Netflix And Mo Abudu Take Nollywood To Higher Hights Gone are the days of low quality Nollywood productions with grainy picture quality and underwhelming sound mixing. These days, production values are being held in higher regards, whether in cinemas or on streaming platforms. An embodiment of where the Nigerian film industry is at the moment is Chief Daddy 2. The film, directed by Niyi Akinmolayan and produced by EbonyLife’s Mo Abudu, is a sequel of the original Chief Daddy film, which premiered in 2018. The original film follows a group of immediate and extended family members as they…
Author: Ayotunde Ayotunde Olumilua
All hell broke loose when dancehall and afropop singer Shatta Wale recently bashed Nigerian artists for failing to reciprocate the support and collaboration they got from Ghana. During his holiday season concert held in Ghana recently, he said he didn’t need the support of Nigerians to hit big in the music industry. His rants triggered a wave of condemnatory remarks from Nigerians who dismissed his claims as a hate campaign. But are his claims valid? Is there really a failure on Nigeria’s part when it comes to supporting its West African brothers? Nigeria and Ghana are no strangers to each…
No one knows when tragedy will knock on the door. But what we do know is the resilience and strength of the human spirit. There is no doubt about that resilience and belief’s presence in Kechi Okwuchi, a true survivor in every sense of the word. Not many people can say they were one of the two survivors in an airplane crash on and a finalist at the twelfth season of America’s Got Talent in 2017, but Kechi can. In the relatively short period of time she’s been on this planet, so much has happened in her life from tragedy…
Buju’s career trajectory has been nothing short of inspiring. From being a hopeful newbie that got a feature from Zlatan to being signed to Burna Boy’s Spaceship Entertainment, he’s proof that hardwork and persistence can be life-changing tools. With a gradually expanding discography, there was a growing sense of anticipation which has finally come to a satisfactory climax. Why? Because he recently dropped an extended play with a collection of new songs. The EP, ‘Sorry I’m Late‘ arrives via Buju’s imprint To Your Ears Entertainment. The project features The Cavemen. The ‘Sorry I’m Late‘ EP has production credits from the…
Leading Nigerian musicians have begun long tours across Europe and America in a pincer style movement that will see them rake billions of dollars for their country’s empty treasury. Nigerian finance minister should be a happy woman if those earnings from Nigerian culture find its way into the debt ridden finances of the country. Burna Boy opened the account at the big London venue O2, sold out several concerts and produced one of the most outstanding performance of his career. The top ranked afropop superstar admitted that the event was his best ever performance and he was delighted with…
All it takes is one moment to make all the hard work worth it. If there’s one person who knows this for a fact, it’s afropop sensation CKay. The young Nigerian maverick is currently on a spectacular international run (that seems to be going under the radar locally) thanks to the success of his hit single Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah). In 2019, following the release of his album CKay the First, Love Nwantiti became a viral record in Nigeria. On 14 February 2020, CKay released a remix titled “Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah)” featuring Joeboy and Kuami Eugene. In…
Every now and then, we get a reminder of how dangerous a place like the Internet can be. The latest victim of technology’s dark side is award-winning vocalist Tiwa Savage. The queen of afropop finally got something that had been bothering her off her chest. The “Somebody’s Son” singer recently revealed that she was being blackmailed over a sex tape of herself and her partner. She said the video was accidentally posted on Snapchat by her lover who deleted it after he realised his error but it had already been downloaded by someone. These revelations were made in an…
The journey of a thousand steps has come to a joyful end for Big Brother Naija housemate Whitemoney. The charismatic fan favourite has been declared the winner of the hit reality television show’s sixth season themed ‘Shine Ya Eye,’ leaving Liquorose as the first runner up. At the action-packed grand finale on Sunday, housemates evicted were Emmanuel, Angel, Cross, and Pere, with Whitemoney and Liquorose as the top two housemates battling for the N90m grand prize. Born Hazel Onou, the 29-year-old contestant was tipped to be a strong contender from early on. He hails from Enugu State where he…
What better way to herald the approaching award season than with the GRM Rated Awards? The award show, which is essentially a celebration of UK rap and grime, returned with a resounding bang. The awards took place virtually this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and recognised some of the scene’s biggest names and their contribution to UK music between June 1 2019 to June 1 2020. Rapper Central Cee was among one of the biggest winners of the night as he picked up both Male Artist of the Year and Breakthrough of the Year, but the prestigious…
Robert Nesta Marley was born on 6 February 1945 at the farm of his maternal grandfather in Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, to Norval Sinclair Marley and Cedella Malcolm. His father (who died when Marley was just 10 years old) was an Englishman who worked as a plantation overseer and his mother was Jamaican. Marley left Nine Mile with his mother when he was 12 and moved to Trenchtown, Kingston. This change of environment proved to be crucial to Marley’s musical learning experience. He eventually began his professional career in 1963, after forming Bob Marley and the Wailers.…
Ayo Olumilua assesses the Don Jazzy latest talent For the vibrant young talents at Mavin Records, the future is here and now. The Don Jazzy-led music hub is currently teeming with boundless potential. One of such talents is the beautiful and gifted Ayra Starr who has just released her debut album titled “19 and Dangerous”. The project contains 11 tracks and features some eye-catching collaborators including Warner Music signee CKay. Production on the album was handled by Don Jazzy, London, Louddaaa, and Andre Vibez. The tracks were expertly mixed and mastered by Johnny Drille. This album drop comes only a…
At the turn of the century, few Nigerian artistes captured the imagination like Lagbaja. The nation and the continent at large couldn’t seem to get enough of this masked man whose identity was draped in mystique. Around and about the year 2000, his hit song ‘Konko Below’ ruled the airwaves and perched atop charts. But Lagbaja was no newcomer. In fact, his career was a journey of many small steps that became giant strides. Bisade Ologunde, born in Lagos in 1960, is a Nigerian afrobeat musician, singer-songwriter and percussionist. He is widely known as Lágbájá for his signature use of…
Ayo Olumilua digs into the controversial life of a bourgeoning superstar Court cases, controversies, and sold-out shows. Naira Marley’s life is like an unending movie that the public can’t seem to get enough of. The “Soapy” singer spectacularly made a rapid rise to the top in recent years. A polarizing figure, Marley can’t seem to hide from public scrutiny. His ascent in popularity began under rather unfortunate circumstances. On the 3rd of May, 2019, Naira Marley was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on charges of fraud after he released the single “Am I A Yahoo…
Over time, there have been some timeless songs dedicated to the female gender. The classic Sweet Mother by Nigerian/Cameroonian singer Nico Mbarga springs to mind when one thinks of giants in the pantheon of great songs dedicated to women irrespective of the different capacities they play in our lives. As a result of the current cluster of Nigerian pop songs with often unflattering portrayals of women, it is refreshing news that Gabriel Eziashi has released a single dedicated to woman in more dignifying contexts. The track, which is aptly titled Woman, features the legendary Lady Onyeka Onwenu. As expected, they…
Ayotunde Olumilua revisits “Made in Lagos” album When Wizkid dropped his fourth major project “Made in Lagos” in 2020, the world was surprised by the obvious shift in style. The all too familiar up-tempo ground-shakers that have always been a mainstay in afrobeats were nowhere to be found. Instead, what we got was a collection of smooth, stripped-down, soul-massaging, champagne-drinking, baby-making music. Opinions were divided on how the dance-driven Nigerian music industry would react to one of the country’s biggest stars choosing to follow a less trodden path in the mainstream. Months after its release, it has become obvious that Wizkid…
