Archive for September, 2007
Monday, September 24th, 2007
CallyVision Network, organizers of the first ever Nigeria Music Video Awards (NMVA) is counting its blessings already. With the confirmation of the event date as December 2 at the Expo Centre, Eko Hotel Lagos, the door of more corporate sponsors have been opening to receive the NMVA idea and to work towards its success.
On its part, the company has established an office which also serves as the secretariat of the NMVA. Situated at Toyin Street, Ikeja, the place is done up nicely to meet the standard of any new generation bank, with an interior décor that is exquisite and top class.
Mr. Cally Ikpe, the moving spirit behind the awards said he would spare nothing to give the NMVA Secretariat its deserved status “Because we are going to be receiving some of the best in the industry from all over the world in this place. We owe it to Nigeria to put our best foot forward and show the brighter side of our face”.
Meanwhile the NMVA Main Organizing committee rose from its recent meeting to announce the new shape of award categories. A maximum of 22 trophies are up for grabs. Ikpe also announced that the committee has decided to deny recognition to videos that celebrate immorality. They stand no chance at all. “The understanding is that we can come up with a good video without promoting obscenity. This is a good avenue to stick with good morals”.
To be sure that this very first NMVA event goes ahead with as little controversy as possible, the organizers have decided to honour some of the forerunners in the art of making musical videos. Those singled out for induction into the NMVA Hall of Fame are Tunde Hundeyin of Dudu Productions, Phillip Trimnel of PTP Productions, Kingsley Ogoro and Charles Oputa, better known as Charley Boy of New Wave Productions.
Source: This Day Online
Posted in Music Awards, Music News | No Comments »
Monday, September 24th, 2007
Nigerian music superstar Innocent Ujah Idibia known in the music circles as 2face Idibia, last week took home the MOBO Award for Best African Act. Competing with 2face for the award were D’Banj (Nigeria), Nameless (Kenya), Wambali Mkandawire (Malawi), Bebe Cool (Uganda) and Kabelo (South Africa).
The 2007 MOBO Awards was broadcast live on BBC 3 from the O2 Arena in Greenwich, London and hosted by Shaggy and Jamelia. T-Pain performed on stage with Yung Joc whilst Craig David and Kano also collaborated on stage.
The Winners were:
Best UK Female - Amy Winehouse
Best UK Male - Dizzee Rascal
Best International Act - Rihanna
Best Song - Ne-Yo: “Because of You”
Best UK Newcomer - Ndubz
Best Video - Kanye West: “Stronger”
Best Hip-Hop - Kanye West
Best R&B - Ne-Yo
Best Reggae - Sean Kingston
Best Gospel - G-Force
Best DJ - Tim Westwood
Best Jazz - Soweto Kinch
Best African Act - 2 Face Idibia
BeMOBO - From Boyhood to Manhood
MOBO Awards Website >>
About 2 Face Idibia
2face Idibia was born Innocent Ujah Idibia on September 18, 1975 in Jos, Plateau State, although he is originally a native of Otukpo in Benue state.
He signed a record deal with Kennis Music and that saw him rise to become one of Nigeria’s most successful artistes with his massively popular song African Queen which was the first ever video to be played on Pan African channel MTV Base. He sold over 5 million copies of his debut album, Face2Face.
He went on to win several awards including the 2005 Channel O Best Male Music Video award, the first award given for Best African at the MTV Europe Awards held in Lisbon, Portugal in November 2005, Awards for Musical Excellence in Nigeria, Ghana Music Awards, City People Awards for Excellence, Global Excellence Awards, Hip hop World Special Recognitions Award and an outstanding achiever’s awards, equivalent to a chieftaincy title, by the Benue State government.
He was also nominated for Most Promising Artiste, Kora 2004 and Best African Act MOBO Awards 2005.
Posted in Music Awards, Music News | No Comments »
Monday, September 24th, 2007
Nigerian Association of Recording Industries (NARI) has faulted the recent de-listing of Nigeria by the U.S. government from the list of countries where pirates and piracy thrive with reckless abandon.
