THE CURIOUS CASE OF HHWA NOMINATIONS

Do I really care about what happens around me? I don’t really know, sometimes I just want to let sleeping dogs lie and let people do whatever pleases them. I am just tired of having to point these people in the right direction all the time, but today is everybody’s lucky day because I have decided to make an exception, case in point, Hip Hop world awards nominations. I just have this feeling that I am about to fuck up someone’s day.

It’s kind of weird the way HHW is going to pieces these days, genuine proof of this can be found in the recent awards nomination that was released couple of weeks ago. Simply put, the nominations were negatively shocking. There are some nominees on that list whose presence will be really difficult to explain even for someone blessed with the gift of the gab. It’s either that those dudes at HHW are losing touch or their awards are for sale. As much as I would love to believe the former, questionable nominations like Cartiair’s “owo ati swagger”, Naeto C’s “ako mi ti poju” (best rap single) and P Square (every category they were nominated) keeps swinging me back to the latter.

Is it just a case of jack of all trades, master of none or too many cooks spoiling the broth? It’s hard to comprehend what is happening right now because I can vividly remember a couple of years back when HHW used to complain about the other awards which was why they came up with theirs to redefine the standards. The future of headie is really bleak and in a couple of year’s time, it will be irrelevant because this whole awards thing is turning into a joke (a horrible one). P square’s nomination is a way of encouraging mediocrity (Danger was one of the worst albums of 09), MI’s nomination is terribly annoying considering the fact that he didn’t put out any album last year (all he has to do now is record any song to bag an award), and countless others. I can go on and on all day but I will just whittle this down to the categories that are totally unacceptable.

1. BEST RAP SINGLE

 Naeto C & Cartiair stick out like a sore thumb on this one. Unless we want to deceive ourselves “ako mi ti poju” is no “kini big deal” and the only “owo ati swagger” people listen to is the remix. Illbliss’s “aiye po gan”, Kel’s “too fine”, Ruggedman’s “banging” and Da grin’s “pon pon pon” would all have been better and safer options.

2. BEST PRODUCER

How did Sossick & Dokta Frabz manage to be on this list when Dekumzy & Terry G are missing? Apart from Da grin’s album, Sossick didn’t do shit last year. Dekumzy produced Bracket’s “yori yori” (the biggest hit of 2009, whether we like it or not) and he also produced Bracket’s “no time” ft P square and Dat nigga raw’s “strong and mighty”. Terry G doesn’t need much introduction as he produced for everybody including himself. Isn’t it a bit unfair to overlook them? Maybe they are not Nigerians!!!!

3. BEST COLLABO

At first look, this category seems okay, but when you really sit back and think about it, you wonder what happened to songs like Wande Coal/D’banj’s “you bad”, Bracket/P square’s “no time”, P square/Tuface’s “possibility and above all Eldee/Banky W/Oladele/Olu maintain’s “big boy” that made them ineligible for nomination.

4. REVELATION OF THE YEAR

Kel (check), Omawunmi (check), Illbliss (check), Wande Coal (check), Djinee (NO!!!!). What planet are these guys on? Djinee!!!!!, is that not the guy who released “ego” a couple of years ago on Westside bootleg ( I still have the CD, teacher don’t teach me nonsense). Revelation ke? From where to where? Revelation ko, Genesis ni.

5. LYRICIST ON THE ROLL

A category that comprises of Modenine, MI, OD & Pherowshuz but shamelessly misses the late lyrical were “Da grin” leaves much to be desired. Any of Da grin’s songs would easily fit in here. This one is quite surprising. All Modenine and MI have to do from now on is release any song, spit a few bars and they are guaranteed a nomination.

What more can I say? A next rated category with no YQ & Vector, Album of the year category with Danger by P square & Gingah ur swagger by Terry G, Song of the year category with Alanta by Artquake, makes me think that those who compiled this list have a couple of bricks missing from their building. With all the evidence before me, I believe that Ayo Animashaun and his cohorts have a secret plan to destroy naija hip hop. Isn’t it about time that someone put a hole in their sails? Will Tajudeen Adepetu or Kelvin Luciano please come to our rescue? At least now I know that hiptv will never blow up and I know why it was easy for soundcity blast to blow hip hop world magazine out of the water.

What is happening to HHW right now really scares me. It’s got me thinking that a day may come when I will no longer be able to distinguish between a good song and a bad one. It is stuff like this that makes me want to be forever young.