Sports: FIFA U-17, Enugu Stadium and the rain that fell

When President Y'Adua told us he didn't want to host this U-17 World, we should have listened to him....see this pics

We used buckets to scoop the water off the pitch so the match could go on

I think even the Players scooped too....

...but the fans stayed loyal

...and when it was time to leave, the fans couldn't

Beanie Sigel releases Jay-Z diss track

Former Roc-A-Fella artiste, Beanie Sigel just released a ‘diss’ track directed at his former boss and mentor on a track called ‘Average Cat’ which is a response to the first song off the blueprint 3: ’What We Talking About’. On the song Jay-Z says “Grown men wanna sit on my lap/but I ain’t got a beard and Santa Claus ain’t Black” to which Sigel replies “I’m a grown ass man, I don’t sit on nigga’s laps and I aint looking for no gifts outta Santa Claus’ laps Santa Claus ain’t real, let alone is he black”


Beanie Siegel accuses Jay-Z of calling the cops on him during jay-Z’s September 11 concert recently, spittin’ “The rapper Shawn called the police on me/cause I was front row at the Blueprint 3,” Siegel raps. “S**t, I just wanted to see him MC, and reminisce on when we was the R.O.C./But he called all the C.O.Ps, not only that, he brought out the F.E.Ds/So that’s telling me ‘F You Sieg,’/so F you too and F Bleek three.”

Beanie Sigel also went on an interview on radio day after DJ Kay Slay premiered the song, he said that he felt slighted for not being included on the Blueprint 3.

Beanie said “Jay in another place and I understand that. He did what he did as far as signing people to Roc-A-Fella Records, you did that,” Sigel told Charlamagne Tha God. “But as far as the push that people coulda got that really could have did things, you didn’t do that. If you look at 50 Cent - no disrespect to the G-Unit, cause I love the way 50 Cent did with his dogs - but if you look at it, them dudes got more money and more bread than anybody in State Property. Because 50 made sure of that. 50 took his people on tour and paid them, not tell them it was a good look for them to be on tour.”

Truly, I never thought I’d hear a track like this from BEANIE SIGEL of all Rappers! Beans goes hard on this one, going emotional, deep and factual.

AND SOME MORE FAIL PICS

AGE FAIL

COW RIDE FAIL

NEW DAD FAIL

PROPHECY FAIL

BUS BOAT FAIL

(Fail pics courtesy of Failblog.org)

THIS IS IT!

Michael Jackson continues to break records even in death! The documentary of his ill-fated last concert 'This is it' premiered on Tuesday 27th October grossing about $2.2 million dollars - the highest ever for a movie released on a tuesday in October. 'This is it' cost Sony $60 million dollars to purchase the rights from AEG Live, the promoters of the botched 'This is it' concerts which were to hold in London in July.
The movie is showing at Silverbird and Genesis Deluxe cinemas. Please go see it...for Michael and the Legend in all of us!

STUFF I CAN'T WAIT 4: Music - The African Rockshow

Uchie the African Rockstar, critically acclaimed purveyor of a unique blend of Ragga, HipHop and R’n’B music is currently working on his sophomore album, tentatively titled ‘The African Rock Show’. Over the past one year, he has been in and out of the studio perfecting songs like ‘Leave Us Alone’, ‘Take Me Away’ and ‘Foolish Love’. So far he has worked with ace producer and MTN Project Fame West Africa judge: TY-Mix on a number of songs while the duo of Sazzy & DJ Atte also produced a significant number of songs on the album which is expected to drop early in 2010.

EVENTS: BET HIP HOP AWARDS 2008

The BET HIP HOP AWARDS held recently, Jay-Z picked up the most awards, followed by incarcerated rapper T.I and then inyourface producer/rapper;Kanye West.
Here's a full list of the winners...

1. Verizon Peoples Champ Award - Fabolous (Throw it in the bag)
2. Best Hip Hop Collabo - T.I featuring Rihanna (Live your life)
3. Best Live Performer - Jay-Z
4. Lyricist of the Year - Jay-Z
5. Video Director - Hype Williams
6. Producer of the Year - Kanye West
7. Track of the Year - Young Money (Every Girl)
8. CD of the Year - T.I (Paper Trail)
9. Rookie of the Year - Drake
10. Best Hip Hop Video - T.I featuring Rihanna (Live your life)
11. MVP of the Year - Jay-Z
12. DJ of the Year - DJ AM (Posthumous Award)
13. Hustler of the Year - Jay - Z
14. Made-You-Look Award - Kanye West
15. Best Hip Hop Blog Site - Allhiphop.com

NEXT 2 BLOW: Bornstar

From the stables of Kilari-Bola Entertainment (which has amongst its Board of Directors Omowunmi Akinnifesi (MBGN 2005) and Environmental Ambassador LASG) comes Bornstar, a fast rising artiste who is set to challenge erstwhile reigning king of Dancehall music in Nigeria; Timaya for the rights to the throne, Hip Hop World Awards plaques and Alaba marketers’ cheques.


Originally known by the moniker: Slutta, Bornstar first emerged on the Naija music scene on Gino’s 2005 album ‘No Be God?’ where his raw talent was spotted by M.Speech who took him under his wings for further development and refinement, a process which is expected to have the same effect as what Eminem did for 50 Cent before the release of ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’.

Many have compared Bornstar’s sound to Shaggy, TOK and other notable international Ragga acts but Bornstar intends to sound only like himself and not like an imitation.

