Kenyan chanteur, Auto Neosoul, makes a much-needed return with his catchy hooks and hypnotic melodies. His new offering, Whine’, is a dancehall-influenced track about free bodily expression. ‘Whine’ was produced by ILogos.
What do you do on a day like this?
Enjoy Gigi Lamayne’s ‘Mojo Jojo’ official music video of course. Shot in Atlanta, Georgia by the famed Dubelicious Pictures, the visuals depict Lamayne and collaborator – Bri Biase being about their lives.
From Tzaneen to the world.
Master KG has swept through Africa with his massive hit ‘Jerusalema’ (ft. Nomcebo Zikode), catching the attention of the African Giant himself, Burna Boy, who loved the original track so much that he had to hop on the remix.
The official music video for the original cut has clocked in over 26 million views since December 2019 and has sparked a myriad of viral videos from Angola to Portugal. The revamp is set to build upon the continuing momentum currently enjoyed by the original.
Cloud Cassette shot it.
Popsnotthefather has a spectacular month in May which he kickstarted with the release of his debut project, ‘NNNN’. Now the innanetwav. star celebrates this with his very first video, ‘KARMAKOLLEKT’.
Spending some time indoors over the past couple of weeks has urged Wandile Mbambeni to get more creative as he presents the acoustic version of ‘First Night’.
‘Live @ Awesome Africa Durban 2001’ is a tribute to the legendary uMam’ Busi Mhlongo. The release coincides with the 10 anniversary of the Urban Zulu’s passing on the 15th of June 2010.
The EP her signature song, ‘Yehlisan’ uMoya’.
24-year-old Capetonian producer, Fynn, has a brand new deep house offering for your listening pleasure. Titled ‘New Day’ the cut makes use of a jazz sample for an effect as laid-back as his city.
But wait there’s more. The EP also features a reworked version of ‘New Day’ with a Zito Mowa flare.
‘It’s love songs season now oo’, Ego said while we were having our routine discussion about music. My wife doesn’t keep her knowledge to just medicine alone, she extends it to music and most times she is spot on about her points. I acknowledged that statement she made and posited that, it’s not just love songs but there is a general trend of beautiful lyrics, I call them ‘good songs’, coming back to the fore. Simple words, brilliant composition and well laid out melodic songs are top of the charts now and this is no coincidence. In music generally, there are always trends either influenced by what is happening in the society or by what the fans attention show they want to listen to. There was a time when songs like ‘African Queen”, Banky W ‘Capable”, Paul Play ‘Mo sorire’ were the top hits, songs that were lyrically crafted and beautifully composed. Then there came a time when it was ‘street’ as artists like Terry G and co came to the fore. Lamba is a common parlance in Nigerian music, which simply means a fad word or slang that can catch the crowd. Lamba season birthed a lot of stars where the emphasis was on finding the right word, phrase or Lamba that can penetrate the market. It was all about the lamba and not the lyrics. Even in the cases where the artists put work in the lyrics, the emphasis was still on the Lamba.
Years ago, I was in a studio with a renowned producer and a couple of upcoming artists who were trying to make music. The producer complained the artist was singing too much and I thought, is the purpose of making the song not to sing? Afterwards, the producer explained to me that he was only trying to help the artist, at that point no one was really listening to lyrics but Lamba, it was the peak of lamba season then. If you sang too much, you would be tagged a ‘singito’. Sense practically became nonsense and nonsense made sense. You just needed to invent one word or phrase or use a common word or phrase to catch attention. Deliberately crafting words and lyrics was made to look outdated as you only needed to get high and mutter some freestyle with the right Lamba. Current trends however suggest that singing is coming back to the fore. With artists like Chike, Oxlade, Omah Lay, Joeboy and Fireboy all ripping of the charts with beautiful songs. One might want to argue that Corona Virus and subsequent lockdowns helped kill the buzz of party songs and commercial anthems. However, it is noteworthy that at the height of the Zanku reign, Fireboy’s -Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps earned reviews that suggested a shift was coming.
That project is arguably one of the best musical work of 2019 with its feature simple song composition and arrangement a beauty. Zanku era was always going to come to an end and people wondered what’s next and it appears that it is lyrics season now. Zanku originator himself Zlatan went into the booth recently and came out a brilliant rap track ‘Road to CDK’. For so long after blowing up, Zlatan had undermined his lyrical ability, sacrificing that talent he possesses for Lamba. Rather than shouting ‘Astallah astallavi’, Zlatan chewed up the track with applied poetry demonstrating his undoubted talents. A look at the charts confirms the trend that it is lyrics over lamba, the top 10 songs feature not the regular commercial songs that have been topping the charts in years past. It has mid-tempo songs like Omah Lay – Bad Influence, Simi – Duduke, Adekunle Gold – Something Different and Wande Coal – Again amongst others. Is this new trend here to stay? Have we gotten over Zlatan and Naira Marley? Well, time would tell but for now let us enjoy the rise of lyricism again in Nigerian music. The crooners are topping the charts now, not the Shaku Shaku Kings or Zanku lords and the thing with ‘good music’ is that they last long.