Quoting from the 2007 International Federation of Phonographic Industries (ifpi) report, NARI said that contrary to the de-listing, Nigeria is still among the top 30 countries where domestic music piracy level in 2006 exceeded 50 percent
In a statemen titled “Why There Must Be An Immediate Change In The Leadership Of The Nigerian Copyright Commission,” issued in Lagos and signed by its chairman, Toju Ejueyitchie who is also the managing director of Premier Music, NARI said that the reported de-listing was made in response to the phenomenal growth in CD/VCD replicating plants in the country that has led to the introduction of Optical Disc Regulations.
According to the statement it was as a result of the introduction of the regulation that the U.S. government felt that an environment in which piracy could be reduced has been introduced and to encourage Nigeria to do more , decided to de-list the country from the comity of nations where pirates thrive in.
But inspite of the de-listing NARI has declared that three out of every four CDs or VCDs of music and films sold in the streets of Nigeria are pirated and therefore applauded the recent involvement of Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) in the fight against pirates.
This, the association said is because the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has failed to put pirates in check.
According to the statement, all the suggestions like the closure of CD wing of Alaba International Market, Lagos the way NAFDAC did to fake drug market in Onitsha, the continued prosecution of Akina and NASIMA, the two notorious fake CD duplicating plants in Lagos, the consfication of 1.7 million Nigerian bound pirated CDs trapped in Benin Republic among others it gave to NCC weeks after its present director general, assumed office have been ignored.
Source: This Day Online
Posted in Music News | No Comments »
Monday, September 24th, 2007
African Music suffered a big blow last week Thursday when death laid its icy hands on a Gambian-born Music star Laba Sosseh.
Laba succumbed to death at 3:00am in a private clinic in Dakar.
The sad news was announced over RTS, the Senegalese state-owned media, by two musicians Cheikh Tidiane Tall and Salsero Pape Fall, close friends of the deceased.
Laba Sosseh was an undisputed master of Salsa in Senegal. Influenced by the Cuban music of the 50’s, Laba Sosseh formed the Star Band du Dakar in the sixties, which became very popular in the late sixties and in which artists such as Papa Seck and Youssou N’Dour have been singing.
Born in The Gambia on March 12, 1943, Laba Sosseh was half Senegalese, half Gambian. Laba’s father was from Senegal and his mother is Gambian. Although he is frequently categorized as Senegalese, Laba grew up in Banjul (The Gambia), listening to Cuban music and Johnny Pacheco, who was one of his stars.
Laba moved to Senegal in the 1960s and in 1962 he and Nigerian sax player Dexter Johnson, formed pioneering salsa band Star Band de Dakar. He also worked with Special Liwanza Band, which recorded for producer Aboudou Lassissi’s Sacodis label.
He was the first Senegambian musician to win an international musician award.
Read more about Laba Sosseh @ Calabash Music >>
Posted in Music News | 1 Comment »
Saturday, September 22nd, 2007
Uganda’s sexy divas Blu 3 will be performing at the MTN Music concert on Saturday, 22nd September 2007 at the Kyamboo University of Kampala.
Speaking on a local radio earlier in the day, the group called on all their fans to come and enjoy some songs on their latest album.
The rate for the show is 5000 Ugandan Shilling (UGX).
Blu 3 will also be joining Nigerian rap group P-Square who will stage their first ever performance in Ghana on October 6.
Blu 3 earlier this month made a short holiday to UK where they linked up with members of the Da Twinz, a UK-based Ugandan music duo for some recording deals.
Also known as the Uganda’s hottest all-girl group, Blu 3 made up of Cindy (Cinderella Sanyu), Jacqui Chandiru and Lee (Lillian Mbabazi), winners of the 2004 Coca Cola pop stars contest.
Visit their page on Myspace
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Saturday, September 22nd, 2007
Jua Cali is one of the few established local artistes who represent the true Kenyan sound, appeal and image on the world stage, yet he is humble and, unlike most musicians who have made it, he is hungry to climb up a few more rungs on the career ladder.
Jua Cali has dominated the Kenyan music scene over the past two years and continues to attract more music fans across Africa and the rest of the world.
He has won four major awards this year, starting with the Chaguo La Teeniez (CHAT) and then following it up with last week’s Kisima from which he took home the Boomba male of the year and best male artiste trophies. But this came as no surprise to many music observers.
Besides being talented, he a commercial success, thanks to his appeal to the young and the not-so-young alike. For instance, he became Kenya’s first artiste to get an endorsement deal when he recently signed a reported Sh1-million-a-year deal mobile phone giant Motorola for its W model.