So far, Bornstar has performed a few shows in Jamaica alongside Dj Stunna and has been fortunate to meet a lot of Jamaican music greats in person.

Guided by prolific Producer and CEO: M.Speech, Bornstar’s upcoming debut album is poised to redefine the standard of album making in the industry.

The album will include songs like ‘e don happen’, ‘Which day?’,’See me see wahala’, ‘Birthday girl’ and ‘Wildfire’ and features guest appearances from industry heavyweights; Gino, Konga, Teeto Ceemos, Sossick and Jamaican stars; Jah Weise and E-Silk.

Bornstar has just released a new video and is available for viewing online @ http://www.timmynaija.com/blog/category/music-video/ :::::OnLY oN tiMmYNaiJa::::: . . .Terrestial and foreign TV stations are streaming also. The album is dedicated to the memory of Bolanle Akinnifesi.

Jay-Z makes Fortune's Top 40 under 40 list

Rapper and Entertainment Mogul made the list of most successful people in Business under the age of forty.
Jay-Z and business partner Steve Stoute jointly ranked 16th on the list under the aegis of Translation Advertising, a company they both own. Other high-flyers on the list include Google founders;Sergey Brin and Larry Page; Facebook founder: Mark Zuckerberg and Tiger Woods who ranked 6th.

Roc Nation, Translation Advertising


Ages: Both are 39

Marital status: Jay-Z is married, Stoute is single



Jay-Z is co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records and the Roca-wear clothing brand (sold for $204 million in 2007) and the former president of Def Jam. His latest album is his 11th to hit No. 1, the most by any solo artist ever.

Stoute, former EVP of Interscope Records, founded marketing firm Translation Consultation & Brand Imaging, which paired Justin Timberlake with McDonald's for "I'm Lovin' It" before he sold it to Interpublic.

The pals now run a division that helps giants like State Farm and Johnson & Johnson reach the urban market. (Culled from Fortune.com)

GADGETS: Kindle versus Nook

I’m thinking of getting myself an e-book reader early next year (they’re relatively expensive! So requires some time to save) and so I was going through some product reviews and im at a point where I’m undecided between two brands/products. The Kindle from Amazon or the Nook from foremost book retailer; Barnes & Noble. They’ve got some similarities and use the same display technology – Electronic Ink Display which makes the screen look like paper.

Anyway I put out some features of both devices and want you guys to check them out and make recommendations.

The Kindle from Amazon

The Nook

Kindle                                        Nook                    
Screen size
6”                                               6”

Technology                 
Electronic Ink Display              Electronic Ink Display

Supported file formats
PDF, Kindle, Doc, Audible     PDF, e Pub, Fictionwise

Battery life                             
14 days                                    10 days

Memory capacity                
2 GB                                         2 GB (expandable to 16 GB)

Weight (ounces)                  
10.2                                          11.2

Price ($)                              
260                                          260


The Kindle's other special features include; Read to Me (text to speech conversion), EVDO, Built-in dictionary, MP3, wireless access to Wikipedia etc.

while the Nook's extra features include; Colour touchscreen, virtual keyboard, LendMe (file sharing), text highlighting and annotation, WIFI radio, Virtual bookmark, Pictures and MP3

So which do you think I should get?

Music: Albums we may end the year with include:

1. Super C Season – Naeto C


2. Sasha Speaks – Sasha

3. The W Experience – Banky W

4. Tradition – 9ice

5. Street Scriptures vol.1 – Knighthouse

6. Untitled – Timaya

7. Untitled – Jesse Jags

New Music: Plantain Boy – Mr. Timaya

The Naija music industry’s enfant terrible is back with a new song: ‘Plantain Boy’. Timaya simply refuses to approach any other topic but his rise from Grass to Grace. ‘Plantain Boy’ is still on the self idolatry theme, but with more vivid description this time.

He talks about his rise to music stardom from selling his mother’s plantains on the streets a few years ago, hear him “I’m still that plantain boy/na me be the pikin wey dey give im mama joy/many people see me as a useless boy/ but thank God, today I’m a very big boy/not just a big boy but a very rich boy…”. I actually like the song and find it somewhat inspirational in the ‘We Can Achieve Anything’ sense.

The song is produced by longtime cohort: K-Solo.

New Music: Russian Roulette – Rihanna

“Rated R” – That’s the title of Rihanna’s forthcoming album, scheduled for a November 23rd release and the first single off it is ‘Russian Roulette’ which was written and produced by Ne-Yo. What d’you think of the cover photo?

Awards: NMVA 2009 and My Predictions

Its been a while since Cally Ikpe released the shortlist of nominees for this year's annual Nigerian Music Video Awards but I just got to study the list today and im gonna predict who the winners'll be and by November 1st when the event is held at the Eko Hotel & Suites, V.I, you all will hail me the great Seer and Divine Prophet for my predictive abilities. here's the list:

NMVA 2009 NOMINEES


BEST AFRO HIP HOP VIDEO

• Tuface Idibia – Go Down There.

• Djinee – Lade.

• Mo hits – Ten Ten.

• Nigga Raw - Ko Gbadun.

• Weird Mc – Step Up.

Whatever this category means I dont know but Tuface has the best video here.

BEST MAINSTREAM HIP HOP VIDEO

• Dj Jimmy Jatt – Too Much

• Alabai – Voice of God

• Kel – Too Fine.

• M.I - Safe.

• Knight House- Finest.

The Knighthouse Crew should take this one!

