WE ROCK NAIJA!

WE ROCK NAIJA!

I can understand why we love our music. It speaks our language, the words of our moment.  The hopes, fears and emotions of our socio-economic history are chronicled in the lyrics and rhythms of our Panacea of home-grown songs.

Osadebe, Uwaifo, Obey and KSA swung the highlife and juju that heralded a dawning emancipation of national wealth.  Bathed in the black oil wells of opulence, our people could now afford to party in lavish style, blending their appetites for western affluence with an ingrained enjoyment of local rhythm.  So we swung, ‘osondi’ed, ‘joromi’ed and ‘miliki’ed away....

Onyeka and Okotie sang us pop music that kept up the beat at our much enjoyed birthday parties.  The sing-along was infectious and the dance steps were whatever we created them to be.  All hail ‘ekwe’ and ‘my sweetie, my sugar’.        

Fela decried an ailing nation and defied oppressive dictatorships.  He spat the venom we were afraid to spit, shook the fists that we longed to shake and so, gave us the freedom we could not take for ourselves.  Those were the years of ‘suffering and smiling’.

Barrister, Kollington, KWAM 1, and Shina Peters, reminded us that we could still enjoy life in spite of our circumstances.  Rich and poor alike had the right to groove, together, to fuji and afro-juju.  True to form, ‘the young shall grow’!

And today, a throbbing kaleidoscope of fresh new voices and talents is creating cosmopolitan sounds that reflect the predominant rags-to-riches, been-to-and-back, daily-hustle-for-survival, fight-the-political-machine life of today.  They sing out our inner battle for national identity and the ambition to make our place on the world stage.  To these we party away our worries and frustrations every weekend-to-a-back-breaking-week.  We have found our perfect blend of the ethnic and the western and we can only forge forward from here, with our own ‘stylee’.

Whatever the era, whatever our focus, our sound rings out over and again, our bodies gyrate to the rhythm of our soul and our hearts overwhelm with the unity of one voice, crying..... We Rock Naija!  

http://www.katlegoafrica.com

Written By Mr Starks

The new P Square album is out and the superfans are nuts (nobody can boast of having more Superfans than P Square -except D’banj). Even the Okoye twins made a song for them called – Superfans. If there is anything I would commend the twins on, it would be their marketing machine. They have improved progressively on the marketing for each album. Improving their appearance (One of the P is sporting a fresh haircut), the album cover is very nice, distribution of their album (album can be picked up on Katlego Africa ~ http://www.katlegoafrica.com and local outlets near you) and their wallet size. Sadly there has been a minimal improvement in their sound. On Danger, the sound remains largely the same – hardly dangerous now is it. They have stuck to the safe formula that has led to them being one of the most successful acts out of Africa. You have the love songs like I Love You(I wonder how many weddings are going to use this), I Like Dat etc, to send the female and some males crazy – pretty sure there are some guys out there that would be breaking out the Square chat up lines. You have the party songs like Danger, Trowey and Break It which would make djing for Naija parties that much easier for DJs. I can tell you now, nothing like a P Square jam to eject that electric feel into a party. All in all a standard P Square album as expected.

The major gripe I have is the selection of beat and this is a constant gripe music lovers pick up on most P Square albums. Listening to a P Square album might as well be a “Guess Whos Beat is That?” experience. You listen to it and some part of your brain immediately lights up because the beat sounds familiar. Everytime. Lets take the first track on the album “I Love You“, you press play, you vibing , you like the beat and you think wow wow, this was the beat to one of the most popular bashment songs of the year, Mavado – Im So Special. Now there is absolutely no problem in reinterpreting songs or sampling them, but it becomes a problem when a song sounds like it should be on a mixtape when you just stick your vocals on to the track. Other artistes do it but they do not put it on their final album. The J Martins collaboration, a stellar track, but is let down by this same problem as it could easily have been another J Martins track that was left on the studio cutting floor. Same goes for the 2face collaboration. That song sounds like it could have been on any of 2face’s last three albums but again never did. Another track “Who Dey Here” could easily pass as a P Square remix of Faze’s super “Originality” track. This issue makes you angrily want to label P-Square talentless without their own staple sound but you stop short of doing that when you listen to the whole album in its entirety and realise it is just a case of a few bad eggs and this album really is not that bad. Luckily on this album, there are only about 4 tracks lacking said originality and this is extremely commendable as you get more insight to what P Square sounds like. Even the bad eggs taste good and I guess that is what matters to the broader fan base.

