Wednesday 1 December 2010

MI2: The Movie: My review

There's no way M.I would drop an album and I wouldn't buy it the first chance I got. Picking 'MI2:The Movie' off the CD Vendor's shelf was an easy buying decision for me as I couldn't wait to find out if the 'sophomore jinx' had plagued Mr. Incredible.

On first listen, M.I's second effort didn't meet my expectations and I was quite disappointed as I was expecting a few tracks off the 'ONE' album, that still hasn't seen daylight, to make this album. I felt the Nigerian public and true M.I fans will be blessed with songs like 'Pulling Me Back', 'Let's Get Together' and 'Pyeriboy' which will, no doubt, take it back to the essence that was 'Talk About It'. But I guess Chocolate City has moved on and they expect us to move along too like "If you want the old M.I, buy the old M.I album."

However, after a few spins of the disc, I'm beginning to make a volte-face on my earlier assessment of the 16-tracker.


A lengthy intro: "Prelude" opens the album and is followed by 'Action Film' featuring the lastest C-City sign-on: Brymo. I'm still skipping this track for now. Next is 'Slow Down' which is currently on repeat in my car and on my laptop at the office. Featured artiste: Julius Ceaser delivers a lovely chorus with romantically intense lyrics "...She looks like she's a Super Model/Cover of a fashion magazine...she reminds me of nights in Paris/She knows she's the finest girl I've seen/She looks like a queen and she knows...". the song is delivered over a danceable beat and M.I's verses are on point.

'Number One' reminds me of D'banj's 'Igwe' as it appears to be targeted at M.I's eastern fans. High-life artiste: Flavour nails the chorus with an excellent igbo-laced delivery. This song probably has the best instrumentals on the album and is sure to demonstrate its power as an alcohol-assisted party banger on any dance floor.

When compared to his work on 'Talk About It', M.I loses lyrical depth on the majority of tracks on this album and this is what I've termed the 'new M.I' who has chosen to dumb down his message for the masses and for the glory of commercial appeal. Can't blame him though.

'Nobody' featuring Tuface is a great collaboration and both artistes render superb performances on a subject that touches their personal lives.It focuses on the various types of 'beef' that accompany fame and fortune for those in the spotlight. M.I raps ''Ask Timaya, ask Wande/follow you bumper to bumper on Sunday/but do you yumu yumu on a Monday...if your fine boy too much they say you turn gay/if you make too much cash they say it's '19, or its drugs or it's fraud..."

'One Naira' featuring Waje is another standout track that's also on repeat for me. 'Wild Wild West' is the expected social commentary on the frequent violence and loss of lives in Jos, the city that groomed the majority of the Choc Boys. This is where Jesse and Ice Prince should have featured instead of the forced sounding 'Represent' anthem (just my opinion, anyway).

'Undisputed' is fit for the single that it is so I'll leave it at that.

Other guests on the album include newcomers: Ruby, Bola and Kauna.

Overall, I believe MI 2 will grow on me and in a month or so I'll give it a rating, meanwhile go get yours and upload your comments. Peace.

Jay-Z brings 40/40 clubs to select US Airports

Now this guy just keeps getting bigger and bigger...see the story below.

Hip-Hop star Jay-Z is expanding his business empire with a new deal that will bring his popular 40/40 Club to select airports across the United States.

The rap mogul and his partners Juan and Desiree Perez have struck a deal with Delaware North Companies, one of the world's leading and hospitality service providers.
Additionally, Delaware North Companies is one of the largest privately held companies in the U.S., with annual revenues exceeding $2 billion dollars.
"The 40/40 Club is all about creating first-class experiences for guests who want to relax and watch their favorite games," said Desiree Perez. "We want to see our club grow, and to bring those experiences to travelers. A partnership with Delaware North will do just that."
The new deal could bring Jay-Z's 40/40 Club into up 20 major U.S. airports, where Delaware North Companies operate dozens of national and regional brand restaurants.
"We are thrilled to partner with the 40/40 Club, to bring a stylish sports bar and lounge to airports across the country," said Robert Stanton, vice president of business development. "From the personalized, one-of-a-kind jerseys on the wall, to every sports game you can think of on the television screens, the club will bring a new experience that we are sure travelers will welcome."

