We’ve waited nearly six years for Bez’s sophomore album Gbagyi Child and when he did deliver, it didn’t have the earnestness of Super Sun but it showed just how much growth the Gbagyi child had had as an artist and a musician. It also featured a first for Bez, features. Both were very strategic duets with alt queen Simi and mainstream juggernaut Yemi Alade. Bez has released the first video for the third single off the album You Suppose Know with Yemi Alade.
Now the song has heavy jazz influences, with strong horn sections and an acoustic guitar riffs running through it and of course both Yemi and Bez channel retro-jazz melodies of the sixties so we weren’t really surprised to see director Clarence Peters decide to recreate a decadent 30’s style speakeasy for the music video, replete with low lighting and low hung chandeliers. Bez and Yemi play performers in the same revue who have feelings for each other but refuse to indulge them because of their public profiles. And while Bez and Yemi give decent performances the video itself lacks enough originality to truly immerse us in the image they’re trying to sell.
Peters never really commits to the era, probably because it’d be too expensive and there is so much going in the video that you are constantly distracted by the clutter of bodies and props. Did we really need gilded chairs, a Martin Luther King poster, LED lighting, heavy velvet curtains and a stage all in a minor scene? Not to mention Yemi Alade who is a spectacular dancer and the video could have really done with a dance sequence.
A much better example of this was Kiss Daniel’s Good Timewhich while it wasn’t perfect, it at managed to stay era specific. Bez’s You Suppose Know deserved a much more memorable music video, and we hope the next single he releases gets a video with the kind of originality of More You.
FOX announced Monday that it has renewed the long-running dance competition show So You Think You Can Dance for its 14th season this year.
For this season, they are returning to their original setup showcasing talented dancers in the 18-30 age bracket after their last attempt with SYTYCD: The Next Generation that featured contestants between ages 8-13 did not catch on with the core SYTYCD fanbase.
We’re already looking forward to the next season, but to get you hyped for what’s coming, here are some great performances from the previous season you can revisit right away.
“I Got You” — Melanie and Marko, Season 8
In this performance, Melanie and Marko play 2 best friends who fall in love after Marko is jilted at the altar. It’s a beautiful song about not noticing what you’ve had in front of you for a long time and Melanie and Marko brought Leona Lewis’ song to life. Their chemistry is quite intense and that kiss sends a jolt all the way from there.
“Dhoom Taana” — Katee and Joshua, Season 4
Their performance isn’t legendary just because they were the first to perform a Bollywood-inspired routine. The mere fact that Katee and Joshua were able to pull off this technical high-energy choreography perfectly was a feat in itself.
“Mercy” — Katee and tWitch, Season 4
Here, Katee Shean and tWitch were paired for this performance before he was an all-star. Their typically friendly chemistry mutated as a more sexy version for this routine. Katee plays the epitome of the psycho ex-girlfriend; tWitch the definition of “too cool.” Duffy’s “Mercy” could not have been interpreted better by a different pair.
“Hip Hip Chin Chin” — Lacey and Danny, Season 3
Lacey and Danny made it impossible to forget their names with the leg work and pure sensual energy they brought to the stage. Their samba routine is pure flames. No other description works as well.
“Are You The One” — Neil and Danny, Season 3
Their routine automatically brings Interview With A Vampire to mind where Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt were vampires in pre-emancipation Louisiana. Neil and Danny went head to head with a Mia Michael’s contemporary routine. The story involves two princes fighting for the throne, and Danny mentioned how in real life they are sort of fighting, in terms of the competition to be crowned America’s favourite dancer at the time.
“Fix You” — Robert and Allison, Season 8
In this very moving, personal piece, Travis Wall choreographed a routine about his mother’s surgery and his journey to help her through it. Even though the whole dance itself is beautiful, the ending walk is the big selling point. Robert and Allison gave their all, perfectly executing the routine and creating this masterpiece.
“Wicked Game” — Amy and Travis, Season 10
Season 10 winner Amy Yakima danced with Travis Wall (who also created the routine) in what might have been the perfect pairings of dancers, music and choreography. The result is an unforgettable piece of art.
