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 IFEANYI ‘FECKO’ IBEGBUNAM African Hiphop artiste uniting Africa one track at a time. Agriculturist, graphic designer and editor-in-chief (E.C.H.O e-Zine). OLAWALE “PREACH” OLUKOYA is a writer, photographer,graphic artist and is single.
YINKA “MARQUE” MAKANJUOLA is a Nigerian emcee, music producer and visual artist
DAVID “RAPMANIA” OKON, is a Nigerian emcee and hypeman for various hip hop events in Nigeria. TUNDE ALADE-BAKARE is an avid ICT lover and information system security and control professional and a big time brand and business manager.
Published by ECHO IT OUT MEDIA and SMACK COMMUNICATIONS LTD. Facebook: Echo It Out Twitter: @echoitout Instagram: @echoitout Webiste: www.echoitout.com
Working hard for something we don't care about is called stress, while working hard for something we care about is called passion. Team ECHO has really been passionate about being consistent with our publication since inception. And since we believe that the only way we can be taken seriously is by remaining consistent, we have decided not to rest on our oars. After showcasing some of Africa's most gifted Hip Hop artistes from East Africa and South Africa, we've decided to bring it back home to West Africa. E.C.H.O proudly presents the 5th edition of Africa's number one Hip Hop digital magazine, featuring Nigerian Hip Hop legend, Modenine. It's really an honour to have the award winning lyricist grace our cover page. I really had fun interviewing him. You gotta love his sense of humour. And of course, he is so outspoken that I had to censor some of the things he said when I was transcribing his interview. Lol. Apart from the interesting and extensive interview, we have a lot in store for our esteemed readers across the globe. Our guest contributor, Mc Potar from Zimbabwe decided to unveil 7 fast rising rappers from his home country that he feels should be crowned Hip Hop kings. To be honest, every article on this particular edition is thought provoking. And as for those who want to be only entertained, you may feed your eyes by jumping straight to the Hip Hop Video Vixen section and also peep cool pictures of the events we covered. Lastly, I would like to urge any potential investor reading this note to sponsor the ECHO brand today. Yes, it's by force! Hahaha. Just joking. But seriously, this is really a great platform to advertise your product and services. Reach out to us if you intend to do so ASAP. Our doors are always opened. In fact we decided to remove the door. That being said, Echoholics, enjoy this special edition.
Ifeanyi 'Fecko' Ibegbunam Twitter & Instagram: thisisFecko
Dear Rappers, How's it going? I Love the music you've been cranking out. But, really fast, I want to get at you over a lot of things that has been affecting the growth of Hip Hop in Nigeria. Not “get at you” as in beef ooo but to call your attention to a lot of things you've been ignorant about. I've got a few questions and even more comments. First of all, do you really care? Seriously, do you really care about Hip Hop and the countless, nameless, and faceless “Underground Rappers” that need you to help change the way rap his being been portrayed? I was just wondering, because there are lots of people like myself who don't know. Dear Hip Hop Heads what are you all doing to help young ones out here whom are looking up to you all understand Hiphop? Why are you all keeping to yourselves these days, complaining about the death of 'Hiphop' and doing Nothing about it? Why?! The recent Son of John concert showed us that Nigerian rappers have a lot of work to do in the area of unity and commitment. It's sad that you have placed yourselves on a very high pedestal of deceit and lies, that your ego is way bigger than your fan base and record sales. We need you to work together to re-build the Hip Hop scene in Nigeria, Believe me
when I say Nigerian “HipHop has a large fan base that are willing and ready to pay for Hip Hop albums and attend shows”, we only need a structure on ground, and unity between Nigerian rappers. As you know – or should know – Hip-Hop has traditionally served as the voice of the voiceless. And since its inception, rappers were the ones with the loudest voices. How come we don't have a voice here? Is Africa meant to be different? You all claim we are doing HipHop, when will you all teach us how it should be done right? In closing, I think we should all make some changes. Forget what's going on in the radio and television world. Stand out and stand up for something substantial on a more consistent basis, not for something silly just to make the headlines. You're still connected to the 'hood right? No, not the so called Street slang we hear in your songs these days. I mean, the neighbor'HOOD that inspired the music you create. That made you who you are. Since you're established in the 'hood and with the people in it, let's make some music that inspire them. Times are hard, and they need hope. You don't have to be corny because of it. We'll still support you, and you can still do the degenerate or opulent rap that gets you played by the programmers and the clubs, but let's mix it up. BALANCE. Capicé? 7
