ECHO Magazine Edition 6 ft Jason El A by Smack Communications Ltd.

LAI MAKANJUOLA also known as MR XI is the CEO and creative director of E.C.H.O. He is also a photographer and graphic artist.

YINKA “MARQUE” MAKANJUOLA is a Nigerian emcee, music producer and visual artist

IFEANYI ‘FECKO’ IBEGBUNAM African Hiphop artiste uniting Africa one track at a time. Agriculturist, graphic designer Head Correspondent (E.C.H.O eZine).

DAVID “RAPMANIA” OKON, is a Nigerian emcee and hypeman for various hip hop events in Nigeria.

OLAWALE “PREACH” OLUKOYA is a writer, photographer ,graphic artist.

EMMANUEL KWADWO OPOKU JR. is a young and rising emcee in Ghana who has since started his music career has released several tracks.. He is the Head Correspondent in Ghana for E.C.H.O.

TEMITOPE AHMED AKA TP is a formal pro basketball player who has played in various countries round the world, graduated from HELP University in 2009 and since then started the ELITE basketball camp focused on education to empower African kids. His love for the Hip Hop culture has driven his passion to kick of E.C.H.O Uganda.

TUNDE ALADE BAKARE is a creative genius who loves to create ideas in relation to business, yeah, that's about making money basically. He is in charge of E.C.H.O business management.

Published by ECHO IT OUT MEDIA Facebook: Echo It Out Twitter: @echoitout Instagram: @echoitout Webiste: www.echoitout.com

I'm sure a whole lot of Echoholics would be wondering who I am and what I'm doing here right? My name is Lai Makanjuola a.k.a Mr. Xi and I am the CEO of E.C.H.O and also now the editor of this awesome magazine. Totally cool right?... lol. So yeah, lots of changes have been made since our last edition when the legendary Nigerian Hip Hop artist Modenine graced our cover, and with subsequent editions we will get to see them all and I can bet that you would love them all. But for now let's talk about this edition. When I first met Jason online he obviously seemed to be a super busy guy, but on holding the interview meeehn, I won't lie the guy has the most humble character I have seen a Hip Hop head have. And I'm sure you would get to like him too and we have also introduced more features just to keep you glued to your device. I want to thank my wonderful team and contributors and The Lord God Almighty because no matter how I Hip Hop I think I could be He is still more Hip Hop than me or anyone else so we can call Him the King of Hip Hop. So dear Echoholics, I wish you loads of fun as you read this edition and if you do want to get to me for contributions, features or anything about the magazine you can reach me through my email lai.makanjuola@gmail.com. Happy 2016 y'all!!!

Tega Nagha aka Baba Yega, is a writer, emcee and an OAP, whose been in the rap game for several years and and since hasn't diluted his artistry. He is presently signed to Knight House. Rapsodee Da Boomsha is a TV Show Host and Performing Artiste with a flair for writing. His literary and musical works collectively known as 'The Boomsha Kreatives' include the 'Rebel Muzik Mixtape", "Mavrixx EP", as well as the #Boomsha series. His stories and songs deal with contemporary issues and influence public opinion especially within members of the urban Christian community. DJ Timmy, who wrote the open letter, is a wellrespected deejay in Nigeria who has written several letters to address issues the industry has been facing, very direct and without watering the facts. Make sure you read his letter on the Headies.

When I wrote my first open letter to Headies on December 29, 2013, the majority opinions I got was that I was correct while others felt I was just an "Attention Seeker". Headies as an award should be credible and not just over hyped. We have hundreds of award shows every year in Nigeria and they are not as controversial as this one. Headies as an award are still not appreciating certain artiste, producers, entertainers and DJ's who work 24/7 to make sure they bring out the best. They give us the impression that once you are not nominated or you do not win, you have not started your career; this is a BIG LIE. Over the years, All Ayo Animashaun and HipTv family have proven that it is Money over Integrity and that is why he always ignores the choices of majority of Nigerians or could it be that they innocently don't even know what they are doing? I am not here to analyze the faults of

Headies in full but you can read the other complains on twitter with the Hashtag #TheHeadies2015. Firstly, I noticed your hall was half empty. Your live broadcast that you always brag about had the picture quality of NTA channel 10 and your technical crew were going offline every time things became awkward and they immediately have to switch to "lyrics on the go" to cover up your shame. I watched BET African awards live and MTV and I can see a very huge difference in all aspects. You still have a lot to learn. Another disturbing fact is that Headies as an award is creating bad blood among colleagues in the Nigerian music scene. Headies is the reason why we have not seen collaborations among certain musicians. Tell me why Phyno, Davido, Falz, Solidstar and many other music producers and artiste who have been topping charts this year where not

recognized? Next Rated Now Of all the categories, this is the only one worth arguing over. Even though this is not a voting category, I stand by millions of Nigerians to say that Lil Kesh or Kiss Daniel deserve the award. What are the reasons? Lil Kesh has more hit tracks, Swag, Stage performance, Composure and in the long run Lil Kesh may last longer for years to come. In fact, I will rather invest N10m on Lil Kesh career than Reekado's. That is not to say Reekado is not hardworking or he does not have the talent but Lil Kesh has that special something. In fact Reekado still does not have any Hit track to date…Yes !!!!! I say that with all sense of authority. Songs like Corner, Sugar baby, Catapult are NOT hit tracks, they are just popular and they could have gone National but they are NOT hit tracks. Don't confuse a popular song with a Hit track. Let me explain, As a DJ if i don't play "Gbese" "Efejoku" "Shoki" "Reggae Blues" "Woju" "Laye" "Godwin" at any party, I will have loads of people coming to request for them but people won't disturb me if I do not play Reekado Banks songs. Do you get the point? In fact another proof Reekado still does not own a hit track is that an average Nigerian parent who does not follow music still knows songs like "Woju"

"Bobo", "Ojuelegba" and "Efejoku". While I was writing this, I played Reekado's songs to the older generation and they claimed never to have heard them. YBNL VS MAVIN This was actually the most interesting part of the show for those who stayed awake to attend or watch the show. Now the beef is official and it is part of the bad blood that headies have caused. Olamide was not referring to anybody in particular during Adekunle Gold's acceptance speech but Don Jazzy had to mention Olamide's name and the beef became real on twitter with Olamide referring to the Don as a "Bastard". Don jazzy should NOT have mentioned Olamide's name in the first place and saying "he should come and collect the car if he wants". Now people are taking sides and everyone saw when Olamide threw the microphone away and his beloved "red cup' he poses with in almost all his music videos. In my own view, it shows how unruly and empty he is intellectually. Olamide wants to be a Kanye West so bad and he feels he can do anything and go completely free. This was the same guy who cursed Linda Ikeji for reporting a story about his "love child" and claimed it was a rumour till we confirmed it was actually true. Baba Miliano (Olamide) your alter

