Most people lump ambient music in the same category with white noise (i.e for sleeping and studying), but Chino Amobi is changing that. The Nigerian-American producer and co-founder of NON-Records, a collective of African artists in diaspora, just released a new project titled Minor Matter. Minor Matter is a collection of electronic sounds torn apart and recreated, for textures of melodrama and classical music.
On “Hard Stacatto”, he collaborates with Brooklyn teen prodigy Embacito create electronic orchestra music. It starts off remarkably ambient with Embaci’s vocals layered softly over gentle bird sounds before the introduction of violins that build up slowly to a peak almost reminiscent of an Opera performance. Embaci’s vocals are quite subtle, even when she breathes ‘Can you see’ onto the fast-paced instrumentals, but Chino cleverly keeps his instrumentals from burying the vocal effect.
Minor Matters also features a voiceover from Evan Ifekoya — another Nigerian artist — on “Locus Of Control”.
I haven’t gone on a speed date because I imagine they end up quite badly. Book Barter and Grill and Read came up with a new spin on traditional speed dating with a twist that makes it a whole lot better, a speed date but with books, just in time for Valentine’s Day no less.
The idea behind “Speed Dating With Books” creates an avenue for people to share their love for literature and mingle with other people and they’ve created just that. Interested people would be paired off with each other with random book-related questions to ask to break the ice. For those uninterested in pairing up, there’d be games, giveaways, and books available for purchase. You could also bring your old books along to trade with Bookbarter.
“Speed Dating With Books” will hold this evening at IDEA Hub Rooftop, 296 Herbert Macaulay Road, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria at 6 pm. Slots are limited and Tickets are available for #3,000 Naira and you can buy one on Paystack.com. The ticket covers drinks, chocolate and finger food.
Now I understand that making serialized tv shows specifically for Youtube comes with its own limitations and one of them is having to compress complex stories into simple arcs. Sometimes it works and sometimes what you have is a hot mess. Episode 3 of OBFW was largely more of the latter.
SPOILER ALERT
If you haven’t seen the new epiosde of Our Best Friend’s Wedding, do so here, and if you have, let’s get to the dragging then.
After a pretty decent second episode (save for that fake accident cliff hanger that they tried to explain away as a dream) that set up the rest of the season quite nicely, I was expecting a straight forward third episode. We got a straight forward episode but not a good one.
The episode starts with Promise, remember him? He had a passing scene in episode one, the ‘brother’ Charles confides in about his suspicions of his mother having cancer. We see Promise sitting on the lip of his ensuite bathtub, looking bleary eyed and staring blankly at his mirror. Just in case you weren’t sure he was a druggie.
He flashes back to himself calling a client to demand payment for a job that has lagged for more than five months, so we are clear that Promise is not only a druggie, he is also a broke one. The flashback continues with Promise seeking to drown away his broke sorrows with more drugs (marijuana) when someone comes banging on his door. Of course, when Promise kills his blunt and opens his door, the landlord is on the other side, fuming. He serves Promise an eviction notice to leave his house at the end of the month, and reiterates again, (just in case you weren’t sure) that the neighbours have been complaining that all Promise does is smoke weed and fog up the entire building. The landlord was pretty funny, but I just couldn’t get past the disturbingly lazy writing in this scene.
Thankfully they move on to Kemi and Jade who again have left their busy lives to come and wait hand and foot on Charles. But seriously though, what do I have to do to find two male friends who I can ask out of the blue to drop all their shit and help me choose a husband and they’ll do it. Or is wait, is it that only women do this?
Anyhow our otherwise jobless OBFW supporting characters ask Charles how his date with the problematic ‘Thirsty’ Tara went and he shows them Tara’s wedding invite. When the girls prod him, he confesses that he had sex with them and goes ahead to antagonize Jade who apparently is a prude. When Jade tries to chastise Charles, he out of nowhere drags her for not being able to find or keep a man. Jade is understandably hurt and leaves, suggesting that if Charles won’t follow the rules of the game, there’s no point. Kemi follows but not before berating Charles and asking that he ‘fix this’.
It is only the person that leaves their house that you can see finish.