Black Intelligence, a Nigerian producer with a midas touch on soul and boom bap hip hop music was raised in Jos city, the coldest part of the country known for its good music and being a breeding ground for most great acts around the country such as Tuface and Asa. He grew up into music majorly learning from records his father played as a kid which spanned a mix of R&B, hiphop and soul therfore his early influences leaned towards the music of the nineties with his favorites ranging from "Mary. J. Blige" to "The roots" unlike most of his peers, he often cites "The Roots", "Pete Rock", "James Poyser" and "Dark Child" as major influences that affected his sound development ; a warm, jazzy and smooth method of production much more preferred over chopping vocal ridden records as you can tell from his released works. Active since 2006, the beat Smith always tries to create any new record in tune with his personality and likeness, in his own words he makes music he can listen to in the morning as soon as he wakes up. Black Intelligence has worked alongside industry acts such as the legendary Modenine, Boogey, Paybac, MHP, Charlie X, Hench and others. On April 16, 2015, he released a Nas remix album called "Time is Illmatic" celebrating the 21st anniversary of Illmatic which went viral and regarded as one of the best hip hop materials erupting from Nigeria by the international community.
Let's get to know you more? I am Adeniyi Oluokun also known as Paragunn Blao, sometimes called PG Blao or just Blao, born in Lagos, grew up in PH city but right now I am currently based in Lagos. I'm an emcee, Music Zone host, Studio manager and a business man. I studied Building Technology from Yabatech. How did you become the host of Music Zone? Right from the days of Wax Lyrical I have always been part of the show but as time went on different people came to support the show but due to individual growth of the past hosts they had to move on to the next level. Wax Lyrical Host: Loose Kaynon got signed to Loopy Crew, Hip hop Zone Host: Micheal Switch, then came Sensie Uche on some occasions when the hosts was absent I usually host the show but as time went on Dj Mekzy who powers the event thought I hosted the show well then he gave me the chance to continue hosting and that was how I became the host of the show. How many Hip hop artistes have you hosted on music zone from inception? We have hosted Vector, Loose Kaynon, Lil Kesh and many others...other artists that show up sometimes like Tech Zilla, Fecko,
Seriki, Baseone and many others I can't really remember now. *smiles* I know you have been involved in a lot of underground Hip hop projects. Can you tell us about them and the one you are currently involved in now? I was the pioneer President of the first and presently the only official entertainment association in Yabatech which is used to help and promote underground artistes in the school. I am the host of Underground music's "Stop making wack rappers famous" cypher which the first edition was held in Ipaja the next edition is in the works. I'm the host of "Power Cypher". I'm currently working on my next mixtape which I dropped the first single off it titled 'strictly for the People' which was produced and engineered by the dope and talented young dude Sinister Beatz. We at Blao family entertainment Group have a lot in the works we are more concerned with the growth of the arts as regards quality and standard than the greed we see in it every day, and we believe the industry needs change and the time is now. We can make it to any level regardless of the odds. Thank you very much for your time I really appreciate what you guys are doing .God bless ECHO mag team
