In ‘Bambi’ Video

Watch Yemi Alade attempt the sexy singer trope in “Marry Me” video

Posted on by The Native

Yemi Alade is still rolling out videos off her Mama Africa sophomore album and her latest is, “Marry Me”, a salsa-inspired cut from the LP.

On the video for “Marry Me” Yemi Alade flirts with the risque trope with sultry posses and her signature energetic dance moves. There are shots of Yemi Alade in a bathtub and hot scene with her co-star Alex Ekubo, who plays her love interest ( a second time since “Johnny” video).

“Marry Me” carries an intended sensuality all through but it appears Yemi Alade is still coy as ever about embracing her femininity. Over the years her avoidance of controversy has tamed her ability to elementally transform her brand into a reference point for female body positivity (even though she actively suggests it with her music). If we had any immediate reason to dispute her Mama Africa crown, this would be it.

See Yemi Alade try to be sexy in “Marry Me” video below

Revist “Holy Ghost” by Paradise Motel, our first ever Best New Music

Strictly Sowa wants you to ‘Parry on Da Block’

Posted on by The Native

As afro-trap gains mainstream attention, new strains of the sub-genre emerge influenced by the colloquial culture of the artists who dabble in them. The quality of the music starts to homogenize and the proficiency of the artists who make this music stabilizes. Afro-trap is finally spawning in cities other than Lagos and we’re here for it.

Abuja based rapper and The Capital Movement signee Strictly Sowa just dropped his new joint ‘Parry on Da Block’. With stellar production chops from OelA and pretty interesting flow, Sowa makes a play for the Afro-trap market popularized by artists like Maleek Berry, Mayorkun and Terry Apala. The synth percussions and the sung-rap drone in which he delivers a braggy sixteen bars. There is the unmistakable influence of Drake but none of the production heavy taint that defines music from Lagos artists. Definitely the kind of music for a late night chill sesh.

Listen to Parry On Da Block

Listen to Bankyondbeatz work a madness on Idris King’s Squad

Gillian Baci’s “If you break my heart” skims on island vibes

Posted on by The Native

The ‘New Age’ music revolution’s biggest champions might be in Lagos, but the new wave is spawning across the country, including Abuja, the nation’s capital where the Bantu Collective serves as a touch stone for artists like Sute Iwar, Kyrian Asher and new comer Gillian Baci. To be fair, Gillian Baci is only a newcomer in the sense that his music is finally starting to resonate outside his home city even though he’s been recording music since 2012.

After weeks of speculation and a production set back, the Abuja based singer has finally put out his first single for the year, the island influenced If You Break My Heart. Taking the most subtle of elements from the very distinct caribbean island vibe (think synth progressions) with pop affectations and a feature from rapper Zilla, Baci croons about an uncertain paramour whose intentions are unsure to him.  It is a decent single, but considering how interesting Baci’s 2016 single ‘Fool’s Gold’ was, perhaps this shift to a more commercial sound might take a while to settle into.

If You Break My Heart is the first single from a coming 5 track EP ‘Journey To Heartbreak’, a prequel a 10 track mixtape that is supposed to usher him properly as a recording artist. With collaborations with Lady Donli, Zilla and Psycho.

Listen to If You Break My Heart here. 

 

Listen to Klu’s “ithinktheboyisgreat”, our new swag anthem

Best New Music: Maleek Berry delivers for Legendury Beatz on “One Call Away”

Posted on by The Native

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What do you do after landing a Drake verse on your beat and singlehandedly creating a wave that turned mainstream attention to modern Nigerian music like no other? You do like production duo Legendury Beatz and release a cohesive tape detailing your mastery of the Afropop soundscape then put some of the most influential artists of the genre on it.

2015 was the last major year for cellphone music, thanks to Drake’s “Hotline Bling” and Adele’s “Hello” respectively. Maleek Berry’s recursion of the trope on “One Call Away”, revisits an age-long topical relationship between the pop genre and phone call themed music (usually about longing for love and conflicted hearts).

“One Call Away” opens with bass drum kicks and a sparse baseline set on calm ambient synths and wooden taps. It’s oddly soothing but you’re also tempted to move your waists on instinct, especially as a vocoded riff of Maleek Berry’s adlibs sets into the rhythm.