OBFW returns to Promise, who is in his car in some abandoned stretch of road. If you’ve seen any gangster films + all the heavy foreshadowing that he is drug addict you should know what is coming next. But the writers decide to waste precious minutes showing us anyway. Charles calls and he rejects the call and flashes back to him at home. His dealer (played by rapper Ozone) shows up and tries to sell him drugs, which he refuse because he is broke and the dealer suggests a ‘job’ he can do. Because you know drug dealers will trust a broke, desperate druggie with hundreds of thousands naira worth of cocaine.
Do I have to tell you what happens next?
After burning his bridges with the OBFW girls, Charles goes to visit his mother at home, and when he gets there, she is on her way out with a man who Charles has never met before. Turns out he is a doctor and Mama Charlie’s date. Charles tries to get her to talk to him but she blows him off for her mans. Why do I get the distinct feeling that this is foreshadowing, that what Mama Charlie was hiding from Charles is that she has a new man. Because if it is…
Jade finally gets some alone screen time and her own subplot (cos you know she is Charles’s eventual bae) and she is at home as usual doing nothing. Tunde’s been calling non stop (because the only way for to get a woman is to harass her into compliance) and when Jade finally caves and takes the call and agrees to go on a date with Tunde, she does so because she is pressed that Charles said she couldn’t get a man. What the fuck is this; High School Musical?
And of course, the episode ends with Promise, in the bathroom doing a shit ton of Cocaine. He snorts his last line, looks into the mirror and after conveniently filling the tub (do you know how hard it is to fill a bathtub in Nigeria) loses consciousness and falls into it. He is sitting on the side of the tub and falls backward but somehow managed to turn mid fall so he doesn’t hit his head on the wall and falls perfectly into the belly of the tub.
Na feem trick?
Isn’t it is also highly convenient that just then, after being ditched by his mom, Charles shows up at Promise’s? Just in time to see him overdosing and create episode three’s ‘dramatic’ cliffhanger.
Clap for yourselves everyone.
.
Now that we’re done with the episode perhaps we should point out that this episode of OBFW perpetuates every stereotype there is about drug use. Don’t believe me, let’s count the ways.
Drug addict tropes Check list.
Broke: Check.
Delaying on rent: Check
Creative without a real job: Check.
Shady dealer who pulls him over to the dark side: Check.
Drug overdose: Check.
To be honest all that was left was a ‘This advert is sponsored by the NDLEA’.
And also there was this.
None of the female interactions on this show have passed the Bechdel test.
It is actually pretty bad, Kemi and Jade have both been portrayed as successful women running their own businesses yet, we never actually see them do anything or even interact with each other if it isn’t about a man or finding a man. Even Charles’s mother seems to only get screen time if a man is involved. The writers need to do better because this is unacceptable. DO FUCKING BETTER!
This week’s OBFW gem is Owo’s What So Not (Touched). Glorious electro pop.
As part of the roll-out for his newly released Accra to Lagos mixtape, Mr. Eazi has dropped the visuals for “Leg Over”, the lead single off the project. “Leg Over” is directed by cinematographer Teekay and it features cameos from Wizkid, Maleek Berry and Eddie Kaddie living the jet life amidst smoke clouds and hot girls.
Olamide’s reputation as a singles artist always works in reverse for his albums. A recent case in point is his sixth studio album, The Glory, an LP that sailed the backwaters for full-length releases last year, despite being Olamide’s most honest effort since 2013’s, Baddest Guy Ever Liveth.
But while the public failed to acknowledge Olamide’s attempt to embody a semblance of an album artist, individual highlights from the album like “Pepper Dem Gang” prove there might be hope of a near-classic dream for The Glory album (or some parts of it at least). Because, Olamide is at his best on songs like “Pepper Dem Gang” where the instrumental is distinct and his vocals bounce on beat in perfect sync with the tempo. It might take mental patience and a couple of replays, but his voice eventually listens like another instrument layered on the often organised chaos of the entire song.
Olamide songs that fall into this category are usually catchy light-weight earworms that can take your mood from 0-100 if you just give it a chance on your mental stereo. This is the anatomy of a TGIF anthem and nobody does better than Olamide (not even your favs).
If you want to start your weekend a little early, take a look at visuals for Olamide’s “Pepper Dem Gang”, directed by Moe Musa below.
Even if you hate books and cinema you must have heard Fifty Shades Darker, the Fifty Shades movie is coming to cinemas in a few weeks. While we don’t particularly care for some vanilla heavy BDSM, we’re loving all the decadent sensual music that’s on the film’s OST. It’s put us in our feels and made us somewhat needy for decadent music with a Nigerian bent to it. Music like Owo is making.