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It's an honor to have you as our guest artist Modo So what's up? E.C.H.O reps African hiphop, and you're one MC that have been doing that for mad years. I've been following your African Hip Hop movement for long. It's kind of a lil bit dormant now but we're trying to wake it up. Re-building our little army. Notwithstanding we've been repping as well on our own side. The African Hip Hop movement is the corner stone. And another stone was laid. Now we have people doing Boombap lounge, Tha Zone, and they're making stairways all the way to greatness. And now we have E.C.H.O and Fecko. I'm humbled. So what has Modenine been up to? Working! People see me and go like “I'm your number one fan, I've not seen you drop anything, what's happening?” In May, I put out a song a day. From the 1st of May to the 30th of May. 30 songs in one month and you're still asking me where have you been? You need to get your brain checked if you're a fan. Why I asked that question is because right here in Nigeria, we perceive things differently. People believe you're not putting in work until you're on MTV. Well I left the country. I went to Germany and the U.K. And since I got back, I've been in Abuja. I shot some videos. I have at least five videos good enough to get played on MTV and whatnot. The issue now is; are they really going to play it? Truth is there is a certain type of Hip Hop they shove under
the rug and I fall into that category. People were beginning to feel that I was deliberately sabotaging my own progress, so I thought dropping some commercial songs on AGL would be cool. This commercial stuff is easy. Speaking of commercial, what do you think about the whole 'local rapper' movement? They're doing their thing. It's highly none of my business. In my last album I featured Reminisce. I also worked with Phyno on a song, but the song didn't come out. It only shows that as an artiste I don't care what you do. I have Don Jazzy on my album, and then I had my boy Ice Prince. I tried. AGL was an album for everybody. Someone told me that Modo shouldn't have worked with Reminisce. That it actually sparked off the 'local rapper' controversy. That didn't spark it. We had mutual respect for each other. I like his music. I think he's very talented. In my own opinion, after Dagrin is Reminisce'' if not better than DaGrin. He can sing, he can rap in English and he can rap in Yoruba. It's all Hip Hop. What I don't understand is why he did it. Why? Anyway, the only people that can answer that question are the guys that did the song. I don't regret working with Reminisce. I love his verse. I love the song. Even though he said; “Koni danfu punchline” that's what he felt. So what do you think about the new school Nigerian rappers of today? Some of them are very disrespectful. The moment you disrespect me you get ostracized. You disappear. You become 11
nothing to me. I'm not gonna try and impede your success. I won't do that. I'm not God. But I won't f#ck with you even if you apologize. So if I understand you correctly, are you saying that someone like Ruggedman is ghost to you? Not really. He's not a new school rapper. But do you see us doing songs? Nah! But we're cool. If I see him I'll shake him. It's not like we hang out every night and do shoki. I am a grown man doing my thing now. It's hustle over feelings. So that's how it is. He doesn't fall into that category. Not all new school rappers are disrespectful. Some show love. A piece of advice; run with me, don't run into me. Peace! I'm actually a nice guy. KRS ONE said Hip means Intelligence, Hop is the movement. Hip plus Hop means Intelligent Movement. I disagree. You disagree with KRS ONE? Find it startling considering he's among the MCs that influenced your style. Of course! Who is he? Is he God? Sometimes your father says something to you, and you'd tell him daddy I don't agree. So why do you disagree? To an extent, Hip Hop is an intelligent movement. But guess what? Some people who really, really love Hip Hop are not educated. I have fans who don't understand what I say but are like “when you dey throw am omo na die”. People misquote me on Twitter every single day. The truth is Hip Hop is just a movement. As for the intellectual part, 12
if you hang out with people that are intelligent, it makes you intelligent. It's for everyone. It's not about race. Hispanics were probably doing a lot of break dancing more than blacks. Let's just look at it as a way of going forward and educating the people. Most people wanna know why Modenine hasn't signed any artiste or started up a label to bring yougins on board? They think you're a one-mansoldier. Why hasn't L.L Cool J done it? May be am the L.L Cool J of Nigeria. But on the real, I have tried. This generation wants to blow today if they get signed today. I tried to do stuff with a couple of young people and I discovered that their brains were moving too fast. Until we establish ourselves to become a financial institution that's financially stable then we can say “You! Sign this contract, you aint going anywhere.” But if you're not willing to give funds to these kids then you have to let them run what they wanna run. Back in the day, it was me and Kraft that were running around. So why are they saying that? You don't have to be known to work with me. Worked with underground producers like A1 and Black Intelligence. In Nigeria most guys that get groomed by a certain person, end up turning their backs on the person who groomed them when they get big. Which African artist are you feeling at the moment? F#ck everybody! Nah, I'm just joking. I pay attention to my true African Hip Hop people like The Holstar (Zambia),