Maleek Berry’s impressive run as a singer last year put him in the same class of artists with mainstream appeal. Because one thing no one quite has like him is balance. On “One Call Away”, Maleek recreates the same tropical atmosphere of his Last Daze Of Summer, with the perfect amounts of everything. His melody is potent without being tiring. His lyrics are dampened by many pop cliches, but are precise enough for the dance-floor and just perfect for captions. And though he longs for faraway love, emotions are relegated to implied intimate moments of “good loving under the moon”, where you can actually hear the urgent need in his voice.

In the way of things, there is no doubt about the possibility of Legendury Beatz’ Afropop 101 mixtape, going the way of many critically revered but mostly unknown producer albums. “One Call Away”, is stand alone track that manages to capture what premium Afropop of this period should sound like, sonically and content-wise.

Listen to “One Call Away”, this week’s best new music below

https://soundcloud.com/afrotrap-tunes/legendury-beatz-one-call-away-feat-maleek-berry?in=afrotrap-tunes/sets/legendury-beatz-afropop-101

Revist “Holy Ghost” by Paradise Motel, our first ever Best New Music

Listen to B.O.S On “Road 2 Riches” Produced By Felix

Posted on by The Native

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After a brief silent spell, B.O.S released a new single “Long Time” about a week ago (insert Bobby Schmurda meme) His latest single “Road 2 Riches” is a follow-up to his first single of the year and it is produced by Felix.

On “Road 2 Riches”, B.O.S tells a story about a confident rapper on the come-up trying to make a name for himself and ignore negativity. He sings about giving his best just to get the money and the respect regardless of what his enemies might think.

“Road 2 Riches” is an impressive come-up anthem by an artist who has been relatively consistent with his releases over the last couple of months.

Hear his latest cut below

Featured Image Credit: B.o.syes/Instagram

Check Out Klu’s “Ithinktheboyisgreat” Here

ICYMI: 7 Memorable Moments From Oscars 2017

Posted on by The Native

The 2017 Academy Awards was a memorable one seasoned with eyerolls at the predictable wins, political speeches, a surprise Steve Harvey moment where the wrong film was announced for best picture (see below) wins. In case you missed all the fun, here’s a list of 7 major moments that happened at the 2017 Oscars.

Viola Davies Is Crowned Queen Of Acting

Famously known for her role as Annalise Keating on How To Get Away With Murder, Viola Davis won an award for her role in Fences. Her win puts her in the elite category of actors who have won ‘The Triple Crown’ of acting (Emmy, Tony and Oscar). She’s also the first black person to have won all 3 awards for acting categories. Check out her award acceptance speech above.

The Historic Best Picture Mixup

Warren Beatty pulled a Steve Harvey (If you still don’t know what that means, watch this clip here) and announced La La Land as the best picture winner. The super excited producers were already on stage beaming and preparing to belt out their acceptance speech before they realised something seriously mind-blowing: the Oscars favourite actually didn’t win. This has never happened in all 89 years of the Award show’s existence and an equally surprised Moonlight cast was ushered on stage to receive their rightful award.

The Hidden Figures stars invite out one of the real-life stars

As one of three films based on a true story of the 2017 nominees, Hidden Figures paid tribute to the people who inspired the film by bringing out former NASA aerospace technologist Katherine Johnson played by Taraji P. Henson. Hidden Figures sadly didn’t win an Oscar but her presence at the event made the struggles depicted in the film all the more real.

Cheeto President Slander

Given the current political tension, everyone assumed someone would definitely talk about it — it was just a question of how political and how quickly. The host, Jimmy Kimmel went there right away, taking digs at President Donald Trump in his opening monologue, saying, “I want to say thank you to President Trump — remember last year when it seemed like the Oscars were racist?”

Watch out the rest of his monologue above.

The Dead and Undead:

Australian Twitter was ablaze after another Oscar mix up happened during the In Memoriam segment. Late Janet Patterson was being honoured yet the image of her friend and colleague, producer Jan Chapman, who is “very much alive,” was mistakenly used. The late costume designer who passed on in October was a four-time Oscar nominee for her work on Bright Star, Oscar and Lucinda, The Portrait of a Lady, as well as The Piano.

Director Asghar Farhadi’s protest absence

The Iranian director announced weeks ago he would not be attending the Oscars ceremony, though his film The Salesman was nominated for Best Foreign Film. When the award was announced, two prominent Iranian-Americans—engineer Anousheh Ansari, known as the first female space tourist, and Firouz Naderi, a former director at NASA—accepted the statue his behalf, reading his powerful written statement.