“Say Something” — Amy and Robert, Season 10
This routine was about an unhealthy relationship where Amy is so dependent on partner Robert who loves her so much that he lets her drain him almost entirely, until the very end when he just can’t do it anymore and he has to walk away. Stacey Tookey choreographed this piece and Amy-Robert beautifully translated this piece.
Hometown Glory — Katee and Joshua, Season 4
Here’s another season 4 routine originally done by Katee Shean and Joshua Allen set to Adele’s “Hometown Glory” (before Adele became the biggest thing ever). This routine told the story of two individuals bent on achieving their dreams they ignore everyone else. They both murdered this routine and it’s hard to imagine another pair do it better.
“Bang Bang” — Alex and Eliana, Season 9
Alex and Eliana recreated a story of an abusive relationship where Eliana could not leave her manipulative lover. Nancy Sinatra’s song could not have been choreographed any better (except by Stacey Tookey). Notice how silent the audience was until the end of the performance? Enough said.
There have been so many wonderful performances that it was quite a tax to narrow it down to ten. Do you agree with the list? What’s your favourite SYTYCD performance?
Under Italian designer Alessandro Michele, Gucci has gone from a stuffy designer label that only made bank from its distinctive logo and leather accessories to pop culture royalty, especially in black Hollywood, with everyone from Dwayne Wade to Kevin Hart to Gucci Mane all rocking Michele’s distinctive duds. A lot Gucci’s current success has been Michele’s unabashed approach to lavish expressions of self and generous use of the label’s distinctive colours, in a way that Black culture always has. Using clothing as expressions of self is an integral part of black culture and Gucci’s clothing in the last few seasons echo that, instead of the widespread minimalism that a lot of other designer labels seem to be embracing.
It seems this season Gucci is taking things a step further and casting a predominantly black roster for its PreFall 17 fashion show. It unexpectedly posted nine videos on its Instagram page from it’s PreFall 2017 campaign castings in London, each model black. The videos suggest that Gucci’s next collection will have something to do with ‘Soul’, as in the American musical genre and the distinct culture that came with it. If Gucci does go ahead with this, it will be the first time a major Italian label has a black only advertising campaign and will catapult the 9 models who seems fairly unknown into superstardom.
YCEE first international tour was announced earlier this year and as part of promotion for his UK stop, the rapper co-hosted DJ Edu’s Destination Africa show on BBC Radio 1 Extra. While on-air he gave a customary short freestyle over instrumentals for Mr Eazi’s “Leg Over”.
YCEE is laid back as ever, creaming Eazi’s simple instrumentals with soft brags and smooth adlibs. The result is almost too short for comfort but you probably won’t see hear any vibes this clean anywhere else.
Every week we will be publishing this playlist with a collection of ten songs from SoundCloud, the Nigerian mainstream and everywhere else. There is no ranking order, era restriction or critique system. The Bumplist is just strictly for readers and fans to find and discover stuff they may like
From The Cloud
GYENOM – Tonero
“GYENOM” comes almost completely stripped of lofty ideals many SoundCloud artists drench their lyrics in. There is a tint of psychedelia that transitions too smoothly, creaming your ears with lush vocals, synths and minimalist drums.
945 – J.Molley
There is nobody out of Johannesburg’s underground getting near enough attention as J.Molley is right now and the reason is evident on vibe-y tracks like “945” where his druggy voice foregrounds minimalist hollow synths and trap drums.
Man Of The Hour – Orinayo
There is just something about personalised feel good music, that makes you feel good about yourself (Like ‘duh’ right?).
Stay Over – To Name A Few
I have evangelised the gospel of this beautiful song since last year, if you didn’t get the message, this is your chance to receive this audio blessing. Hit play already.
Cruisin – Olu and The Coconut
There will always be a place for experimental Nigerian music on my playlist, and once you stop cracking up at this guy’s name, his reinvention of Daft Punk’s signature cyborg vocode doesn’t sound as bizzare as you may initially assume.
From Our Pot Of Jollof
Link Up – YCEE x Reekado Banks
Somewhere in my mind, I feel like I always knew what this collaboration would sound like, trippy, dark and clean. What i did not see coming though, is how Reekado Banks is slowly evolving a sleeker, sexier carriage of melody.