And, according to the company, he is quite a catch. ” Jua Cali is part of the Motorola family, and we are honoured to have worked with him in the recent past,” says Joanne Doyle, the marketing manager for East Africa.
“He has been a great ambassador and, like Motorola, he is all about creativity, style and substance, so we could not be happier that his hard work has been recognised at the prestigious Kisima awards.”
The artiste has also been involved in major advertisements such as Protex bath soap and Pilsner beer, and the deals have raked in big cash.
“I am very happy that corporate oganisations have started to recognise the role we artistes play in Kenya, and they have seen that working with us also sells their brand among the youth,” says Jua Cali.
“They called me one day, told me about the deal and we met and agreed on what I was meant to do, and the rest, as they say, is history,” the musician adds.
His appeal, music and character have endeared him to millions of people across the country and beyond, and it is without doubt that he has been the greatest local artiste in the past two years.
The “hotness” of an artiste is not measured by the number of record copies he sells in Kenya but, rather, the impact the song has on the local scene and the coverage he gets from the Press, he says. Awards also mean little in Kenya and even if Jua Cali had not won one, fans would still flock to his shows, sing all his songs word by word and still rate him as high.
Jua Cali, despite having a dozen hits to his credit, released his debut album only about two years ago, but he kept it on the low and many of his fans do not know about it.
“I’m actually releasing my second album in December, and I can understand if people get shocked when they hear I’m about to do this,” he says.
“Jua Cali Sekta was released almost two years ago, but I did not hype although it still pushed many units, and I still get distributors asking for more.”.
Born Paul Nunda on September 12, 1979, Jua Cali started rapping in high school, and decided to pursue it as a career after school.
“I was at Jamhuri high school (in Nairobi), but I was not that actively involved in music until I finished school in 1998. Then I hooked up with Clemo, my childhood friend, and started Calif Records two years later,” he recalls.
The rapper then stormed the music world with a new sound he called genge (masses). He was first meant to be a producer with Clemo and at the same time act as the studio artiste, but they did not seem to hold artistes for long and so everybody around him started pressuring him to start rapping.
“We hooked up with a few guys, but things did not work out because they did not have faith in us and I soon bowed to the pressure and started rapping. This is when the I got the name Jua Cali, referring to the city neighbourhood where I’d gown up,” he says. The name means “know California”, the area where he was born and brought up at Eastleigh estate, and Jua Cali says he wanted people to know more about the place.
He released his first single, Ruka, which surprisingly went straight to the top of the charts signalling a new sound different from the kapuka that had dominated the airwaves, courtesy of Ogopa Deejays.
With the success of this single, Jua Cali did soon released a follow-up single, Nipe Asali, which also topped the charts. With the latter hit single he made it known to all and sundry that he was not a one-hit wonder, and that he was determined to rule the local music scene.
He decided to let the songs dominate the airwaves until 2003. Then when it was clear that Kenyans had embraced his new style, he released the third single, Nikipotea Tena, which, according to Jua Cali on his myspace.com webpage, has “blown up like nitro.”
At the same time, Jua Cali met an upcoming musician who wanted the artiste to help him to grow, and so he signed him up to Calif Records and almost immediately, Pilipili was a household name, especially after he collaborated with Jua Cali in the song, Kamata Dame, which took the country by storm.
Thus Pilipili was launched, and Calif Records began showing its first signs of growth.
From then and with song after song, Jua Cali and Calif Records have continued to dominate the music scene, launching artistes such as Nonini, Jimwat, Lady S (now late), Choku, Rat-at-at, Flexx and Bishop - now all big names on the Kenyan music scene.
Jua Cali says the Kenyan music has grown tremendously, although he is quick to add that there is still big room for growth. In the next few years, Kenyan artistes will be major players on the international scene, adding that they already on their way.
He says Jimwat is one the artiste Kenyans need to watch, arguing that the young rapper has a lot of potential that he is yet to release and, having worked closely with him, he should know.
Jua Cali says he will continue with his music career before eventually venturing into full-time production and scouting for more talent.
“We are in the process of shooting a short film on Calif and what it is like growing up and living there,” he says of his immediate plans.
“And it will be out maybe next year; that is another route that I am exploring.”
Jua Cali is in the UK for the Mobo awards ceremony.
