Thursday, December 31, 2009

EMBER MUSIC 2

By now,you people should know me well enough to believe whatever you read on these pages.when i told you that all the best music always come out in the ember months,y'all thought i just felt like saying something.it is december now and the last 4 months have produced way better music than we have been hearing all year long.i really shouldn't be doing this for free,y'all need to start paying for this.
back to the topic.this period is not only known for better music but also for more drama and better entertainment.lets check the stats.....

FROM SEPTEMBER TILL DATE
Mixtapes from Modenine,Alaye,Iceberg slim & Terry da Rapman.

Singles from Naeto C,Zaaki Adze,Charlie Boy,2 shotz,YQ,9ice,Tuface,Weird mc,Alabai,Pype,Isolate,Timaya,Kelly Hansome,D'prince,Banky W,L'ami,Oluwe,Sauce Kid,Kash 11,Paul Play,Mo Cheddah,Essence,Maye Hunta

Albums from 9ice,Jah Bless,ID cabasa,Sleek,Str8buttah,Omawunmi,p square,J.martins,Da Grin,Kel,Jaywon,Diamonds,Terry G,Bouqui,knighthouse,Danny young,Banky W & Styl plus

Diss tracks from Henry X(p square),Nico Gravity(Timaya),Kelly Hansome(Terry G,Wande Coal & D'banj),Mallam Spicy(Terry G) and countless others.

Let's not even start with videos.....Pype,Styl plus,Da grin,Naeto c,P square,Wande coal,Banky w,Charlie boy,2 shotz,maye hunta,alaye,Cartiair,Timaya,Kenny st brown,Essence,Dj zeez,Dj bombastic,Paul play etc

Busta rhymes & Ludacris showed up in Nigeria courtesy of star,Keri hilson courtesy of storm 360 & Beenie man courtesy of a state government.

I don't really like to show off but one thing you must remember is that once i tell you something,it is always in your best interest to believe it because iam never wrong.i was actually planning to upload my favorite ember songs for 2009 but i have been very busy of late.i will probably do it some other time.see y'all next year.

THE GREAT ALBUM SYNDROME

Over the last couple of weeks, i have heard a lot of people complaining about 9ice's new album "tradition". Two months ago i told a friend of mine who was desperately waiting on the 9ice album that he would be hugely disappointed when he finally listens to the album, so you can imagine his surprise when it turned out that i was right(I am never wrong). its not like i can see the future or something like that, what happened to the 9ice album is what i would call THE GREAT ALBUM SYNDROME.

The great album syndrome can be defined as the inability of an artist to have 2 great albums in his or her career. To get a full understanding of this, you must first of all be able to differentiate between a great album and a classic album. There are 2 major differences between a great album and a classic album.

1. A great album is just for the moment while a classic album is for all time.

2. A classic album is a perfect collection of songs which may not be loved by everyone while a great album is loved by everyone but not quite perfect.

Let me quickly give you some examples of great albums in Nigeria & America
AMERICA
-50 cent’s get rich or die trying
-Craig david’s born to do it
-DMX’s and then there was X
-Nate dogg’s music & me
-Nelly’s country grammar
-Sisqo’s unleash the dragon
-Young jeezy’s thug motivation 101

NIGERIA
-2face’s face 2 face
-9ice’s gongo aso
-D’banj’s rundown
-P square’s get squared
-Timaya’s true story
-Wande coal’s mushin 2 mohits

All the above mentioned albums are the ones I can think of right now and I don’t think I have to start listing the classic albums(you should know them by now).incase you haven’t noticed, all these artists never released a better album than the ones mentioned above and they never will. I can’t really explain this phenomenon but it just happens. No matter how hard an artist tries, he/she never follows up on his/her great album. In fact the harder they try, the harder it gets.

Just like I said in the case of 9ice, P square, Timaya & D’banj, I am saying it here right now that Wande coal’s next album will be way below expectation. And won’t be anywhere as nice as M2M.if I had said this 2 weeks before 9ice’s album came out, y’all would think it was because I had already heard the singles or probably I had an advance copy of the album, but in WC’s case he is yet to hit the studio. feel free to quote me on this. Wande coal’s untitled sophomore album will not be as good as Mushin 2 mohits. Now who wants to bet?

Saturday, December 26, 2009

SEASON'S GREETINGS


I just wanted to wish you all a merry christmas and a happy new year in advance.
Happy holidays...........................i hope u are all having a great time.
what else can i say!!!,don't drink and drive.