(Source: Allhiphop.com)

Thursday 12 August 2010

Didn't know blogging was this hard

True to God! (Haven't said that in like 2 decades) Blogging is hard work. 'Nuff respect to regular Bloggers out there. I havent done this in months and I can blame it on everything from my 9 to 5 or lack of internet access. truth is, i dont want to put up just crap here and creativity has been scarce too (in addition to the above excuses)
But guess what? just got meeself a Starcomms datacard! But the real deal is the service is so crappy couldnt even watch Eminem's nu video 'Love The Way You Lie' on Youtube until I went to their office in Wuse 2 Abuja. Damn! They say I should expect an improvement from next week so lets hope they keep to their word.

Now I gotta go...Will blog regularly from now on (if Starcomms lets me). Peace.

Tuesday 9 March 2010

Songs I'm feeling now - March 2010

1. Kauna Allah ft. Skales – Jeremiah Gyang



2. Know ft. M.I – Lami


3. Kosorombe ft. Da Grin – Dipp


4. Omoba – D’Prince


5. In Love With You – Jeremiah Gyang

Alice in Wonderland sets Box Office record

This year's "Alice in Wonderland" movie grossed an estimated $116.3 million over the weekend making it the biggest ever March opening and made almost $30 million more than James Cameron's "Avatar" did in its opening weekend.

"Alice in Wonderland" has become the movie with the sixth biggest opening weekend in the history of the Box office.

The movie, which is directed by Tim Burton was made in 3D, same as "Avatar" and stars Johnny Depp.

Lil' Wayne goes to jail

Yeah, finally Lil'Wayne heads off to do his time after getting his sentencing postponed twice. Firt to enable him get dental work (I guess Baby didn't want him taking all that bling in his grill to the pen') then due to a courthouse fire incident.

The rapper known as Weezy is expected to spend at least 8 months in prison out of a one year sentence for being in possession of a firearm on his tour bus.

Lil'Wayne is going in at a time when Rappers: T.I and Shyne just got out.

Keep your head up Weezy, while we expect to the Drake and the rest of the Young Money Crew rock 'Free Lil' Wayne' T-shirts at every other show.

Monday 1 March 2010

Ragga Sensation: Bornstar's single is first off DJ Chascolee's New Mixtape

Famous Nigerian Award winning DJ 'Chascolee' is putting finishing touches to his mixtape.The mixtape titled DJ CHASCOLEE COMMERCIAL MIXTAPE' promises to be a breather from the norm currently pervading the Nigerian space and it has already recorded star appearances from Wande cole,Terry g,d prince,da grin,the supremes,Tu-face idibia,durella,Bornstar, etc.DJ Chascolee is no stranger on the Nigerian Club Scene. .His Laurels include Award winning D.J of the year 2006 in Lagos Nigeria. Best Club D.J of the Year Feb 13 at the Muson Centre Lagos Nigeria 2007. Club D.J/etc. He has played in Various Clubs In Nigeria. Like Xtreem, Do it All, White House, Options, Page, Insomnia Chilout, Mingles, Da New Groto, Sigma, Genesis, Tribeca, moods, Picolomondo etc. He featured in 50 cent's show, jarule/kevin lil's show, seun paul's, wyclef's, benieman's, Idols final party and big brother's final eviction party, etc.


On the first single Chascolee makes it clear that he carefully selected the artiste that performs the song.He said and i quote 'that in this very competitive Nigerian music scene i have grown to be very impressed with BORNSTAR's work hence my decision to use his song as the first official single from the forthcoming Mixtape. The song is titled TRUE gangsterz and im sure everyone will agree with me that its a masterpiece. .The video will be shot by Clarence peters and it is coming soon.'

The Mixtape is released on the Question mark label imprint.First single titled True gangsterz performed by ragga sensation BORNSTAR ft M.Speech

Wednesday 24 February 2010

Durella's 2 Gbaski Sneakers

While we still await the Koko Phone, I guess we could do with some footwear fro someone who shares similar styles with the Koko Master himself.

Introducing the '2 Gbaski' Sneakers from the King of the Zanga, Durella!

