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ENTERTAINMENT: AFRIMA Mourns Mohbad, Calls For Institutionalization of Music Industry in Africa

by Adewale Adenrele on September 24, 2023

All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA (https://www.AFRIMA.org/), has emphasized the importance of regulating and institutionalizing the music entertainment industry as it joins millions of African youths and music fans to express grief over the demise of Nigeria’s singer, Mohbad, (real name Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba).

Mohbad died in a mysterious circumstance on Tuesday, September 12, 2023, that is still under police investigation.

The 27-year-old budding music star also known as Imole (Light) was a young and very promising artiste whose creativity and amazing gift have made him produce highly thrilling lyrics that have warmed the hearts of millions of fans across the world.

The President and Executive Producer, AFRIMA, Mike Dada, in a statement, while lamenting that Africa has lost a promising talent in its growing music industry in a shocking manner, noted that institutionalization of the music/entertainment industry remains a top priority in curbing the unprofessional practices that have been existing within the industry in Africa.

He said; “On behalf of the International Committee of AFRIMA, we condole with Nigeria’s music industry, parents and fans of Mohbad, over his painful demise. The death of Mohbad is a tragic event that has left us all deeply saddened. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and loved ones of the deceased during this difficult time.

“With his demise, Africa has lost a promising talent in our growing music and entertainment industry. We pray God to grant him eternal rest, and grant his parents, family, and teeming fans the fortitude to bear his irreplaceable loss.”

With his demise, Africa has lost a promising talent in our growing music and entertainment industry

“AFRIMA is spearheading efforts to mobilize stakeholders in the creative industry in Africa, with a focus on Nigeria, to establish institutionalized operations and regulate the music entertainment industry.”

According to Dada, this includes the enactment of legislation that sets industry standards, regulations and compliance for music record labels, performing artistes, music publishing companies, entertainment lawyers and other professionals.

“It is necessary to have a law that regulates the music industry to prevent it from becoming an unregulated free-for-all, as currently, the entry requirements are low such that anyone can just wake up and establish a music record label.

“To address this issue, African countries must establish a Music Institute to certify practitioners regularly.

AFRIMA is leveraging its platform to organize a stakeholder summit aimed at engaging the legislative arm of governments across Africa through the African Union.

“AFRIMA urges stakeholders, including relevant government officials and agencies, artistes, record labels, A&R, producers, promoters, artiste’s managers, brands, songwriters, DJs & video vixens, video directors, equipment production and rental companies, publishing companies, streaming service companies, entertainment lawyers, royalty companies, choreographers/dancers, entertainment/music journalists and media, culture and music enthusiast, other supporting professionals: cameramen, editors, make-up, hairstylist, costumiers, among others, to participate in this crucial process. We urge stakeholders to submit their proposed legislation for review and consideration,” the AFRIMA President submitted.

AFRIMA (All Africa Music Awards) is the Pinnacle of African Music globally.

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ENTERTAINMENT: NOLLYWOOD ACTOR, MURPHY AFOLABI IS DEAD

by Adewale Adenrele on May 14, 2023

Less than 24 hours after the news filtered out about the death of a popular Nollywood actor, Saint Obi, another popular actor of Yoruba movies, Murphy Afolabi, has died on Sunday.

No details yet about the circumstances surrounding Afolabi’s death, however, a colleague of the deceased in the Yoruba subsector of the Nollywood, Tunde Ola-Yusuf, has confirmed the sad news.

On Sunday afternoon, ola-Yusuf, a well-known actor, director, and producer, took to his Facebook page to mourn Afolabi.

He wrote: “REST IN PEACE…

“May God give the family and close associates the fortitude to bear the loss.

“Good night Muphy Afolabi.”

According to another source, it was learned that the Yoruba movie star is said to have fallen in his bathroom and hit his head on the floor leading to his death.

Afolabi who celebrated his birthday barely a week ago on Friday, May 5th, was one of the famous stars to have emerged from the Yoruba film industry.

The entertainment industry has been again mourning his tragic passing.

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ENTERTAINMENT: Cannes Film Festival 2023 and expectations

by Adewale Adenrele on April 22, 2023

The Cannes Film Festival line-up is now complete and looks like one of the best line-ups in years. After the official selection was announced last Thursday, further additions have been made in the past few days, with the Critics Week and Directors’ Fortnight selections confirmed.