Dominant One (Malawi), he is a good producer and he can rap. In Botswana I got my people like Mr Doe, Chub Heightz (the whole Made-men crew), Zeus, he was on AGL. And also M.anifest from Ghana. What do you think about Cassper Nyovest? He's dope. He was on Talib Kweli's 'Fuck the Money' track. It's not about bodying a fellow MC on a track. Some listen to your verse before writing theirs. So you didn't do that on your collab with Canibus? Of course, I did. I gave Teck-Zilla the title “Super Human�. And I had to hear Canibus' verse in order to know what direction they're taking it. Most tracks I record with others, I do not care what you do. But if we had discussed the concept of the track I can do mine first. Let's go back in time. Tell us about Swat Root. Swat Root can be likened to only Swat Root. We started people being clever with their writing. I can technically lay claims to me. When I was in Swat Root I had to step my game up. So I put in that work. I recorded more songs than most of the members. I have more albums than anybody in Swat Root. Consistency is a big part of me being Modenine. I was the least experienced person in Swat Root so I had to learn on the 13
job. We started this super lyrical thing in Nigeria. Should we expect an album from Swat Root in the near future? I don't think so. We are all in different dimensions right now. We are all still friends. We hook up every now and then. There could be a Swat Root album but am not sure if all of us are gonna be complete to shoot videos. Rule Clean is in Germany, Terry is doing his own thing. Mr Baron is an engineer. Solo Dee is a very very busy person. Eldee told me a while back he's not really interested in doing an album. I know you have more body of work than any other rapper in Nigeria. How have you managed to remain consistent? It's because I really love Hip Hop. And it's Hip Hop over money. When someone who knows nothing is trying to take control of your career, run! Because he's gonna use you and dump you. One of the few CEOs that believed in me was Kevin Luciano. And Solo Dee of Payback Tyme Records. They really allowed me to do my thing. Which new school rapper do you think is putting in work at the moment? Well Fecko isn't exactly a new school rapper. That nigga has been around for nearly ten years. Most of the guys that I feel they have the spark are like young veterans. But you know how the country is. Eclipse is not actually a newcomer but I like his drive though. He is newer than you though. What's the way forward for African Hip Hop? I wish I knew. But all I know is that you 14
guys need to work hard. Don't worry about worrying. Just do what you have to do and enjoy it. That's what I do. What's the craziest thing that has happened to you in the industry? In 2008 around December somebody called me and threatened my life. He said he was gonna kill me. And he called me from a Glo line. And I replied 'if you know where I live, come see me'. The guy hung up and he didn't call ever again. Most upcoming rappers these days kinda get rap wrong. How would you break down metaphors, punch lines, multies? Mind schooling them? I am starting a Rap school. I am gonna explain all that in my rap school. You don't have to be a punch line rapper if your brain isn't really built for it. You could tell stories. You could use rhymes. It's not a must that every line must be a punchline. I don't even have to use punch lines. What I use now is choice of words. What do you think about E.C.H.O? A lot of young people use these equipments you have in your studio for negative things. They use their cameras to shoot porn and put it on the internet. Some use their computers to scam other people. But we thank God there's a group of young people trying to make a name for their selves by doing something positive. It's great. E.C.H.O is good cos you guys are the only ones doing this typa stuff that I know. Other African countries pay more attention to y'all. They should, cos it's real!
