Supreme Mavin Dynasty unveils three new artists

Posted on by The Native

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Yesterday, Don Jazzy unveiled three new additions to the revamped Superme Mavins Dynasty. He introduced rapper Poe, alternative rock artist Johnny Drille and the twin singing sensation DNA respectively. The new signings follow Don Jazzy’s expansion efforts part of which was the signing Iyanya last year. His three new inductees were unveiled with promotional videos indicating they are poised to spearhead the new trends in music under the label’s umbrella.

Poe is a celebrated underground rapper who built his fame off guest verses and a handful of features He doesn’t have any major project yet and the Mavins deal might be the catalyst to the start of a new Poe who is more inspired to create more music.

Blair and Clinton Robert aka DNA Twins are singing competition sensations who first tried their voices at Glo X Factor in 2013, then at The Voice Nigeria last year. Though they fell out of both competitions, their dual combo became an instant fan favourite. The 20 year olds will be Don Jazzy’s newest pet project as the label boss will be looking to leverage the fame of similar brotherly combos like P-Square and Rae Sremmurd for a unique identity that sets them apart.

 

John Ighodaro, also known as Johnny Drille is the last of Don Jazzy’s unveiled signings. The singer/song writer, producer and sound engineer was a contestant on the 6th season of MTN Project Fame in 2013 and had gone relatively unnoticed till he released his cover of Di’ja’s “Awww” in 2015. He got the attention of many Nigerians including Don Jazzy who has now signed the 27 year old. Drille’s addition to Mavin will patch the the label’s lack of a good vocalist and songwriter, a class of talent Don Jazzy has not worked with since the exit of Wande Coal from his defunct MoHits Crew.

 

Jazzy’s new signing is a shift from his focus on working with solely Afropop artists. Save for DNA twins whose career trajectory is still obscure due to lack of material, Poe and Johnny Drille may just bring the much needed style and content diversity the Mavin camp duly needs.

See Poe on our list of the most underrated Nigerian rappers

The Shuffle: Re-visit “Julie” from Shank the original badman

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Before Nigeria’s usually conservative social code allowed Tekno get away with casual references to his (cassava) penis, there were only a few artists (mostly male “bad boys”) allowed to float bubblegum Afropop with sexual innuendos. In fact at the moment only three name who dared come to mind: Koko Master D’banj, the shirtless P-Square brothers and the baddest one of them all, Shank.

There is something immediately evocative about the way Shank introduces himself on “Julie” as the man who loves all beautiful girls. Shank’s Julie paints a vivid picture of an Instagram-type baddie so obscure even a badman like him only knows of her legend.

The sensual groove is bass-heavy and built for the dancefloor. Despite being your textbook Afropop song, Shank’s subject matter is laser focused to accentuate his praise of an infamous, darkly sexy woman named Julie (even when he slyly asks her to invite friends to join their private party).

Shank’s “Julie”, is understated as a song that is openly drenched in sex but without the usual crassness and tomfoolery any other Nigerian artist (incl. your faves) would have done with its concept. Until we have songs without references to body parts and objects, Julie may damn well be one of the few actually sexy Afropop songs ever recorded.

Listen to Shank’s “Julie”, our shuffle song for the week below.

The Shuffle: Revisit Wizkid and Wande Coal’s sinfully underrated “For Me”

Dremo x Ichaba bring the heat on Al Ghalib’s ‘Tap Dat’

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Davido Music Worldwide signee Dremo has had a stellar 2016 with his viral Panda cover and singles Ojere, Shayo and Back To Back. As he gears towards releasing an album in 2017, he’s keeping in our collective consciousness with guest verses for other Afro-trap artists. His first feature this year is on rising rapper Al Ghalib’s new single Tap Dat, which also features fellow DMW signee Ichaba.

Al Ghalib releasing music under his own imprint WMG music, and tapping producers Minz and Fresh, Tap Dat ticks all the boxes of the new afrotrap wave, with stripped down instrumentals and a laid back unhurried delivery from all three rappers. The lack of a killer hook only marginally dents the song’s potential as a hit single and Dremo’s presence and guest verse more than makes up for it. Ghalib took the next step, shooting a street centric music video with indie producer Director Q, with the three wilding out in sets that create a grittier, dystopian era Lagos.

Tap Dat is the first prong of the new project Ghalib is set to release under his imprint, one he suggests will have a number of high profile features.

See the video here.

Here are 7 of the best Davido Guest features

Poetra Asantewa’s Coroner is an acappella dream

Posted on by The Native

Ghanaian spoken word artist Poetra Asantewa is as decorated as they come for a self taught poet. Her 2016 debut EP ‘Motherfuckitude‘ was a revelation that delved into feminism and gender identity and Asantewa’s history as a Ghanaian woman. On the merit of the EP she was chosen for last year’s One Beat fellowship for distinguished musicians later in the year, joining a handful of selected musicians from across the world in the United states for the months long residency. She returned to Ghana after, helped organize the Jill Of All Trades collective and reoriented to release new work.

Her first spoken word single since the fellowship ‘Coroner‘ just got released and it sees Asantewa subtly change tack, working with a incredibly harmonious acappella quartet for the song. It also sees Asantewa embrace singing as a delivery medium for her music, as well as beat boxing, a technique often employed by lyrical poets and greats like Regina Spektor the magic mixed and mastered by producer Qube. Coroner is just as layered all of Asantewa’s work and muses on a relationship riddled with self doubt and a lover whose mercurial nature forces the song’s protagonist to reconsider her life and her future. Some really deep stuff.

Hopefully Coroner is the lead up to a larger project from Asantewa, because lord knows if this is her new sound, we more than ready for a sophomore EP.

Listen to Coroner here.

Titilope’s spoken word is filling the void music can’t reach

Watch 2Chainz and Gucci Mane Perform “Good Drank” for Tonight Show

Posted on by The Native

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9Zd3u6XAXU

The artist formerly known as Tity Boi just can’t stop winning. Weeks after picking up the Best Rap Performance Grammy for his involvement in Coloring Book single “No Problem”, he visits the Tonight Show to promote his forthcoming album Pretty Girls Like Trap Music.

Despite Quavo being absent from this TV Appearance, Gucci Mane and 2Chainz more than hold their own on this performance of “Good Drank”, backed by The Roots and a phenomenal choir. Check out the performance above.

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

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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’

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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

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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”

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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