Hip hop culture is dynamic in its workings and the art of rap is just one of its various expressions. There are tons of resources on rap on the internet and it's not the intent of this article to rehash the details but rather to give practical tips to newbies who would like to develop their rapping abilities into a well-honed skill worthy of public acknowledgement and commercial exploitation. With that been said, it's necessary to establish a working definition of rap before proceeding further. Rap has been referred to as oral poetry and more commonly defined as an acronym for the phrase "Rhymically Applied Poetry". In other words, Rap is a poetry recitation set to music. This necessarily implies that it should

contain all the elements of poetry plus a little extra on the side. Most accomplished rappers have been known to incorporate the following elements in their verses, Similes, Metaphors, Rhymes, Imagery, Wordplay, Alliteration and Assonance. This is not an exhaustive list of techniques and literary devices used in rapping, however other external factors also play an important part in fleshing out this medium of expression. A rapper worth his or her salt is expected to have an adequate grasp of the following: Various Rhyming Styles and Delivery, Street Slangs and Vocabulary, Knowledge of Hip Hop Culture, An impressive collection of Rap Records and other

related media, Stage Craft, Crowd Control, Mic Handling Techniques. This is also not an exhaustive list of essential, but ermmm… I think we get the point. Now for a newbie, this might seem like an awful lot to handle, but the truth is you really don't have to go out of your way to acquire these and most of them will come naturally as you progress in the art. The first step which is always the hardest one is starting off. So as you brave the odds and make a pass at the microphone, here are a few tips to help you along the way. Listen: Get all the Rap albums you can get and listen to them. Rap along to your favorite joints as you study their content and analyze their various peculiarities. Be a fan first, before being an artiste yourself. Write: After reciting for a while, you will get the urge to create your own piece of art. Write your own verse… It's a good instinct. Follow through with it and write. Your writing may suck for starters but the more you write… The better you get.

Practice: Rehearse! Rehearse! And again I say ' Rehearse!' Practice makes perfect. That's a fact of life. You will never be a good rapper if you are too lazy to put in time rehearsing, a lotta time. Record: To know how you sound, you must get into a booth and record your verse. Hearing yourself rap opens your mind to areas for improvement and familiarizes you with your style and what works best for you. Perform: Finally, you have to hit the stage and perform your verses. Rap is more than stringing a bunch of rhymes together, it's poetry in motion, it's a performance and it's a total package. The audience is the ultimate judge. If you can't move them, then it's time to get back to the drawing board and repeat the process again until you get it right! I hope you find these tips useful as I have. Remember… You are not just doing Hip Hop… You are Hip Hop... Love yourself and be the best God made you to be… One!!!

Over the years, I have attended various album listening parties in Nigeria. From Modenine's Paradigm Shift to Terry Tha Rapman's Joe Spazm Mixtape and Boys Are Not Smiling album launch. Won't forget the BANS event in hurry - I remember feeling star strucked when I saw Nigerian football legend Jay Jay Okocha at the venue before I performed 'Na Beans Remix' alongside T.R, Osagie Alonge (Osagz) and Miekharry who was 14years old at the time. There were several other listening parties I didn't miss out on like Sean Martin Luther Tha P's 'Dope Unit

Mixtape' launch. Anyways, I knew some day I would be having my own listening party and only hoped for a good show. Tha Zone made this dream of mine come through. It's one undiluted hiphop platform that have been endorsed by the likes of Jay Electronica and Jay-Z's cousin, Bee High, when they visited Nigeria. It was an honor to headline the last edition of Tha Zone in 2015 which also doubled as my listening party for A.R.T. A.R.T is an acronym for Afrobeat, Rhythm and Truth. It's a collaborative project between myself and Nigerian producer, Teck-Zilla.

The EP is totally a breathe of fresh air I must say. That's what you get when you combine two different genres known for thought-provoking content, originality and depth. The 26th of December marked the day when Lagosians experienced true A.R.T at Apollo hotel. Emcees like TRex reminded us it was boxing day because he was dropping punchlines and lyrical jabs. Just like what my name stands for - indeed on that day 'Formidable Emcees Knocked-out Obstacles'. I wish Modenine, Maka and Phlow were present though. Would have been nice if we performed I No Want Fake and Female Kings - two of my favorite songs off the EP. However, I performed Fela Must Rise and the response I got from audience was encouraging to say the least. It was lit! Who would ignore the

thumping sounds of the kicks and drums on the beat? Teck's presence was still felt at the event through his solid production even though he was on his way to Canada that night. Other artistes like Peter Clarke, Buta Fly, Tupengo, Slay, Psalmurai, Keizy all came out to support the movement and their performance on stage was great. Hiphop enthusiasts and other people that attended the show left happily with copies of the A.R.T EP when the event finished. There would be more of such listening parties for the project. The next one would be at the New Afrikan Shrine. Keep tabs with me on my social media platforms to know what's popping next, aight? And make sure you head on tothisisfecko.com to cop my new EP. Bless!

Hi, so can you tell us about who you are and what you do? Friends call me TP Temitope Enitan Ahmed, Am an entrepreneur, Ex Basketball player, Speaker and a future farmer LOLâ&#x20AC;Ś I love entrepreneurial adventure, currently am involved in 4 different projects currently, A sports apparel company for women, plus size women and Muslim women, a developmental basketball camp that focuses on young kids about the importance of Education and personal growth, AD services and executive cab business online. Most definitely you have loads of achievements for you to have stayed in it for a long while, can you share them? I do have quite a few, My University is the best in the country and we won almost every championship for five years, won some MVP's and top rebounder awards both in University games and club level for club teams I have three championships also a Slam Dunk champ. So what you up to lately? Lately Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been focused on building my start-ups, so in February the sports apparel

line we be officially launched and concentrating on Elite basketball developmental program. We are gonna have the 2nd edition of the camp in March and we do hope to increase the number of kids that benefits from our programs. One of our camper Willem De Heer Swiss born is on his way to a European basketball academy. Do you think basketball really has a positive impact on the African youth of today? Sports is the gate way to so many things that impacts on the life of kids, it does have positive impact on building a good personality. It's not just about sports it's about showing the importance of education and basketball which in turn we help mentor these kids. In cases where they wish to become a pro athlete we help them through discipline, hard work, attitude and perseverance. So besides basketball, what else do you engage in? Constance work on my other start up and finding new ways to make my products unique and outstanding. The camp which you did late last year, can you give us a brief of how it went down? We had 40 kids, amazing coaches such as