Pixar’s latest movie Elemental — the fourth time the American animation house has graced Cannes — was unveiled as the closing film. The story centres around a city where living embodiments of the elements — water, fire, land, and air — all reside.

Already the 2023 selection feels like a year of comebacks. In competition, vying for the Palme d’Or, is Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest, a German-Polish adaptation of the 2014 Martin Amis novel. Glazer hasn’t made a film since 2013’s much-acclaimed sci-fi Under The Skin.

Set in Auschwitz during the Second World War, The Zone of Interest tells the story of a Nazi officer who has fallen for the camp commandant’s wife. It stars Sandra Huller, featured in the Cannes favourite Toni Erdmann, and marks Glazer’s first time in a Cannes competition.

With six female directors — the festival’s highest-ever number — also competing for the Palme d’Or, another major returning voice is Catherine Breillat. The provocative French director behind Romance and A ma soeur! has been absent from our screens for a decade, since she made 2013’s Abuse of Weakness, with Isabelle Huppert. Her new feature, L’Ete dernier, which stars Lea Drucker, is being billed as an intense family drama.

There’s also a much-heralded return for the French filmmaker of Vietnamese heritage, Tran Anh Hung, who won the Camera d’Or in Cannes — the prize awarded to the best debut — in 1993 for The Scent of Green Papaya. He last directed 2016’s Eternity, and he’s now returning with The Passion of Dodin Bouffant. Adapted from the 1924 novel by Marcel Rouf, this 19th century-set love story set in a renowned kitchen stars former real-life partners Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel.

In Director’s Fortnight, France’s Michel Gondry is also back for his first movie in eight years. While he’s kept himself busy making shorts and music videos, the director of the Oscar-winning Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind last made a feature with 2015’s little-seen Microbe and Gasoline. His latest, The Book of Solutions, is described as an off-beat existential comedy and features Pierre Niney, the French actor famed for playing fashion giant Yves Saint Laurent.

Of course, all eyes will be on the out-of-competition Killers of the Flower Moon by Martin Scorsese. Remarkably, it’s Scorsese’s first time in Cannes since 1984’s After Hours (his famous 1976 movie Taxi Driver also played there, winning the Palme d’Or).

This new work, his first for Apple TV+, centres on the Oklahoma murders in the Osage Nation during the 1920s, when oil was found on tribal land. It’s also the first time his two most beloved actors, Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio — who last co-starred in 1993’s This Boy’s Life and 1996’s Marvin’s Room — have ever featured together in a Scorsese movie.

Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon is among the out-of-competition highlights. Apple TV+ — *Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is among the out-of-competition highlights. Apple TV+*

You also have to wonder if The Old Oak will mark the swansong of veteran British director Ken Loach, who turns 87 in June. Then again, predictions that the two-time Palme d’Or winner is retiring have been wide of the mark before. Following recent efforts, I, Daniel Blake and Sorry We Missed You, this latest effort is another drama located in England’s northeast, set around a declining mining community, and dealing with the arrival of Syrian refugees.

Away from the comebacks and the sign-offs, the Critics Week and Director’s Fortnight line-ups also have included some exciting additions from the Mena region. In Critics Week, Amjad Al-Rasheed’s Inshallah Walad (Inshallah a Boy) marks the first-ever Jordanian film to compete in the Cannes sidebar. Shot in the Jordanian capital of Amman, it tells the story of a young widow, Nawal, and her daughter, who are about to lose their home.

As part of Director’s Fortnight, Moroccan actor-director Faouzi Bensaidi (Volubilis) will present his latest work Deserts. Starring Fehd Benchemsi, it follows two debt collectors sent by their agency into the Moroccan Sahara. As Bensaidi told Variety when the film was in development, it’s “an abstract Western”, an existential look at “Man against himself, against God and against nature and coming to terms with his own interior violence.” Old and new, this is going to be a very exciting Cannes.

The Cannes Film Festival runs from May 16 to 27

*thenationalnews*

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POLITICS: Funke Akindele, other celebrities contesting in 2023 elections

by Adewale Adenrele on December 30, 2022

Slowly but surely, more showbiz personalities in Nigeria keep joining the world of politics. In the past, we’ve seen the likes of Nollywood stars like Desmond Elliot, Kate Henshaw, Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD) and Mercy Johnson get into government office.

