STINGOMANIA RECORDS TO IMMORTALISE DAGRIN

In a bid to ensure that the life, works and ideals of the late music legend, Dagrin, do not go down the drain, officials of Stingomania Records are putting things in place to ensure that the man who gave the Yoruba rap music genre some breath of fresh air is immortalised in a constructive and enduring manner as it plans a memorial project for the late rapper.

The memorial project will ensure that the family Dagrin left behind is catered for and the loss is made more bearable for his family in a tangible and measurable manner. The memorial project will also provide a lasting structure and means to encourage upcoming, struggling and budding entertainment stars, while helping talented artistes deal with the different challenges and lack of resources limiting them in fulfilling their potential. It will set up a foundation to provide assistance for upcoming and struggling musicians with limited means and poor backgrounds. The foundation will also provide help for young musicians in areas of finance, training and mentoring. All these were ideals the late musician stood for.

Stingomania records have put different formats in place to enable the promoters achieve the objectives of the Dagrin Memorial Project set out above. As part of the formats, the record label will be seeing to the production of a movie titled, “Ghetto Dreams” based on the life of Dagrin. The record label will also be establishing The Ghetto Dreams Foundation for young and struggling musicians. This will be a foundation to provide financial assistance, training and mentorship for young artistes from less privileged backgrounds in order to help them achieve and maintain their dreams. As part of its activities, the Foundation will give out yearly cash awards; organize trainings/lectures for young artistes and source mentorship for young artistes to help them with their personal and career development. Annual awards will also be organised as part of efforts to immortalise the hip- hop world best rap album award winner.

The award will showcase upcoming and struggling artistes who share the musical ideals and dreams of Dagrin every year. The Concert will also award prizes to different best rookies/upcoming stars in different genres of music including Hip Hop, Rap, R&B, Fuji, Juju and Gospel.

TALK IS CHEAP 12

This is a rundown of all that has been happening since I have been away.

MUSIC TALK

Alapomeji records CEO is grinding really hard these days, he recently released 2 new singles namely “appetizer” & “women, weed and wine” off his upcoming album.

Eastsyde records artist Dat nigga raw is putting finishing touches to his junior album tentatively titled “End of Discussion” and has released the first single “spiritual konji” to radio stations.

Omotola has also finished recording her sophomore album titled “Feel Alright”

Durella just put out 2 new singles “boom boom” & “ileke” off his upcoming album “the ginger is constant”.

Not only is Eedris Abdulkareem back on kennis music, he is presently working on a new album titled “Unfinished business” and has already released the first single off the album “we ain’t no terrorists”.

Bracket are not planning to release their strangle hold on the naija music industry as they recently teamed up with Tuface on the remix of their hit single “yori yori”.

Speaking of remixes, Tuface has remixed his single “be there” featuring MI.

Timaya’s new album “De rebirth” is out now.

Plus one’s debut album “Commercial class” is presently the best album of 2010 so far, if you haven’t copped it yet, endeavor to do so.

LKT’s has a song “Bamijo” featuring Eldee that is presently garnering airplay on radio stations nationwide.

Upcoming artist Mo cheddah just released a new song “ko ma roll” off her debut album “The franchise celebrity”

VIDEO TALK

There are so many videos out there but here are some I recommend that you watch.

9ice – No be mistake

Alaye ft 9ice – Excuse me

Wande Coal – Who born the maga

Eldee – One day

Essence ft Jaywon – Facebook love

Goldie ft Eldee – U know it

Vector – Kilode

Obiwon – Birthday

Modenine ft Mo cheddah – what you want

Beazy ft Chykay & Shank – Bad guy

IN THE NEWS

Word on the streets is that a lot of artistes will start selling their CDs for 1000 naira just like tuface did with his unstoppable international edition. LOL

Kelly Hansome has apologized to kennis music and is back on the label to fulfil his contractual obligations. I call that common sense.

Sammie Okposo will be getting married real soon.

Ara is preparing to release her debut album.

From what I have been hearing, Ruggedy baba’s album is shaping up to be a great album.