Enter Owo, Nigerian Brazilian singer and all around sex pot. Her EP D + Em: Drums and Emotions is her first full length project after three years of experimental electro pop with a Nigerian tilt. The entire project is pretty amazing, with her Nigerian influences on the eight songs running from subtle to obvious. But Kingdom the latest single off the EP released in January is putting us in the right mood for a little weekend naughtiness.
With heavy electronic synth organs lending the song a gothic darkness, Owo sings about letting a lover into her heart and her bed, sharing the reins of her kingdom. There is an unabashed sensuality to Kingdom, need literally drips off every note. Definitely going onto our other playlist.
After nearly two years of feverish anticipation for a full-length project, Mr Eazi’s debut mixtape, Accra to Lagos, is now available for digital downloads and streaming. As part of promotions for Accra to Lagos, Eazi stopped by Julie Adenuga’s Apple Beats 1 radio show last night where he discussed influences for the record and the story that inspired its curation.
Speaking of his growth as an artist that shuffles across borders of Nigeria, Ghana and the UK, Eazi revealed that, “Majorly the music started picking up in Accra and then it came to London you know and I started recording a lot of music here but then it went to Nigeria, you know Nigeria, once Nigeria found Mr. Eazi it was woah! not letting me go, so I started spending a lot of time in Lagos, started doing more gigs out there”
Mr Eazi also discussed on his experience in Ghana and how the mass appeal of his sound was certified in Nigeria by awards he bagged last year for new artist categories. According to Eazi, Accra to Lagos is a tribute to two of the most influential cities to the evolution of his sound. “Since Accra and Lagos are the top two cities feeling Mr. Eazi, let me just give them sounds, let me just take them on a journey, sonically from Accra to Lagos” He added.
You can get your own copy of Accra to Lagos via iTunes here
Here’s the thing about Nigerian skate culture; while the motivations behind taking up skating and immersing one’s self in the culture are universal (a feeling of otherness, the thrill of accomplishment, family x community and the opportunity to find a tribe bigger than yourself) skaters are also heavily influenced by the cultures in which its members grow up and how the environments in which they find themselves enables or hinders their ability to function as a skate crew. This is why the skate crews document their unique experiences through art and other mediums, creating a visual history of sorts. For any kind of artist, documenting process is vital to being able to track your growth and your journey in your chosen medium.
Because Waffles and Cream, Nigeria’s first skate crew started as skate gear line, documenting has always been a huge part of its identity, and its historians are as unconventional as they come. Olaoluwa Akeredolu (Slawn), Onyedi and Leonard Iheagwam (flowers) are the youngest members of the WAFFLESNCREAM skate crew and have taken the challenge of documenting its growth through their wild and wacky but very original art. Influenced by crews in the United States and South Africa and the vast web that is Tumblr, their art inspired by Nigerian Skate Culture is full of mantras and subversion of popular themes in Nigeria suggesting a self awareness that should be beyond them.
The three are getting properly introduced to the Nigerian art scene at WAFFLESNCREAM’s month Exhibition series, leading to the skate store’s official physical launch in March. Their exhibition starts this evening and will run for a week, so let’s get acquainted.
Leonard Iheagwam is the most active of the three, with with a presence on Tumblr and Instagram where he shares his art that deals almost entirely in subversive themes. Literal interpretations of metaphors and themes and a fascination with other sexualities are common themes you’ll see in his work.
Slawn Akeredolu’s art is the most commercial of the three and will easily work for merchandizing, it is also a lot more existential, rife with teenage angst, the kind of stuff every 17 year old on the cusp of adulthood struggles with.
A photo posted by Olaoluwa Akeredolu (@olaoluslawn) on
And Onyedi’s medium is film, he’s already worked on films with Amandla Baraka of Oxosi.com and helped shoot the crew’s first proper skate documentary. It will be interesting to see what he exhibits this evening.
Soundcloud’s related tracks introduced me to a shit ton of relatively unknown artists who create the kind of music I enjoy and I have stumbled on quite a few gems. Recently, Rejjie Snow, a Nigerian-Irish rapper happened to catch my attention with his “Crooked Cops”.