Mahershala Ali’s Win

Mahershala Ali made history last night by becoming the first ever Muslim actor to win the award for his role as a sympathetic drug dealer in the Best Picture winner, Moonlight.  His joint win with Viola Davis was the first time more than one Black actor won a competitive award on the same night since 2007.

 

Featured Image Credit: TvInsider

See Full List of Winners From Oscars 2017

This is the Nigerian Premier League Goal Everyone Won’t Stop Talking About

Posted on by The Native

Nigerians’ prayers of winning Puskas Award (FIFA’s Award for best goal) seems a little closer to being answered with Sikiru Olatunbosun’s left footed volley on Saturday. The miracle goal came just in time to ensure that Lagos’ MFM FC (Mountain Of Fire and Miracles FC) were 2-1 winners over Enugu’s Rangers during Saturday’s premier league game.

The build up was something even Barcelona would be proud of with the flicked passes and precise through balls. Over the weekend, the video of the goal went viral and got featured by Fox Sports as the goal of the day.

Its hard to pick who is more deserving of the glory for this one—the team-play, the goalscorer or God—but that was one beautiful goal.

See for yourself below

 

 

Documenting Nigerian skate culture with Slawn, Leonard & Onyedi

Aiding and abetting a shitty Nollywood and Other OSCAR related dilemmas

Posted on by The Native

In the years where Nigerian music is progressing with international magazine features and Grammy nomination, one would expect Nollywood to follow suit with a place at the Oscars. Yet, another year  has passed and no Nollywood movie or director got so much as a shout-out at film’s biggest night.

The Academy Awards are the highest recognition for film and despite being the third largest movie industry in the world, all 89 editions of the award ceremony have gone without a Nigerian presence. Those in the movie industry would argue that people who say Nollywood movies are bad, don’t actually watch Nigerian movies. In fairness to them, recent works from Kunle Afolayan  (“October 1st”, “Irapada”, “Phone Swap”), Mildred Okwo (“The Meeting”) and Kemi Adetiba (“The Wedding Party”) indicate a progression of a storytelling culture. But between piracy and low investor confidence in big budget productions, Nollywood has only a handful of movies like this to show. Other than that, Nollywood is still steady churning out your average badly shot and ridiculously scripted films only fit for memes and Instagram skits.

The current Nollywood is riddled with a creative complacency. This is in part because consumers are satisfied with what they’ve always gotten from the industry. The lack of alternative entertainment for many Nigerian house holds means directors can get away with badly produced movies because people would still watch them anyway. There is no denying that Robert Peter’s “30 Days in Atlanta” had great cameras, lights and fancy locations but none of it could make up for the watery plot or a story that seems intent on reinforcing stereotype characters and over familiar themes.

Usually, a safe argument for many is the ‘for a Nigerian film’ context. A low scale that demands that quality of our films are measured by the average standards we expect of ‘Nigerian films’ ( although we have better shot music videos).

Our apathetic attitude towards the movie industry has deprived us of a good critique culture. We grew up watching these poorly produced movies and get defensive when they are compared to movies from outside Nigeria. Yet, African directors like Darrell Roodt (Yesterday 2004), Gavin Hood (Tsotsi 2005), Jehane Noujaim (The Square 2013) and more have been to the Oscars as nominees and winners. If their achievements prove anything, its that even Nigerian film makers can aspire to more, if stories tackle more universal themes without compromise.

We need to stop letting the noise of hype drown critical value when high profile budget movies with plot holes come out of Nollywood. Its time to start demanding more from Nigerian producers who are stuck in the “If its not broken don’t fix it” limbo. Nobody should get cool points just for trying.

 

Five Series Nollywood actually got right

The Republic just launched and we’re in all our feels

Posted on by The Native

Culture is integral to how any community sees itself and how it is perceived by the larger communities in which it exists and being able to control the narrative around how is perceived or at least contribute to it is vital. This is in part, why The NATIVE exists and why we continue to push out the best possible content about the artists, music and subcultures that would otherwise be misrepresented or ignored. But we’re not the only ones shaping the narrative around Africans at home and in the diaspora and how we have come to be this way; there is also The Republic.