Nimrod, Ronnie, Derrick, Purity and Coaches from the United States were Caleb and weltz. We had various programs that kept the kids engaged for half a day intensively and we did scrimmages 2nd half of the day, the camp ran for 2days and we had our sponsor STUDY GROUP from the UK provide the motivational books and speech session to the kids on importance of choosing the right University and how to merge basketball and classes. Are u a fan of hip hop at all? Yup, I am So what do you think is the relationship between hip hop and basketball? Everything, during games it hypes the crowd and excites them. The players usually draw inspiration from some Hip Hop artistes that gives them confidence and puts them in the right vibe. Who are your best hip hop acts here in Africa? Mode 9 it all began with him and stayed true the game no commercializing, MI, Aka, Jesse Jags. So how to do you think Hip Hop can be used to develop our continent Africa in the right direction? Yeah it can be used, such as creating community based outreach programs,

these kids look up to these artistes and when Hip hop is involved it will get the necessary outreach it wants. There is so much it can do. Am a believer of Human development, invest in people especially young ones and see how the communities will change. Projects such as entrepreneurial development for secondary schools and open group, Send a girl child to school, art school projects, community sports programs I can go on and on. Hip Hop has a link to the corporate world and these are ways to finance these projects. Contact me for more info Tell us about Hip Hop in Uganda and what do you in store for it? Hip hop in Uganda is more like Nigeria they love all types of Nigerian music but there are so many hip hop heads out there that we need to show case , they are good wait till you guys hear something soon. Do you dance? Nope LOL! Too tall to do that. Are you a party person? Nope I'm not a party person but I do attend pool side parties once in a while when am not busy or need for distress. Best food? Best Food that's hard. Chinese fried rice with spicy prawns, Amala with vegetable soup, jollof rice Best female emcee of all time? Mc Lyte What's your most expensive gadget? Laptop Worst rapper in the world? Ice Prince and Lil Wayne Okay... Great talking with you, do you wanna say else? Naaa, nice talking with you though.

What are your real names? Dynasty Drizzle: Ayodeji Aina (Jay bass):Ogbeche John Why Drizzle? Dynastic Drizzle: A lot of people gave themselves Dynasty so I had to give myself a surname hence the DRIZZLE. How did the crew start? Dynasty Drizzle: Uhmmnâ&#x20AC;Ś We started in high school around 2006/2007, we exchange notes from time to time after writing. So you guys attended the same high school? (Dynasty Drizzle): We are Cousins actually, we always try our best to challenge each other which we did till we got into college, but I left college to let's say 'find myself', it was then I met an old high school friend "Phaze Up" whom I partnered with to start a business called DRIZZLE CREW STUDIO, I stayed in Lagos to handle the business while J Bars who was still in school then would find time to come to the studio to record, we went on with it for like three years, We compiled an album called 'Blind To The Ordinary'. Is the crew just a two man thing? J Bars: No, there was PHLOWETRY, though she didn't join the crew like joinjoin, her music synced well with ours, someone introduced her to Dynasty but we used to be in the same rap group in church. Dynasty Drizzle: She's an excellent female emcee though but we just had to path ways. How deep do you think you've

penetrated into the industry? Dynasty Drizzle: I'll put it in two ways, when it comes to the mainstream, we've gone a bit far but not with music but not as we want to and reason being the fact the we have been forced to do music that is not our core(commercial songs) in other to excel in the business. But when it comes to the underground, I think we've gone way more deep into it, there is this project going on 'Don't Drop The Mic', it's a growing vision of conscious emcee's and lyricists and we are part of it and so far we do get lots of good feedbacks from people whenever we attend. Have you ever thought of quitting Rap? J Bars: Truth be told, music to me is life and it's a part and parcel of me but when you think about things that needs basic attention financially such as family, friends and all that, it really gets heart breaking and it makes one want to step back. But when I console myself thinking of how far we've gone I end up like 'Screw it yo, drizzle come listen to something I just cooked up". Dynasty Drizzle: Considering the fact of how far we've gone, we cannot quit anymore because we started as artistes, with time we became producers and then later on instrumentalists, we are grateful. What song have you produced that you feel has the sickest beats? Dynasty Drizzle: The greatest beat I have ever made that I'm yet to surpass is 'Killed By Mercenaries' second to 'Nubian Song' and then thirdly 'Judi'

because I took my time to make them. I have an EP coming up March this year. When it comes to your music have you ever been criticised about the quality of it? J Bars: Yes! Yes! There are certain sounds that you'd want to create but for people to see it that way they always want the base-filled kind of tune but music isn't like that, it's an expression of one's self. What do you guys think of OAP's and The Industry Itself? Dynasty Drizzle: it's a shame that everything that is practised by the government is also practised in every other sector. So we need to understand that as the government is corrupt it has affected the entire country. Initially thing used to be judged based on merit but now that standard in the country has been crushed and no one works based on merit anymore, it's one of the down sides of this generation of ours. Myself and Jay-bass have been

working based on faith and so far we've been getting air plays in some certain radio station because some certain people share in the believe based on merit, we don't pay much like we hear they charge and might not get a lot of air plays but there are still good people in the industry. How do you want your music to be perceived by your audience? Dynasty Drizzle: For me, I want our music to be perceived as a down to earth kind of sound, I used to be very abstract but as time went on I began to face the reality of the Nigerian youth no money, bad roads and all I want is for people to relate with my songs as the realest person, I want to be a friend to everyone listening to my songs, I want people to know I feel their pains. J Bars: I just want to be perceived as a simple guy, we are walking on a song called POLICE BRUTALITY, it's a personal experience that happen to me, the truth is all I just want is to express myself through my music.

COPTIC

He is a dope, talented music producer, rapper, song writer and also the leader of the Jagz Nation Family. He is the brother of top Nigerian rapper, record producer and leading man for Chocolate City Music Group, MI Abaga. He is also signed to Choc City and produced tracks on their compilation album alongside label mate Reinhard. Jesse Jagz is known for a bit of African feel in his tracks and production and everything he produces always seems to turn out fantastic. Ghanaian-born, New York-based Eric 'Coptic' Matlock has worked with the biggest names in hip hop. He's been in the studio, and made music for the likes of the late, great, Notorious BIG, Black Rob, P Diddy, Jermaine Dupri, etc. But he takes seriousness and pride in working with Ghanaian artistes like Kwaw Kese, D Black, M.anifest , Sarkodie, Trigmatic and a host of stars Ghana has produced, he is on a mission to break the barriers and sell their music internationally. He produced an awesome Hip Hop track by M.anifest called “Keep Shining” which gained buzz around Ghana and brought up some news about what M.anifest statement “The only rappers I know is M.anifest and the rest”.

A Ghanaian based producer is also a producer artist should look out for. Though he has worked with lots of hip hop artists like Sarkodie, Edem and Reekado Banks etc. He is famous for producing one of Sarkodie's songs called Illuminati, a controversial song which kept everyone especially the non-Ghanaian people wondering if Sarkodie was in a secret cult but he is not.