TOP DAWGS 2009

I think the approriate name for this list would have been "THE FINEST". these artists deserve all the accolades they get because they put in work in 09.

1.M.I
-Jude abaga has achieved so much within such a short period of time that it is pretty difficult to believe that he has been around for only a year.in 365 days he has won numerous awards most notably HHWA & MAMA for his album "talk about it".he also dropped a mixtape that rejuvenated the naija mixtape scene and his chocolate imprint is already blowing up with jesse jagz & ice prince.

2.WANDE COAL
-Mohits's blackest in charge did exactly what we all expected of him:blow up!!!.ever since mo hits released their compilation cd "CV",we all knew that it was just a matter of time before wande took his spot right among the elites of the naija music industry.with his debut album "mushin to mohits" spawning hit after hit from "bumper to bumper","you bad" to "taboo" and getting certified multi platinum,WC finally stepped out of dbanj's shadow and showed us how important he was in the house that don jazzy built.

3.KEL
-In a year when people were already getting prepared to witness the death of femceeing on the naija music scene and yours truly had already declared a state of emergency,out came capital hills's first lady to save the day and put smiles on our faces.although most people will argue that it is hard to put a foot wrong when you have the backing & support of people like clarence peters,illbliss,suspect & M.I but kel's individual effort on her debut album "the investment" has not gone unnoticed by the general public & the critics.

4.DAT NIGGA RAW
-I think it is safe to say you have had a good year when you have the best rap album of the year and you released the best video compilation of the year.on the 1st of january 2009,no one would have placed their bets on this Abia representer running things but he sure did and has consequently blown up his labelmates & friends like flavour,MC loph & tj.dat nigga raw showed us just how well rounded he was with the quality of his sophomore album "everything remains raw" which is unarguably his best work till date.

5.BRACKET
-This year was bracket's breakthrough year as the ape planetarians had the charts on lockdown with hits like "no time","ada owerri" & their smash single or preferably tsunamic single "yori yori" which tore the competition to shreds.apart from wande coal,there is no one else on the naija R&B scene who had a better year than them.their achievement becomes much more remarkable when you consider the number of R&B albums released this year especially the ones by established artistes that didn't match up to their exceptional album "least expected".

Monday, December 21, 2009

UNDERDOGS 2009

I know iam supposed to call this,flops/losers of 2009 but i don't want to be too hard on these brothers,they really tried their best but their best wasn't just good enough.don't laugh at them.at least they tried,so lets cheer them up and clap for them(not a standing ovation thing or with your palms,i mean with your fingers like they do it in primary schools).just look at this like an end of year performance report.


1.P SQUARE
-P square totally tanked this year!!!!!!!,it's not like iam happy to see people fail although iam somehow pleased that the okoyes bricked.from being everyone's darling,Dem boyz have now become the laughing stock of the whole music industry.who would have thought a day will come when p square will fail to have a major hit on the charts.infact people were beginning to think they were untouchable until their album "danger" dropped and relieved them of their teflon aura.

2.TERRY G
-Terry g started out on a good note but fizzled out towards the 4th quarter of the year,initially everyone was on terry's nuts for a verse,a hook or a beat but the story changed as soon as everyone got a taste of terry's insanely underwhelming album "gingah ur swaggah".the major lesson we can learn from this is that all gingah and no talent makes you a poor artiste.

3.RUGGEDMAN
-Ruggedy baba is the chief culprit here.infact this list should be called ruggedy baba & company.at the beginning of the year,he had everything set up for him to blow up big time.he never capitalised on the modenine beef.any reasonable artiste would have used that to re-establish his/her buzz,ruggedy could have at least dropped a mixtape filled with modenine disses but he chose to end the year on a quiet note with no album,no mixtape and no major cameos.i never thought it was possible to turn a win/win situation into a loss.

4.OLU MAINTAIN
-When next you hear someone talking about falling from top 10 to not mentioned at all,they are definitely talking about olu maintain.this dude went from having the biggest song in the nation "yahoozee" to wack songs like "karmakazee & arab money".how do you explain that?these days whenever i think of a one hit wonder,the only person that comes readily to mind is olu maintain.

