Monday 31 July 2017

Four Artistes You Should Meet


   1. Neyoski and Olanrewaju: These artistes are two brothers who are making waves in the industry. Neyoski is a rapper who does not only give that Lil Wayne appeal but also aspires to be like LilWayne. He gets his homely vibe from M.I, Jesse Jagz, Wizkid and Davido and of course Fela Kuti. He’s older brother on the other hand is in the Afro Beat genre whose sound is also influenced by Fela Kuti. They are currently working on their mix tape titled Number Eleven. They’ve worked with A-list producers and were also on the list of The 24 Karat African Music alongside “Davido” and the likes. They have a new joint which just got released over the weekend titled “Feeling like Davido” which you can download below.
  
   2. Dapo: Dapo is a rapper whose songs are different from the basic urban trends. His songs talk about the situation of Nigeria and how it’s seen from the eyes of people abroad because he’s currently studying abroad. He has worked with SleekDave who also produces most of his beats. He started Music just this year in April and you can listen to his songs on Soundcloud and iTunes.

  3. Tayovic (Bad OG Gavazin): He is an artiste who started singing officially in 2009/2010 but has had it in him since he was 13 while singing in church. His idols are Michael Jackson, Olamide and Wizkid. He is currently working on a new project which is yet to be titled but for now, he has two new joints he would like to share with us. They are “Bad Oh” and “Durotimi”.

  4.  FiKAYO: He is an Afropop/Afro-fusion artiste, who makes interesting music and has released songs like “Juju” and “One Time”. One thing about this artiste is that he is very diverse. I will implore you to head over to soundcloud to listen to his music and please notice how his name is spelt while searching for him. 
 

Tuesday 18 July 2017

Top 10 most improved artistes of 2017


This list comprises of artistes who have been able to improve their sounds and have rocked the airwaves with their song this 2017.

10. Dotman: He is signed to U and I music and ever since the past year when he dropped ‘Akube’, which shook everywhere, has been dropping tunes since then from Escobar which features 'Davido’ to his latest single Afro Girl which features ‘Mr Eazi’. He holds down the 10th spot.
9. LA.X: Ever since he created the ’Rasakii’ brand, he has shown that he is not to be played with. He has dropped banging hot tunes like ‘Give You Love’, ‘Big Daddy’, ‘Gimme Dat’ to the very tune that is now disturbing everywhere and causing “Wahala” ‘Run Away’. He is number 9 on the list.
8. Dremo: The artist who is signed to Davido’s record label, Davido Music Worldwide (DMW), has overtime, shown that he’s a hard core rapper and can murder any beat given to him. He even did justice to his new song titled ‘Who’ which just came out last week Friday. He is on the 8th spot.
7. Mayorkun: Also a DMW artiste who has been a hit back to back. From ‘Eleko’ to his most recent song, ‘Mama’ which was produced by Kiddominnant and has been rocking the airwaves. With many nominations and several awards, he has shown that he’s an artist that has prospects as he takes the 7th spot.
6. Ycee: The Tinny entertainment mafia and the record label’s front man has also shown that he is not an artist to be slept on this year. He dropped one of the hottest single of this year ‘Juice’ and also dropped an E.P which made waves. He has actually proven to be his catch phrase “ain’t nobody badder than” as he holds the 6th spot.
5. Seyi shay:  She has shown that she’s not an artist that is physically hot alone but also musically. Her recent songs have been Jams. ‘Weekend vibes’, ‘Yolo’ which was the number one music video at some point in Nigeria. She’s surely bringing the heat as she is number 5 on the list.
4. Maleek Berry: The singer/producer has been steady dropping hits back to back. His sound is just so unique and different from the normal Nigerian vibe. He has even produced for different artistes this year and the songs were jams. With his recent jam ‘Been Calling’, he deserves the number 4 spot.
3. Runtown: This artiste has proven to be one word this year, Exceptional. With songs like ‘Mad Over You’, ‘Pain Killer’ which he was featured on and most recently, ‘For Life’, he has shown to be super talented. And you’ve also got to give him an applause for his videos too cause they are always clean. He holds down the third spot.
2. Mr Eazi: Words can’t describe Mr Eazi’s success this year alone. From dropping songs to doing concerts abroad and so many more, Mr Eazi is just an artiste you have to vibe to. The remix of Skin Tight which features Wizkid and Rita Ora is just Amazing and also the way he has been able to promote the African sound. Mr Eazi comes up as number 2 on the list
1. Tekno: A.k.A slim daddy who has recently been giving out money on twitter has shown this year that he is not here to play. He does justice to features as you can see on Mr Eazi’s skin tight and Kriss beatz’s Erima. This year alone, He has dropped 3 songs which were all jams and now we are patiently anticipating ‘Go’. Tekno is number one on the list.


Friday 14 July 2017

Drake announces last project / A new YouTube Take over


Drake has reported that his 2018 project “Farewell My Love” will be featureless and be his goodbye to music. I’m guessing that the “My Love” in this project means music. This is a big step for Drake, I wonder what his next carrer will be after quitting music. Maybe he will start another career journey. I am certain the music industry will definitely miss Drake so therefore if you an artist and you hope to feature Drake, it will be best you make that happen soon.