Pheelz also known as Pheelz Mr. Producer, is an awesome breed in the music industry. He is an in house producer for YBNL NATION owned by Olamide. He produced like 85 percent of Olamides recent album EYAN MAYWEATHER which he dropped last year and gained buzz all over Nigeria. He also produced an evergreen Hip Hop track by Vector Tha Viper called “Popular” off an album both of them worked on some years back called A7. Pheelz has put more work out last year and hasn't shown any resistance or rest in 2016. Chocolate City in house producer enters our list for top producers in Africa. Most people don't know his face in the industry but through the production of some hit tracks for choc city artistes, he is recognized. Reinhard produced most of the tracks on THE INDESTRUCTIBLE CHOC BOI NATION album like “Drank, Bass, Go Hard and Heartfelt”. He also co-produced songs like “Summertime” with Jesse Jagz, “Do Something” with TMXO, “Loose Soul” with DJ Caise, “No more” with Jesse Jagz, so you can see why we picked to be on our list. He delivers pure musical contents that blend with the soul. Guys like this should be out there winning awards. Big ups to him He is also a Choc City in house producer, he is a KING in what he does. Met him once, he has a good personality and gives good advices to young breeds coming up in the industry. Teck was formally based in Canada for a while and later moved back to Nigeria and joined Chocolate City, he produced one track on their album “Ricochet” by Pryse. He has also produced for loads of foreign Hip Hop acts which one of them is Canibus and a countless number of African hip hop artists too. Recently, Teck Zilla and Fecko dropped a Fela based E.P called A.R.T, the E.P is completely dope and of good content. I give all respect to him and one of these days, I will work with him too.

JustFenese is a young South African producer. JustFenese gave Africa a hit track from Cassper Nyovest break out track “Doc Shebeleza”. The song gave Cassper and Justfenese a big blow for both their careers. The track went further to sell over 1.5 million copies on the MTN music platform alone. Justfenese is pretty impressive considering the fact that he is still in high school and we can't wait to hear more from this young breed. Ashamed of myself as a young music producer too, I am . there though. getting Tumelo “Tweezy” Mathebula took the industry with an arsenal of club bangers like AKA's “Run Jozi”, “Sim Dope” and “All Eyes On Me”. He contributed heavily to the sound of the rapper's Levels album and instantly became a hip hop commodity. Tweezy has already worked with most of the big names in rap such as L-Tido, Reason, Chad Da Don, as well as some on the come up. Lunatik teamed up with K.O. to introduce skhanda rap, a new hip hop sub-genre that fuses kwaito and hip hop. Lunatik's work speaks for itself. He gained mad buzz all over the country down with K.O.'s massive hit, “Caracara”. He has also produced certified hits for the whole Cashtime crew such as Kid X's “Pass n Special” and “Cooler Bag”, Ma-E's “uGogo” and Maggz's “Cho Dlozi”. He still continues to deliver heat for Moneoa, Yanga, JR, Priddy Ugly. Take a bow, bro! I like his stage name… LOL They are a group of three spectacular guys who worked together as producers. They are South African producer who have produced for top artist in the country. Cassper Nyovest and Ganja beats team up together to fire out more awesome tracks. They produced MIMI (mama I made it) which is one of Casspers hit songs of 2015, and rocked all over Africa. For me personally, I love the song as a whole down to the production of the instrumental. Joining 3 brains together as 1, then you should sure expect bangers for sure.

So we decided to go over to Ghana and see what a few youngsters feel their best Hip Hop song for 2015 was, it was a good year indeed for Hip Hop and loads of good songs did drop, coupled with loads of events too. So let's see what they had to say. Samuel Asante @Jay_Sleek The hip hop song I'm feeling right now and i think has been the best this 2015 is E.L "ALL BLACK" it's deep Edwing Lawson @iampaypa E.Lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ten Rap Commandments

Erica Korankye Sarkodie ft Ace Hood "new guy" has been the best for me so far

Ellen Ansong I'm Aka's number fan and i love his song titled "Believe in me" I've listened to many hip hop songs this year but his is Epic i love the vibes. 22

Stephanie Bediako @stephanie212 AKA'S Baddest was my best hip hop song and I loved the video too.

Prince Quartey My best this year is "The Enigma" by Dee Money. Talking about those haters who ain't keep their mouths shut. It's ma best mehn.

This is a question I ask myself every day, but before we dive into an abyss of infinite arguments it is my duty to make you the reader understands the true meaning of Hip Hop. Hip Hop is a culture of selfexpression consisting of four main elements we all know for now and these are Graffiti, DJing, Emceeing and Breakdancing. We have suddenly forgotten the relevance of these key ingredients in our Hip Hop today and are phased by the pop fame and culture and all through history of music and pop music has always outsold Hip Hop music because hip hop in the past was considered 'Black People's' music and still has that stigma whether we admit it or not. Africa as a continent has not even tapped into half the resources hip hop offers and why do we then go to schools to get an education and come out sounding like illiterates on tracks claiming that we the artists are aiming to please the fans? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Some lies we tell ourselves right?â&#x20AC;? and now we celebrate mediocrity with so much energy and passion and its funny that we the so called Hip Hop heads even end up convincing the "not so rooted in the game" rappers that Hip Hop

cannot sell, which is totally annoying. I'm also very disappointed with a lot of labels and entrepreneurs who throw real hip hop out the window for cheap and quick buzz records that die after a month. Hip Hop is a lifestyle and you can't fake it. Being an emcee means you are a preacher and preachers who believe in their ministry never turn and run but they stand the rain. Hip Hop where I come from (I'm Nigerian by the way) is being swept further under the rug and this gives me heartaches. It's 2016 and you guys should come out from your caves dear hermit emcees, graffiti artists, DJs and dancers a like. Hip Hop has NEVER sold out, just emcees with weak spines sold out and those DJs who say they can't bump your joint because it's too Hip Hop and they go ahead and bump American Hip Hop in the club? SMH. And lastly dear Hip Hop artists you don't need to look for the biggest producers, find a producer who has the same passion, drive and dream as yours and pour your soul out on your tracks, you have what you need around you, use them!!! Hip Hop is ALIVE!!! Baba Yega

Over a long while fashion in Africa has really upgraded and the t-shirt artists here still don't really have much focus in the media and all that in this part of the world. T-Stop is a new part feature in our magazine that focuses on the art of t-shirts by showcasing few artists' work round Africa in every edition and hopefully appreciate and patronize them too because whether we like it or not, they really making Africa proud by selling our culture through artistic visual on these t-shirts. And to come to think of it T-shirts are worn by everyone on earth, or is there someone out there that doesn't? So let's get to check out what these proudly African artists been up toâ&#x20AC;Ś

JASON EL AGHA Is An Award Winning TV/ Radio Presenter From Ghana(WestAfrica) & A Hip-Pop Artist. Who looks Up To The Likes Of Tupac,Micheal Jackson,Drake,Chris Brown,Kendrick Lamar,50cent,Jay z,E.L. He's Got His First Mixtape Out Called ''THIS IS EL-A''And About To Drop His Second Mixtape Title ''BR3DA'' Soon. He's Got Music Videos Out And Is Constantly Working On More. He Consider Himself A Nerd Cos He Has Over 600 Comic Books And Counting And He Still Wants To Be A Super-Hero LOL. He Doesn't Play With his Movie Time And At The Cinema Every Week. He's All About Work And Studio Takes Most Of His Time, Music Is His Passion And He's All About It.