Many commercial songs do not last long because they were created with a trend and once that trend is over, the music dies a natural death. Commercial/lewd music fuels our adrenaline, the dim lights, the speakers all programme us to dance with abandon. You actually need some level of intoxication to be able to do some of these dances. ‘Good Music’ mostly becomes evergreen, I can imagine Simi’s Duduke being an evergreen in 20 years’ time but can I say the same of Zlatan – Egungun be Careful remix? Definitely No! Time and tide change so does seasons change. It is lyrics season now, let the lyrics play.
Richard Iroko.
Image Credit – punuwasu.com
Master KG tells his story of rags to riches in the ‘Superstar’ official video. ‘Superstar’ which features Mr Brown, is taken from his sophomore album, ‘Jerusalema’.
Earlier this week, the visuals of the same album’s title track became KG’s second video to surpass 20 million views.
Edosn Arantes Do Nascimento popularly known as Pele is one of the greatest players to have ever kicked a football. He starred at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden as a 17-year-old for the Samba nation Brazil. Pele went on to win the World Cup trophy two more times, Chile in 1962 as well as Mexico in 1970. The all-time leading scorer for his national team as well, his name has become an albatross for many footballers in Brazil. Every new exciting talent since Pele’s retirement is dubbed the new Pele by the fans and media alike and many have crumbled under the weight of this expectation. From Romario to Ronaldo Da Lima to Ronaldinho and even Neymar currently, each of these stars have been touted as the new Pele at one time or the other. Some of these stellar footballers went on to achieve their own bit of history and greatness but the truth is none became the new Pele, they only became great versions of themselves. This trend has been occurring on the Nigerian music for a while now with whispers of ‘new Fela’ turning into chants of ‘new Fela’. Once an artist shows any form of activism, declares his love for marijuana or walks on stage and lifts both fists up, we are quick to liken him to Fela or declare him the new Fela.
However, there cannot be another Fela, other artists can only be a great version of themselves. Fela is more than an artist, he has evolved into an institution and no artist in Nigeria both past and present has made an impact in channeling social commentary the way Fela did. Some fans of Burnaboy would swear he is the new Fela, this is particularly appealing because of his links to Fela’s family and his uncompromising attitude to life. Burnaboy’s Grandfather Benson Idonije was Fela’s band manager for so many years. His music also leans heavily on inspiration on Fela’s Afrobeat, so it’s easy for them to throw these projections up. Have you ever encountered Wizkid FC on twitter? They are brute and take no prisoners when it comes to their favorite and they swear by Ojuelegba that Wizkid is the new Fela. Wizkid’s Snapchat name actually says Felaback but that’s where the comparison ends in reality. Burnaboy and Wizkid are both two of the greatest artists to come out of African soil without a doubt but these Fela comparisons has to stop.
Burnaboy and Wizkid are going to be remembered as music greats when they are long gone for their amazing music and feats. Fela however is an institution on his own, a man whose impact is even more profoundly felt after his death. There can never be another Fela, his music inspired multitudes of people. He inspired his generation and was fearless in pursuing social justice. He was a source of constant irritation to the government with his music and the message. Any comparison with current artists is baseless because Fela is peerless. A one-man opposition to successive Military governments in Nigeria. He was imprisoned, his Mum was thrown over a balcony, his properties were set ablaze, but all this did not break the activist in him, rather he became even more vocal in his criticism. Fela Anikulapo-Kuti is a rare breed and such acts are tough to follow. Many of present-day artists cannot walk in Fela’s shoes, it’s not by releasing one or two songs of activism once in a while, Fela lived activism and it was not a hobby. Fela was an enigma and it irks me to no end that the tag new Fela is thrown around for artists who have barely been on the scene for 10 years
Apart from his musical genius, activism and his storied lifestyle with women, he consistently fought the government for years. At the height of his reign, his music was banned from the airwaves by the military government, but his music still became popular, can any of the present-day acts compared to Fela withstand so much heat and antagonism. Fela is an inspiration to many and his iconoclastic reverence should not be muddled by throwing tags of the new Fela at any artist. Everybody cannot be Fela and we are all unique in our own ways, so let us rest the new Fela undertones. Even his two Grammy nominated Musician sons don’t claim to be the new Fela, they know what the entity Fela means.
Richard Iroko.
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