5.JIM IYKE
-I am not really sure if JI(what he calls himself these days) should be on this list but i think the fact that he attempted to drop or probably dropped an album(haven't seen the album anywhere yet) this year qualifies him for this.just one look at the video of his single "who am i" featuring tuface will tell you all you what to expect from his unreleased or released album.the fact that nobody is checking out for him clearly underlines his failure.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

ALBUM REVIEW-TRADITION-9ICE


Third albums can be quite tricky as artistes usually get torn between growing and marketing themselves to a wider audience.with "tradition",9ice opts for growth over fan base expansion.this album showcases 9ice flowing over beats from seasoned beat makers like Terry G,Dr Frabs,ID cabasa and newcomers like Cheepho & SARS.Collaborations are kept to a minimum as Asa is the only notable artiste featured on this 16 track project although Nneka,Snow,Wise & Seriki lend 9ice a helping hand to make tradition a worthwhile ear-xperience.

9ice gets things started by sending out a positive message on "show your love" featuring Nneka,which has a jamaican tinge/flavour and sets the tone perfectly for the album.the alapomeji train cruises along smoothly with tracks like "respect is reciprocal" and the sex centered tune "bluetooth".the cheepho produced "liquor" is an uptempo track that will definitely get you in the groove,but it is on the ID cabasa produced "gbamu gbamu" where the album hits top gear.with the way 9ice kept the proverbs coming on this track,one will be inclined to think that dropping knowledge is running out of fashion.

The album veers off course slightly with tracks like the Dr frabs produced "bo kini yen" which is quite unnecessary with all the unwarranted sexual undertones and the Terry G produced "charging charger" which is not only low in quality but also meaningless cos all of a sudden 9ice stops been a party rider and decides to become a charging charger(lame).it looks like collaborations bring out the best in 9ice as it is quite evident on the Asa assisted "pete-pete" and the snow & wise assisted "once beaten,twice shy" which restores balance to the album.

One thing that is noticeable on this LP is the lack of creativity and fluidity as most of the songs are neither here nor there.with tradition 9ice fails to take his game to the next level and loses his chance to obliterate the competition.he runs through the final parts of this album as if his fans gave him an ultimatum when he actually has all the time in the world.i can't even say which one is more worrying,the fact that there is no song on this album that has hit written all over it or the fact that ony 3 songs on this album have yoruba titles?it clearly looks like 9ice is gradually losing his identity & street credibility in his quest for a grammy.

They say "as you pose for picture,na so you go show" but me i say "as you flow for studio,na so you go blow".no love song for toni payne,no song for his mother and more ominous is the absence of long time friends & collaborators,Lord of ajasa,2 phat & Jahbless(probably all is not well in the land of coded tunes).this album paints a sad picture of 9ice relying on the false cushion of reputation.this year is definitely not 2009ice.

RATINGS-6/10

PLAY-liquor,gbamu gbamu,show some love,anytime,pete-pete
SKIP-bo kini yen,my people,energy,no be mistake,charging charger

Monday, December 14, 2009

NAIJA HIP HOP DICTIONARY 2

Olenu pa-you are influential

Mo ko eje-iam feeling you

Shine your eye-look before you leap

I go yarn-i will talk/speak

I dey bam-iam alright

I no send-i don't care

You no get liver-you are a coward

No lele-no problem

Dem go fall your hand-they will embarass you

Nothing dey happen-nothing is happening

No yawa-no problem

I don hammer-i have made it

E don shele-it has happened

No think am-don't think about it

Tear rubber-brand new

No look uche face - Don't be shy/express yourself

Friday, December 11, 2009

NAIJA HIP HOP DICTIONARY

As we all know,the Nigerian hip hop industry is growing in leaps and bounds(is it?).our songs are being played every where on the globe(ori wa ti fokasibe) but most people on the outside including some Nigerians in diaspora still find it hard to understand or decipher what we say,our slangs & lingua still baffles the uninitiated.so out of the goodness of my heart,i have decided to create a Nigerian hip hop dictionary/thesaurus to aid the growth of naija hip hop.i will be needing all the help i can get on this one,so if you know something,say something.

GENERAL
419-advance fee fraud/fraudster
you be 419-you are a fraudster.

Alanta-dance
alanta is a dance style like snap/hyphy.

Aristo-high profile prostitute/escort

Bah-cash
you no get bah-you don't have cash.

Caban-home/house/crib
i dey my caban-iam in my crib.

Choko-weed/marijuana/cannabis
pass me the choko-pass me the weed.