Now, The Electoral Act of 2022 has set the stage for free, fair, and democratic elections in Nigeria in 2023, and it appears more Nollywood stars are set to run for the elections.

Below is a list of some celebrities who have taken up the challenge to be in active politics Africa’s most populous nation prepares to hold its seventh consecutive general election since the country returned to democracy in 1999.

Funke Akindele

The 44-year-old actress, popularly known as “Jenifa” for her performance in Jenifa’s Diary, could be hanging up her acting boots.

The actor and producer were recently unveiled as the PDP Deputy-Governor candidate in Lagos State.

As expected, this came as a shock to many as the actress seemed focused on her acting career and has little or no political background.

At the premiering of her latest project titled “Battle of Buka Streets’ in Lagos this month, Funke said she believes people should be about tired of seeing her face and should be bracing for new faces.

“This is the reason I sponsored and championed this project “Battle on Buka Street”. It would be my parting gift to my fans and the movie industry in general. I’m taking to politics full time as I strongly believe I’m the incoming Deputy governor of Lagos State,” she said.

Tonto Dikeh

She was recently unveiled as the running mate of Rivers State Governorship Candidate, Tonte Ibraye under the umbrella of the African Democratic Party (ADP).

The actress said the ADC would invest “massively in social protection” in Rivers State if they are elected.

Dikeh might just be the next Rivers State Deputy-Governor if ADP wins the elections.

Banky W

Mr. Wellington who is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Representatives candidate for Eti-Osa Federal Constituency, joined the PDP in April 2022.

This was after losing to APC in the 2019 House of Representative elections for the Eti-Osa constituency.

He won the PDP primary ticket for the same constituency in the Federal House of Representatives ahead of the 2023 general election.

In 2019, he contested under the Modern Democratic Party (MDP).

The Nigerian musician known in real life as Olubankole Wellington has given reason for his switch from entertainment to politics.

According to him, his decision to join politics was driven by his desire for good governance in the country.

“As long as I have been relevant in the art world, music, film and as a small entrepreneur, I have always been very vocal about the need for good governance and the need for young people to participate in politics,” he said in an interview on local tv morning show.

Desmond Elliott

Nollywood actor, Desmond Elliot won the Surulere Constituency 1 seat in April 2015 and was nominated for the second term. He won the ticket for a third term in 2023 unopposed on the ticket of the All Progressive Congress (APC) political party.

Odi Okojie

Real Estate entrepreneur cum-politician, Odi Okojie is the husband of popular Nigerian Actress, Mercy Johnson.

He recently won the All Progressives Congress ticket for a House of Representatives seat for Edo State.

Okojie is set to represent Esan North East/ South East federal constituency if he wins at the 2023 general elections.

Ned Nwoko

Businessman and politician, Ned Nwoko will contest at the 2023 general elections as a PDP senatorial candidate for Delta North district.

Ned Nwoko is not just known as a businessman, but also as husband to popular Nollywood actress, Regina Daniels.

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YouTube Partners AFRIMA, Reiterates Support For African Music and Creative Economy

by Adewale Adenrele on December 23, 2022

Ahead of the highly anticipated 8th edition of the All-Africa Music Awards AFRIMA tagged ‘Teranga Edition’ scheduled to hold in Dakar, Senegal on 12-15 January 2023, global entertainment service YouTube, has entered into a partnership with AFRIMA, to help provide artist-focused educational sessions and live streaming support for the awards.

AFRIMA, which is the pinnacle of recognition for African music globally is poised to ensure that the annual 4-day festival is broadcasted to music lovers and stakeholders across the globe.

Importantly, YouTube will be conducting workshop sessions for African creatives at the Africa Music Business Summit (one of the events at the 8^th AFRIMA) to educate on visibility across the global creative ecosystem on a digital platform.

The global streaming service will also be partnering with the All Africa Music Awards on a special incubator programme dubbed, AFRIMA Creative Academy, which aims to empower one million Africans (and in the diaspora) in the music and creative industry in the next five years.