Packaging (feat. Davido) – DJ Spinall
“Packaging” is the second reapperance of Davido and Del B on the same song, since DJ Neptune’s “So Nice” in 2014. Spinall’s vocal absence would have brought more pre-meditated sanity to this Afro-house hit, but his featured artists are the ultimate tag team and they fulfill their roles excellently
Get Up (feat. Flash) – Sarz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zyO6sk1AXc
It may be the voice layered on the beat or the Afrohouse drums swinging on and on, either way, Sarz’s “Get-Up” is an instant replay trap you can ensare yourself with.
Spice and Everything Nice
Gold – Kiiara
Kiiara’s story is something of a fairytale. She is a 21 year old cloud rapper (EDM + Trap+ Dubstep) who got a record deal as a store keeper and turned her life around. Have a taste of her epic rise to glory on this chopped and screwed electronic gem.
Salt Skin – Ellie Goulding
If you like colourful organised noise layered under poetic songwriting about unrequited love and chasing your heart’s desires, go for it.
In some ways, Lagos has earned its place as the true cultural centre of Nigeria, a melting pot of cultures and influences, an early adopter of all that is and will be hip. But Lagos is also a painfully restrictive place, where only a certain kind of good or new is allowed at a time. Change is aggressively moderated, dissenters are swiftly dismissed or ostracized. If Bizzle Osikoya’s tweet rant is a lodestone (and he is one of Nigeria’s most influential music producers so he knows his shit) even our most successful DJ’s are afraid to try out new things, introduce us to new music.
Nigerian Dj's please don't be Afraid to play new music, don't follow the crowd. Break records & stop being scared. PLS RT
But sanctions always foments rebellion, and rebellion is always championed by music, sounds that subvert the norms and engages the audience in ways other than mindless dance. Technology has democratized many things, even the creation and distribution of music. All of these circumstances have come together to make singer Nukubi. The singer first made his musical debut on the runways of the 2016 Lagos Fashion and Design Week scoring designer Babatunde Oyeyemi’s film for his diffusion line Bodun.ng, played during the designer’s Spring 17 presentation. It was enough to stir curiosity but there wasn’t any other information on him other than the fact that he is part of a collective of creatives that include Oyeyemi and visual artist Kadara Enyeasi. All we could do was wait.
Nukubi by Asamaige Ogaga
Nukubi’s calls his music ‘Juju Wave’ which I guess is a contraction of New Wave and Afrojuju, but really if “Bronze”, his first single off his coming debut EP of the same name is anything to go by, the singer actually falls more closely along the lines of 80’s inspired Synth heavy funk full of drum based music sequencers, electronic modulators and synth machines. By adding reverb to his vocals, Nukubi is able to replicate key choral elements of Chamber funk made popular by Devonte Hynes, strongly mirroring his sing-talk delivery.
“The song is basically about wanting a change of situation and being tired of waiting for things to move forward in life, a feeling I’ve felt a lot,” He told the NATIVE via email. “It’s something that used to wear me down. Sort of a demon that I carried around with me.”
But Nukubi’s soul is all his, and that soul, not the instrumentation or the very complex delivery is what makes “Bronze” so good. It’s that, and a fuji heavy breakdown that sends out the song with percussive elements strongly mimicking the gan-gan. The transition is dodgy but it stumbles into a delightful break, indicating Nukubi is a cerebral musician and Bronze, the EP will be something of a marvel.
For now, here’s the video to his first single, directed by Jimi Agboola.
Since its release, Moonlight has grown from a film centred on the life of a young man, Chiron, across different stages of his life to one of the most talked about phenomenons in the Award Season. Nicholas Britell, the Oscar nominee who composed the score for the film, revealed he created a theme of growth that mirrored the main character’s and he broke down how the theme evolved from a single piece of music on the podcast below.
The score for Moonlight has been nominated for Best Original Music Score at Academy Awards Ceremony this year.
Listen to what Nicholas Britell has to say about the score:
WflsNCrm (or Waffles’N’Cream to the uninitiated) is pretty good at being pioneers. They are after all Nigeria’s first skate shop and have provided mentorship and fostered community for a growing generation of post millennial Nigerians finding themselves earlier and becoming disillusioned with the status quo. Many young Nigerians are turning to ‘unconventional’ hobbies and subcultures, looking for their ‘tribes’ and skating/rollerblading has become a popular, consuming alternative. The Nigerian skate scene is surprisingly large, with factions skating for commerce, for community and fun. The Waffles’N’Cream skate shop is where all three factions intersect, and now they’re bringing artists into the fold.
