Tuesday, December 25, 2018

FUNFARE AT BORN IN AFRICA FESTIVAL


It was fun fare at the recently concluded Born in Africa Festival as Awilo Longomba, who is one of the Congo's finest musicians, and some Nigerian artistes thrilled guests to superlative performances. The event was organized by Access Bank Plc to drive innovation and support creative talents. The show was opened by a performance by Falz the Bahd Guy as super models simultaneously graced the stage with their presence and dress designs by South Africa’s David Tlale.
The roller coaster of performances had only just taken off when Olamide, Kizz Daniel, Yemi Alade, Awilo Longomba, Tiwa Savage, Burna Boy, D’Banj and South Africa’s Sho Madjozi, took guests on a journey with their energetic performances.












Tuesday, December 4, 2018

MANDELA 100 GLOBAL CITIZEN CONCERT IN SOUTH AFRICA


On 2nd December 2018 in South Africa, Global Citizen brought together its largest contingency of heads of state, dignitaries, a group of the world’s most talented artists and influencers, and thousands of global citizens to celebrate the centenary of Nelson Mandela. Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 set a historic stage for not only donor countries but also for African countries standing up for his hope for the future, making sure that Africa was standing up and getting its voice heard.
At the event, His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, addressed FNB Stadium and viewers around the world with a message of Global Citizenship, committing RAND 2 million for youth in South Africa, and announcing the government’s intention to spend RAND 6 billion to provide free access to school for poor children in South Africa.
Celebrities that graced the event included top popstars, Beyonce and husband Jay-Z; Ed Sheeran, Usher; Model Naomi Campbell, Chris Martin, Pharrell Williams and Oprah Winfrey.

Beyonce and Jay-Z

Beyonce in a duet with Ed Sheeran

Chris Martin and Pharrell Williams in join-performance

Usher in dazzling performance

Soweto Gospel Choir

The Audience

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

HOW NIGERIAN ARTISTS FARED AT THE AFRIMA 2018 IN GHANA


Nigeria’s singers Davido, Tiwa Savage and Falz won awards at the 5th All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA held in Accra, Ghana Saturday night. Davido scooped Africa’s artiste of the year, with his album, FIA. He also won the best male artiste in West Africa. Tiwa Savage won West Africa’s best female artiste and Falz ran away with best African rapper award.  
Musicians from across the continent came to the Accra International Conference Centre in Ghana’s capital on Saturday to walk the red carpet and celebrate a year of big hits. Betty G from Ethiopia took home Album of the Year, while the Best African DJ went to Afrotronix, who has roots in Chad. Falz took home the award for best African rapper after courting controversy this year when he released, “This is Nigeria,” a cover of the Childish Gambino hit that skewered modern Nigeria.
“Akwaaba,” an infectious collaboration between GuiltyBeatzMr Eazi, Patapaa and Pappy Kojo won Song of the Year and Best African Collaboration. Nigeria’s 2Baba won the award for Best African Pop, and Kuami Eugene, a Ghanaian crooner, was named the Most Promising artiste in Africa. AFRIMA has carved out a space as a platform to showcase the innovative and prolific African music industry that has exploded in the past decade.
2Baba won the award for best African pop, Ghana’s Stonebwoy for Best Reggae, and South Africa’s Sibusiso Mashiloane for best jazz. Kuami Eugene, a Ghanaian crooner, was named the “most promising” artist in Africa. AFRIMA has carved out a space as a platform to showcase the innovative and prolific African music industry that has exploded in the past decade.
DAVIDO

TIWA SAVAGE

FALZ




Saturday, November 24, 2018

KATY PERRY IS THE NOW THE HIGHEST PAID WOMAN IN MUSIC IN THE WORLD


Katy Perry is the highest paid woman in music in 2018 according to Forbes. She came from ninth place in 2017 to unseat Beyonce who held the title last year. The business magazine estimates that Katy Perry, 34, earned 83 million dollars in the period spanning June 2017 to June 2018. The magazine wrote, “Perry played 80 dates on the world tour for her fifth album “Witness”, during that period, grossing more than 1 million dollars per night, as well as earning more than 20 million dollars for her work as a judge on American Idol.”