I hear they are recommended for a retail price of N25,000. I guess this is where TC Records invested all that money Durella won from Zain's Advance Warning!

Rare Superman Comic Sells for $1 Million!

A rare 1938 Action Comics #1 in which the character Superman made his first appearance was actioned for $1 million on Monday 22nd February, 2010 in New York. The sale occurred between two unnamed collectors within a minute of being listed for sale.

Described as the single most important event in comic book history, the issue is one of only 100 copies believed to be in existence and one of only 2 in good condition. A similar copy which was in a not-so-good condition sold for over $300,000 about 3 years ago.

In recent months, investors have turned to art as investment options to ride through the recession.

In 1938, this issues of Action Comics #1 would have sold for about 10 cents, 15 years ago it sold for about $150,000 and this year it went for a whooping $1 million!

Monday 22 February 2010

Soldier of Love - New Sade Album

Coming 10 years after her last effort (the highly successful 'Lovers Rock), Sade returned this month to both critical and commercial acclaim for her new album: 'Soldier of Love'. The soul songstress sold over 500,000 copies of her latest work within a week of its release in the US, thus earning a Gold status certification.

The album has received wide press covering from all sections of the media. The track listing is below:

1. The Moon and The Sky


2. Soldier of Love

3. Morning Bird

4. Baby Father

5. Long Hard Road

6. Be That Easy

7. Bring Me Home

8. In Another Time

9. Skin

10. The Safest Place

Jag of all Trades...Jesse Jags debut album

All is now set for the launch of one of the most anticipated Rap albums of 2010.

Rap artist/Producer: Jesse Abaga better known in the industry as "That other short boy: Jesse Jags" is set to release his first album: 'Jag of All Trades' on the 13th of March 2010. A launch event has been planned by his record label: Chocolate City and is billed to hold at the prestigious Tribeca, on Ademola Adetokunbo Street, Victoria Island between 7pm and 10pm on the aforementioned date.

Tuesday 9 February 2010

The Future Awards 2010 Winners List

The Future Awards 2010 held on Sunday at the Muson Centre, Lagos, find below the list of winners....

Actor of the Year


Kemi Lala Akindoju

Best Use of Advocacy

Tolu Sangosanya (Dustbin Children Foundation)

Best Use of Science

Ify Aniebo

Best Use of Technology

‘Bade Adesemowo (Bincom Solutions)

Business Owner of the Year

‘Debola Lewis (Yvent Kouture)

Creative Artist of the Year

Adekunle Samuel Owolabi

Excellence in Public Service

Fatima Zara Modibbo (Human Institute of Virology)

Journalist of the Year

Rounah Agbroko (NEXT)

Magazine of the Year

Soundcity Blast

Model of the Year

Warebi Martha

Musician of the Year

MI Abaga

Music Producer of the Year

Jesse Jagz

On-Air Personality of the Year (Radio)

Maste Uwatse (Wazobia FM)

On-Air Personality of the Year (TV)

Andre Blaze (Nigezie)

Professional of the Year

Ifunanya Maduka (Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls)

Screen Producer of the Year

Kenneth Gyang ("Finding Aisha")

Sportsperson of the Year

Janet Dung (Athletics)

Style Entrepreneur of the Year

Linda Ikeji (Blackdove)

Team of the Year

Africa Youth Unite for Change (Afyuch)

Young Person of the Year

Ify Aniebo

What’s Up, Naija’s Best Albums of 2009

What’s Up, Naija’s Best Albums of 2009


By late 2008, a flurry of singles hit the airwaves from artistes like Wande Coal, M.I and Darey. This caused Nigerian music aficionados to believe 2009 would be the year of the Nigerian musician and in some ways it was. Some great albums came and conquered, some good albums came and were slept on but some terrible albums also came and the market rejected them.