ALBUM REVIEW - DE REBIRTH - TIMAYA

With two successful albums “True story And Gift & grace” under his belt, Timaya decides it is time to be reborn and not one to procrastinate, what better time to do it if not now. How hard can it be? It’s just a simple case of out with the old and in with the new. Timaya gets down to business by bringing out the big guns MI & 2face, the unusual suspect Konga and his soldiers Wrecoba, Allenian, Tj 2 solo & Lanre. In search of a new sound to make his baptism hitch free, he calls on beatmakers far and wide like M yire, Flux, Phyno, Fairface, Akeem d beat, N.D, Jiggi jego, J sleek & K solo.

Timaya first expresses his gratitude to his fans on “thank you”, a lackluster song in the form of the J sleek produced “watta bambam” follows then he teams up with hypertek’s 2face idibia on “It’s about that time” which is unexpectedly and unbelievably sub par for their high standards. The album is jolted back to life by the Jiggi jego produced adrenaline pumping “who born u” where Wrecoba, Allenian & Tj 2 solo get the opportunity to have their moments.

Timaya makes a laughable attempt to craft an R&B track on the flux produced “love over me” which falls short lyrically and vocally. On “press” he totally blames the media for destroying his relationship with nollywood actress empress njamah, but still finds time to floss on “feeling so fly” alongside Konga, Lanre & Allenian. If there is one thing Timaya has succeeded in doing on this LP, it is putting to rest the argument that he has only one style, case in point the M yire produced “freestyle” where he successfully frees madness like Terry G as he goes crazy all over the track switching up his style over and over again.

Nico gravity, Timaya’s arch nemesis doesn’t get a look in at all, but “happy birthday” finds a playful Timaya showing his sense of humor by taking pot shots at bigger fishes with lines like “e dey see danger e, for this party no danger, kini big deal, kini big deal, for this party, I swear no big deal” and even goes as far as calling out “he who must not be named” with his “because you hear bumper to bumper, some people change am to fender to bumper” line.

On the Phyno produced “life anagaga” Timaya gets re christened “egberi popsy 1 of bayelsa” by MI, who also wants to be addressed as “Mr I don try” from now on. Mr I don try delivers the best verse on the entire album where he raps “ask about me now, google MI, I got so many shows, they call me the event guy, I fly so many times a year, I should rent skies, call me MI, Mr I don try, I got the dough baby, wetin you wan buy”. The way MI successfully pulls off rhyming in pidgin shows that the hunger is still there. Long time collaborator K solo’s “plantain boy” is as good as it gets while on “peke peke” you get a brief glimpse of the former Timaya as he reverts back to the style that brought him fame on fortune on a highlife beat.

Despite the number of times, Timaya claims not to care about what anyone says about him, it is clear to see on this LP that he does as he spends half the time answering his critics. With no song on this album being as potent as his previous hits, it is easy to jump to the conclusion the De Rebirth is a failed experiment but that is clearly not the case, The blame can solely be placed on the overcrowded production team which makes Timaya’s junior album a less cohesive effort than his previous works.

RATING – 6/10

PLAY – Freestyle, Plantain boy, Feeling so fly, Life anagaga, Who born U, Peke – peke

SKIP – Ruler, Watta bambam, Money money money, It’s about that time

ALBUM REVIEW - COMMERCIAL CLASS - PLUS ONE

 The Trio of Pipi, Bobo, & Dede announce their presence on the naija music scene with a 13 track offering that somehow exceeds all expectations. With seasoned beatmakers like K-solo, OJB, Puffy T, Rhymzo, Sars, ID cabasa, Phyno & Sunny smile on board, Plus one set sail through the uncharted waters of naija reggae/dancehall genre. With guest appearances limited to 4 tracks, only Benjamin, Nigga raw, Rhymzo, the late da grin, Reminisce, Ugo, Seriki & jahbless get invitations to the voyage.

The album opens up with the Sunny smile produced “yaa ya” featuring Benjamin which sets the tone while Nigga raw spreads some eastern love on the K solo produced “afurum gi nanya”. Rhymzo does double duty on “plus one love” which is unsurprisingly the best song on the album. What makes the song exceptional is the way they metaphorically shine a torch on the ills pervading our beloved nation. With simple lines in pidgin translated as “some have enough to eat, while some are starving, some are killing children while some are yet to give birth, some are sharing money, spraying money while some are jobless”, they successfully send out their conscious message. They declare the party open with the groovy and rhythmic “eye me (touch something)” over K solo’s silky piano keys and on another lush sunny smile production “na you ee” they extol the virtues of the apple of their eyes and openly reveal their inner emotions.