Monday, November 19, 2018

DUNCAN MIGHTY AND YEMI ALADE SET TO RELEASE NEW SONG TOGETHER


Duncan Mighty and Yemi Alade are set to release new music together very soon. Duncan Mighty seems to be the new hot cake in town after staying for a while without new songs. Remember his 'Fake Love' a collabo with Wizkid was a smash hit. Let see how this latest collabo with Yemi Alade turns out. We wish them the best of luck as they drop the new song.


Friday, November 16, 2018

TUNDE AKINSANMI DUMPS STYL PLUS FOR A SOLO CAREER


Tunde Akinsanmi, lead vocalist of popular music group, Styl Plus, has officially dumped the band to pursue a solo career in music adapting the new name Tunde T Dot. ‎He made this announcement on Thursday at a news conference in Abuja. ‎Tunde, who disclosed that he was now signed onto PEC records in solo capacity, said he no longer wished to be known on stage as Tunde Styl Plus, but Tunde T Dot. ‎According to him, the decision to change the name was based on the need to pick a name that would reflect his new direction as a solo entity in entertainment.‎ 
We wish Tunde T Dot a successful solo career. 




Monday, November 5, 2018

TIWA SAVAGE WINS MTV BEST AFRICAN ACT AWARD


 Nigerian singer, Tiwa Savage, has become the first Nigerian female artiste to win the MTV Europe Music Awards in the Best African Act category. The Afro-pop singer snatched the record-breaking award at the 2018 MTV EMAs held on Sunday at the Bilbao Exhibition Center, Bilbao, Spain which had several music stars across the world in attendance.
The African act category, in 2005, was infused into the MTV EMA to enhance musical alliances across borders and promote cultural integrations. Until Tiwa’s win, three Nigerians have won the award including 2Baba in 2005, D’banj in 2007 and 2012; and Davido in 2017.
In 2018, Tiwa was nominated alongside fellow Nigerian act, David Adeleke, aka Davido; South Africa’s Distruction Boyz and Shekinah; Kenya’s Nyashinski and Fally Ipupa from the DRC.




Thursday, November 1, 2018

DAVIDO AND KIZZ DANIEL SET TO DROP "ONE TICKET"


Popular Nigerian musicians Davido and Kizz Daniel pictured inside a private jet together are set to release new hit single title "One Ticket" on friday. These guys know how to keep Nigerians dancing! The collabo thing is really paying off for artists. Can't wait to listen to this song!


Wednesday, October 31, 2018

WIZKID IS ONE OF THE WORLD'S HIGHEST PAID ARTISTS


Wow! Nigerian musicians are ruling the entertainment world. Wizkid, a Nigerian pop star has joined the world’s grade “A” highest paid performers. The 28 years old singer made a whopping 50 million Rupees ($681,200, N245.9 million) when he gave a live performance at a royal wedding at Umaid Bhawan Palace in India. He got the Indians dancing to Soco, Fake Love and more of his hit songs. 


Wednesday, August 29, 2018

ARETHA FRANKLIN: THE QUEEN OF SOUL MUSIC (1942 – 2018)


Born in 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee, Aretha was brought up in Detroit and her upbringing was steeped in the black gospel tradition and civil rights politics of that era. While her mother, Barbara Franklin, was a celebrated singer, his father, the Reverend C. L. Franklin, was a popular charismatic pastor.

Aretha began singing in the church and at 14 she launched her professional career as a gospel singer. She released her first album, Songs of Faith, in 1956. At 18, she shifted to secular music. Her major musical break came in 1967 with ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’ which became a Top 10 hit. She won her two Grammys in 1968 and graced the cover of Time magazine.
She recorded eight No. 1 albums and 20 No. 1 hits. She transformed Otis Redding’s ‘Respect’ into a demand for dignity in a turbulent America. With ‘Respect’, she became a symbol of black equality and an icon of the feminist movement. The song was later adapted as an anthem by African-Americans in the heights of the civil rights movements. ‘Respect’ and ‘I Say a Little Prayer’ made her famous. Some of her soul-stirring songs include ‘Spirit in the Dark’, ‘Freeway of Love’, ‘I knew You Were Waiting For Me’ and ‘A Rose Is Still A Rose.’

She won 18 Grammys in a career that spanned seven decades. Aretha sold over 75 million records worldwide. She was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. She performed at the presidential inaugurations of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. She sang at the memorial service of Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr. She earned the number one spot on the Rolling Stone’s list of ‘100 Greatest Singers of all Time.’