Here’s our list of 2009 albums and what we think about them

Whats Up, Naija?’s Best 5 Albums of 2009

1. Mushin to Mo’Hits – Wande Coal

2. king Kong – Shank

3. Big Boy - eLDee

4. D’jinee – D’jinee

5. Life & Times of Killz Vol. 1 - Ikechukwu



Whats Up, Naija?’s Worst 5 Albums of 2009

1. Tradition – 9ice

2. Danger – P-Square

3. With all due respect press play – Olu Maintain

4. I.D entity – I.D Cabasa

5. Who Am I – Jim Iyke



Whats Up, Naija?’s Top 5 Artistes of 2009

1. M.I – For taking great music from the rocky hills of Jos to the airwaves of Lagos and the entire nation

2. Bracket – For giving us the best wedding song of the year ‘Yori Yori’

3. Darey – For those sparkling videos

4. Wande Coal – For showing the others what an album should be like

5. D’banj – For showing us the essence of building a brand



Whats Up, Naija Worst 5 Artistes of 2009

1. Terry G – For all the nonsense lyrics and repetitive beats

2. Pls feel free to add in names of your choice

Thursday 4 February 2010

The Return of Jeremiah


Jeremiah Gyang: Love Angel


It’s been over five years since his phenomenal debut opus: ‘Na Ba Ka’ and now 2010 welcomes back soulful crooner: Jeremiah Gyang, the man who first put ‘J-town’ on the musical map of Nigeria and made Hausa music acceptable to the iPod generation .

In the space of time since he’s been gone and largely off the grid, Jeremiah has travelled the world, buried his mother, introduced us to M.I and still found time to make his signature great music.

While building the tempo and necessary buzz to prepare us for his sophomore LP, Jeremiah has sung a duet with Asa - ‘Comforters Song’, crafted songs for L’ami and other upcoming artistes and performed at the recent December 2009 Rhythm Unplugged Concert in Lagos.

In the spirit of the Valentine season, Jeremiah has put out a free promo CD ‘The Return of Jeremiah’ which includes the new singles ‘In Love with You’, ‘Kaunar Allah (Ft. Skales) and ‘The Only One’.

The tone of these songs, which evoke feelings of love, not towards the artiste but towards a lover, spouse or partner, showcases a deeper and more mature sound from the artiste/producer.

The as yet untitled sophomore LP is already being touted as Jeremiah’s absolute tour de force!

82nd Annual Academy Awards

Below is the list of nominees for the 82rd annual Academy Awards. The Oscar ceremony will take place on March 7.


Best picture

"Avatar"

"The Hurt Locker"

"Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

"Up in the Air"

"Inglourious Basterds"

"Up"

"The Blind Side"

"District 9"

"An Education"

"A Serious Man"





Actor

George Clooney, "Up in the Air"

Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"

Colin Firth, "A Single Man"

Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"

Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"

Actress

Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia"

Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"

Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"

Carey Mulligan, "An Education"

Supporting actor

Matt Damon, "Invictus"

Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"

Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"

Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"

Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"

Supporting actress

Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"

Mo'Nique, "Precious"

Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"

Penelope Cruz, "Nine"

Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"

Director

Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"

Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"

James Cameron, "Avatar"

Lee Daniels, "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air"

Animated feature

"Up"

"Coraline"

"Fantastic Mr. Fox"

"The Princess and the Frog"

"The Secret of Kells"

Original screenplay

"The Hurt Locker"

"Inglourious Basterds"

"The Messenger"

"A Serious Man"

"Up"

Adapted screenplay

"District 9"

"An Education"

"In the Loop"

"Precious"

"Up in the Air"

Best foreign-language film

"Ajami"

"El Secreto de Sus Ojos"

"The Milk of Sorrow"

"Un Prophete"

"The White Ribbon"

Best film editing

"Avatar"

"District 9"

"The Hurt Locker"

"Inglourious Basterds"

"Precious"

Best documentary feature

"Burma VJ"

"The Cove"

"Food, Inc."

"The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers"

"Which Way Home"

Art direction

"Avatar"

"The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus"

"Nine"

"Sherlock Holmes"

"The Young Victoria

Cinematography

"Avatar"

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

"The Hurt Locker"

"Inglourious Basterds"

"The White Ribbon"

ITS A NEW YEAR!!!!!!

I know it's the first week of February 2010 and not January 2010 like I would want you to believe.
I'm really sorry I've been off the greid for so long...maintaining a blog is so much work! I say a big congrats to regular and steady bloggers like Linda Ikeji (http://www.lindaikeji.blogspot.com/).

How ever, D Letter C is back...Bigger and Better!!!!!