With Sars and Puffy T on the beat, it was simply impossible to go wrong and the result was their smash hit “tinkonko” which has enough energy to keep the crowd moving and the dance floors packed. The OJB produced “because of ur love” is another gem on the album where they successfully hit timely and satisfying notes at unexpected moments and with lyrics like “because of ur love, I dey float for water, sweet thing, I know you dey make my head dey scatter, sun mo mi, I will love you better, you too much eeee”, it is clear to see that three heads are definitely better than one.

Plus one show just how vocally talented they are as they rarely stray off key, which is quite evident on the phyno produced “one kiss”. The album gets a huge dose of hip hop on “tinkonko (remix)” featuring the late da grin, Reminisce, Seriki, Ugo, & jahbless but it is Reminisce who shines with his highly commendable & show stealing verse. The phyno produced “oh lord” where they plead with the almighty to turn their water to wine and their red sea to dry land brings the album to a perfect conclusion.

Plus one’s debut album “commercial class” is undeniably a solid debut and even though they might still be viewed as underdogs, it is just a matter of time before they are mentioned in the same breath as the legendary but defunct boy group Plantashun Boiz.

RATING – 9/10

PLAY – Yaa ya, Plus one love, Na you ee, One kiss, Because of ur love, Tnkonko, Tinkonko (remix), Oh lord

SKIP – Handsome Nigga

ALBUM REVIEW - IS IT YOUR MONEY VOLUME 1 - ELDEE

With a title like “is it your money volume 1”, eldee’s third solo album sounds like something that shouldn’t be taken too seriously until you find out that it is everything his sophomore album wasn’t. Eldee single handedly produces the album with a little bit of help from Dokta Frabz & Silvastone here and there. In a bid not to make this a one man band thing, Eldee co-opts the likes Naeto C, Ikechukwu, Sauce Kid, Kel, Lkt, Proto, Chiddy Bang, Jimmy Flamez and steps outside the shores of Nigeria to snap up Yung joc & black thought for guest appearances on the 16 track album.

Eldee does away with all the singing that marred his sophomore effort and gets down straight to business on the intro “respect me” where he lays claim to the naija rap throne like never before. On the lead single “you blow my mind” he tries and fails to recreate another hit as catchy as “bosi gbangba” but what makes the track stand out is the way Eldee seamlessly weaves Yoruba, Hausa & pidgin together bar after bar. With Sauce kid & killz riding shotgun, “fly away” turns out to be a solid posse cut.

After struggling along with Kel on the cheesy “do it”, Eldee stokes the fire with the braggadocios “koleyewon” where he clowns his haters. One thing that is noticeable on this LP is Eldee’s new way of rapping about his usual concepts like on the conscious and highly convincing “e go better” where he pictures a better Nigeria in the nearest future and the K1 inspired “ota mi” featuring Lkt. The album hits its peak with the Dokta Frabz, Jimmy Flames & Naeto C assisted “feel good music” which is exactly what it claims to be, here you find a rejuvenated Naeto C delivering a staccato verse like he just sharpened his tongue.

It is pretty difficult to find a low point on the album as both the host and guests keep things moving along smoothly. Even Yung joc reps ATL well on the international remix of “big boy” and Eldee’s protégé  Proto puts in a good shift on “bosi gbangba (pop remix)”, but it is eldee’s African remix of Drake’s summer hit “best I ever had” that is bound to appeal to every girl out there. The album eventually comes to a resounding close with the raunchy and explicit “ogede”.

In “is it your money volume 1”, Eldee has successfully crafted his best work till date and has re-established himself at the pinnacle of naija hip hop.

RATING – 8/10

PLAY – Fly away, Feel good music, E go better, Ogede, Ota mi, Koleyewon, Best I ever had (African remix).

SKIP – Do it.