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Sprite threw its weight behind this year's edition of Battle of the Year Nigeria Breakdance competition which turned of to be 50 shades Of Awesome. This year's edition began with the Nigerian preliminary for the 2015 i nte r n at i o n a l B OT Y b re a k - d a n c e championship which took place on Saturday, 22 August at the Indoor Sports Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium. The venue was filled with lots of bboys , poppers, lockers and crumpers with electrifying moves. The seventh edition of the Battle of the Year Break dancing Championship which went down on Sunday, August 23, 2015 hit the Indoor Sports Hall of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in Akoka, Yaba. The event which was anchored by HipHop Heads Rapmania Tha X and Paragun Blao of Blao Family, featured b-boy crews; Space Unlimited, 619 crew and lots more.
This year's championship title was grabbed by the 3 times winning. Lagosbased crew, Space Unlimited though majority of the audience felt 619 crew should have won but I'm sure the Judges 'Boy Red 1 (Pokemon Crew, France), Bboy Jc Jedor (Nigeria), and Bboy Joxy (Cameroun) knew better. Space Unlimited after winning the grand finale in Lagos Lagos-based dance crew 'Space Unlimited' will be representing Nigeria at the International Battle of the year dance competition in Braunshweig, Germany. Space Unlimited crew emerged winners on Sunday, August 23, 2015. Special guests appearances at the event were; Vector, Mz kizz, Xyz, Teckzilla, budda lee, AQ and Fecko with DJ OZ and Dj Mekzy on the wheels of steel...though a lot of other guests were expected but due to their normal 'African Timing' Tradition they came when the show ended.
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List your Top Five Hip Hop Oriented Content that would thrive on radio and TV Hip Hop Trending Topics Hip Hop Facts Plus Unknown Facts HipHop News/Gossip Punchline moment Freestyle Session Why do you think the mainstream media in Nigeria isn't paying enough attention to real Hip Hop? I take time to listen to Nigerian music and view Nigerian musical videos. The fact is if you know music, you will know that most of these Nigerians posing and posturing as Hip-hop artistes are clowns and wasting their time. Most of them are only opportunists who are more interested in appearing on TV/Radio than learning to be proficient performing and recording artistes...you can hardly find real hip hop out here in Nigeria, the true hip hop rappers are only few and sad enough they don't get enough recognition like the wack ones. This Is one of the reasons I'm bringing that real 22
hip hop back through the media. Mic Therapy Radio show with Brainiac is here to stay Nigeria has a lot of real talents, who have not made it to the limelight, yet we are bombarded by videos/songs of rappers who are just in the music thing for a ride literally, These artistes will not stand the test of time. The media has to start discovering real Hip Hop artistes and spinning them always Noticed most Hip Hop OAPs in Africa are also aspiring musicians? Why do you think this is a norm? Lol I just think it's another way to get popular. I really don't blame them though but at the same time I think it's crazy and absurd for an OAP to become a musician without the talent, that's promoting wackness through the media just because you are in the media Mind sharing your history as regards Hip Hop in South East Nigeria? Igbo rap is a Nigerian style of hip hop music that originated in the Igbodominated southeastern region of Nigeria and has become more popular
since 2000. The style draws its main influences from Igbo traditional music and African American music Most artists and groups who perform Igbo rap usually deliver their lyrics in the Igbo language, although on some occasions, Igbo is blended with Pidgin English. What do you look out for in an ideal Hip Hop song? The lyrics ... The punch lines; the word play and lastly the beat! What do you think is the way forward for the Rap industry in Africa? The social media afford talented individuals a lifetime opportunity of putting their best foot forward. It is a platform that is democratic and boundless in its reach.... After gaining traction online or social media relevance, it is important an artist transitions to making real-time impact offline. The mandatory legwork must match the efforts made online The quality of Hip hop music however might be very poor because of the need to appeal to a wider crowd, and this is because the music is cheap. If the music sold at N1000, you would need to sell a 100,000 copies to make a 100 million, you might not necessary want to appeal to millions of fans, you just have to work on the quality of Hip-Hop music and create ways to market to the fans because the way music is marketed right now does not favour Hip-hop. Do you support beef? A hip hop feud, also known as beef, is a controversy in which multiple rappers defame and confront each other in a
number of ways. For as long as rap and hip hop have been around, rappers have had reasons to feud. 'Beef,' as it's known colloquially, has become an integral part of hip hop over the years, with some of the biggest and most well-known rappers of all time finding themselves embroiled in controversy because of a comment they made or a lyric or song they wrote. Legends like Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls,
Jay-Z, Nas, and Ice Cube have all found themselves feuding with fellow rappers or former friends at some point in their careers. However, many of these socalled 'beefs' lead rappers to write 'diss tracks,' songs aimed at disparaging a person or group, and often these tracks become some of their most influential and popular songs. In summary, beef is another way of promoting the art of hip hop. There can't be hip hop without beef. It makes it a lot more interesting
Maka, (real name,Sam-Ejehu Nwamaka) is a soul singer and songwriter. She started singing professionally in the year 2009, when she was a 200level student of the faculty of law,university of Lagos. Now a Lawyer, she hasn't stopped singing. She's currently working on several projects which will see the light of day in 2015 and beyond.