Skate communities have always created art as way of documenting the unique idiosyncrasies of skate culture in each country and how skate communities self identify while being influenced by the historical and cultural precedents of their countries. It is also a way to mark territory through graffiti (for more die-hard skaters) or earn money for skateboards through art sales and skate merchandise or graffiti-ed skategear. Often the art comes as a consequence of the culture, but for the Nigerian skate brand, the art and merch came before the culture.
But now WflsnCrm is inviting you into their space to see art by friends and family of the skate shop, some inspired by the skate culture and other subcultures. Graffiti artist Tunde Alara is showing and my fave Yadichinma Ukoha-Kalu whose work with clay is phenomenal is closing out the exhibitions which will run all through February and end in March.
You should definitely check it out.
But for now, here’s a short documentary called Jide to start you off.
A handful of prominent artists will be sitting out this year’s edition of the GRAMMYs for racial representation in awarding categories amongst other reasons.
Frank Ocean, a two-time GRAMMY winner, already made a statement earlier last year, by refusing to submit both his critically acclaimed albums Blonde and Endless for Grammy consideration. Speaking to New York Timesabout the decision, Frank said “That institution certainly has nostalgic importance,” he said. “It just doesn’t seem to be representing very well for people who come from where I come from, and hold down what I hold down.” He noted that since he was born, just a few black artists have won album of the year, including Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock and Ray Charles.
Kanye West has previously come out to say he will not be attending the GRAMMYs, and more recently he has been joined by his management-mate Justin Bieber. Biebervelli, whose label obligations did not allow omission from consideration, is nominated for four categorie. However the singer has revealed he will not attend the awards ceremony due to past injustices, and the disconnect between the board and the youth.
It’s kind of amazing how Niniola has become one of the few success stories from the slush pile of the often abysmal Project Fame West Africa. She has become the face of Nigeria’s Juju-House movement, a genre that takes the electronic dance strains from South Africa and Europe, jazzes them up with traditional Yoruba instrumentation and folk melodies. Niniola’s singles with Sarz have all gone on to become cult-classics, earning her niche but fiercely loyal fan base in Africa and beyond. Until now she really hasn’t tried to make the break into the mainstream Nigerian music.
Choosing to work with DJ Spinall, one of our more nuanced celebrity DJ’s is definitely the way to go. Ojukokoro, the third single off his sophomore album Tenis less a feature than a collaboration. He makes concessions to Niniola’s sound with a decidedly Juju House vibe underlaid with complex gan-gan percussion. She handles all the vocal work, delivering top notch melodies and showing an unexpected sung-rap side to her. With a banging music video (albeit splashed with not subtle Smirnoff marketing; we get it, you’re a Smirnoff ambassador), Ojukokoro is definitely finding its way into the canon.
We do wish Dj Spinall had waited a few months to start promoting this song proper, it could have easily become a summer anthem. Who knows, it might still become one.
It’s 2017 and DJ Khaled’s major key lessons remain testimony of the inherent human nature, to sabotage good things and rob those who deserve it of its fruits.
Last night, the Nigerian Twitter erupted after NotJustOk owner OvieO weighed in on a tweet made by Yung6ix about only tuning to his own catalogue and the South African rap scene for good African hip-hop. And like that was not already soaked in contrived self-pretentious bullshit, OvieO, launched into a thread of rant tweets supporting Yung6ix’s initial claim.
And Nigerian fans get mad when SA rappers dominate our rap list. The truth hurts. https://t.co/1NqpbxqduY
By design it’s hard not to imagine a man whose impact on the industry has always been a celebration in reverse to shit where he eats, but that’s a discussion for another day and place.