In other news, according to YouTube, a new video has surpassed the former highest number of views for a video which was formerly held by PSY for GANGNAM STYLE which had 2,898,878,465 views. The video which surpassed it is Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s See You Again music video off the fate of the furious album which currently has 2,913,837,068 views. 

Videos below.



Thursday 13 July 2017

ARE WE SCARED OF ORIGINAL LYRICISTS?


We all can almost say that, since rappers like Mode 9, Rugged Man, 2 Shortz amongst others left the spotlight, so did good rap with good lyrics leave. The fact is there are actually artists with good lyrics and flow but it’s either we don’t listen to them or they don’t have enough exposure, like the other artists, so we do not know them.

One of the reasons is because most people are reluctant to explore and listen to something new. We are used to the sound we hear so it’s kind of hard to try to listen to new people, so we stick to the “already blown” artists not knowing there are some good gems we’re missing out on.

Artists like Poe, Odunsi, Show Dem Camp, Ozzy B, Ozone, Phenom, Tesh Carter, Postly TD, Jesse Jagz, Fresh L, Eva, Pryce and a lot more have deep and intelligent lyrics and sounds but they aren’t getting enough attention. And another major reason for this is that they are not like the regular commercial rappers, they are major lyricists. They are the “new school” wave and artist.

Some well-known lyricists are Falz, Vector, Ycee and M.I, to mention but a few, but they have been able to add the commercial vibe and it is working well for them.


This just proves that majority of us are more interested in the commercial wave other than the major waves and lyrics. I think it’s time to start vibing to real lyricists who add the rhythm to music. 


Monday 10 July 2017

2017: THE FAST EVOLVING SOUND OF MUSIC – AFRO BEATZ


Music is constantly evolving as there is a shift in the pattern of sound we are used to. Different artists, both old and new are bringing us new sounds over different genres and some even go to the extent of combining two or more genres to create iconic sounds. Particularly in 2017, music has harmonized so many different languages that people from different parts of the world listen to songs sung in languages they do not understand but it’s all about the vibes.

With the help of producers, artists have been able to fuse Afro beats into foreign songs, for instance, Drake’s one dance. 

DJs’ are also not left out in this evolution. They have taken music to the next level and have invented beats with great vibes and have gotten great artists to sing on them. Notable DJs are Diplo, who has been able to interject songs from all around the world and electrify them with beats. Nigeria’s DJ Jimmy Jatt and DJ Spinnall are also part of the makers of the new sound waves and a lot of other DJs. They have proven to have the power to make the R&B sound like Afro-Beatz. They have also helped in promoting African music by playing these songs in countries outside Africa when they visit to play and perform. 

With the help of African artists like D’banj and Tu face, amongst others, Afro-Beatz gained recognition internationally. This exposure made artists like Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Big Sean and the likes of them embrace the Afro-Beatz sound. It also led to the signing of some African artists like D’banj and Davido into Sony music and paved the way for international collaborations like D’banj featuring Snoop Dogg on his endowed song, Drake featuring Wizkid on “One Dance”, Drake and Rita Ora using Nneka’s beat on their songs, and so much more. Other artists like Burna Boy, Ayo Jay, Ice Prince and Olamide have also gained international recognition.

Afro-Beatz stars are also not left out on international awards, like BET awards which were received by the likes of Wizkid, Sakordie, Tekno, Mr Eazi and Davido and others also getting nominated.
Apart from the international success, this year has been a big year for some of our African artists. One of the biggest singles of the year is “IF” by Davido, it was number one on the charts the second day it was dropped. The song was a smash hit and got R’Kelly doing a cover. Another undeniable hit song is “mad over you” by Runtown. It was number one on iTunes for a while and you hardly attended a party without mad over you not being played. It was even played on BBC One Extra. How can we forget “Leg Over” by Mr Eazi, which he was singing at almost the concerts he performed at.

This year has also been a year of concerts. Many African artists were sold out for their concerts both within and outside Africa. Artists like Wizkid and Davido, (who is currently doing is “30 Billion world tour”) had the venues full to the brim.

Our African female artists are also not left out. Even if we tried we couldn’t miss out on Seyi Shay who is currently touring around Africa. The Queen, Tiwa Savage has also been giving us ‘hot hot’ this year especially with her single “All Over” that she dropped earlier this year. Niniola isn’t slacking too, her song “Maradona” is currently trending. She had people going crazy over the beat of the song. Mama Africa, Yemi Alade doesn’t seem to be sleeping either, her songs are listened to at different parts of the world. She has also been trying to make improvements in order to satisfy her fans, both international and local better by making covers of the song in different languages.

How can we enjoy good music without the incredible producers? Shout out to all the producers, Legendury Beatz, Kriss Beatz, Tekno who produced “if’, Don Jazzy, Maleek Berry who produced for London artist Geko, Juls, Spellz, Yung John, Sess, Kiddominant, Sarz, who produced “Come closer” by wizkid and also “African bad gyal” by wizkid featuring Chris Brown and co-produced one dance by Drake, and the list goes on and on. These producers can’t be slept on while talking about the evolution of music.

At this point, we think it’s safe to say music is fast evolving and has contributed to the improvement of international relations over the past years.

Please if you have comments or suggestions, please do so in the comment session. Thanks.