The brainchild of economist and social pundit Wale Lawal, The Republic was spawned out of a need to contribute to the intellectual narrative around being Nigerian and by extension, African. Our idiosyncrasies, our ideologies, our colloquial culture and the very things that endear us to other and separate us from them are the meat of The Republic, the things they intend to scrutinize and celebrate, critique and exult. The Republic’s charge is simple, and best articulated in the inaugural forward  for the journal’s first issue:

At The Republic, we will always prioritize the meaningful exchange of ideas. Always, we will find ourselves tasked with pressing forward: on the most critical of social, political and economic issues; by innovating through dead ends; and by providing guidance through thickets of opinion, ignorance and misinformation—three main features of our time—in search of glades of insight⎈

It’s doubly important that the first issue is about gender and women. We won’t pontificate any further, that we’ll let you do yourselves after you check out the magazine.

Congratulations The Republic, long may you serve.

Read The Republic here. 

To Know Maki oh is to know Lagos

OrangeCulture’s international debut is a win for Nigerian menswear

Posted on by The Native

It feels like it’s been way more than five years since Adebayo Oke-Lawal left his styling collective BUBAAI (short for Bubu, Bayo and Aisha) to start his own design label Orange Culture. He was 21 then and a Unilag alumni and fashion design as a career was only starting to gain traction in Nigeria. Even by that point Oke-Lawal already had an impressive resume, with styling work on some of the biggest fashion magazines at the time and network that spanned the entire continent.

When he decided, after a year of dabbling in women’s wear collections that he was going to focus exclusively on menswear, it seemed at first a misstep. Women’s wear in Nigeria has established retail channels, and extensive PR network and a large clientbase. But his first collection, which featured an abstract print pleated kilt was released, followed by an opportunity to showcase at the inaugural Lagos Fashion and Design Week as part of the showcase’s first class of emerging designers showed Oke-Lawal was thinking bigger than the conventional.

Even then it took him a while to find his voice, there were a number of ‘safe’ collections before Spring 2015’s epochal ‘H.E.R’ collection. Oke-Lawal completely divested himself of Western influences and introduced the first of a line of bespoke prints for the label celebrating the designer’s Yoruba and Edo heritages. He also began to properly explore androgyny in the collection, effectively blurring the line between mens and women’s wear and opening his line once again to his long time female fanbase. Following ‘H.E.R’, Oke-Lawal was invited to join the first team of designers to represent Nigeria at the International Fashion Showcase, and with the help of curator Yegwa Ukpo winning the country’s first honors at the showcase.

On the heels of this came invitations to show the South Africa Menswear Week, at Pitti Uomo, the world’s most prestigious fashion trade show and invitation to host a presentation at the 2016 London Collections: Men.  Considering how unconventional Oke-Lawal’s designs and inspirations are, it was the biggest possible recognition of his work. That was, until he was invited to officially debut his Autumn 17 collection as part of the London Fashion Week’s fall schedule.

For this, Oke-Lawal revisited his archives and made a pastiche of all the trends that have defined the brand. Androgyny, Streetwear, athleisure, velour and femininity all spliced into a collage of what it means to be a Nigerian menswear designer defining for himself what the boundaries of Nigerian fashion are. Oke-Lawal becomes the first and the second youngest (after Osakwe of Maki-Oh) to organically rise through the ranks and demand international attention and the respect of the world’s most important critics.

It definitely is a win for Nigerian design and Nigerian menswear.

Photo Credits: SIMON ARMSTRONG



You’ve never seen Mayowa Nicholas and Uju Michael like this

ICYMI: This is why twitter dragged Simi Over The Weekend

Posted on by The Native

Over the last couple of weeks, watching Big Brother has been a major pass-time activity for many Nigerian households. Last weekend fans hit twitter to expressed mixed reactions after Simi hit the shows weekly eviction show’s stage to perform her single “Love Don’t Care”. Despite how well she sang and carried the melody, Nigerians just couldn’t overlook her lack of style.

Simi in the outfit that started it all

See some reactions from Nigerian twitter below

The lamentation of a fan who can’t figure where she went so wrong.

The disrespect!

Because what’s a Nigerian thread without an ethnic angle to it.

Yikes, I hate Mondays too but it would be hard to get out of this one.

Nobody likes a back sit driver but this time we agree.

And what is Simi planning to do about all these tweets.

Simi seems content with her musical genius and undisturbed by her style or lack of it. Her music is great so we’re not exactly complaining.