BEST AFRO POP VIDEO
• D’banj – Mo Gbono Feli Feli.

• Eldee – Bo Si Gbangba.

• Darey - More.

• Sound Sultan – Oko Won Lode.

• Anogiri – Oyinbo.

Probably Eldee, even though I didnt know he did 'Afro Pop'

BEST REGGAE DANCEHALL VIDEO

• Nneka – Africa.

• Frank D Nero – Cure My Craze.

• H-man- scared of love.

• Black Solo – Club on Fire.

• Porsh Kayiana – Scream

Would have rooted for Frank D'Nero but the video was nothing special
BEST GOSPEL VIDEO
• Keffi – Kokoroko.

• Lara George - Run With Me.

• Benita – Se Owe.

• Elsie – Jigidem.

• Rooftop Mcs – For My Life.

Rooftop Mcs could take this one...

BEST R n B VIDEO
• Darey – Not The Girl.

• Faze – Am In Love.

• Inyanya – Love Truly.

• Drea – Omoge.

• G-Xploits – Your Man.

If Darey doesnt win this then the judges should be investigated


BEST HIGHLIFE MUSIC VIDEO

• Bracket – Yori Yori.

• Mc Loph – Osondi Owendi.

• Sunny Nneji – Ojoro.

• J-Martins – Cool Temper.

• Mumma Gee – African Juice.

Definitely Bracket


BEST CONTEMPORARY AFRO MUSIC VIDEO
• Mumma Gee – African Juice.

• Bracket – Yori Yori.

• Amaikah – Moonlights Tales.

• Freewindz – Tolotolo.

Please give Bracket again

BEST USE OF ANIMATION IN A MUSIC VIDEO

• Lara George – Run With Me.

• Daddy U - Who Be This Man.

• Holy Mallam – Devil Tinyaka.

• Holy Mallam – Somebody Say.

Havent seen any of these videos, sorry!

BEST FUJI MUSIC VIDEO

• Ayuba - Omo Yoruba. (Special Recognition)

I see theres no competition here...

BEST AFROBEAT MUSIC VIDEO
• Tunji Shotimerin – Story Story.

• Seun Kuti - Many Many Things.

• Kola Ogunkoya – Emayo.

Not my forte, cant say here either...

BEST USE OF COSTUME
• Darey – More.

• Keffi – Kokoroko

• Amaikah – Moonlight Tale.

• Benita – We Ose.

• Mumma Gee –African Juice.

Wondering why Darey won't win this one...

BEST USE OF CHOREOGRAPHY
• Weird Mc – Step Up.

• Freewindz – Tolotolo.

• Darey – More

• Omawunmi – In The Music.

• Porsh Kayiana – Scream

Even though Darey cant dance, he should get this one too cos the others didnt do shit too

BEST PRODUCER OF A MUSIC VIDEO
• Soul Muzik.

• Lone Records

• Yes Records.

• Mo Hits.

• East Syde Records.

There should be no contest here Darey's Soul Muzik is miles ahead of the others

BEST DIRECTOR

• Wudi Awa (Kokoroko – Keffi)

• Gbenga Salu ( Ten Ten – Mo Hits)

• Clarence Peters ( Oko Won Lode – Sound Sultan)

• Dj Tee ( Step Up – Weird Mc)

• Mex ( Safe – M.I)

This should be between Mex and Gbenga Salu

BEST USE OF SPECIAL EFFECTS IN A MUSIC VIDEO
• M.I – Safe.

• Mo Hits – Ten Ten.

• Lara George – Run With Me.

• Elsie – Jigidem.

Still a straight fight between M.I and Mo'Hits


BEST INDIGENOUS CONCEPT
• Mumma Gee- African Juice.

• Benita – We Ose.

• Keffi – Kokoroko.

• Amaikah- Moonlight Tales.

• Ayuba – Omo Yoruba.

A'int got no idea for this one

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Kokoroko - Keffi (Wudi Awa)

• Aimakah – Moonlight Tales. ( Brisoul)

• Sound Sultan – Oko Won Lode. ( Clarence Peters)

• Mo Gbono Feli Feli – D’banj ( Sesan)

no idea here too

MOST PROMISING DIRECTOR
• Gbenga Salu

• Boby High

• A-Whizzle

• Ak One

• Brisoul

Definitely Gbenga Salu, Ten Ten was dope!

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
• M.I – Safe

• Mo Hits – Ten Ten.

• Keffi – Kokoroko.

• Darey – More.

• Mo Hits – Mo Gbono Feli Feli.

Maybe M.I should take this one too

BEST NEW VIDEO
 Bean Pole – So Pe Tie.

• Jaywon – Filebe.

• Waje – Kolo.

dunno...

MOST POPULAR NIGERIAN MUSIC VIDEO IN EUROPE
• King David – One Love.

• May7even – Take off my clothes.

• Tillman Ft Dolla –Puyanga.

• Tee Loye – Karmal Fire.

• Cashino – No future.

dunno, I live in Naija

SOLE INDUCTEE INTO THE HALL OF FAME

Chief Raymond Alegho Dokpesi. (Chairman Daar Group)

Hilarious Fail Pics

So when I get bored and I've got an internet connection there are a couple of sites i log on to to keep me busy, for laughter I go to Fail Blog, lots of hilarious 'fail' pictures and videos. Check these out!

Facebook fail

Coronation Throne Fail

Racism Fail

Okada fail!