Chikala-young girl
chikala go plenty-there will be lots of girls.

Efrebor-friend

Effizy-swagger
you get too much effizy-you have too much swagger.

File-leave it
file be-leave it like that.

Fokasibe-popular/famous
ori e ti fokasibe-you have become popular

Form-front
Why you dey form?-why are you fronting?

Galala-dance

Gbedu-music
which gbedu you get-what music do you have.

Gbege-trouble
dem no want gbege-they don't want trouble.

Gidi-lagos
i dey go gidi-iam going to lagos.
i wan enter gidi-i want to go to lagos.

Ginger-spice up

Igbo-weed/cannabis
won ti fa igbo yo-they are high on weed.

Jaga jaga-disorganised
everything jaga jaga-everything is disorganised.

Jands-united kingdom
eldee don go jands-eldee has gone to the united kingdom

Jasi-understand
shey oti jasi-do you understand now.

Jor-please

Kasala-trouble
kasala go burst-there will be trouble.

Kolo-crazy
you don dey kolo-you are going crazy.

Kpai-die
dem go kpai-they will die.

Kpoly-weed/marijuana
make we go kpoly-let's go & smoke weed.

Kraze-crazy
you dey craze-you are crazy.

Maga-fool
you be maga-you are a fool.

Mumu-stupid
you be mumu-you are stupid.

Naija-Nigeria
i dey rep naija-iam representing Nigeria.

Omo ele-beautiful girl

Padi-friend
timaya na my padi-Timaya is my friend.

Paraga-a blend/mixture of intoxicating drinks & herbs.

Pepper-money
pepper no rest-i don't have money.

Shayo-beer
je ka lo shayo-let's go and drink beer.

Shaye-enjoy life
mo n shaye mi-iam enjoying my life.

Shekpe-mixture of intoxicating drinks

Shere-play
je ka lo shere-lets go and play.

Sheri koko-sweet heart
my sheri koko-my sweetheart.

Shi ere-mad
won ti shi ere-they have gone mad.

Tile tile-homie/friend/girl

Tu gbaski-too much

Wahala-problem/trouble
wahala dey-there is trouble.

Yahoozee-internet fraud
na yahoozee olu dey do-olu is into internet fraud.

Yankee-united states of america
tuface don go yankee-tuface has gone to US.

yapayaski-too much
o yapayaski-you are too much.

Yarn-talk
i go yarn-i will talk.

Yawa-problem
no yawa-no problem

Zanga-hood
i dey my zanga-iam in my hood.


XXX
Backa-b*tt/a*s
Bakassi-b*tt
Bobbie-b**bs/bre@st
Kaka-b*tt
Koko-d**k
Kondo-d**k
Kokolet-bi**h
Tongolo-make love

NOTE-Most of these words may vary or differ according to the usage.

Friday, December 4, 2009

THE LOVE POST

The year has finally come to an end and it is time to reflect on all that happened during the year.you know how it is now,we naija people don't forget anything.as much as i will like to know yours,i will share mine with you first.these are the things that happened during the year which i personally loved.

LOVE 09
-kelly hansome's diss track
I don't support all beef, but i love it when 2 or more established acts are involved. beef is much more exciting when it is extremely disrespectful. not only was kelly hansome's "igwe kom kom" hilarious, it was also straight to the point & destructive. going against 3 of the naija’s hottest artistes is what most people will call career suicide but i call it entertainment. the stage is now set for a very entertaining 2010.lets wait and see what the trio of Dbanj,Terry G & Wande Coal can offer us next year.

-Banky W's strong thing video
This year every tom,dick & harry in the naija music industry was running to South Africa & UK to shoot their videos but they always came back with poor results until banky w broke that jinx with his "strong thing" video. while most of our favorite artistes disappointed with their videos, he re-invented the art. the likes of 9ice,Dbanj,Wande Coal & P Square were trying to outdo each other in offering the unsuspecting public stupid and uninspiring music videos all year round but thanks to banky w, we have something to be proud of.

-Naija mixtapes
Modenine's mixtapes kept us company over the years but this year was a little bit different as naija rappers kept on churning out mixtapes upon mixtapes to keep the streets on lock and to re-establish their buzz. from the new short boy on the block "MI(illegal music)" to the regulars "Modenine(09-09-09),Terry da rapman(joe spazm mixtape),Alaye(undeniable)" to the unknowns "beazy(get money,stay fly) etc, we had our ears full and like oliver twist we still want more.who doesn't want to hear a freestyle or eldee mixtape. so you guys keep it coming.