Aretha Franklin was a great singer and pianist. She transformed soul music with her rich and expressive voice. She was committed to music and she devoted her entire life to it. No doubt, Aretha was endowed with a mellifluous voice she used to entertain the world. Her life shows that it is good to be steadfast in one’s calling. Her ‘Respect’ brought respect to womanhood. 

We join the rest of the world to commiserate with her family, the American people and the musical community over the irreparable loss. Goodbye, the Queen of Soul.

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

RAS KIMONO (RUB-A-DUB MASTER) MAY 1958 - JUNE 2018

Ras Kimono (real name; Ekeleke Elumelu) was born on May 9, 1958, in Delta State, Nigeria. He started out his career, firstly as a student of Gbenoba Secondary School Agbor. His music was greatly influenced by the poverty, inequality and hardship he witnessed in his early life. Ras Kimono served a long apprenticeship on the Nigerian music circuit, experimenting with a number of styles, before making his late 1980s breakthrough as a reggae singer together with his Massive Dread Reggae Band. 

He released his solo debut album Under Pressure on the Premier Music label in 1989, which propelled him to instant continental stardom. The album had hits such as "Under Pressure", "Natty Get Jail" and the massive hit "Rhumba Style".Ras Kimono was a multi instrumentalist who played drums, bass guitar and saxophone. 

He later released a string of hit albums including:
  • We No Wan (1989)
  • What's Gwan (1990)
  • Rub A Dub (1990)
Ras Kimono toured all over Africa, Europe and the United States, promoting his brand of reggae music which was popularly known as rub-a-dub. He won several awards including the Nigeria Music Awards, Fame Music Awards and many more.

Ras Kimono suddenly died on Sunday June 10, 2018 after a brief illness. The Rub-a-dub Master has made a great contribution to the development and promotion of reggae music in Africa and beyond. Rest in peace Ras, your music lives on.
Emeka E. Okeke



Thursday, May 24, 2018

BOB MARLEY: A GREAT INFLUENCE ON THE WORLD



Robert Nesta Marley was born on the farm of his maternal grandfather in Nine Mile, Saint Ann, Jamaica. He was born to Norval Sinclair Marley and Cedella Booker. His father, Norval, was a white man in the Royal Marines who met Bob’s mother, a Jamaican teenager, only a few times.
Bob was raised solely by his mother but later in life he would seek out his father’s relatives only to be rejected.

Bob began playing music after he moved to Trenchtown, in Kingston Jamaica and it was here that Bob began to see music as not only a way out of poverty but also a tool to create change. Bob matured in the shadow of Jamaica gaining independence and subsequently being thrown into Civil War. It was this atmosphere that helped to create arguably the most inspiring musician this world has ever seen.

Jamaica's popular music which always served to spread stories had developed from calypso to mento and to ska when Marley first started his music career. He soon developed reggae from ska and reggae gave him new vision and ambition. He wanted to make music that would satisfy and represent his homeland Jamaica, but that which would also reach a larger world outside.

After a series of breakthroughs, that is the recording of some of the band's best music with the innovative producer Lee Perry in the early 1970s and a setback or two which included the making of a misbegotten album for Jamaican release and a floundering artist deal at CBS, Bob Marley and the Wailers approached Jamaican-raised Chris Blackwell, the head of Island Records, in England who had helped distribute reggae, including the Wailers' music, in the U.K. for years through the Trojan label.

The rest as they say is history suffice it to say that Bob Marley became a widely recognized force, and numerous other artists during the 1970s including Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello and the Police would reflect his influence by following through on some of the possibilities that his music was creating.

Bob Marley popularized reggae, a music that had once sounded strange and foreign to many ears in the world. His music gave hope to millions, not only in his home country, but all over the world.
His growing fame not only among music fans the world over but also among human-rights campaigners, political activists and even freedom fighters in Africa in 1970s had established Marley as the most admired Jamaican the world over, and in his homeland, he was one of the island's true moral leaders, much to the disgust of those who reviled his radical ghetto and Rasta identity.