The YouTube link for live streaming will be available on AFRIMA’s YouTube page @Youtube.com/AFRIMAAWARDS. Subscribe for free to the channel and catch the African Music Business Summit live on Friday, Jan 13, 2023, from 9.00 am-4.30 pm (WAT); while the AFRIMA Music Village will be live later that day from 6.00 pm – Till dawn (WAT). Finally, the 8th AFRIMA main awards ceremony will be streamed live from the Red Carpet- 4.30 pm (WAT), while the main awards will start at 7.30 pm (WAT).

Speaking on the development, the Head of the Culture Division at the African Union Commission (AUC), Angela Martins said, “It is important that we spread our efforts to promote inclusivity and ensure that the world can see the impact of AFRIMA at the global centre stage. It is easier for people to now follow up with the award ceremony via their smartphone or other devices. It is also vital we continue to create more education for creators to help them thrive in their crafts, and we are happy to align with YouTube on achieving this shared vision.”

On his part, AFRIMA’s President and Executive Producer, Mr Mike Dada, lauded the streaming service for their support of the African creative economy.

He said, “We have all seen the rise in circulation of short-form audio-visual content on these services and how they have helped to promote African music and creators on a global scale. We believe that sharing knowledge will be a veritable means to expand the revenue funnel for our creators at home and also boost foreign direct investment. In the spirit of uplifting the African creative ecosystem, we are excited to work with a driven and innovative team like YouTube.”

We have all seen the rise in circulation of short form audio-visual content on these services and how they have helped to promote African music and creators on a global scale

YouTube’s Head of Music Sub-Saharan Africa, Addy Awofisayo said, “YouTube has been consistent in its support for African creatives over the years and has played an essential role in the discovery and development of African music & culture and exporting it to audiences and listeners worldwide, enabling collaborations both locally and globally.

“We are excited for our partnership with AFRIMA and the African Union to deepen our relationship with the music stakeholders on the continent, provide educational support for African creatives, and to help music fans be a part of some of the most iconic music moments as they unfold live on YouTube, wherever they are around the globe.”

As the whole world gears towards the 8th edition of the All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA, which will be held from January 12 to 15, 2023, African music lovers are encouraged to keep voting intensively for their desired winners, using the voting portal live at www.AFRIMA.org and take part in the events on social media platforms (IG/TikTok – @ afrima.official ; Facebook – Afrimawards; Twitter – @afrimaofficial; LinkedIn – AFRIMA). The voting process that determines winners at AFRIMA is audited by a globally renowned auditing firm, Pricewaterhousecoopers (PWC).

As announced at the conference, the delegates are expected to arrive on January 11, 2023. The AFRIMA ceremony is scheduled to kick-start fully on Thursday, January 12, 2023, with a Host Country Tour, School visit and gift presentation (as part of AFRIMA’s Corporate Social Responsibility), as well as a Welcome Soiree in the evening, in Dakar.

The 4-day event continues on Friday January 13, 2023, with the Africa Music Business Summit (AMBS) at the Grand Theatre, in Dakar. The AMBS is Africa’s largest gathering of creative professionals in the music industry and it features workshops and panel discussions on issues and opportunities within the African music industry.

The 8th AFRIMA will continue with high momentum at the AFRIMA Music Village at the Grand Theatre, which will be a free-to-enter concert featuring live performances from the biggest music stars across the continent.

On the eve of the awards ceremony, on Saturday January 14, 2023, the events will begin with Main rehearsals, Media engagements and a Courtesy Visit to the President of Senegal. There will also be a live recording booth at the venue for musicians across all five regions of the continent, and in the diaspora, to explore for collaborative recordings. The day’s activities will climax with a Nominees exclusive party.

Finally, the 8th AFRIMA will wrap up on Sunday January 15, 2023, at the 15-000 capacity Dakar Arena, in Dakar, with the live Awards ceremony broadcast by 104 TV Stations to over 84 countries around the world.

In partnership with the African Union Commission, AFRIMA is the pinnacle of African music globally.

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ENTERTAINMENT: AFRIMA 2022 voting starts Sunday September 25

by Adewale Adenrele on September 24, 2022

The voting portal for the 2022 edition of the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) will be opened on Sunday, September 25, at 21:00 (CAT), to the public, globally, to decide the winners of each of the 39 award categories.