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Str8buttah have teamed up with fast rising songstress Maka (Managed by Trogge interactive) and budding femcee Phlow for 2 EPs respectively. Maka's "The Truth EP" and Phlow's "Mind,Body And Phlow" will be released later in the year while singles and videos will drop within the coming months. 2 videos have been shot for Maka's Mu Na Gi and Phlow's Reputation singles respectively.
Phlow (real names Stephanie Asuai Eyime) is a Lagos based emcee. Influenced by veterans such as Run DMC, Nas, Nelly, Drake and her older brother-who was in a gospel rap group in the early 2000s. She started penning rhymes as a means of expressing herself in her late teens and ventured
into recording later on. She has a forthcoming Ep which was produced in its entirety by Teck-Zilla and its titled "Mind, Body and Phlow". She participated in the 2015 edition of the Hennessy VS Class for lyricists and currently under a Production deal with Str8Buttah Productions.
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For me it depends on personal interest same way some people use 'knife' to chop up vegetable or beef, same way some people use it to kill people so I guess it depends on the individual also the same way guns are used for killing or protection. Bottom line, I don't judge what message people pass across, because am of the opinion that if you have an issue with it do something about it - Ace the Emcee I think that Hip hop music today has greatly improved and certainly grown positively. Nevertheless Hip hop today deals with creativity, knowledge and intelligence which cause you to think deeper than normal and of course make you love music and appreciate Hip hop so much more. - Udochy 28
No message at all, everybody wants to do commercial, singing just gibberish - Worule Cool
It reflects exactly what's going on in our society today - AQ
Today's HipHop music has totally been commercialized; the endproduct of which is the downward spiral in the output & lyrics. Hip hop went from "there's a life of crime & street pressure" to "f*** it, we're gonna rule the world no matter the fuck comes in our way". It's that plain.- Blade Enigmatic
Well I think it's just on the surface dissing people, mostly sexual topics. It doesn't have much any meaning, and so it doesn't last unlike the very first days of Hip hop - Peace
There's nothing in Hip hop music these days every message is centered on woman and dancing - Holy Field.