Listen to Simi’s “Smile for me” here

Chance The Rapper, Wizkid And The Weeknd Slated For Wireless Festival

Posted on by The Native

London’s Wireless Festival has announced its lineup for 2017. Skepta, The Weeknd, Chance The Rapper, and are headliners with Wizkid, Tory Lanez and Rae Sremmurd amongst the major attractions for London’s biggest urban festival.

The annual festival takes place between July 7-9 at Finsbury Park. Other artists scheduled to perform across the weekend include Sean Paul, Bryson Tiller, Section Boyz, Desiigner and more. Check out the line-up as it stands above, with more names to be added in the coming months.

For more information visit the festival’s website.

Featured Photo: Dam Wilton for The FADER

The Shuffle: Revisit Wizkid and Wande Coal’s sinfully underrated collaboration

Telz’s Public Enemy III is a trap homage to Malcolm X

Posted on by The Native

One of the recurring themes in the new wave of autocratic Nigerian creators is revolution. It is exemplified by how much of the creation, technical production and post production and distribution is handled by the artists themselves, how little autonomy they are willing to relinquish to the ‘system’. And these artists really can’t be blamed, the industry has failed them, consumed by greed and nepotism, unwilling to take risks on innovators and content to follow the money where ever it leads. Resistance icons like Fela Anikulapo Kuti have become a touchstone sonically and ideologically for these artists but its refreshing to see multi-genre producer and beatmaker Alli Odunayo (otherwise known as Telz) cast his net wider for inspiration.

His latest instrumental single Public Enemy III is very different from everything he’s put out thus far in construction and influence. And trust us Odunayo’s influences range wide, from Michael Jackson to Flamenco. He makes a concession to the contemporary wave with Public Enemy III, offering a classic trap beat grounded by heavy 808’s peppered by his favored Afrofuturist synth adlibs.

But what really distinguishes Public Enemy is how Odunayo subtly uses samples of a classic Malcolm X speech given in 1965 at the height of the American Civil Rights Movement demanding that people of colour be treated as equal to people of other races. This particular speech is political in an African context because of the eponymous 1992 biopic dedicated to the late civil rights activist. In the film, Nelson Mandela (who appears in the films and was inspired by Malcolm X in his fight against Apartheid) is supposed to deliver the speech but he declines, fearing racial upheavals. So to choose this speech highlights how much more we have to go as people of colour be treated as human.

Throw in the stellar break down at the 1:58 and the subtle, layered narrative Ogundiya is able to create without actually singing a line of music, genius level shit.

Listen to Telz’s Public Enemy III here.

See full list of Winners from Oscars 2017

Posted on by The Native

The 89th Academy Awards held at The Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles last  night and these are all the winners announced at the ceremony

Best supporting actor

WINNER: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)
Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)
Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)

Best makeup and hairstyling

A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
WINNER: Suicide Squad

Best costume design

Allied
WINNER: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Florence Foster Jenkins
Jackie
La La Land

Best documentary

Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
WINNER: OJ: Made in America
13th

Best sound editing

WINNER: Arrival
Deepwater Horizon
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Sully

Best sound mixing

Arrival
WINNER: Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
13 Hours

Best supporting actress

WINNER: Viola Davis (Fences)
Naomie Harris (Moonlight)
Nicole Kidman (Lion)
Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures)
Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)

Best foreign language film

Land of Mine
A Man Called Ove
WINNER: The Salesman
Tanna
Toni Erdmann

Best animated short

Blind Vaysha
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Pearl
WINNER: Piper

Best animated feature

Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
My Life As a Zucchini
The Red Turtle
WINNER: Zootopia

Best production design

Arrival
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
WINNER: La La Land
Passengers

Best visual effects

Deepwater Horizon
Doctor Strange
WINNER: The Jungle Book
Kubo and the Two Strings
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Best film editing

Arrival
WINNER: Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Moonlight

Best documentary short

4.1 Miles
Extremis
Joe’s Violin
Watani: My Homeland
WINNER: The White Helmets

Best live-action short

Ennemis Interieurs
La Femme et le TGV
Silent Nights
WINNER: Sing
Timecode

Best cinematography

Arrival
WINNER: La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Silence

Best score

Jackie
WINNER: La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Passengers

Best song

Audition (La La Land)
Can’t Stop the Feeling! (Trolls)
WINNER: City of Stars (La La Land)
The Empty Chair (Jim: The James Foley Story)
How Far I’ll Go (Moana)