Still, history should not be re-written to subvert the hard work of those who have been pushing the culture against odds of mainstream support from so-called music heads who encourage the commercialisation of the genre without respect for value. To take a hint, here are 5 largely ignored rappers who deserve a spot on your playlist
Poe
Poe does not release music as often as he should, considering the silent agreement that no one comes close in terms of on-beat confidence and flow. This wordsmith is the closest thing to Nigeria’s Jay Electronica, as a man that built all of his prolific reputation via killer guest verses, a handful of singles and no major project. Poe has a timely delivery he fuses with a distinct laid back style, almost listening like the reflections of a man too content with being a good rapper to worry about being a profitable one. He will probably out-rhyme and out-word any rapper on their own song, but he won’t be rushed to make a mark on Nigerian music nor be compelled to compromise soul for pay checks.
Recommended must-bumps: “All Fall Down “, feat. Poe by M.I, “Chardonnay Music” feat. Chyn and Poe by Falz, “Slow it Down” feat. Funbi
PayBac
PayBac understands the way of the world, he is aware that industry dynamics may require him to resort to making a more popular style of music to survive. Yet his focus for the past three years, has been making music for fans that understand its worth. He is an adept master of wordplay and truth telling on songs that require introspection and he’s as laid back on songs that just require warm room temperature and light vibes. The rapper is credited to four critically acclaimed underground mixtapes, Broken Symphonies, The Iboro Tape, The Other Side of the Radio, Frank Ocean Type Beats and one collaborative project, Face Off with rapper Boogey under the monicker, The Lost And Found.
Recommended must-bumps: “The Bad Bitch Song”, “BBQ (with Rexx and Boogey)”, “House of God”
AT
In 2012, AT’s debut mixtape, The Climb, was released to be recognised as one of the most distinctive LPs of the time. After garnering a wave of reviews, the rapper slinked out of public eye and effectively out of the airwaves. We already wrote about AT here, so we won’t go into more detail, but to understand how good she is, there is an underground saying that goes thus: “AT is not a good rapper for a girl, she’s a good rapper period”.
https://soundcloud.com/thisisat/ridin
Recommended must-bumps: “Ridin”, “Pensive” (feat. AT) by BankyOnDBeatz, “July”
Mojeed
Aristokrats Records signee Mojeed, is another rapper we wished we got more of. Mojeed’s music doesn’t strive to earn your attention because you’d be drawn into his world by simple fascination. His 2014 debut mixtape, Westernised West African is a collection of tightly-woven aspirational tracks hinged on themes of teenage nostalgia, relationships and just getting by the human condition. It is not so deep as it’s reflective and great for vibing-out, but by the time the last song ends, you’re aware what you just listened to will require more replays to fully unveil all of its secrets.
After Chocolate City cut him off and refused to fund his album promo last year, Kahli Abdu’s next moves don’t seem very evident. Nonetheless, Kahli Abdu is a noteworthy mention as part of an initial revolution we all (including Kahli Abdu) thought M.I was going to spearhead. But between his J.Town brothers taking the jollof music route for convenience and his relocation to the United States, its hard to say where words failed. Kahli hasn’t changed much these days. He’s is only experimenting with Afro-house music laced with acoustics, but he’s still the same rapper who spits fire bars in between breaths on fast paced instrumentation.
Reccomended must-bumps: “No Love” feat Kid Konnect, “Festival” , “Forever and Ever” with VHS Safari.
Featured Image Credit: Instagram & Twitter/@ladipoe, @whoismojeed, @talktopaybac
Genio Bambino has been busy this month, appearing as a feature on Santi’s “Jungle Fever” soon after GMK’s “Wasteman” was released in December. “Soul”, his latest single, is the second track off his forthcoming mixtape, Virtuoso and its features vocals from AYLO.
On “Soul”, Genio raps about getting lost in a woman and AYLO sings about a drugged-addled reality with the woman who has got his soul.
Yesterday, Goldkey released a neo-Afrocentric chill wave single “Take It Slow”– a joint track with Musmah.
Goldkeyz sets a tempo while Musmah raps about having an illicit affair with a woman already in a committed relationship with another man. Its mellow, tame and all about routine of alcohol abuse, heartbreaks and late nights.
“Take It Slow” carries the same psycehdelic composition layered on GoldKeyz’ prior project, Afrocentric, only here its infused with traditional instruments and synths harmonized with Musmah’s singsong rap style.
“Take It Slow” is the lead single off Goldkeyz’s forthcoming project to be released this year
The ability to craft worlds so full and immersive is a skill many artists attempt but few ever manage to master. Even fewer are able to do this across platforms, are untethered to a single medium. Even fewer are able to marry their lives and heritage into their art so that is forward facing but still unique to them. When you find one, it is greedy to keep them to yourself.