Marley's later albums form a related body of work, though of a different sort. His earlier groundbreaking records featured lovely music bearing tales of unbearable realities. By contrast his later studiorecords: Exodus (1977), Kaya (1978), Survival (1979), Uprising (1980) and the posthumous Confrontation (1983) wore much of their resistance in the albums' titles, whereas their contents were only occasionally about conflict and upheaval. Rather, these were albums about sustaining hopes, small pleasures and the solace of love. These recordings were more commercially successful but struck many critics as too full of popwise moves, and there were some devastating reviews, especially in Rolling Stone Magazine.

One of the last songs Marley wrote was "Redemption Song." It was the very last song he performed in public, as he perched on a stool onstage that night in Pittsburgh, September 22nd, 1981, accompanied by only his acoustic guitar. Weary, knowing his death was inside him, having been diagnosed of cancer, the house lights bearing down on him, sweat pouring from his face, Marley sang a personal prayer that invited us all in:
 How long shall they kill our prophets
While we stand aside and look
Some say it's just a part of it
We've got to fulfill the book
Won't you help to sing,
These songs of freedom
'Cause all I ever had, redemption songs
All I ever had, redemption songs
These songs of freedom

Bob Marley died on 11th May 1981 and received a state funeral in Jamaica. Rest on Great Man that influenced the peoples of the world with reggae music. Rest on King of Reggae!

Emeka Okeke


Sunday, January 28, 2018

HUGH MASEKELA (4 APRIL 1939 – 23 JANUARY 2018): A MASTER TRUMPETER AND JAZZ MUSICIAN


Hugh Ramapolo Masekela was a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer and singer. He has been described as the "Father of South African jazz." He was born on April 4, 1939, in Witbank, South Africa, a coal-mining town near Johannesburg. His father, Thomas Selema Masekela, was a health inspector and noted sculptor; his mother, Pauline Bowers Masekela, was a social worker.

Through the support of Archbishop Trevor Huddleston, an influential anti-apartheid advocate and organizer, Hugh Masekela learnt the rudiments of trumpet playing from the leader of the then Johannesburg "Native" Municipal Brass Band, Uncle Sauda. He thereafter formed his first band the Huddleston Jazz Band (South Africa's first youth orchestra) with his school mates.
From 1954, Masekela played music that closely reflected his life experience. By 1956, after leading other ensembles, Masekela joined Alfred Herbert’s African Jazz Revue. During a trip to the United States, he met Louis Armstrong, who gave him a trumpet as a gift.

The agony, conflict, and exploitation South Africa faced during the 1950s and 1960s inspired and influenced Hugh Masekela to make music and spread political change. He was an artist who in his music vividly portrayed the struggles and sorrows, as well as the joys and passions of his country.
In 1960, Mr. Masekela moved briefly to London, where he studied at the Guildhall School of Music, before the singers Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba helped him secure a scholarship to attend the Manhattan School of Music. He studied classical trumpet there for four years.

In 1962, he recorded his debut album, “Trumpet Africaine,” for the Mercury label. He followed it in 1964 with “Grrr,” also on Mercury. That album — which featured the trombonist Jonas Gwangwa, a veteran of the Jazz Epistles who had also relocated to New York — included many Masekela originals that reflected his devotion to his musical roots.
During this time, Hugh Masekela often wrote instrumental arrangements for another South African born superstar Miriam Makeba. Their partnership turned romantic, and the couple married in 1964. The marriage ended in divorce two years later, but the two later continued to collaborate.

Hugh Masekela had hits in the United States with the pop jazz tunes "Up, Up and Away" (1967) and the number-one smash hit "Grazing in the Grass" (1968), which sold four million copies.
In the 1970s, Masekela toured Sub-Sarahan Africa and began a partnership with the Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti, who had recently pioneered the genre known as Afrobeat.
In 1980, Hugh Masekela settled in Botswana, where he set up a mobile recording studio and recorded two albums. In 1987, he traveled to London to record the album “Tomorrow,” which included “Mandela (Bring Him Back Home).”
Mr. Masekela moved back to South Africa in 1990, the year Mandela was released from prison. He continued to record and tour around the world into his mid-70s.

In 2010, Hugh Masekela was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in gold, South Africa’s highest medal of honour. Since 2014, Soweto has been the site of an annual Hugh Masekela Heritage Festival, with the stated aim “to restore our South African heritage and to uplift the local artisans of Soweto.”

Hugh Ramapolo Masekela died in Johannesburg on the early morning of 23rd January 2018 from prostate cancer, aged 78.