Introduce yourself please Hi, I'm Jason El-Agha. Simple dude who wants to be a super hero ha ha ha. LOL... You don't really look Ghanaian... You half cast or something? Dad is Lebanese. Mum is Ghanaian Okayâ&#x20AC;Ś Cool. So tell us something we don't know about you, like about your background and how it was for you growing up. Um, well one thing is I'm pretty shy. The whole time I was in high school I was never even on stage to perform or nothing like that. Didn't know how I would even start. I was on stage twice. Once I was sent by one of my teachers to get something the other we had graduated and we were just goofing around teachers to get something off so I was usually quiet and reserved. I used to perform for two of my friends hahaha and it's really cool because they helped me believe in myself. You shy? That's new. So when you were growing up, who were the guys you always listened to both locally and internationally? Yes oh hahaha... I think it's beautiful because the people I look up to don't even know it but they've helped me so much. Watching and listening to them. Tupac and Michael Jackson I adore so much and listen to all the time I'm inspired by artistes like Drake, Chris brown, Kanye like Jay Z and 50 cent,

the deep content of J.Cole and Kendrick Lamar blows my mind, these people are so talented and they work so hard! They give me a lot to learn and I'm grateful for that. I listen to E.L a lot. He's just dope. I'm happy because I've also seen his work ethic. Awesome I tell you. Wizkid and Davido are dope. These people are inspiring to me. It's cool also because I look up to Cristiano Ronaldo even a lot, works real hard. That's some inspiration yo and a big salute to Sarkodie. We work hard to work with people like this, big humble salute to them all. Super cool. Many people would say different things about how they see Hip Hop, but what is Hip Hop to you? Hip Hop is life to me. Simply because hip hop talks about everything Everything! The good and the bad. Words are so powerful. And my prayer is that we push our listeners to be inspired. Like Tupac did. I listen to his interviews when he was so young even about school and its benefits and I'm like wow! How could you not learn from him? I pray everyone is inspired by great people like Pac to be positive and help society. I'm also inspired by business men like Jay Z and Puff Daddy, Hip Hop is life. Hmmmm, really deep. So how long have you been in the game and anything to show for it like achievements so far?

All I'll say is I work very hard and hope my fans are happy. My fans and my family are the ones who matter to me. That achievement is a blessing and thanks to God and support from the fans in 2014 we won best TV presenter and in 2015 best radio presenter and best emcee all at the Ghana tertiary awards. In 2014 when I was named hottest male at the Ghana teen choice awards that was pretty cool because I consider myself simple hahaha. Any and every award I win is for me and my fans. Wow! That's a whole lot. And yeah how do you handle being an artist, OAP and a TV presenter all at the same time?

Passion, time management, and a lot of humility and love what you do and be passionate about it. Treat your passion like your wife or something. Manage your time wisely, go to work, create good content for your listeners then go straight to the studio to record. Rest when you can. Be humble and appreciative of every opportunity God gives you. Hmm! True. So in Africa who would you say are your top 5 emcees of all time and why? Wow! can I mention just 5? I know it would definitely include E.L , M.I , Sarkodie and a couple more because they work hard.

Lol. So you wanna go on with the list? Hahaha will do in our next interview. Salute to these three legends though. Most definitely you will, so do you think Hip Hop in Africa has reached its peak or still has a long way to go? Um lemme say there are some awesome people pushing the envelope and that's what it's all about. I believe also we have some more work to do. With God we'll get there. So have you done any collaboration and how's it working with other people? Yes I've gotten to work with E.L when Gemini featured him, Stargo on a song called NSN. Y'all can check it out on YouTube and a couple other artists too. Collaborations are really cool I think and I'm still working on more. You're really doing great for yourself then... But it seems like you've had a flawless journey... Haven't you gone through any setbacks at all and any you would like to share? Yeah I have. Like people not believing in you and talking anyhow to you even when people you hope would help don't. It's not easy and losing my grandfather at 18 was the worst - I miss him every day but with all this I just keep quiet and work. Prayer helps me a lot. Grandpa was very religious and he taught me that and to pay

attention to the love given to you and move on. Okay so back to collaborations, which international artist would you love to work with and why? Whoop!!! Chris brown, Drake, Kanye, Kendrick, Dj Khaled, Jay Z, Rihanna, Lil Wayne, man!... you gonna have me going on and on hahaha. These are great people man. Their songs live on and inspire. It would be a blessing to be in studio with them. It's God's time & hard work. I look up to Chris brown a lot too. He's a blessing. Lol... I feel you on this list... All awesome artists in their different ways... So if you had to go head to head in a rap battle with any African emcees, who would it be? Hahaha. I'd just listen and learn. Lol! You're a smart guy... So I'd assume you're not a fan of BEEF in the Hip Hop game, because loads of people say its spices things up. People like to observe beef. But I don't think you want it to escalate or get physical. No lie though it does spice things up. Who's gonna say what or do what, for example I follow 50 cent a lot. I like him. I like his tenacity. He doesn't back down. Hahaha. Hmm! Okay so let's move a bit from Hip Hop... What are the things that make you proud to be African?

Everything man. The culture, the food, the clothes, the friendliness, the weather, the women, haha… the beautiful African women, you gotta love Africa. I'm proud to be African. What would you change about Africa if you had the power to do so for a day? Everyone would get a chance to go to school. That would be nice, but do you think Hip Hop has or will have a role to play in developing the youth in Africa and in what way? Yes most def. For the mere fact that it helps those who are into Hip Hop follow their dreams and a means to put food on their tables, to stay out of trouble, to even learn because Hip Hop helps with vocabulary and expression, even with confidence and creativity. So yes I believe so. Word! Let's go a bit personal now... we all know you're not a bad looking guy; are you in any relationship? Yes with my music. Hehehe... Nice one there. So how do you cope with female fans? I love them. They are awesome, they are super, I tell them how grateful I am for all the support and I love them. Aaaight, your answers though. LOL, so any embarrassing moment you would like to share with us? Haha... In high school once my mum

saw a missed call on my phone from a girl I had stored 'love of my life', to impress that girl... you know young boys LOL. My face was red... But I swerved and said it was my friend's girl and he had stored it hahaha. Hehehe... Okay that's funny with the red face. So you got any celebrity crush? Tyra Banks is fine bruh. I love her long time LOL. Hahaha... I feel you on that. And what's swag to you? Because on your default setting it seems you got a lot of it. Haha… Thank you. Swag is being yourself bruh. I have over 600 comic books and yes I want to be a super hero hahaha! I love my video games. I adore sneakers, I don't joke with my cartoons, I love graffiti too... That's me, that's who I am. Find yourself, be true to you and someone somewhere will see the swag in that. Someone will love you for that. Feed your swag bro. Solid stuff there. So where is your best hang-out spot in Ghana - if you had to advice a first timer to chill and relax? The Cinema. Yep that's me, every week. Apart from work - I don't really go out. But cinema is my place man. What's your fashion sense and what's your best fashion piece? Hmmm… I don't really know if

anything particular. As in once I think its dope I'll wear it. But mostly mine, I would say is more street style I think. Today I'd be in a dashiki tomorrow a turtle neck - fashion is cool. I love my sneakers. Mehn gotta work to get way more... Loads more!!! I'm pretty simple I think, but the sneakers gotta be crazy haha. So back to music for a bit, if you were meant to choose just 4 rappers on a 5 man African cypher including yourself being the 5th, who will they be? You already know E.L, Sarkodie and M.I gonna be there. I'll let you pick the 4th. Hahaha... Clown, aaaight!!!... So let's sign out, what should we be expecting from Jason in the nearest future? All I'll say is I work hard and leave everything to God and pray he takes care of everything we do - new music, new videos. That is the constant - work. And to my fans and everyone who supports me. I love you. Thanks a billion for the time though, was great having the chat with you. Thank you. God bless you.