Album Review: The Rebirth - Obiora Obiwon

I waited for over one year for Obiora Obiwon’s sophomore album ‘The Rebirth’ and when it finally came out this month, I grabbed a copy as soon as I could locate a CD retailer who stocked the album. However, after a couple of spins, I daresay I was disappointed. My disappointed was because I was totally ‘lost’ on the album.


I have followed Obiwon as an artiste since his days as a member of a loose ensemble of artistes in Enugu who went by the name ‘Coal City’s Finest’ to his stint with the self professed Hip-Hop purists, ‘Thoroughbreds’ and onto his emergence as a solo artiste or worthy note. His debut LP ‘Overture’ was excellent and spawned the hit song ‘Onyinye’. I also loved the collection of singles he put together as forerunners to ‘The Rebirth’ in the CD ‘Overture Plus’ which had beautiful songs like ‘Joli’, ‘Nigerian Girl’ and ‘Believe Me’. Then Obiwon ‘disappeared’ for a while and it is in this brief period of hiatus that I guess the change began.

At about the period he dropped ‘Overture Plus’, the artiste formerly known as Obiwon changed his name to Obiora Obiwon signaling a new phase of more originality in his music and brand. Up till this album, I sincerely regarded Obiora Obiwon as an R’n’B artiste considering his previous works but ‘The Rebirth’ marks a shift in genres for the artiste. Out of ten songs on the album, 6 are clearly gospel music, 2 are everyday feel good songs (‘bless you lady’ and ‘birthday’) while ‘obi mu o’ and it’s remix are the only R’n’B tracks on the LP.

‘obi mu o’ featuring Guchi Young is a duet with strong vocal performance and an everlasting message ‘Everlasting Love’. ‘obi mu o the remix’ shows why the original is such as good song from the ease with which the rappers featured on it delivered stellar verses, Blaise sets it off with “Let me get a little deeper/boy you’re a keeper/I need to assure you/how you dey give me fever”, passing the Rap baton to M.I who delivers on of his best verses of the year spitting “Girl, let me write you a story/you and I are going from the guts to glory/getting married on top a 40 storey…you took the simple dude and made him clear/it’s like you changed a skateboard to a Beamer..”. Ibo Boy Ill Bliss takes it a notch higher putting his recent real life experience in prose “I found a wife, found a friend, found a sister all in one…thank God I found you/got another man all trying to wife you/Yes I go build my life around you…I’m a man of my words/took a little time but I’m back for you…”.

On ‘F.A.T.H.E.R’ Obiwon combines his own rich vocals with a mini-choir background of voices to support in delivering a danceable gospel tune. This is one of the album’s best songs. The lyrics, arrangement and instrumentals all play out creatively.

Phat E & Obiora Obiwon are credited with the bulk of production with Jay Martins providing one track.

While ‘The Rebirth’ is definitely a ‘rebirth’ for the former R’n’B artiste, I’m not so sure this is the comeback album the market was expecting.

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: A Day In The Life; Sticky Fingaz (2009); Lionsgate Films

If you know ONYX, the rap group from the early 90's which included big names; Fredro Starr and Sticky Fingaz, then you'd also know that Fredro Star and Sticky both released solo albums after the disintegration of the group.
Stick went on to make a classic album; 'The Autobiography of Kirk Jones' in which he used a unique format where the entire album played out on your audio decks like a movie, with most songs in master story-telling fashion and tracks following each other in sequence like scenes in a movie, he even begn the LP with the 20th Century Fox signature tune and sound effects.

This time around Sticky does the opposite; he writes, directs and produces this movie which plays out like a Rap album with EVERY conversation 'rapped' instead of plain speaking. The movie's creativity covers up for the poor acting and generic thug-life story.

The movies covers the everyday life of a gangbanger/streethustler/drug dealer who wants to leave the game after he finds out his girlfriend is pregnant, but before he can do this, he has to eliminate a rival gang leader who stole his stash and killed his peeps. At the end we find out who stays standing.
The movie features many known black faces including Mekhi Pfeiffer, Omar Epps, Omar from The Wire, Fredro Star, Mickey Rourke (Agent Don Self from the final season of Prison Break), Ray J and Sticky Fingaz himself.
Anyone who loves true Rap as exemplified by albums like 'Stillmatic', 'The Blueprint', 'The Autobiography of Kirk Jones' and 'Its Dark and Hell is Hot' will definitely love this movie.

BOOK REVIEW: Swallow by Sefi Atta

The Novel explores the Nigeria and Lagos in particular, of the early ‘80’s touching familiar range of subjects like family, friendship, poverty, corruption and drug trafficking.

Sefi Atta brings everyday characters to life in a way in which the reader connects to them, reminding you of a sibling, friend, neighbour or even yourself. From the central character: Tolani to her flatmate, Rose or Sanwo, the boyfriend, the Writer delves sufficiently into the characters’ backgrounds to paint a surrounding environment and shed light on the choices made by each individual. Primarily about Tolani, ‘Swallow’, explores the journey through life, struggles over declining morality and belief in God, disdain for corrupt Bosses and attempts to survive the hardships of Lagos life by any means necessary.

Though, not half as good as her first Novel: Everything Good Will Come, Sefi Atta retains her style which sees ‘Swallow’ crescendo till the end to leave the reader with more questions than answers.

Events: STYLE NIGHT 5

The annual fashion show 'Style Night' is here again. It's a night of fashion, modeling, music, comedy and dance.