The International Committee of the All Africa Music Award (AFRIMA), in conjunction with the African Union Commission (AUC), made this announcement, on Friday, encouraging African music lovers to vote intensively using the voting portal live at www.AFRIMA.org, before the portal closes on December 10, 2022, which is the eve of the awards.

More information on the voting process, which would also be audited by the International auditing firm, PriceWaterHouseCoopers (PWC), can also be found on the website, as well as AFRIMA’s social media (Instagram/TikTok – @Afrima.official; Facebook – Afrimawards; Twitter – @afrimaofficial).

Like it did at the AFRIMA 2021 edition, the PWC, which has audited other major global awards including the Oscars, will audit the voting portal, collate the votes and present them at the awards.

According to AFRIMA’s Executive Producer/President, Mike Dada, “AFRIMA’S core values of FACE IT – Fairness, Authenticity, Creativity, Excellence, Integrity and Transparency remain at the heart of our operations. With PWC, we are further reinforcing these value drivers, ensuring that we remain as inclusive, credible, and authentic as always.”

Recall that the list of nominees was unveiled globally last Wednesday, revealing 382 nominations across all 39 categories. The nominations, which have been greeted with positive acclaim across the world, are the fruit of a rigorous 10-day adjudication held by AFRIMA’s 13-member jury, in July. Also, only entries within the validity period of August 20, 2021, to August 5, 2022, were considered for nomination for this year’s awards.

As the ultimate recognition of African music, globally, we are a source of inspiration to both music gatekeepers and music lovers across the entire industry

According to AFRIMA’s Executive Producer/President, Mr Mike Dada, the awards body remains the ultimate recognition of African music globally, also serving as a muse to other award bodies across the continent.

“We are not oblivious to the fact that there are some other award bodies that copy our nominations every year. As the ultimate recognition of African music, globally, we are a source of inspiration to both music gatekeepers and music lovers across the entire industry. AFRIMA continues to blaze the trail in celebrating African talent and developing our creative ecosystem, and this year’s edition is a step further in that direction,” he said.

On her part, the African Union Commission’s Head of Culture, Mrs. Angela Martins encouraged music lovers to vote decisively and objectively.

She said, “We have done our part. It is left to you the fans to now decide your winners. Remember that these categories are highly competitive and are based on merit. Let your votes help the best person(s) emerge as champion.”

2022 All Africa Music Awards will now be held from the 8th to 11th December 2022. A special announcement will be made on the host country and location for the awards, on 30th September 2022.

The AFRIMA awards ceremony will feature a 4-day fiesta of music, glitz, and glamour aimed at celebrating Africa, recognizing talents and expanding the economic frontiers of the culture and creative industry on the continent. The event is scheduled to commence with the welcome soiree, followed by the AFRIMA Music Village, the host city tour, Africa Music Business Summit, and the exclusive nominees’ party and concluded with the live awards ceremony broadcast to over 84 countries around the world.

African music lovers can take part in the events on social media, live stream on the AFRIMA website at afrima.org and visit the social media platforms (IG/TikTok – @afrima.official; Facebook – Afrimawards; Twitter – @afrimaofficial; LinkedIn – AFRIMA) ), and they can watch the event coverage by tuning in to their local and cable TV providers.

In partnership with the African Union Commission, AFRIMA is a youth-focused music platform that recognizes and rewards the work and talents of African artists across generations.

AFRIMA primarily stimulates conversations among Africans, and also the rest of the world, especially on the potential of the creative arts for fostering real human enterprise, as well as contributing significantly to social cohesion, as well as sustainable development in Africa. The Programme of events is in line with the AU Agenda 2063 which outlines Aspiration 05 as the development of the arts and culture sector including its cultural and creative industries, to boost the development of the African economy

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ENTERTAINMENT: Award winning Ugandan band performs at classical music festival in Swiss

by Adewale Adenrele on July 24, 2022

An award-winning Ugandan band by the name Brass for Africa joined other global groups at the Verbier Festival to showcase their brilliant talent.

Held in the glorious Swiss Alps, this stunning setting plays host to the very best in the world of classical music and its rising young talent.

A very positive experience according to Kidega Brian, a band member: “People are appreciating our performances and are so welcoming and the environment is very beautiful. We are like, this is a new home to say and it’s just very nice.”