On “Crooked Cops”, Rejji Snow paints a story of an angry young man who’s discouraged with the corrupt system that seeks to incarcerate or worse, kill him because of the colour of his skin. He ends the song parodying people who believe the system is not as bad as people of colour suggest, invalidating their lived experiences. “Crooked Cops” draws on the nostalgia of classic hip-hop, heavy with influences from the late 80s and early 90s rap specifically N.W.A and O.D.B while the horns hint at Kendrick’s dabbles with Jazz. Or it simply might be because his story depicts the same sad reality that his influences spoke about.
Wunda B’s latest single “For The Winter” is a touch of many concepts. There’s the nostalgia of Drake’s Take Care, slathered with a Andre 3000-inspired sing-song flow and the psychedelia of new-age cloud rap. “For The Winter” wins with bold delivery, a pseudo-romantic narrative and an ambitious full-groove usually absent from songs with the same intent.
Dreaming – AYLØ
After the success of jazz influenced records like Kendrick Lamar’s ground breaking To Pimp a Butterfly and his EP throw-aways, untitled|unmastered, it’s unsurprising that alternative rap albums like AYLO’s uber-minimalist Honest Conversations will come to be. Despite hard brags, “Dreaming”, one of the underrated gems on the album sounds like water calmly rolling off a steep rock, everything is soft, clean, chill and damn-near perfect.
Wasteman – ThatBoyGMK
This is the up-to-no-good theme song you never knew you needed and it’s all in that sinister baseline synth, the rest is in your head.
White On White – Justin Snow
We got on Justin Snow’s “White On White” from a SoundCloud repost by Miami’s up and coming GOAT xxxTentacion (facts only). But Justin is no new comer to the game. The rapper was friend and mentee to late A$AB Mob member, Yams. After spending a lot of time away from the game following the death of his mentor, Snow seems to be re-focused on working his way back into the main-stage with this melody driven number.
Never Sober (feat. The Section & KA$H) – New World Ray
New World Ray taps The Section and NativeLand headliner Ka$hlanta for this vibey trap number about never coming down from the high
From Our Pot of Jollof
Tilapia (feat. Medikal)- Mr. Eazi
Mr Eazi is going to end our wait for his first full-length project with the release of his Accra to Lagos mixtape this weekend, but in the meantime listen to king of Afro-wave on this highlife inspired number featuring Medikal.
Hossanna (feat Burna Boy) -Shatta Wale
Ghanaian dancehall singer Shatta Wale meets a perfectly match, Burna Boy on this spiritual club jam. If it’s not the beat switching between minimalist interludes and heavy dancehall drops, it’s the way Burna and Shatta sleekly slip into the same flow, both comfortably owning their corners of the instrumentation without ever going out of sync.
To Self – Eva Alordiah
“Even when you hit the top, you gon be staring the sky, wishing you could fly”, this line sums up how deep cut, Eva Alordiah’s latest note “To Self” is. It’s not as broody as you would expect a song titled like a diary entry to be, instead Eva is full of rage but much of it is a message to herself; to look beyond missed opportunities, failed re-ups and break beyond limits put in place by a system unfair to people of her kind.
Overseas
High Roller (feat. J Hus) – Nines
Nines signing to XL Recordings may be the final push he needs to break into the mainstream. Effortlessly lyrical and crucially authentic, the Church Street resident links up with NATIVELAND riot-starter J Hus for the latest single from “One Foot Out”.
Kelly Price (feat. Travis Scott) – Migos
Migos are on an unstoppable run right now. With “Bad & Boujee” topping the charts, “Call Casting” dominating the streets, and “T-Shirt” being the early front-runner for video of the year, their stranglehold on the game is undeniable right now. “Kelly Price” is sure to be a single from sophomore album ‘Culture’, with the Quavo, Takeoff and Travis Scott putting in MVP worthy performances.
The easiest way to set yourself up when you’re trying to debut a talk-style web show to a cynical audience is give it a name like ‘The Shade Corner‘. A boastful name almost daring the audience to judge you as impersonally as possible.
Yeah I said it, oya come and arrest me.
The Shade Corner is the concept of Akah Nnani, who has tried his hand at everything but singing at this point. Akah was the lead on On The Real (which barely got off the ground) and host of Accelerate TV’s news show, before he was swapped for Biodun Laaro. The Shade Corner would have been another chance to redeem himself. Except it isn’t.