Style Night 5:
Featuring - Top designers, models, music, dance and comedy stars.
Date - Saturday October 24th 2009
Venue - Jade Palace, Adeola Odeku Str., Victoria Island, Lagos
Time - 5pm (Red Carpet by Spice TV and Soundcity)
After Party - Volar Bar - Adeola Odeku Str., VI (Sponsored by Hennessy)
Gate Fee - N3, 000 only.

Lots of gift items to take away (All sponsors are bringing goodie bags)
+ cocktail and drinks.
Style Night 5 is sponsored by
*Prestige Cosmetics (Makers of Active Man and Woman moisturizing cream)
*Multisheen Cosmetics
*Cybele Cosmetics
* Lacasera Drinks

Album Review: Djinee

It’s been a long time coming for Djinee, ever since his superlative vocal performance on 2005’s hit single ‘Ego’, fans have patiently waited for his debut album. In a rare feat, the artiste born Nosa Osayamwem held the title of veteran in the Nigerian music industry even though he had no album to his credit. From his video jockey days with Sound City to his new status as TV game show host, Djinee has remained in the public eye, displaying rare tenacity to survive in an industry that has consumed so many talents. After years of battling record label troubles, the storm is finally over.


Coming a good four years after the market demanded for it, Djinee’s self titled debut LP still ends up striking the right chords. Feeding off the buzz created by the singles ‘I No Dey Shame’ and ‘Lade’, the 17-track album is an eclectic blend of music featuring Soul, R’n’B, Rock and Gospel genres.

Receiving heavy rotation on radio is the third single ‘Overkillin’’, produced by Jesse Jagz; Djinee takes it to the streets on this one with the same style that that made M.I’s ‘Safe’ a hit song. Despite the seeming violent title, the song’s theme is Peace. Djinee reaches out to the youths with lyrics like ‘choose to finger Guitar than to finger my trigger/want to live rich to see my sons and my daughter…the lion fit dey sleep/but no think say you fit wake am”.

‘Come Sun, Come Rain’; a duet with Ego Ogbaro is one of the album’s finest tracks. Reminiscent of powerful duets like ‘Baby Come to Me’ by James Ingram & Anita Baker or R.Kelly & Celine Dion’s ‘I’m Your Angel’. Both artistes synchronize seamlessly and deliver superb vocal performances but Ego comes out a couple of miles ahead.

‘My Pillow’ comes across as a mellow heartfelt rendition from a doting lover, Djinee is at his soulful best crooning “should I run you a bath?/anyway you want it/should I make you laugh?/should I oil your back?...Let me be your warrior tonight, I’ll save your heart tonight/right here on my pillow…”

‘Forever’, ‘Forever remix’ and ‘Na My Wife’ are clear cut wedding songs, ‘Thank You’ and ‘My Love’ continue the love message while ’Give It To Me’ is a feel good/subtle party song. To complete the album is ‘Uruese’, where D’jinee does the near compulsory native language and Gospel track.

Production credit on the album includes; Cobhams Asuquo, Rymzo, Jesse Jags and M.I, with artiste guest appearances from other outstanding talents including; Nikki Laoye, Lindsey and Ice Prince. This album will appeal to true lovers of Nigerian R’n’b and Soul.

MTV Base MAMA’09: M.I emerges biggest winner.

On Saturday, 10th October 2009, in faraway Kenya, East Africa, Chocolate City’s breadwinner and Nigeria own M.I carted away two awards at the MTVbase annual MAMA awards ’09. M.I picked up the awards for ‘Best Hip Hop’ and ‘Best New Act’ beating stiff competition from other notable African artistes.


Other Nigerians who won trophies include; D’banj(Artiste of the year), Tuface(Best RnB) and PSquare(Best Group).

The award ceremony was hosted by international artistes: Wyclef Jean and Akon.

2010 World Cup: Nigeria manages 1-0 win over Mozambique

A late 93rd minute goal by Obinna Nsofor of the Super Eagles was sufficient to keep our South Africa 2010 world cup finals hopes alive. Nigeria now has to win her next match and hope that the Tunisians lose or draw their final match to enable us make it to the finals.

FOOTBALL: U-20 World Cup: Nigeria Crashes Out

The Nigerian Under 20 squad is expected to return home tomorrow from Egypt after losing 3-2 to the Germans. A second goal from Kopplin 3 minutes into extra time was the last shot on goal that felled the Nigerian side. Goals from Uchechi and Ibrahim were unable to see the Nigerian side through

New Naija Albums Out Now!

I decided to go out and get more Nigerian music over the weekend and I ended up buying about 15 CDS. Here's a list of some of what i got:
1. P-Square - Danger
2. Olu Maintain - With All Due Respect Please Press Play (True, thats the title)
3. Jim Iyke - Who Am I
4. African China -The Return of The Legend
5. Jah Bless - Rebirth
6. Bracket - Yori Yori (finally decided to get it!)
7. Terry G - Season 1 of 'something'
I was looking out for Obiwon's 'Rebirth' and I.G.H.O's '9JA Boy' but didnt find them. I hope to be able to pick at least 1 good song from each of them for my current playlist!