Source: Nation Media
Check out his page on Myspace
Posted in Artiste Profile | No Comments »
Friday, September 21st, 2007
Jazzman Olofin, a Nigerian music star will on Sunday 23rd September, perform at the eviction show of the Big Brother Africa(BBA) II, in South Africa.
Jazzman’s style of music is a mix of many different genres juju, Fuji, Afro beat, highlife and funk, laced with a little hip-hop.
His lyrics, which include Yoruba, English and Pidgin are delivered in a freestyle rap.
He started his professional music career as one of the members of the R&B group X-Appeal. Their debut “˜Big Men’ was a popular hit and Jazzman went solo in 2002.
The hip hop renaissance in Nigeria has witnessed the emergence of artistes who experiment with a variety of styles and sounds, many of whom attempt to create sub-genres by fusing elements of two or more indigenous music genres together with hip hop.
In fact no artist has yet attempted to do as much as a 5-cut EP of such sounds, the reason being that practitioners are yet to fashion out a fool proof formula for consummating such unions.
All that is about to change though, as a certain Olumuyiwa Olofin kuade is set to do something different, pioneer a new trend and possibly redefine an era.
Source: African Hip hop >>
Earlier last week, Ghanaian musician Tic Tac put up captivating performance to grace Max’s eviction. Produced by Endemol SA, and filmed on location in South Africa, Big Brother Africa provides a platform for African creative talent, such as musicians, designers, craftsmen, crew and specially selected field presenters.
Posted in Concert Reviews, Music News | No Comments »
Friday, September 21st, 2007
After a long absentia in the media, The Game shot to limelight today after a New York judge dismissed police impersonation charges against him on the grounds that the Los Angeles bred rapper stays out of trouble for the next six months.
It will be recalled that last year November, in the heat of preparing for his Doctor’s Advocate Album release, The Game was arrested for allegedly impersonating an undercover police officer in New York.
Prosecutors claim the rapper told the driver he was an undercover officer and encouraged him to run several red stoplights on Lexington Avenue before being pulled over.
The Game rejected offers of a plea deal that would have kept him out of jail in exchange for a guilty plea. He said he was innocent of any crime.
Game reportedly left the courthouse smiling saying: “I love New York, but I hate the system. I hate every system.”
Reuters >>>
He still faces three felony charges in California for a February incident in which he is accused of pulling a gun during a basketball game in Los Angeles. If convicted of those charges, he faces up to five years in jail.
Hip Hop fans are still waiting a word from The Game regarding Kanye beating 50 Cent on the 9/11 Sales.
The Game, once a protege of rapper 50 Cent, shot to stardom with his Grammy-nominated debut album The Documentary in 2005.
Posted in Music News | No Comments »
Friday, September 21st, 2007
If Keith Murray had known that, going to South Africa to record a track with the son of the famous Brenda Fassie, would end him up being burgled, I guess he would have thought twice about it.
Last Tuesday September 18, Keith had the shock of his life when all his 12-year music works stored on his apple Mac and other valuable personal belongings including mobile phones were stolen by some armed men who stormed into the Cube recording studios in Parkview, South Africa where he was working.
Lance Stehr, CEO of Ghetto Ruff, a local record label, said that two other accomplices waited outside while the robbery went down.
“When the guys left they even had the cheek to shout ‘Hey Fassie boy, continue making hits’,” Stehr told the paper.
Pretorian News >>>
Mean while Keith Murray offering a R50 000 ($7,140) reward for any information which leads to the return of his laptop.
Murray exploded on the hip-hop scene with his Gold-certified debut disc “The Most Beautifullest Thing in This World”.
Check out Keith Murray’s Page on Myspace
Posted in Music News | 2 Comments »
Thursday, September 20th, 2007
R & B Diva Mary J Blige is set to stage a performance in Johannesburg, the capital city of South Africa this October, to mark the 10th Anniversary of Channel O (Africa’s Leading Music Channel).
According to Channel O, there concert is going to be one of the best in recent times. There is an ongoing competition to give away over 100 free tickets and 10 VIP pass to get to the concert.
If you want to see the diva perform live, visit Channel O’s website and read more about Mary J. Blige’ Concert in South Africa later this year.
Also word has is that; Mary is set to release her new album “Growing Pains” on the 20th of November.