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The Brass for Africa #EuroTour2022 group leaves Uganda tonight, flying to their first tour destination – The Netherlands!

If you haven't already, make sure to check out their epic upcoming 3-week tour line-up here: https://t.co/eonc81LBo8 pic.twitter.com/liQktzYsaG

— Brass for Africa (@BrassforAfrica) July 2, 2022

Music is an incredibly powerful tool to engage and transform and Brass for Africa uses music to champion our four strategic goals of; workplace readiness, community empowerment, disability inclusion and gender equality.

“We have to present ourselves and we are representing Uganda and Africa at large and also the students that we go out there and we teach music and life skills who are very, very much inspired by us, and they know that our teachers are in Switzerland and they are doing a wonderful thing to represent us. It’s just amazing“, Kidega adds.

African representation

The NGO’s musicians, who come from underprivileged backgrounds, are also music and life-skills teachers. Brass for Africa is part of the festival’s UNLTD series, which aims to shine a spotlight on emerging musical talent.

“Brass Africa is a non-profit organisation and it’s it delivers music and life skills to over 2000 children and young people in Africa, Uganda, Rwanda and Liberia. So we have music, all of us who have been playing here, we music and life skills teachers and we teach every week“, Nabakooza Sumayya explains.

They work in partnership with community-based organisations, and our local team of teachers are all African and alumni of the programmes themselves.

Entertainment

ENTERTAINMENT: Kizz Daniel named most streamed artiste on Boomplay

by Adewale Adenrele on July 17, 2022

Award-winning Nigerian singer and songwriter, Oluwatobiloba Daniel Anidugbe, better known by his stage name Kizz Daniel has broken a record in the music industry as the most streamed artiste on Boomplay.

This achievement was announced by Boomplay, one of the biggest digital streaming platforms in Africa on Wednesday.

The “Buga” crooner was able to achieve this milestone with his successful EP

Barnabas’ was the first to hit over 100 million streams on Boomplay music making him the current most streamed artist on the platform.

Apart From “Barnabas” with 133.5 million streams, other leading projects in those streams include “King of Love” with 39 million streams, “No Bad Songs” with 22.1 million streams, and his most streamed single “Buga hitting global airwaves” at 82 million streams.

With this feat, Kizz Daniel becomes the leader of Boomplay’s Golden Club.

Other Afro-pop musicians in the Golden club circle includes Burna Boy, Fireboy, Joeboy, Omah Lay, Rayvanny, Diamond Platnumz, Davido, Wizkid, Olamide, Naira Marley, Ruger, Black Sherif and Simi

Earlier in April 2022, Boomplay announced that Kizz Daniel became the first artist to hit 100,000,000 project-based streams in less than six months with his fourth studio project Barnabas EP.

Kizz Daniel recently released the video for his 2022 hit song Buga featuring Tekno in the video directed by T.G Omori, popularly called Boy Director.

The 28-year-old Afropop singer released the visuals of Buga after the song has amassed over 17 million views on YouTube. Since its release, it has topped the charts of various online music streaming platforms.

The song had achieved the status of the most Shazamed song in the world and also held the number one position in over ten countries on the Apple Music Charts.

Shazam is an online application that can identify music, movies, advertising, and television shows, based on a short sample played and using the microphone on the device.

Kizz Daniel is regarded as one of the few Nigerian singers without a bad song, as every song he releases is a hit.

These include Laye (2016) Woju (2016), Jumbo (2016), Mama (2016), Yeba (2017), Jaho (2020), Park n Go (2020), and Ada (2020) and Pour me water (2021).

The Ogun State-born singer rose to fame when he began his music career in 2014 under G-Worldwide Entertainment record before he left the label following a well-publicised contract dispute and court case.

The father-of-two later founded his record label, the Fly Boy Inc record label, in November 2017

Entertainment

ENTERTAINMENT: LASG, Nollywood invests in young talent with international ambition

by Adewale Adenrele on June 21, 2022

A joint project between a Nigeria film production house and Lagos State government is training students to make African stories for a wider international public.

Nigerian film-making student Esther Abah is part of a new generation of Nigerian film-makers who want to take stories beyond a Nigerian audience.