Kelly Hansome takes shots at the Mo'Hits Crew

US based Kennis Music Singer, Kelly Hansome recently leaked a track off his forthcoming album dissing Wande Coal and the Mo'Hits crew.
Titled 'Igwe', Kelly takes off with the lines "you're still a small pikin...Yes, Me I be Arsenal, you, you be Man U/No wonder you're look like a 'Malu'...I go wipe you, one by one, you and your crew/'cos if you try we Gunners, we go gun you down...."
He also takes further shots at Terry G on the song's third verse. The lyrics are catchy, he pokes fun at Wande's 'Bumper 2 bumper' and 'Taboo' songs over a party friendly instrumental.
We look forward to a response from Mo'Hits.

BOOK REVIEW - Toni Kan: Nights of the creaking bed

With this collection of short stories, Toni Kan recounts the everyday experiences we choose to ignore as well as the feelings we refuse to acknowledge. These are tales of crude love, incestuous lust, infidelity, poverty, lost dreams and bizarre happenings. From the boy who is obsessed with the beautiful one who birthed him to the young one who’s desire to see the Promised Land leads to his untimely death. ‘the devil’s overtime’ tells the story of Daniel who is abandoned in a market by his mother and his transformation into an ‘Area Boy’. ‘Onions’ is a Christmas story set in poverty land and ‘Buzz’ is your classic detective story set in the rough Lagos neighborhoods. Other stories include; ‘the Phone call goodnight’, ‘the echo of silence’ and ‘age of iron’. Definitely a a good read.

INTERVIEW - M.I: Saving The Rapgame

Who do you call when your ipod seems to dish out weak, unintelligent and downright mediocre songs? Who do you turn to when Rap has been bastardized to the point where an artist could just yawn on a hot beat and put that on a CD? To whom do we cry for help when we buy a 14 track CD but can only listen to 1 song?


Mode 9 made the track ‘A Hero Comes Home’, but it’s not him we look up to in these treacherous times and perilious periods. Today, we look to the North, from whence our help will come in the mould of a short black boy.

Known to family, close friends and associates as Jude Abaga, but to the rest of the country as the long awaited Rap Messiah; the impeccable lyricist; the wack-rapper slayer; the beat maker; the performer; the MC. He is Mr. Incredible.

The short black boy who is the next big thing was originally known by the moniker: Amigo but over time the artiste evolved and so did the name. Now known as M.I, an acronym for many things like Mic Innovator, Most Innovative, Mankind Illustrator, Most Immaculate and off course; Mr. Incredible.

He crept into our consciousness with songs like ‘Crowd Mentality’, ‘Kauna Allah remix’ and ‘Time’, from a quiet MC on the rise in the J-town and ABJ circuits to becoming a prominent feature on the national stage, rocking shows from Gombe to Gabon; Lagos to London. M.I the multi-talented is a Rapper, Producer and Performer.

M.I as an individual personifies humility, honesty and hardwork. He takes his craft seriously and his stage presence is awe inspiring with an ability to connect with the crowd no matter how large or small.

Whats Up, Naija? caught up with M.I in Lagos, a few months ago, to pick his brain on a range of topics, enjoy.

So, whats up with M.I these days? You just dropped the Album – ‘Talk About It’, it’s been well received, you’ve been well received as well, did you know success would this soon?

Success is a shifting concept, I don’t know if I can say I’m completely successful because I have not accomplished everything I set out to do, however I do thank God for the level of success that I have attained and the fact that this music that I’ve made, which is a little bit outside the grain of what you would term as contemporary Nigerian pop music, is being received as such, it’s selling very well, we’re doing lots of shows, we’re touching new markets that we’ve never been to before, I really appreciate it thank God for that and the team that’s behind me; Bobby Taylor Consulting; My management: Godwin Tom; My Record label: Chocolate City – they also handle management as well: Mo’, Samson and, off course, Audu. Everybody’s working really hard, it’s a joint effort and a lot of people in the industry love me too, so that helps.

The label is Chocolate City, how did you meet Audu and how did you get signed?

Audu was actually looking to sign Jeremiah Gyang and at that point, I was sort of doing unofficial management for Jeremiah Gyang and so I didn’t meet Audu actually before they got signed, but after a while Jeremiah kept saying “you need to meet Audu, he’s a fantastic guy”. So he came down to Jos one time, we met, we spoke, I could see he was not impressed at all, I played him some of my music and he was just like “whatever”, I made more music, I played for him and he was like “yeah, yeah, whatever” but then by the time I played ‘Crowd Mentality’ for him, he was like “yeah, I have a record contract for you right here, so it was a fantastic opportunity for me, it’s been a long time though, since we signed, 3 years, it’s taken a long time for us to be where we are right now, but you know, it’s Cest la vie, such is life and we just starting, we’re just climbing.

You won the award for Best rap single at the HHWA’08. This year, we guess you’re gunning for best Rap album, who do you expect your contenders to be?

Obviously you would have people like Rooftop MCs: who I think had a clasic album last year, I think it’s a hip hop classic. Off course, the heavyweight: Mode 9, anytime he drops an album, it’s always gonna be in contention. Also I think one of the most fantastic albums as far as pop music is concerned in naija, cross over album is Naeto C’s album – ‘You Know My P’. Those are the albums that I think are in contention for this year, I might be missing out somebody but I think those are the albums that are really hot on the tail. I think ‘Talk About It’ is the goodish, so please vote for ‘Talk About It’ if you have to vote for one.

What’s the difference between being behind the mixing desk as a producer and holding the Mic as a Rapper?

Behind the mixing desk, I’m funny, I’m silly, I’m stupid, I’m just trying to get the music however it comes out, but on stage as a performer, I come on stage, I try to have my swag, my cool. So it’s a totally different approach, behind the console you want to be effective, on stage you wanna be iconic and it’s just two different approaches.