I’ll let Terver Bendega, Youtube commenter, explain it best.
Me thinks the strategy session for this program went like this “guys we want to do exactly what the shade room does, only you know…much less authentic. I know let’s call it shade corner. The “corner” will confuse the people.They will see no association whatsoever. Oooh and whatever we do, let’s be sure to add “the shadiest people in all the land”…adding unnecessary words is always a good idea”…
The idea was simple, gather four very attractive people (Camille Shaiyen, Bayo Oke-Lawal, Makida Moka and Noble Ezeala) with one host/show creator, put them in a room and let the shade fly. But when our four heroes on ‘The Shade Corner’ comes together, everything falls flat.
First off TSC’s designed set is a really bad clone of the E!’s Fashion Police set. It reduces the glory of what should be a ‘Shade Corner’ to an unimaginative man’s Shade Room. And that’s if you completely ignore the poor segmentation and continuous spate of raucous shouting over each other voices.
Worst lines on this episode in particular order.
AKAH: These are the shadiest people in all the land.
MAKIDA: (while being gently dragged for wearing shade indoors) Because what show are we on?
Perhaps one where you should know better than wear sunglasses inside?
KING CAM: King Cam… Roll Cam.
MAKIDA: I’m not a Module, you don’t study me.
KING CAM: (to Akah) Were you the midwife at my… berthing… theatre?
AKAH: (bleating out that one tired viral joke) WHEN WILL YOU MARRY? WHEN WILL YOU MARRY?
Where TSC manages to redeem itself are the moments where Bayo Lawal and Noble Ezeala get a word in. Bayo’s world class drag of Cossy Orjiakor had me screaming. He didn’t stop there; he effortlessly took down Omotola, Tonto and Jay Jay Okocha and came back and dragged Akah, all done and dusted without even raising his voice.
Me everytime they let Bayo hold court.
They need to rest everyone else and give Bayo his own show, and add Noble so he has someone on his level. You can tell that Noble has shade in him, but he kept struggling to keep his shade PG.13.
Noble, set yourself free and let that shade fly.
King Cam gained our attention with her brazenness on the WJGB podcast but save for her ‘I ride for Tonto and her 27 dogs’ line, she was M.I.A on TSC. I guess taking out the anonymity of podcasting made her choke. I don’t want to believe that King Cam is really a Camilla Vanilla. Universe, please do something.
By the end of the episode I felt cheated. Nigerians basically breathe shade, and the entire episode of was just one big breath of corniness.
This is the first episode so we’ll hold out and see if the future episodes get any better, but just in case here’s a refresher.
If you have to call yourself ‘Shady’, then you probably aren’t.
There are drags, there are reads, and there is shade. Learn the difference.
If the shade isn’t flying then drop the dead weight.
We’ll watch The Shade Room Corner because, paucity of Nigerian helmed shows, and we’ll keep an open mind to see who is legit and who is dead weight.
BOJ has been the topic of a lot of conversations for a while as most people have wondered why he has been behind the scenes for so long but it appears he’s ready to quit the Frank Ocean ‘I hate the fame’ shtick and bring his A-game. He has been really busy this year, collaborating with street-rap King, Olamide back in January to release “Wait A Minute” and today, the visuals for “Wait A Minute” directed by Moe Musa dropped.
In the video, BOJ, Olamide and the rest of the gang are the cast ready for a relatively PG-13 house party where everyone’s playing monopoly. Next thing, everybody’s getting all couple-y and Olamide is talking about making someone’s pum-pum pop while holding on to his signature red cup. Really did not see that coming. All in all, BOJ looks cool af twirling around in his Pablo jacket and signature hat and glasses while singing about hitting on a girl.
After last year’s failed retirement, Eva Alordiah returned to the game re-focused on making as many appearances as possible, some of which included the limited release of her long-awaited 1960 album and headlining her own ‘Live and Unplugged’ concert.
“To Self”, her first single of the year is a self-love anthem. Eva discusses realising the futility of existence and making the most out of the only life she has. Her flow is screwed on tight and concise enough to remind us all why we fell in love with her in the first place.
Though artists whose music reflect multiple influences are many, very few have managed to straddle that sweet line between creating a totally unrecognisable mash of noise and a beautiful blend of sonic and cultural influences that catches your ears and soon after, your heart. Sinkane managed to do the latter with their new album, Life and Livin’ It, the ultimate feel-good music for trying times, celebrating what makes life good without ignoring what makes it hard.