Kemi Naomi Keshinro Model, video vixen, fashion designer, beauty consultant. Hobbies: dancing, watching movies Best Nigerian hip hop artiste: Vector Best American : J. Cole Sense of fashion : Denim on Denim, nude shoes My top 3 songs on my play list right now: Soweto baby ft WizKid and Dj Buckz Hotline bling-Drake Olamide-Dont stop

He's known as the guy who changed the game with one video. A business man and CEO of MO'BB Records. You could mistake him for your average rapper because of his sultry flow till he proves you wrong. The quintessential Gino is a usually laid back rapper with witty lines, sometimes gangsta, sometimes coming up with songs that touch your soul. He is also an accomplished singer/songwriter/ghostwriter. His style of music is a blend of Rap, R&B, Reggae and African. He loves to experiment. The video for his first single "No be God?" was shot in 2005 and was acclaimed the best thing to happen to the Nigerian music Industry when it was aired and gathered a lot of attention from all around because of its story line and depiction of street life.

Who says our African ladies aren't into Hip Hop too? Here are some of them you might know or never heard before but they been repping hard and all hot too. And if you think someone's missing, then feel free to holla at us, we'll love to meet them tooâ&#x20AC;Ś We love our African female emcees yo!!!

SOUTH AFRICA

And because Nadia gets the number one spot, we got some details for you to know her more. Nadia Nakai is a South African born artist with Zimbabwean roots. She's travelled and lived as far up Africa as Nairobi Kenya, this mix of culture is evident in her style and lyrics. She found her love for Hip Hop and Rap music at the sixteen and was inspired to start recording. Her talent on the microphone was undeniable, as she went on to feature in multiple DJ's Mixtapes most notably 5fm's DJ C-Live's â&#x20AC;&#x153;Taste Makers Mixtapeâ&#x20AC;? series sponsored by Levi's, alongside great South African Hip Hop artists such as Tumi & the Volume, AKA, Morale and Kwesta. 35

FECKO AND TECKZILLA DROPS A.R.T. It shouldn't be news again in the hip hop community that our very own Fecko, (well you can allow for some kiss a** here) dropped his well put together EP titled A.R.T an acronym for AFROBEAT RHYTHM & TRUTH which is a collaborative work with the extraordinary hip hop producer Teck Zilla and features a long list of true hip hop artist both in Nigeria and round Africa as a whole, the problem with this EP is every time you hear it, unless you are not human, you must bump your head to it because the full EP is a perfect fuse of Hip Hop and Afro beat with a recognizable tribute to the legend Fela and you know how the African beat goes yeah, anyway big ups to these two artist who have once again shown the world how it's meant to be done. VECTOR TAKES SHOTS BACK AT YCEE Headies Lyricist On The Roll and Ace rapper 'Vector THA Viper' sort of responded to Ycee's diss on his Instagram page. The 'King Kong' rapper posted the selfie he shared with rappers Olamide and Reminisce who were also nominated for the Headies 2015 Best Rap Single. “The thought to share the moment with fellow nominated hard workers (@baddosneh and @iamreminisce in the review year,” “(Shouts to @illblisstheboss and @iamlord_tr for holding up rap too). The pic isn't the best (lol). But the moment was real.” Vector wrote. And then he had words for those hating on him. Though he didn't call anyone out, we already know that there was just one 'hater' who dissed him during his performance at the award event – the 'Jagaban' rapper, Ycee. “I'm not the type to be against the progress of the movement so let all the hating miss me with the bullshit,” Vector concluded his post, adding, “#greatness is greatness and let #God take all the #glory” Ycee had taken to his IG page to mock Vector's freestyle, and it didn't come as a surprise when he deleted the post 36

MI FIRES MORE SHOTS AT OSAGIE ALONGE (OSAGZ) Popular presenter Osagie (@OsaGz) tried to drag MI into Olamide's issues or should we say 'Tried to enlighten everyone by tweeting; "M.I throws shade at Olamide in reference to making fast food music. #TheHeadies2015" But MI was quick to reply saying "@OsaGz 1st keep my name out your mouth… 2 if you want to talk about me mention (@) me.." The Choc City boss took it a step further today, as he tagged Osagie “stupid” in a post on his Instagram. “Here's to all the stupid people in the world who speak about you without knowing the facts,” he wrote. OLAMIDE IS TAKING THE OLIC TO THE U.S COME MARCH Following a successful event last December, YBNL artiste/CEO, Olamide is set to stage the US edition of OLIC (Olamide Live in Concert) on 'Good Friday,' March 25, 2016. The show is billed to hold at Hampton Conference Center, West Hampton Place, Capitol Heights, Maryland, the event is being packaged by US-based Nigerian show promoter, Wale Bouncer, the CEO of Fathia Entertainment. Olamide will also be joined on stage by Lil Kesh, Dj Eni Money, DJ Jamster, Indo among others. The event will be anchored by Do2dtun of Cool FM and popular actress, Eniola Badmus.

How did you see the Hip Hop industry generally in 2015? Worldwide, 2015 it was indeed a beautiful year for Hip Hop. It saw the release of some albums that will be talked about for years to come. Have you done any project recently? Yes I do have an already finished project called Introspect; An 8track EP set to be released late January. Who would you say is your best African emcee? Unfortunately, I do not have a best male emcee. Good music has particularly made me unfaithful with regards to this. What's the worst verse you have ever dropped and what song was it in? LOL. I would like to think that everything I spit is epic...although if i had the power to tweak a few feature verses, i would. Nigeria VS Ghana VS South Africa, which country do you think has the most to offer when it comes to Hip Hop music? I really think Nigeria has the most to offer. My answer would be different if you asked of the readiness of the audience. Your top three female emcees of all time? Hmmmm. Top 3 female emcees of all time... I can't categorically tell you that because I will be too boxed in but

I can name at least 6 people that will easily make my top 3 LMAO. Lil Kim, MC Lyte, Lauryn Hill, Rapsody, Nicki Minaj, Charlie Bmore, Blaise, oh snap that's seven... LOOOL. I could actually go on and on. Best fashion piece? My best fashion piece has to be loop earrings. Can you do without your phone for a week? It will be tough but I can definitely do without my phone for a week. If you were to choose between money and love which would you pick? Errr I'd say love... For God so LOVED the world.... Fake it till you make it, do you believe in that? Similar to J. Cole's words, I'll say make it, then fake it. What should we be expecting from you this year? What to expect... definitely my EP... a few collaborative EP's, a number of features and most likely a mixtape, and some other stuff we can't project. LOL. You wanna sign out? Have a wonderful 2016! Best believe that, you can do all things. @cycloneArtemis : twitter,instagram,snapchat.