Do you intend to take production seriously to the level where an M.I beat is a guarantee for success the way a Neptunes or Timbaland beat could be?

I don’t wanna be a commercial producer, I don’t want people to determine the hotness of my music the same way they do a Neptunes or Timbaland beat. I just wanna make good music, I wanna be like, sort of like, Basket Mouth or Raphael Sadiq, just putting in work whether you’re hearing of him or not: he’ll come and go, he’ll come and go. It’s not about hot beats, it’s not about who has the hottest single, it’s about good music. So I’m not open to anyone just coming out to make a beat, M.I making a beat for them. I work with who I wanna work with, and so far I’ve done Rooftop MCs, I’ve done Ashionye, I’ve done Ibiyemi, a lot of other people, working with Suzy very soon, Kaffy, a lot of people that I’m interested in working with so it’s gonna be good.

Tell us about Loopy Records

Loopy Records is a record label, sort of, it’s actually just a label name, sort of a group or family of 6 artistes that began together in Jos, and we didn’t begin as the original, we’re not the original 6, people have come and gone but we’ve sort of stayed together. Its 3 Rappers: Myself, Jesse Jags and Ice Prince and 3 Singers: Eve, Lindsey and Ruby. We’ve consistently made music over the years, we know eachother very well, we know what we can all bring to the table and when we enter the studio and we’re here for world domination. Believe you me, you haven’t heard the best music. Ice prince and Jesse Jags are far more talented and the girls are just out of this world. Look forward to fantastic music from Loopy Records.

Talk about your new Mixtape album: Illegal Music

‘Illegal Music’ is an idea to sort of allude to the mixtape culture in America, along the way I sort of missed that, because, Mixtapes – you just bite other people’s beats and rap on them but along the way, what I did was just make my own music and I don’t know how people are gonna receive it because a lot of the songs are not pop songs, it’s just my music, it’s weird, it’s different, you know what I mean. I’m gonna try and shoot videos for every song on ‘Illegal Music’ and put on Youtube, maybe not the most fantastic videos, but just something that people can watch. It’s about me trying to be cool on some songs and me just loving some samples so much that I made other songs out of them.

Your Dad’s a Preacher, so we’re guessing you grew up with strong xtian values, how does that affect the kind of Music you make?

I do have strong Christian values, I don’t know if my Dad has heard ‘Teaser’ and I don’t know how they’ll receive it, if they do but my parents know that everything I say is centred around a central theme, although I might stray a little bit just to try and bring people, you know, walk away from the building, as it were, to go and bring people back to the building, my values are the same: talking about struggle, talking about change, about hope, about beauty, about life, about love, about being good, being pure, being right, you know. Not to be pretentious, I do have the occassional Johnny Walker, Jack Daniels, you know what I mean, I’m not gonna tell people I don’t. I, however, don’t smoke; I have had relationships and have had physical relationships with girls. I’m not gonna lie about that just to try to be cool, I’m just honest with my music; I try not to be just meaningless in my music.

You’ve been proclaimed the Future of Naija Rap, what do you feel about that?

I think that’s a bit of an oxymoron. The future’s what’s next. The future’s always what’s coming soon. So if I’m the future that means I’m not right now, when I do arrive it means somebody else is gonna be the future. It’s nice; I understand where people are coming from when they say that. I hope to be the future, the present, the past. In the future, I hope to be the past, the present and the future also. I hope to continue doing music. I do think that a lot of people that have listened to M.I are gonna come out and make far more fantastic music, are gonna open new doors, new avenues and it’s important to realize you’re just a link in the chain. eLDee paid his dues so that some other people could do it, so that Mode 9 and Ruggedman could, Mode 9 and Ruggedman came, they made their music so that other people could come. That’s how it is; even tracing fans back to Junior & Pretty. It’s just a chain, so when you’re here don’t let it get to your head too much, don’t think you’re the ish too much, it’s just your moment, it’s just you’re time, do what you must, raise the bar, raise the industry standard and bow out when your time is over.

What were the first Hip Hop albums you bought and how did you encounter Rap?

DMX – ‘Its Dark And Hell is Hot’; Mase – ‘Harlem World’; Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill; Talib Kweli – ‘Quality’. Those were the first Hip Hop albums I really got into. I had heard a lot of Hip Hop music, infact I think my first encounters with Hip Hop were probably with Heavy D – ‘Let It Rain’ and off course: Snoop Dogg, when Snoop Dogg first came out, it was really big, all over the world and I really loved it.

What inspires your Music content, lyrics and beats?

For music, I just listen to other people’s music and try and create new ideas or try and steal something I’ve heard, I mean, it’s an ever continuing process with making music, you have to keep on working at it. The songs, though, are inspired by the ideas, the content is inspired by things I see, so I try to open myself up to experiences around me as much as possible when I’m working on projects. Then, lyrically, you just go in there and work and work.

Eminem is known to give his life to the public through his Music and that’s one of the reasons he’s been so successful, how much of your personal experiences do you put in your Music?

I try to give as much of my personal experiences and I think on my second record people will hear a lot more about M.I than I think they even want to, but I think it’s important to put yourself in there because people can hear honesty, they can hear truth they can relate to. Every rapper is trying to say “I’m the flyest Rapper; I have 2 Bentleys and stuff”. Right now, as we talk to you, I don’t have a car yet, I’m still staying with my friend, some people may laugh about it, they might tease that but it’s my story. I know where I’m going to, it doesn’t bother me. I know where I’m coming from. We’re not gonna tell people “Here I am and this is what we’re doing and blah blah blah”. You know, it’s important to tell them “I’ve hustled to get where I am, and from here I’m moving somewhere else”. So let’s bend down, put our hands in the dirt and work and get where we’re going.