The London-born Sudanese lead singer Ahmed Gallab, worked with the rest of the band to create a funky blend, heavily influenced by sub-Saharan pop, Afro-funk, Highlife, Electronica, Krautrock and unified by his gentle vocals. Sinkane’s sound is clean, infused with the spirits of his Sudanese pop forefathers. Ahmed Gallab also drew inspiration from the works of Nigerian Electro-Funk Legend, William Onyeabor.
On “U’Huh”, Gallab keeps asserting, “Everything is fine/We’re all gonna be alright” and “Kulu shi tamaam,” an Arabic phrase that means “everything is great.” It’s hard to say whether it’s an optimistic affirmation or a desperate mantra to console himself which isn’t far fetched given the terrible times we’re in. The tone switches up on “Telephone”, a throwback to the psychedelic era where he sings about being left on the ledge by a lover who only calls him when she’s alone.
Canada has been good to Nigerian culture, too good. It has given us Afrocuban singer Falana, Spoken Word poet Titilope Sonuga, renowned swimwear designer Andrea Iyamah and now Omar Faleyimu, or Beats by Omar as he is known in music circles. Thanks to the success of artists like Drake finding ways to commercialize African and Caribbean sounds, traditional Afrobeats artists are getting more attention and the market for African inspired sounds in Canada has skyrocketed exponentially. Omar, a singer, producer and Dj, is part of the afrobeats community in Canada capitalizing on that growth, interested in splicing afrobeat influences into contemporary pop and R&B. He’s been really active in the last two years and has collaborated with several emerging artists on a number of songs as well as releasing his own music. His last single, Ka Soro was released two months ago and is heavily influenced by Drake.
Omar might have shown his chops as a singer but his new EP, Omar Sur Le Son Qui Tue (Omar and the killer sound) is really just Faleyimu flexing on all of us. His work as a producer isn’t tethered by the need to be commercially viable, so it is leagues ahead of his commercial work both in references, scope and ambition. Sur Le Son Qui Tue is a more than just a portfolio of sounds, it is a statement that speaks to the cosmopolitan nature of Faleyimu’s upbring and adolescence and how vast the influences he can draw from are.
He draws on nostalgia in the somewhat unimaginatively named Sound of Music (16 – 17), sampling the most angst ridden song off the famous Julie Andrews led musical and puts it through a figurative sonic blender, the the trap heavy result more accessible to a generation that might otherwise have seen it as kitschy. He also samples classic Bollywood show tunes in Afro Tech, layering it over with heavy afrobeat percussions and padding its blind spots with synths to create an impressive wall of sound. Simi might have done it first but Omar does it better. Abstract Trap throws an otherwise generic trap beat into a spin with sci-fi-esque electronic tweaks, Broken is a homage to classic 90’s R&B and Lust and Love, the EP’s opener (and in my opinion, it’s best instrumental) instantly reminds of the genius of Timbaland’s production genius, as evinced by the hard to miss classic windows function sound used as percussion.
Omar Sur Le Son Qui Tue shows Faleyimu’s talent need a bigger platform, a bigger stage.
It’s not unlikely that you missed it, but towards the end of last year the internet was abuzz about Jilex Anderson’s “Afro Lover”. The single literally blew up out of nowhere, racked thousands of plays on SoundCloud, and enjoyed moderate level mainstream success—including a refix by Sean Tizzle—enough for the release of adjoining visuals.
This year, the singer is intent on captalising on his previous wins and his growing public appeal with new single, “Wave”. For “Wave”, Anderson ditches the mellow feel of his earlier single for a faster mid-tempo club vibe, but not without the soft kicks, low synths and acoustic touch that characterises much of the African new wave.
Granted, neither his voice nor his songwriting is especially distinctive, but this is an artist that knows how to work a beat and we don’t get a lot of those anymore.
Dammy Krane, remember him? Protege of 2Face and first artist signed to his label Hypertek Entertainment. Dammy Krane struggled through a series of sub hits that earned him a core fan base but failed to go mainstream. Then he made Amin, a gospel-tinged feel good song (sorry Korede Bello, he did it first) that endeared him to everyone and generated the steam he needed to launch his debut album The Enterkraner. After his debut album, he left Hypertek Entertainment and started to make the news for things other than new singles and eventually fell out of favour after a publicized fight with Wizkid at Quilox.