-NBC's banning
We have to say a big thank you to NBC(nigerian broadcasting corporation) for restoring sanity to the music industry by wielding the big stick. the NBC signaled their intentions to sanitise the music industry by banning songs/videos of some of our favorite artistes which they deemed as too offensive or unacceptable by their standards and ever since there has been a significant drop in the quantity of lewd & offensive music that regularly assaults our ears and eyes.

-Collabo mode
Normally naija artistes shy away from collaborating with each other for reasons best known to them but 2009 was the year of collabos and super collabos. we had songs like Eldee's "big boy" with Banky W,Olu Maintain & Oladele,P square's "possibility" with Tuface,Bracket's "no time" with P Square,Wande Coal's "you bad" with Dbanj,Knighthouse's "the finest" with Teeto C & Sauce Kid,K Solo's "salo" with Konga,Da grin,LKT & Lord of Ajasa,Yes records's "keep it clean" with 9ice,ID Cabasa,Steel,Jah bless & Gxploits,Jamix's "omo naija" with 9ice,Terry G & M.I,2 shotz's "make some noise" with MI just to mention a few.it has been one eargasm after another all year round.just like tuface will say,jungle don mature.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

THE HATE POST

The year has finally come to an end and it is time to reflect on all that happened during the year.you know how it is now,we naija people don't forget anything.as much as i will like to know yours,i will share mine with you first.these are the things that happened during the year which i personally hated.


HATE 09
-M.I on autotune
No disputing the fact that M.I had a great year.i love "talk about it" and "illegal music" but i hate the way m.i uses autotune.in the later part of the year,the shortest in rhyme couldn't do without autotune and he has somehow lost his identity.infact he is not using autotune but overusing it.dude never needed it in the first place and we loved him like that.it is so uncool trying to sound like weezy & kanye.

-Reuben abati vs naija hip hop
We all run our mouths every now & then but there should be a limit to it.reuben abati certainly overdid it with his piece "a nations identity crisis" which took shots at the whole hiphop community.although banky w & eldee replied him,i still hate the way all the other artistes(especially the most influential ones) kept quiet throughout the whole saga.you will think it is only the returnees that know what freedom of speech means.i told y'all then that keeping quiet will turn you to everyone's punching bag,even biodun oduwole also took a subliminal shot at y'all with his piece "singing and dancing our lives away".someone should have gotten a beatdown along the line,its not too late but a stitch in time saves nine.

-Mo hits videos
Mo hits is arguably the best record label in naija presently,these guys keep the chart on lockdown for 365 days 24/7.they come up with hits after hits and they keep coming with more hits(isn't that why they are called mo hits?),but when it comes to shooting the videos for their songs,its a totally different story.throughout 2009,the mo hits family kept on commiting one visual murder after another.to cut a long story short,their videos were catastrophic.with all the money they have,you would have bet the kitchen sink on them coming out with some exciting videos but one look at wande coal's"you bad,bumper to bumper" & dbanj's "suddenly,gbono feli feli,kimon" will show you just how stupid your favorite artistes can be.they really have to get rid of that sesan guy.travelling out of the country to shoot videos is pointless if you don't have good concepts.

-P square's danger album
There are no words to describe how woeful this album is.simply put,it was tragic!!!.just when people were beginning to think that p square couldn't do anything wrong,they dropped their 4th album "danger" and proved everyone wrong.i can't even think of any song i like on that album or one that is bearable.not even their collabo with tuface "possibility" can stop this album from going down as the worst album of the year.to say the album was a colossal failure will be the understatement of the year.if iam allowed to hate only one thing this year,it will have to be this aural train wreck of an album.

-The word swagger & its use
When next you run into any naija artiste,ask him/her the meaning of the word swagger.don't be suprised when you find out that some of them have absolutely no idea what it means.if there is one thing i hate in this world,it is ignorance.most people think that just by mentioning the word swagger means you have it or it somehow makes you hot/cool.all through the year,i was bombarded with all sorts of songs about swagger until it became irritating like the seven point agendais it that these cats don't have anything else to say again? maybe they just want to jump on the swagger train or have a piece of the swagger pie,whichever it is,they had better get over it quickly.