Patogen an un-signed upcoming artist also battle rap MC hailed from the streets of Surulere Lagos, Nigeria. He is known for his intricate rhyme scheme and potent delivery when rapping is a joy to watch anytime you listen to him. Patogen has gained critical acclaim from Modenine and Vector Tha Viper respectively. After a very impressive 12 track mixtape 'School VS Rap Da Mixtape' and Crowned Champion of the Cool FM Freestlye Friday, as well as a successive run as the champ in City FM's Hip Hop Ride with KShow. It's a no brainer that Patogen is one to watch out for. His first Single "Not a Star" is certain to do great as well. From battles, to cyphers, to mixtapes and now an official single it's exciting to see this young promising artist from Surulere grow.

Sometimes when gospel music is mentioned, the average mind thinks of another boring old folks song preserved only for Sundays; sound tracking the weeks guilt. However, Protek, like a few others, intend to redefine gospel music with the trendy pop culture touch/sound to appeal to the general public whilst renewing minds, winning and transforming souls Protek whose real names are Promise illasheva Audu is from Nigeria. The acronym PROTEK stands for Positely Refined & Overwhelming Techniques Enlarging (GOD's) Kingdom.

(all their albums) 40

Marqued wears is graphic based T-shirt outfit based in Lagos, Nigeria. It started some years back but officially kicking off in 2015, the brand as sold its items round to different parts of the country and abroad as well. It's affordable, fun and for the peeps who just don't have the time to be fake. For now its signature designs are SHAKARA, NAIRA, FAITH OVER FEAR and the famous three red, yellow and blue square heads that make up the logo of the brand. You can follow them on @getmarqued on instagram.

Playlist Top 5: 1. Kendrick Lamar How Much A Dollar Cost 2. Mick Jenkins Dehydration (feat. The Mind) 3. J. Cole â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 03 Adolescence 4. Wale - The White Shoes 5. Kendrick Lamar - i

d eela,I'm an V i o B e m a n id by his stage ective Hybr ll n o w c o p n o k h r e t ip t eh be ly 27, 1992 ember of th u J M . n r ia o p b io ji h n t ria-E Veela Kalo t from Nige is t r A rs. p o H among othe , n African Hip e e h s la a gside Kh Kamp, alon

Debut project: African Sinatra Vol.1: Smoki ng Sessions, was released on December 2015 on Soundcloud. a and Worldwide ic fr A in s n fa p o H ip in the number of H se ri a d ce Hop Artist 'Kendrick n e ip ri H e p a y ex b 5 s n 201 io at in m o morrow. All we highest number of N To e r th te to et B ct a e r sp fo re e p h o it w wards. This brings h A y m m ra G 6 1 0 2 e Lamar' in th the Cause. have to do Is Stay on 46

Oluwa Music Group OMG has picked a feature to share a piece of what the Interactive Afro Hip Hop Genre really and Truely Entails. The Chemistry of our Genre is a Musical Integration of Afro Genres interaction with Hip Hop as a channel to express the average notion of Africans who are aware of hip hop but with the norms that suit the Afro genre and as Nigerians that we are... With influences from acts like Fela, Pasuma,Jay Z, Nas, Lil Wayne, Drake, M.I, 2Face, Katung,Jesse Jagz, Akon , Tpain, Slaughter House, J. Cole, Phenom, Burnaboy, Wande Coal, Busta Rhymes and the list continues. The Group together is a fusion of what the day to day thought of African Nigerians with a purpose of being

educated but cautious about our basic ethnicity, to show pride in culture, in order to Standout as black and proud individuals, In general, The Chemistry of our Music is simply integrated but a pure generic kind of music, These means all Africans can stand together and give the world our personality instead of following the various Trends of music but to believe in music as True art, so in order to achieve true perfection one simply has to deliver himself as a proud Nigerian, From Oluwa Music Group to upcoming acts, believe in yourself do your best and always give your Fans 'YOU'... 47

POPPA DON - GROW THAT WEALTH Kenya's Afrolyricist Poppa Don made the official release of the video & audio of the track ”Grow that Wealth”. The video has been released exclusively on his POPPA DON fan page. Be the first to check it out!! 'Grow that wealth' is a narrative of strategy & tactic through the eye of a budding rap artist seeking to make his mark in the industry. In 3:06 minutes, the act 'Poppa Don' contextualizes the struggle of fighting your way up the ladder in the music business with the intent to grow ones passion & wealth. YUNG6IX - "FOR EXAMPLE" FT. STONEBWOY KKTBM hip-hop titan Yung6ix enlists BET “Best African Act” winner Stonebwoy for his new single titled “For Example”. Produced by E-Kelly.

EMEKA - INDUSTRY DIARY 2015 The much anticipated “Industry Diary 2015” Rap-up by the super talented rapper, singer, song-writer and entertainer “Emeka” is out for his esteemed and ever supportive fans all around the world to enjoy. As Emeka would say “Let's play catch up”

ECLIPSE - SALAMALEKUN 2.0 ft M.I AbOriginal Music's Eclipse kicks off the countdown to his highly anticipated EP, CITY OF DREAMS, with the release of its first single,SALAMALEKUN 2.0, the official remix to his previouslyreleased single SALAMALEKUN, this time with a guest feature from hip hop's #Chairman, MI Abaga, who joins Eclipse in celebrating music success — while dismissing jealous “haters”. Produced by Ray X (and mixed by G-Plus) SALAMALEKUN 2.0 is an irresistible club banger lovers of good music everywhere will enjoy — and solidifies the fast-rising Eclipse as THE Nigerian rapper to watch out for. 48

ANATTI - JUMP FT CASSPER NYOVEST & NASTY C South African hip hop heads, Cassper Nyovest and Anatii teams up together on this thrilling hip hop record titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jumpâ&#x20AC;? which features fellow South African rapper, Nasty C.

A-Q - CATCH YOUR SUB Talented versatile rapper A-Q kicks off 2016 with a tape reflecting on his achievements in 2015 and revealing some of his plans for 2016. He titles this one CATCH YOUR SUB, he delivers dope punch lines, metaphors and wordplay on some of the best beats in Hip Hop, the last track is however an original track produced by ace Hip Hop producer Benshima. The 5 track tape features BBJN and MR.JI which are artist he has taking under his wings to develop, he also has Str8Butta's Maka on this. The tape is a collaborative project with R50 Ent. A comic platform set to launch this year, check it out y'all. I really can't pick particular tracks to listen to too just get the EP *sighs FECKO - ART EP The highly anticipated collaborative project by Fecko and TeckZilla has been out for a while now. The EP, aptly titled A.R.T, an acronym for "AfroBeat, Rhythm & Truth", is a Fela-inspired project that fuses different genres of music - say hip-hop, afrobeat, and lots more - on a single compilation. The EP is an exclusive production of Str8Buttah producer - Teck-Zilla and it features Nigerian artists; Maka, Phlow, Modenine, Halogen, Villy, Tupengo, Shukid and Khaligraph Jones (from Kenya), Dominant-1 (from Malawi), The Holstar (from Zambia) and Raiza Biza (from Rwanda/New Zealand).

