National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
Critics
Friday, August 17, 2012
23
Music
Hennessy, M.I, Naeto C: The perfect blend Hennessy, the world’s leading cognac brand prides itself in creating the perfect mix. This philosophy placed in bottles and shipped worldwide has also been transferred into music via Hennessy Artistry. ANITA AIYUDU
H
ennessy Artistry is a global music campaign and a highly celebrated musical platform that explores different vibrant music genres; fusing styles and pushing the envelope as far as experimental collaboration is concerned. Hennessy Artistry made its debut in Nigeria in 2008 and has since then involved numerous top Nigerian acts such as Jesse Jagz, Ice Prince, Shina Peters, Banky W, eLDee and Tiwa Savage to name a few. This year, the headliners are Naeto C and M.I. This marks the first time that both artistes would be working together as a duo. Naeto C and M.I who are widely regarded as two of Nigeria’s best rappers
came up with the theme song for this year’s Hennessy Artistry project after several studio sessions. The song titled, Bartender was released last week and was produced by Naeto C’s frequent collaborator and one of Nigeria’s finest hit makers, Tee-Y Mix. The song which lasts for about four minutes has Naeto C and M.I doing what they know how to do best– delivering witty content and catchy tunes with finesse. Music lovers know that both rappers have different styles; M.I has an excitable flow while Naeto C has a very cool and laidback style. Despite their different styles, Bartender is a manifestation of both styles comfortably blending, thanks to Hennessy Artistry. Bartender so far is proving to be growing in popularity with over 25,000 down-
A scene from the Bartender video
BARTENDER SO FAR IS PROVING TO BE GROWING IN POPULARITY WITH OVER
25,000 DOWNLOADS IN LESS THAN A WEEK OF ITS RELEASE
loads in less than a week of its release. The song is unique because it acts as both a feel good song and a club hit. It
also has a tempo that allows you to do the Etighi dance or the Ghanaian breakout dance move Azonto. As Clarence Peters has concluded stitching scenes of the Bartender music video together, M.I and Naeto C are getting ready for the Hennessy Artistry Club Tour which will feature some of the most promising acts in the Nigerian music scene today. With each passing year, the Hennessy Artistry’s theme song has gotten better. Bartender is another masterpiece of what Hennessy Artistry has been so successful at achieving– combining contemporary, hip and inspirational music.
Performance
Exposing community talents in the arts It was a remarkable experience for some budding talents in comedy, music and dance around Lagos suburbs who participated in the recently organised maiden edition of the CO.MU.DA Project designed to expose community talents to the globe.
Flawless crew
OLAYIWOLA AWAKAN
THE PRODUCTION PROUDLY
T
FLAUNTED THE UNIQUENESS
he creative industry is fast spreading into the veins of every community in the country, most especially Lagos. The youth have realised the lucrative deal in enhancing, developing and exposing raw talents in comedy, dance, music, drama and others. In addition to the existing community competitions for budding artistic talents, ShowBizMen, Dunamis Entertainment and Showstoppaz crew recently organised the maiden edition of their CO.MU.DA Project, created to connect budding talents to
EMBEDDED IN SOME MAJOR ETHNIC GROUPS IN THE NIGERIAN SOCIETY
stardom. This project, set in the heart of Igando, Idimu, Ikotun and environs, played host to fresh comedians, musicians and dance group recently at the Royal Treet Multipurpose Hall, LASU-Iba Road, Lagos. The event which was anchored by a winner of the AY Open Mic Comedy Contest, Kenneth Chinedu Igwe, popularly called M.O.G. started with rib crack-
ing jokes. While other comedians such as Plenty Mouth, V-Level, Sherokoko, Destalker, Kolo Frank Onero thrilled the crowd. The expectation of the audience was high for the firstof-its-kind show in the area. The competition commenced with the contestants in the Comedy category. Gozie, Hilarious Pisi, Mc Kel and Broyo took the stage with their jokes. Some were able to im-
press the crowd who were actually the judges, while others shared ‘dry’ and archaic jokes. Among the four contestants, Gozie was declared the winner after three phases of the competition. The second category was the music contest; mature participants thrilled the audience with rap and R & B. Alli Brown Lanre (Lab), Akinsanya Johnson (Row Don) and Ismail Bello demonstrated their skills in music. After a keenly contested competition, Row Don emerged the winner. The last category, which was dance, had only one group called Flawless. The all-male group gave a creative and acrobatic display on the Boko Haram situation; they impressed the crowd. At the end of the project, the winners were assured of being connected with some key producers as well as given the opportunity to par-
ticipate in major shows for the world to acknowledge their potentials. Among the guests at the event were Beady Nnanna, a TV personality with NTA 10; Olatomi Falade, the Admin Manager of Artsbeat Concepts; Abolaji Florence, an artiste and many others in the creative industry. The organisers Ganiyu Amusan (Aparawa), Adeyanju Adegboyega (D Prince) and Atolagbe Jide (Top Jay) of ShowBizMen as well as Kenneth Chinedu Igwe (MOG) of Dunamis Entertainment, disclosed that they are focused on promoting raw talents in communities across the country. According to them, it is a yearly event for people to recognise the strength of raw talents in community development and how the world can benefit from these untapped artistes.