“It’s been an awesome experience because I see film now from a different perspective and I really understand what film is all about, better now then what I used to know before” said the filmmaking student.

Nigeria’s domestic film industry, or Nollywood, is massive, and prolific, second only to India’s Bollywood in terms of movies produced and well ahead of Hollywood.

“We have talent in Lagos, in Nigeria, but to work on an international scale it changes a little bit. So, what the school does, it formats the way people work on an international standard, in other words, we allow these guys to go through a full production cycle from script development, to casting, to pre-production to production and post”, explained Theart Korsten, EbonyLife Creative Academy head of school.

Nigeria’s film industry made up 2.3 percent of the national GDP or $660 million last year.

The rise of streaming platforms is also creating demand for better films from beyond western studios.

“I think what Netflix and all these other platforms have done, is expose us to content beyond a particular region. So, you’re having contents from India, no, India was kind of known but you’re having some from South Korea, you’re having some from South America, you’re having some from Europe, some obscure country in Europe… and these are mainstream contemporary stuff.

So, it’s making a lot of Nigerians, you know filmmakers, now realise that their stories can actually be seen on a universal scale but at the same time they have to conform to certain relatable ethics, storytelling technics”, concluded Daniel Oriahi, head of the directing department.

For the Lagos State government, the investment was part of a drive to help the city’s creative industries.

Two more film schools will be part of the programme.

*AFP

Entertainment

Entertainment: What happen to Nigerian female emcees in the music industry?

by Adewale Adenrele on March 6, 2022

Nigeria, popularly known for its catchy Afrobeat’s by the likes of Wizkid, Davido, and Burna Boy was once booming with female EMCEEs. What happened?

It is not to say that there aren’t any women in the industry now, but the scene has changed drastically since the early 2000s. Take Sasha P, for instance. She was once known as the first lady of Nigerian hip-hop when they weren’t many females in the game. Songs like “Emi Le Gan” and “Adara” earned her spot as the first Nigerian female artist to perform at the World Music Awards in 2008. She even won Best Female Artist award at the MTV Africa Music Awards. She took a break from music, however, to work on her clothing line and hasn’t been heard since then musically according to HipHop Africa.

Another big hit is Eva Alordiah: a rapper, entertainer, make-up artist, fashion designer, and entrepreneur. Releasing her first hit in 2009, she remained consistent until around 2019 with features by Olamide, Phyno, Yemi Alade and more. Eva served as the face of female rap in Nigeria for quite some time before stopping to focus on herself. Despite the fame, she describes the “deep dark depression” she was in amidst a lost sense of identity. She left the rap scene to find herself and God, a necessary thing to do.

Weird MC, a British Nigerian named Adesola Idowu was another pioneer of female rap in the early 90s. You won’t see much of her on popular streaming sites, but she was topping charts in Nigeria all the way from the UK during her time. One of her songs, “Ijoya,” was produced by Don Jazzy and the album, “After the Storm,” won Best Pop Album at the 2007 Headies. Known for the way she infused the Yoruba language into her music, she continued making headway until a couple years back when a she lost a close friend and moved back to the UK.

There are more artists to name including Blaise, Bouqui, Mo’Cheddah, and more. Worldwide, but prominently in Nigeria, the rap scene is dominated by males. Today, no female truly rivals the top rappers in the country and it is a shame. Women are often sidelined to be background dancers adding to overly sensual music that degrades and objectifies women. A female artist can be a lyrical genius, but if she cannot move her body in a way that appeases record labels, it is not enough. The hope is that Nigerian Queens will take on the burden again to blaze the path for future female EMCEEs.

Daisy Firecracker may have the potential to reawaken the FEMCEEs of Nigeria.

Daisy or Anurika Happiness Mgbodim is a fire lyricist. From Anambra State, Nigeria, she has been working hard for some years now. You can hear the passion about her craft in this song “Dear Hustle” amidst the use of Pidgin English and Igbo language. This hustle is her “medicine” and she “will never leave [it].” I personally appreciate how smooth her flow is and the confidence or braggadoc(ia) in her music. As seen above, she has been proving herself in freestyle rooms, but also has singles and albums out. We will have to see where she goes from here, but I believe there is hope for women in Nigerian hip hop.