I don't think Cassper Nyovest needs any introduction when it comes to African Hip Hop, because he has done it all and worked with numerous artist round the continent too. So let's just go straight to the video â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mama I Made Itâ&#x20AC;?. This video was well planned out as he is awoken by a call from his mama and the music video begins. The scenes are not that complex at all which makes it more relatable He basically just involved a lot of people. The video "Mama I made it" shows how happy he is that he has made it in life. There were lots of Arial shot in the video done by drones which have basically taken over Arial photography as opposed to using helicopters a while back. 50

There are also places where Cassper uses hover boards. Well that ain't new anymore but it added a bit of fun into the video. Overall, it's simple, straight to the point and well thought out. I'm a fan of casual looks so yeah! The styling for the video was good, a simple everyday looks. And I like the fact that as usual Cassper does something out of the norm by not loading his videos would booty popping ladies, for me it's has become a nuisance these days. And another thing shown in the video I noticed is that people do like this Cassper dude, the crowd were all genuinely happy to come out and be real around him. So with all that I guess "Mama I made it" made his mama proud.

Ghanaian hip-hop giant E.L has been on fire since he dropped THE BAR and THE BAR 2 mix tapes with every track being a hit back to back (in Olamide's voice). Off his BAR 2 mix tape he drops the visuals for All Black featuring Papii Kojo and Joey B which seems to be the perfect choice. The video was shot in Ghana by Lex Maccarthy who clearly did an awesome job because I don't really have much to say against it. The BBnZ live frontline man delivers a good video that follows the theme of the song itself, ALL BLACK and I have to say it again the director really did a good job on this piece. The intro of the video was awesome, it shows E.L coming out from the dark with a cigarette in his mouth then later throws it to the back and lights up the car behind. There's so much confidence and energy in the video

something we have to recognize more when it comes to doing Hip Hop videos. Generally, I like the fact that they used an underworld feel to portray what the video stands for. The transitions also did well with the introduction of each rapper in different settings and with each rapper displaying equal energy for their parts. And for their costumes, I think their simple all black outfit did it all, which takes it away from a trendy video to a more artistic lasting video. Though, it will have been perfect for me if the video was in ALL BLACK and white but that's just a personal preference though. Not to forget, THE TRACK IS AWESOME, I LOVE THE INSTRUMENTAL! And SHOUT OUT TO E.L AND THE WHOLE BBnZ LIVE CREW.

ego Kanye West started becoming responsible when he gave birth, when will you stop sounding like a thug in your songs and be a role model for those who are watching you? You refer to yourself as a Rapper but i say it to your face that you are now a bloody singer so shut up. I wonder why you were not nominated in the R&B category since you are now a professional singer. Back to the Mavins, if we look at this from another angle, Reekado needs the car more than Lil kesh since Olamide already bought Kesh a black Range Rover sport around March, 2015. Instead of Jazzy to buy his "childrenâ&#x20AC;? (as he refers to his label mates) a car, he will be giving out free recharge card on twitter to buy peoples heart. At least Reekado, Korede and Di'ja will stop going around Lagos with cabs. It should be noted that Davido is also a major cause of this, he tweeted it some months back that Lil Kesh should pull a "Kanye" on Headies if he does not win. Kesh was probably too timid so his oga OluwaKanye Olamide did the dirty job and referred to that as "Fighting for the poor boy".

In conclusion All Nigerian artiste and producers do not place your hope on the Headies which should now be referred to as "The Leggings". Do not say because you were not recognized it means you are not trying, keep doing what you are doing and let the Headies keep on doing what they are known for NONSENSE.. !!! Do not forget to send your insults and blessing to the writer @Baddestdjtimmy and tell me exactly how you feel. I also need someone to clear this please, Don Jazzy said â&#x20AC;&#x153;The organizers told him to call Reekado to come...So he left Alibaba's show" Does that mean he knew Reeky was going to win that category? Cynthia Morgan was absent and i am sure the organizers did not tell Jude Okoye to tell Cynthia Morgann to rush down there. You be the judge!!!!!

DJ Timmy

I usually am the quiet type who lets things just fly because I expect everyone to know the difference between wrong and right, but of late I've been feeling the need to open up and start addressing loads of things that bother me, but I have to mention the last Headies awards, I'm not that bothered about the drama and all but hey! Its been sorted out now so the media says. To tell you the truth I'm more concerned about the impact it had on the masses or let me say his fans which isn't just a hand full of people. It makes me wonder if we have any functioning brains left in today's youth community. Firstly I have heard and believed that maturity has lots to do with the controlling your temper and our dear Olamide (who is obviously one of Nigeria's biggest hip hop acts whether you like it or not) didn't show that but that's not the case here, I looked more at his fans and saw majority of them still supporting his actions both in the crowd and on social media which was shocking. It's clear now seeing why we have lots of shallow minded youngsters who hardly know what they want for themselves but just want to copy and live the life they see their best artist live which makes them do crazy things to meet up to that kind of standard. I really don't know what the schools teach them these days because most of them are still in schools but it's obvious that these

artists are their new lecturers and they only learn from them because they clearly have more authority of our youth. From the way they talk, dress, and even recognize themselves is really sad these days "duro this" "sneh that" and the fact that they don't even know the difference between wrong and right again is something we should worry about. But can we blame them when immorality is now the order of the day, wrong is the new right, bad is the new good with most songs put out there that become "hits" either must be a booty popping, drug or crime related song being celebrated with so much energy and their schools cannot dare compete with that when it comes to impacted the youth of today. All I can say is its very sad. And to the artist I'm pleading, we know you are all about making money but know you are a very powerful vice in shaping the society or why do you think you're a tool used during elections and campaigns? And in your chase for money know that you also need to direct the young ones right and properly with your artistry and character. Some of you are even ambassadors for various top brands out there, so being an artist is a huge responsibility. We can't deceive ourselves that all these age restrictions and censoring

of vulgar languages on the media work, we know it doesn't. Where I stay, I hear young kids in primary school singing very terrible songs word for word, so please artists let's do something about it. I respect your hustle but I just want you to remember you're all a voice too, whether for island or mainland blablabla we really don't care but power has been put in your hands, please use it right and let's make Africa the best continent on earth. I believe we are and we can be it. And I believe Hip Hop is a very strong tool that can reshape our youth of today and for hip hop heads out there, it's time to get to work. God loves you and God bless you all.

Published by ECHO IT OUT MEDIA Facebook: Echo It Out Twitter: @echoitout Instagram: @echoitout Webiste: www.echoitout.com

HTTP://WWW.SMACKCOMMS.COM IG: @SMACKCOMMS