Overall this is a solid offering from the Okoye twins; in fact this might be my favourite of all their offerings. It serves up what we have come to know P Square for. A square offering – in which you know exactly what four sides you are going to get and this album, is exactly that. No extra dimension. A safe haven for everyone from the lover to the partygoer. A paradise for the fans. Musically, definitely not a danger.

- Mr Starks

Kel whose real names are Kelechi Ohia is a female Nigerian rapper. She is an Economics student of the Lagos State University. Kel who started rapping about eight years ago is currently signed to Capital Hill Music, the record label under which she released her debut album.

DISCOGRAPHY:
The Investment is Kel’s debut album. From the sleeve design to the content, no other album title could be more appropriate. The album boasts of a total of19 tracks- 15 songs and 4 skits.

1.Intro
2. Waa Wa Alright
3. Nobody Else
4.Turn by Turn
5.Beautiful Life
6.Jeun Soke
7.Too Fine
8.Omo Yapayask
9.Love Hour Skit
10.Need U In My Life
11.Boy Meets Girl
12.Love
13.Area Mama Skit
14.Dem Don Dey Move
15.Die Hustling
16.Push
17.Waa Wa Alright Rmx
18.Sitting On Top
19. Outro

Vocal Assistances:
Skin, Shank, Tha Suspekt, Wizkid, Y.Q, Aique, Alaye, May D, Durella, Shola Thompson, Six, Darey, SLK, M.I, O.C, Tosyn Bucknor, Illbliss, Uchie, Nyore, Ice Prince, Waje, Jesse Jagz

The album kick starts with the club banger Waa Wa Alright. Ever since this joint dropped a year ago, it has become the favourite of radio hosts and has received mad rotations from outdoor deejays alike. What makes this song spectacular is the hook. The delivery was down to earth, something the streets can relate to.
Kel takes it to the guys on Nobody Else, the first love song on the album. With a nice beat and a vital appearance from Shank, this song is an appetizer to what’s coming up next.
If you loved J Martins’ Good or Bad, you would definitely love the “…tinini tanana…” Turn by Turn. Kel tells of her journey to fame. With lines like “…Now it’s the time to take whats mine…2009…mine…shine!” she relates her migration from the proverbial ‘back then’ to the succesful now.
All my R&B cats stand up! Beautiful Life is for you. A perfect sample of R&B on a rather Hiphop album.Here Kel goes a lil proverbial dropping quotes and cliches like bomb shells.
We get back into the groove with Jeun Soke. The highlight of this joint was the beat left to fade out.After listening to this joint, you might wanna take your time before you “…break it down”.
Too Fine, the 7th wonder of The Investment boasts of tightly packaged lyrical verses from the duo of Kel and Alaye. With lines like “…I give it to them raw…exactly what they asking for…they keep on coming back for more…oh no…they aint ready for a flipping encore…” , this joint deserves a good listen.
Omo Yapayasi…”Kel Yapayaski…Durella yapayaski”, what else do you expect on a collabo with Durella. He kinda murdered the joint though.
Need You In My Life gets us back to the blue paradise. A creative joint done in the R.Kelly conversational style. For all y’all ‘free night calls’ subscribers, whenever you go short of gist, you might wanna take a listen to this joint.
Boy Meets Girl is one song most fans would want to listen to not just because of its beautiful high pitched chorus from SLK but also because of its story line. Kel tells us the explicit details of events that took place before ‘you’ got hooked and of course after then.
Mr. Incredible delivers a nice first verse on Love, another song for the heart and the heartbroken. With her “…heart broken more than twice…”, Kel is “…not saying all love is sad…”.
Another of my favs – Dem don dey move? With ” Illbliss, Kel on a Suspekt track…”, another radio friendly joint is borne. This joint is simply “…lyrical head bashing…gate crashing… thumb smashing!” You better check it out.
Die hustling is a Hiphop banger! With an appearance by Hiphop veteran Illbliss, the lyrical mass of this song is better weighed than described. “…got my damn self…can’t stop chasing this wealth…Kel…finally we’re ringing the bell…Alaba can go to hell!” . This joint is butter!
A lil Jamaican feel won’t kill on Push. With a tint of sexuality, Kel comes hard and Nyore delivers like never before.
Some crunk beats on the album please? Yeah, you got it on Sitting On Top. With vocal assistances from the talented Waje and Jesse Jagz, this joint is simply magnificient. A good wrap up for the album.
The Investment is a 64-minute ride into the anticipated world of Kel, the new rap diva on the block. Taking a listen across the album, it would be easily noticed that the album was divided into 3 parts. The first part was the Commercial Section then the Lovesongs Section and then the Hardcore section.
Big ups on the album:
The beats were dope.
The general mixing/audio quality of the CD is also commendable.
Kel has got flow and appeal.
Lyrically, for a female rapper, the album was ok.
Creative skits too.
Downsides of the album:
There was too much dependency on collaborations.There was barely a song without one or more guests appearances. Jeun Soke which is an exception turned out to be boring with frequent listening. An emcee should be able to prove mastery over her own songs.
Secondly, most of the songs were structured in a verse-hook-verse-maybe bridge-hook pattern. Nothing like freestyle sessions, songs without choruses, these are a few of what you need to get an endorsement from Hiphop heads.
Thirdly, the lyrical content of the album were just average. Less punchlines, weak metaphors, infact, almost no wordplay.
AUTHOR’S RATING: 3/5
Good value for money though. Go cop yours!
- Buchi Steve