I first discovered Eugene Odogwu through IndeGENEous, a Soundcloud account dedicated to audio-stories. There is a single story, Flight, three minutes that remind me of the Greek tale of Icarus, the boy who flew too close to the sun. The story is abstract but the emotions are tangible; loss, hope, determination, failure. It has the singular quality of being both background noise and captivating story. The fact that Flight is all there is on Odogwu’s soundcloud account. So I track him, following his digital footprint to his twitter, where I find another part of him.
Engineer by day and multi-media creator and graphic artist, Odogwu doesn’t only write and narrate his enthralling stories, he also is a poet. Like his stories, his poetry is very good but in short supply, both in volume and word count. Micropoetry, they call it.
Each as beautiful as the last, each presentation, a sight for sore eyes. There had to be more of this, no? And there was, portraits that conjured the dayglo of now vintage futurist Hollywood films and the acid trips of the 90s. Pictures that would work just as well symbols of the past and visions of the future. Art that builds on worlds of fantasy and science fiction, but here and about us.
Nneka is a gem. In a singles-dominated market built on hyper-sexualisation and multiple jaded releases, the Nigerian singer-songwriter plays by her own rules and bypasses the traditional industry tropes. She is constantly touring, performing for crowds all over the world no matter how big or small. For Nneka, the music always comes first and that is a refreshing anomaly in a business where every instagram post or “freestyle” seems meticulously calculated.
Describing her latest release “Nothing”, she simply said she’s “living life in [the] moment” before posting the stunning piano-led visual on Twitter. Watch it below.
You may not agree yet, but the end of days for Jollof music is neigh. The rise of streaming, imminent death of Nigerian labels (labels in general) and the age of new sound gods (precisely, the Wizkids and Teknos of the world) who have fine tuned their music for mainstream appeal, are indicators of a sound shift. Finally, Indie artists who have reveled in critical reverence without mainstream appeal are coming out of their SoundCloud niche bubbles, determined to be anti-thesis to everything their predecessor genre represented.
One artist on the indie frontier is Funbi, a talented singer, composer and storyteller who first surfaced as one of the many underground features on M.I’s 2012 Illegal Music 2 mixtape for “Beg For It”. Single releases, collaborations with Ice Prince, Show Dem Camp and contribution to The Collectiv3’s self-titled debut LP in 2015 strengthened his fan base for a more frontal approach for his brand. Last year, the singer released a few covers and “Hallelujah”, a feel good quasi-gospel song. To keep the momentum of the track on the airwaves, Funbi released its adjoining visuals earlier this week, but despite many many replays it’s still nearly impossible to figure out what exactly he is trying to tell or sell to us.
Don’t get us wrong, by default song crafting and composition design, “Hallelujah” is a strong acoustic reminiscent of quasi-gospel songs that catapulted artists like Darey, Paul Play into mainstream glory. Many critics will raise their brows at the inherent cheapness going mainstream by leveraging people’s actual beliefs, but as we have seen from Korede Bello’s “Godwin”, that’s a dismissible discussion for another day. In fact, by Nigerian (Clarence Peters) standards, Funbi’s video is not all bad, the visuals are crisp with well-angled locations shots. But what is nearly incomprehensible is how Funbi made a song about giving glory to God, then gave us four minutes of wide-angled and close-up shots of his bare chest for its video.
Funbi’s video opens with a near-existential drone shot of him (the only good cut you will see), seemingly lost and walking endlessly to nowhere, only for slow motion transitions to alternate between “sexy time” takes by the waterfall, Funbi still going nowhere fast in slow-mo and an extended scene where he finds solace in front of an old time church on a graveyard(?). It’s hard to make sense of by the heartbeat and by the time the video reels to a close, it’s hard to tell what exactly had been playing.
But Funbi is not alone in the generation of indie artists who do “cool shit” without depth, originality or reason. The SoundCloud bubble is filled with artists who pretentiously double up on their amateur photography, video editing, music production and supposed Africaness to lend, upgrade and leverage pre-existing sound trends and visual aesthetics. The usual result is music released with good melody but bad poetry and (or) carrying unrelatable clunky emotions.