Well, since going underground it turned out that the rumours that Dammy Krane signed to Davido’s new label Davido Music Worldwide are true and the artist is making a proper comeback in the coming weeks, starting with a post valentine concert called the Amin Concert. When asked about the concert this is what Dammy Krane said.
I will be dropping an EP a week before the Amin concert; a body of work I have been holding on to for a while now. The concert will serve as a means to celebrate the release of the EP, as I will be entertaining the guests to some of the songs on the EP. But asides that, I should be dropping my full album this year too. So watch out for that.
It makes sense that Dammy Krane is choosing to release a full EP sometime this weekend before his concert. The new material will lure a much larger audience than his core crowd. And it makes up for the time that has passed since he got attached to DMW records when his label mates were releasing songs and being actively pushed to the Nigerian market. Using live concerts will help him sell merchandise and establish his bonafides as a performing artist. Krane also suggests he’ll be releasing his sophomore album later in the year.
Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder and now I’m Judging You? You got that right. Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beer’s Shondaland recently acquired the rights to Luvvie Ajayi’s debut novel, I’m Judging You: The Do Better Manual to develop a cable comedy series. The series, which will be part of Shondaland’s overall deal with ABC, according to Deadline, will be Shondaland’s first foray into comedy (ABC previously passed on Shondaland’s proposed project with Insecure’s Issa Rae. Sadly.)
The Nigerian-American writer of the New York Times bestseller, Luvvie Ajayi first got noticed by Shonda for her with her online Scandal recaps, then Rhimes revealed she was reading the book and the rest is history yet to be made. Her book, I’m Judging You is a hilarious guide to doing better — a novel you might need to bump up to the top of your reading list.
Luvvie has been totally stoked about this news as she shared on Twitter last night.
Is there ever not a good time for New Davido? Well Davido doesn’t think so, and that’s why six months after the release of his sophomore album, a new manager and the announcement that he’s done with the international push, he has released his first single of 2017, with old label mate and long time collaborator B-Red called Biggest Backside. YBNL producing prodigy Young John takes the production and mixing reins on this classic afrobeat heavy song.
Davido delivers a standard offering and B-Red delivers what could easily be one of his best verses after going underground for a while, but the song is ultimately Young John’s as he offers interesting drops and realistic trumpet solos. Biggest Backside will obviously go on to become a club banger, but releasing this before his rumored collaboration with American trap group Migos says a lot.
Does this mean Davido is done experimenting with new sounds? Or is he trying to consolidate his core audience before he starts offering the more adventurous songs of the post Son Of Mercy era? We’ll just have to wait and see.
All I want is hella hoes, ring ring pussy telaphone
Easily the best hook we’ve heard all week, and the trust us, the last seven days have been amazing for underground Naija music. Which is why we’re not quite sure how we feel that DOZ’s 4eva is not really a proper commercial single, more like a sonic experiment that takes an instrumental sample from Santi’s Jungle Fever and the vocal efforts of singer and consummate hitmaker Mafeni (Mafeni was also on WundaB’s stellar) For The Winter and creates the catchiest of hooks.
Dozie Oduah’s production skills are the true revelation of 4eva, and is largely very subtle, except for the flashy cross-genre transition that references Frank Ocean on Blonde. Other than that, its mostly smooth synth melodies that make you want to move your feetand provide the perfect springboard for Mafeni’s vocals to soar. There is also the heavily autotuned adlibs referencing 90’s R&B greats Mack Morrison and Nate Dogg. Oduah is part of artist collective 80’s sounds which explains the definitively retro sound. The bars are pretty weak though, just thought we’d point that out.
Is there an EP in the works? We certainly hope so.
Wondaland’s self-acclaimed classic man, Jidenna recently announced his upcoming debut studio album, The Chief. The new album is slated for a February 17th release and a few days ago, he offered us a hint of what to expect with a new single, tagged “The Let Out”, produced by Wondaland’s Nana Kwabena and featuring Migos frontman Quavo.
Jidenna and Quavo detail a high class lifestyle on “The Let Out”. From tastes in super fine women to occasional gangster livin’ thrills and nights when club lights come up and the crowd heads out.
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