THE SOUNDCITY MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS 09

The red carpet was huge, beautiful and super successful.  A seamless blend of musical talent, industry achievers, glitterati, fashion and press.

The ceremony itself started an appalling 5 hours later than scheduled (African Time hasn't died!).

The performances were pulsating.  2Face, Mo'Hits, M.I., Banky W, Eldee and Weird MC among others, ensured that the hungry audience went home sated.

The awards weren given for the best music videos in various categories.  Worthwhile recognition of the ever-improving music video quality in Nigeria, which has made astounding progress over the last few years.   

The final verdict.....? Well, they may not reflect the general consensus (because many members of the audience audibly disagreed with the final picks for a few of the categories), but here are the results anyway.  

CATEGORY                                     ARTIST                          VIDEO/SONG

Best Choreography                           PSquare                          Roll It
Best Group / Duo                              Kentro world                  Kamikaze
Best Cinematography                       Bigiano                             Shayo
Best Male                                           Naeto C                            Kini Big Deal
Best Female                                       Ty Bello                           Ekundayo
Best Collaboration                             2face & Sound Sultan    Enter The Place
Discovery Of The Year                     Kel                                   Waa Waa  Alright
Hip Producer Of The Year               Don Jazzy                        Suddenly
Best R&B/Pop                                    Darey                               Not The Girl
Best Fresh Video                                Swift                                South African Girl
Viewer’s Choice Of The Year           Bigiano                             Shayo
Best African video                              340ml                              Mozambique
Group Southern African Honours    Jozi                                  Honorary award
West African Live Performance       Seun Kuti                        Honorary award

Would you have have expected different? Please share your thoughts with us.

http://www.katlegoafrica.com

About Katlego Africa

Katlego Africa is an online media store operating in the United Kingdom. We market and distribute African literature, movies and music in the UK and Europe. Our vision is to reach the world with the unique brand of entertainment material produced in Africa and by Africans. Our name reflects our dedication to promoting all that is African - “Katlego” is the Tswani word for “Success”. We are a UK registered business operating under the name and style of Katlego Africa and our business commenced in February 2009.

We are driven by the fact that so many people including Africans living in Diaspora, crave with nostalgia the vibrant modern rhythms, colourful drama and growing literary consciousness that are sweeping the continent. From Senegal to Somalia; Tunisia to South Africa, from across the deserts, dense forests and bush lands that characterise the landscape; the rural villages, shanty towns and bustling cities; the fashion catwalks, social glitterati and pulsating party scenes, we act as a medium to bring to you the multicultural heartbeat of the continent.

So whether you are African (of whatever shade or shape) or simply enjoy the vibrant and diverse entertainment media from the ‘Continent of Colours’, we are here to meet your needs. From now on, you can feel Africa wherever you are. Our merchandise includes: Books, Music CDs, Movie VCD & DVDs and Magazines. All products are the original work of the artiste(s) who get their just reward for their art. We don’t encourage or believe in piracy and the peddling of substandard products

To meet our product demand, we offer our service through a website that is user friendly, interactive and constantly updated with the most current products available on the market. Our customers may purchase and make payments on-line, using Paypal or direct credit/debit cards and then have their purchases mailed to them once payment has been confirmed.

Visit the website today http://www.katlegoafrica.com