But this only works until it doesn’t. Agreed, there is a growing general consensus Nigerian music is bad, hence for these new-age artist, the goal is to simply stand out and everything else will fall into place. Fans will automatically convert words into quotable captions and everything the artist does will be instantly supported, because everybody loves the underdog. However, Indie artists should know that while improved production and song composition will always be comfortable praise-worthy highlight, it shouldn’t be a place to hide flaws and heinous lack of concept.
Though relatively more authentic when compared to new alt-wave genres, complacency aided by the narrative that fans are not demanding more from their artists is why Afropop is nearing its end of days. For the new school to survive, it has to do better for the culture.
Earlier today, songbird, Simi, released a new single titled “Smile For Me” produced by Oscar Heman-Ackah. Amidst the clamour from every corner of her fan base for more materials and a defining album, “Smile For Me” comes as her first official single of the year and speculated lead single off her upcoming debut LP set to drop in the coming months.
“Smile For Me” is a revamp ofthe more traditional sounding Simi we heard on “Soldier” and “Jamb Question”. Her soulful voice sings poetically to her lover, asking him to smile for her and lie to her if the truth would break her heart.
Listen to “Smile For Me” via iTunes and Apple Music.
Solange’s Seat At The Table has been critically acclaimed as one of the most introspective albums produced by a young black woman that speaks to issues of race and womanhood and now, a university is seeking contributions for a syllabus inspired by the album. The course subtitled “The Truths of Young Women of Color” is curated by a group of professors and students from Wake Forest University, North Carolina and it seeks to explore the themes raised in Solange’s album.
At the beginning this new year, and as we witness the inauguration of a new president we invite young women of color, ages 16-30, to have a seat at the table by helping us collect the texts, music, and visual art that speak to our experiences. If we are to have a democracy in which all of us have a seat at the table, we know that these experiences should be central to the development of America’s practices and policies.
The themes outlined on the website fall into five categories: Resisting Racism, Understanding Gender and Sexuality, the Role of Relationships, Nurturing Ourselves, and A Seat at the Lunch Table. Texts, music, and art that embody these themes will form part of the curriculum. Beyonce’s Lemonade has also inspired a syllabus as well and Candice Bowie, a key contributor to that syllabus, is also participating.
This isn’t the first time contemporary music has inspired university syllabi. Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City inspired a composition class at Georgia Regents University in 2014, and Kanye has been invited to teach as well. We’re looking to see how this plays out and possibly watch a lecture or two online if available.
When Gidi Up debuted in 2014 there was nothing quite like it. A contemporary series about contemporary young rich upper middle class Nigerians millennial-ing their way through making it in Lagos. We all related to someone on the cast, whether it was Oreka as the ever supportive best friend, Somkhele as the hustling designer trying to make it, or Deyemi as the from-money techpreneur trying to make a name for himself outside of ‘daddy’s money’. The second season saw some cast members and introduced us to Adesua Etomi. Then Ndani, the parent company behind the series cut us off high and dry. They’ve confirmed that a third season is coming in 2017 but two years is wayyyyy too long to make us wait.
In the meanwhile, everyone’s been looking for a show that has the same kind of cinematic quality and the gritty, realistic storytelling of Gidi Up. This Is Us was too cutesy, Rumour Has It was a forgettable nightmare. I’d kind of given up on everything else when we heard UBA was stepping into the digital media race with RED TV, its answer to Guaranty Trust Bank’s (GTB) Ndani platform. Even better they were partnering with Digital publishing brand The Naked Convos to create an adaption of Our Best Friend’s Wedding, one of the first written webseries on Nigerian digital media. Aaaaaaand the first episode just dropped.
If you like spoilers you can read the whole thing on their site and if you don’t, you can watch the first episode here, then read the review.
The first episode of Our Best Friend’s Wedding opens with a drone shot of 1004 and Victoria Island with Odunsi The Engine’s Happy Hour playing in the background, just to clear your doubts incase you thought this was going to be a show about the mainland. When the drone shots are done, the scene cuts to Kemi (Gbemi Olateru Olagbegi) and Jade (Oreka Godis; not quite sure how I feel about her being back on television). She’s on the phone trying to reach our show’s protagonist Charles (Ill Rhymz) who is in bed on New Year’s eve with a babe while Jade looks desperately for her phone.