Best original screenplay

Hell or High Water
La La Land
The Lobster
WINNER: Manchester by the Sea
20th Century Women

Best adapted screenplay

Arrival
Fences
Hidden Figures
Lion
WINNER: Moonlight

Best director

Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)
Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge)
WINNER: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Best actor

WINNER: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)
Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)
Denzel Washington (Fences)

Best actress

Isabelle Huppert (Elle)
Ruth Negga (Loving)
WINNER: Emma Stone (La La Land)
Natalie Portman (Jackie)
Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)

Best picture

Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
WINNER: La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
WINNER: Moonlight

See all winners from the 2017 Grammy awards here

Listen To Daramola’s ‘The Last Time I Tried” album here

Posted on by The Native

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQ5evTMBcfo/?taken-by=itsdaramola

Songwriter/singer Daramola has worked behind the scenes, producing for gospel acts like LaCrae and Billboard-charting duo, Social Club Misfits in the past. He made our best new music list a while ago with “Lotto”, the lead single off his newly released album, The Last Time I Tried.

Last Time I Tried is a collection of stories with a narrative that explores the motions of his past relationship with a lover. He switches across languages, inserting choice lines of Yoruba and pidgin English in unexpected places. Each song is almost stripped bare letting Daramola’s voice find clarity and balance without drowning in the instrumentals. The album is almost a solo job spare a feature from Karen Inder on “Dream” where he reveals his feelings and desire to be trusted by someone especially one he has feelings for.

We will be bringing you cuts from Daramola’s album in the coming weeks, but for now, you can listen to  The Last Time I Tried off iTunes or on Youtube playlist below:

Featured Image Credit: Instagram

Best New Music: Dáramólá’s “Lotto” is a Shimmering Tribute to Beauty and Love

Watch Maleek Berry’s “4 Me” video

Posted on by The Native

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQt7tOLjo12/?taken-by=maleekberry

After a few years behind the scenes working as a producer (Maleek Berry produced Wizkid’s Carolina) 2016 was the year we were finally forced to reckon with Berry as a recording artist and man, what an artist he is. Maleek Berry found his way into the highest echelons of Nigerian mainstream music by first conquering international markets through streaming services like Spotify and Deezer. By the time he released his EP, he was already a bonafide hit maker. Even though there was the ugly bit earlier this year with Berry threatening to not release new videos for his singles, if the video “Eko Miami” failed to hit 1 million views on Youtube within a month of its release.

While underhanded, his threat seemed to work out perfectly and after the fans kept their end of the deal, Maleek Berry teamed up with Unlimited LA for the video of “4 Me” which he released yesterday 24th of February. The song is one of the tracks on the infectious party groove “Last Daze of Summer” EP. It has gotten featured on OVO Sound Radio.

The video appears to be inspired by Kid Cudi’s “Frequency” video which also featured psychedelic lighting in the woods filled with models bathed in bright light and smoke. Maleek Berry’s “4 Me” video follows Berry trailing a model through the woods and ending up at a party.

With the wide coverage and acceptance Maleek Berry is enjoying right now, it’s safe to assume that if all it takes for him to continue to produce good quality music is the coins he gets from Youtube views, then prepare to see a lot more of Mr Berry.

Watch Maleek Berry’s colourful turn up in Eko Miami Video

Davido, Timaya Feature In Official Video for “Ajaga” by Skales

Posted on by The Native

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQ5h6-iDnac/?taken-by=youngskales&hl=en

Skales is bouncing back nicely from last year’s rough patch, part of which was culminated by an arrest amongst other tabloid-worthy controversies. The singer kicked off this year with the release of his video for “Temper” featuring Burna Boy. His latest video is the long awaited adjoining visuals for “Ajaga”, a late-2016 single.

“Ajaga” features cameos from Davido and Timaya who also have guest verses on the single. Skales seems to be under-doing himself in terms of music video concepts lately (wide-angled beach shots and unclad video vixens are a tired trope). But the rapper has promised a forthcoming sophomore album to drop in April and “Ajaga” ‘s moderate level buzz gives promise of a project worth looking forward to from Nigeria’s most underrated.

See “Ajaga” featuring Davido and Timaya below

Featured Image: Youtube/Skales

Listen to “Temper” our best new music by Skales and Burna Boy