Other than your brother Jesse Jags, which Nigerian Rappers keep you on your toes?

Ice Prince, Vector, Pherowshuwz, 5 Mics, Naeto C, Gino, Ill Bliss, Blaise, Kel, Loose kaynon, Whizkid, Gomez from Knighthouse, Tha Suspect. There are just so many people, the list is endless and this is not to mention people that are outside the country like proto, people like Temi Pepe who I just listened to last night, just amazing, amazing crop of young talent that are coming out. You have to keep working.

You sing almost as well as you Rap, ever considered making an album like kanye’s 808’s & Heartbreak?

I’m not gonna sing on a whole album in the nearest future. I think singing should be left to professional singers. It’s cool when we do one thing or half a thing on a song, however, singing should be left to the professionals, also, though, is the fact that Kanye West’s 808’s is not even just about him singing, it’s about his content and I do have an album in the works which will be the second international project, which is called ‘Love Songs About Rap’. I’m like 4 or 5 songs deep into that, it’s gonna be a fantastic project, it’s about love music, love songs, and its all rap songs, it’s interesting.

We’ve got the album: Talk about it, we’ve got the Mixtape, when are we expecting the international album?

I actually don’t know. I wanted to release it January 1st, it hasn’t worked out. So many things go into making a record and pushing it out there. As soon as possible, I will say that, it will not be mass released though; it will be released as minimally as I can just so that it’s people that are really interested in the music that can buy it. So look out for ‘One’, buy it if it comes out and if not enjoy the Mixtape.

You left Nigeria as a student to school in the US, came back to practice as a Rapper, how did your parent’s take that?

My parents were cool, my Dad calls me M.I. Every time I call, he’s like “M.I”, I’m like “Daddy, I’m not M.I” but he’s like “You’re becoming M.I and M.I has more money than Jude, so I want M.I to be my son”. They are cool, they had some reservations and Jesse Jags is always talking about how our parents were like”no, no, don’t do music”. In all fairness to them, they supported us, they would have liked it if we had another job, but they supported us. They really tried. Shout out to my parents: the Abagas.

How has M.I changed between when he first dropped ‘Crowd Mentality’ and now?

I’ve gained weight. I’ve not grown a lot taller. I’m a lot more busy now. I’m not able to be in touch with as much people as I’d like to. I’m a lot more focused. I’m a lot more aware of what the industry requires and a lot more hungry to achieve.

What influence has M.I had on the life of Jude Abaga?

Jude is a nice playful guy. M.I has swag. M.I is cool. M.I doesn’t make too much noise. M.I likes True Religion jeans. M.I doesn’t take bus. He has had some influence but it’s important to remember that it’s just a job. It will come and go. What’s important is doing your music to the best of your ability and when it’s time to quit, walk away from it, don’t let the hype kill you.

What’s coming next from M.I after music; Business ventures, fashion, Books, Movies?

A lot of business ventures. I do wanna dabble into fashion, I’m not gonna put myself as the face or the brand. I just like Jeans so much I wanna have my own jean linedown the road. I think I have a lot of insight into what TV and movies can be. I’m not gonna act professionally, I don’t think I will be an actor, I will stay within the zone of what I’m good at, which is music and production. However, we will spread out, but I think it’s important to conquer and solidify where we’re at.

You used to maintain a blog on your Myspace page, but not anymore, what changed that?

We’re going back to that, I’m gonna have my blogspot and I’ll put up a new blog. Actually what happened was that a fantastic lady called Mickey had me writing for her newspaper, like a blog on her newspaper, so I used to put it up on my blog too. When that sort of died off because I was too busy, the blog sort of died, but I’ll do more of that soon. I really wanna keep in touch as much as I can.

The average ‘Abuja based’ artiste is unable to take his music to the National level, you were able to achieve that and more in the space of 2 years, how did you do it?

I think that for the ‘Abuja based’ artiste, it is important to come to Lagos, you might be lucky to have such a fantastic song that everybody round the country is feeling you. But incase you’re a human being like myself; you need to come to Lagos and work at pushing your music, push your brand. The rest of the industry is in Lagos.

You called her the first lady of Hip Hop, does the Boy date Kel?

Kel said I shouldn’t tell anybody if we are or not. I will say this, we’re good friends and yes, I got a girl, but no, you don’t know her or at least I’m working on it.

Thank you for your time, M.I.

Thank you, it’s been fantastic doing this interview. Big ups. Peace.

(Note: This interview was conducted sometime very early in the year)

My first post

Okay...hmmn...i just want to have a blog like everyone else...yes copy! copy! like everyone else...but its still something i want to do, so guess what...I did it!

Some blogs are boring, some aren't. This should be interesting...I'll be revealing alot about my self, my friends (ha ha ha ha) and people i hardly know but observe all the same, so this will be fun.

I'm also regarded as an encyclopedia when it comes to the Nigerian Entertainment industry (excluding Nollywood) so I'll be providing a lot of content on that too...sounding like fun yet? or boring?

Okay...I'll start off with giving out a lot of material i created while trying to start up a magazine (more on that later) so without much ado...enjoy.