“Men are scum”
Homeboy lies through his teeth about being at ‘work’ with a ‘special client’ and Kemi who obviously doesn’t believe him, tells him to go see his mother. She’s been trying to reach him. Charles tries to kick the babe Onome out, and when homegirl tries to form sleep, he reminds her he just met her the night before (and therefore is scared for his valuables). Homegirl tries to guilt trip him, suggesting that she’ll leave when she’s ready and then she calls him childish. Our valiant protagonist does not take to being called childish very well. He throws a couple thousand naira notes in her face and orders her to get out.
Turns out, it was Jade’s missing phone that Kemi was using to call Charles all along. While she was at it, she also took the liberty to input some Kunle guy’s number cos it turns out, Jade hasn’t been in relationship for a while. Kemi forces her to take the number and then orders her to get dressed so they can go out. Charles is already out and at his mother’s where she is taking that once a year opportunity every new year brings to demand for a wife and grand children. Charles is only 29 so he really can’t understand why Momsie is all of a sudden agitating. So when he eavesdrop on a conversation between her and someone on the phone and a clue about a bottle in the bathroom cabinet, he goes looking for it.
WELP!
He finds a bottle of drugs and when he googles it in the car after he leaves he finds out that it is medication for cancer.
Congratulations, you played yourself.
When Charles finally meets up with his best friends at a Cafe Neo he has a plan. He sits, teases them about not getting him a cup and then whips out a jewellery box. Inside it is a whopper of an engagement ring. He wants to get married, ASAP, which makes the girls almost keel over with laughter. But it turns out he’s serious and wants the girls to help. He has a list of exes, and he wants them to help him thin it out to the one lucky girl. Could have just ordered a bride from the village but then we wouldn’t have a show, would we?
Charles tries to convince Jade and Kemi to come with him to someone called Promise’s party but both vehemently decline (future subplot?). Charles goes alone and the scene that follows basically reiterates what we already know, Mama might be possibly sick, Charles bought a ring, Charles wants a wife. Gorrit.
Charles wakes up the next morning, and goes for a running, his mind still on everything that happened new year’s eve. And just when I thought the episode was going to end on a low, an SUV COMES OUT OF NOWHERE AND RUNS HIM OVER?!!!!
LORD JESUS IT’S A FIRE!
WHERE IS MY EPISODE TWO? WHERE THE HELL IS MY EPISODE TWO?
Zambian-born South African rapper, PatrickxxLee was one of the new-wave acts, we put on our NativeLand stage last year. His production work on Cassper Nyovest’s Refilo album and the release of his Disco Utopia EP, a critic’s favourite last year made him one of the frontier artists on our soon-to-pop watchlist.
For “Phonerotica”, PatrickxxLee taps fellow underground act, J.Molley for a synth-heavy number about an attraction only sustained by sentimental photo captions and naked pictures. The title “Phonerotica” is directly inspired by a popular porn website and forum of the same name, as a loose critique of the self-publishing social media age where words say one thing and pictures say another.
Mr Eazi may have come under fire for ‘disrespecting’ Nigerian music, but there is no denying the “Skin Tight” singer is a sure fire hit maker. After seeping into Nigerian airwaves late 2015, the singer is now looking to drop a debut body of work via a proposed mixtape, Accra To Lagos.
Eazi made this announcement via his Instagram page last night with promotional shots for the upcoming project. According to him, the soon-to-be-released Accra To Lagos tape is an 11-track LP with two bonus tracks. “It surfaces the root sounds, dialects, energy and styles from the two metropolitan hubs which largely influence my music, Accra – Lagos. It takes the listener on an aural journey from the one city to the next beginning with five tracks reflecting the Ghanaian capital, and eventually ending up with five destination tracks from Lagos”
Accra To Lagos will not come without surprises as Masterkraft, Legendury Beatz, Del B, Maleek Berey, Dtunes, Wizkid, Olamide, Medikal, Mugeez R2beez, E Kelly and Falz have all been announced as collaborators on the upcoming project.
Mark your calendars everyone, Mr. Eazi’s Accra To Lagos is set to drop on 11th of 2017.