I can't see any message in today's Hip hop Jenny
The industry renders it useless. It's the truth because even when you try sending a good message nobody wanna listen, including those that claim to be Hip-hop heads Gedes
They're not thoughtprovoking, unrelated and stereotyped.- Reemtos
Its not strong enough, I feel like there’s so much missing in the messages, empty blanks that need to be filled.- Deeva
Nigeria Hip hop is still empty, nothing's changed but change is coming....world's Hiphop is growing stronger and the message is quite gratifying King Stessi
From my perspective, I feel a lot of new generation Hip hop artistes have diverted from the traditional elements of Hip hop. The message in today's hip hop isn't as deep as it supposed to be. But a few heads still make quite an impression, though I'm yet to see a rapper who reminds me of a maestro like Krs-one. - 9millz
The music industry in Nigeria has grown bigger and bigger over the years, and has become really sellable to the average Nigerian. Artistes now get mega box off album sales, concerts and endorsements. Talking about concerts, in my 20+ years of existence in Nigeria, is has somehow become an unwritten law, that it is impossible to have a successful Hip-Hop concert. Because of this development, Hip Hop artistes have been forced to do pop songs that people term “sellable”, just so they can get on the list of performers for concerts and shows. - Tosinadeda A-Q, is a Nigerian rapper whom I don't know personally but I've heard lots of this songs, though most are controversial and a bit cocky, he decided to do what no rapper in Nigeria has had the boldness to do over the years, and enter his name into the history books of Nigerian Hip Hop. Asides putting up his mix-tape “Son of John 2” for sale on all platforms online at a price of N50, he decided to organise an event to launch the mix-tape, and later decided to make a Hip Hop concert. The moment I got the gist I was like 'Hmmmn Someone has been doing his homework' which to me was a very brilliant move. It is not surprising that the concert experienced a lot of setbacks and lack of support, being a Hip Hop concert, and more so being the first in Nigerian history for more a long time. 30
ERRORS/FLAWS I noticed A-Q tweeted about the concert and said “Every artiste on the Mix-tape, had an automatic invite for the show". I figured at that moment that something really bad was going to happen but I was still optimistic because from what I know which is normal, an album launch concert should have every artiste featured on the album, just like how movie premieres always have all actors and everyone that made the movie a reality in attendance but I felt for that to happen, they needed to be formerly invited. Apparently some rappers that featured on the Mix-tape felt slighted, for not being formally invited, despite the tweet and decided to talk bad about the concert on twitter, which made it lose some credibility; In addition to that there were some mix ups with a couple other rappers who didn't get formal invitations, due to some logistic flaws. 'So I heard ooooo'...
SET BACKS It's a very sad thing that getting sponsors for Hiphop shows in general is quite hectic and almost impossible these days, as no brand wanted to be a part of it, though when I got there the first thing that caught my attention was the red carpet and the logo of brands on banners that seemed like the graphic artist was scared of doing the artwork well enough. Asides E.C.H.O IT OUT media all other media houses were nowhere to show support which was very disappointing. 31
An inside source told me that Sales of the ticket almost turned out to be impossible as the online platform did nothing in terms of promotion of sales and a whole lot of rappers were contacted by the organizers of the concert about a month to the concert, and they consented. But few days to the concert, when it was time for the rappers to talk about it to their fans, they suddenly went worryingly silent and those who responded started to make monetary demands and give series of excuses.. *sigh...Naija we hail thee* The concert started very late due to logistics issues with the venue and majorly the late turn out of people. I pitied the MC 'Rapmania Tha X' who was trying to buy time by hyping the event for close to an hour without nothing major happening, the poor guy was hyping to a congregation of unbelievers (really bored to bits and pieces kinda audience).
SUCCESSES Since no major sponsors were ready to put down their money for the concert, the organizers tried their best to manage and plan the concert well. The audience was quite large for a first time, and even though majority of rappers billed to perform didn't show up, the ones that did put up a hell of a performance that will linger long in the minds of the fans that attended the concert. Security and organization was good, sound was a Lil bit down the rope at first but turned out to be dope too. 32
Upcoming rappers had a platform to show their talents which most show organizers wouldn't have allowed. The Concert had dope performances from Eclipse, High-M, Blaqbonez, Fatboi, PayBac, Kursor, Butafly, Boogey whom I was told was cut short during his performance hereby making him very unhappy, Cyclone, Peter Clarke and many more up and coming rap stars. The concert experienced great performances by bigger Rappers like Godwon who stood on the stage for a looooooong time due to poor sound management , Terry Tha Rapman, Cyrus, Weird Mc and Jesse Jagz. Weird Mc and Jesse Jagz were easily the best acts on the night, Jesse Jagz's charisma and Weird Mc's energy got the whole concert turnt. In all it turned out to be a success though a lot of people who came have much to say to AQ about it. The Son of John concert has showed us that it is possible to hold a Hip Hop concert in Nigeria with almost no support at all and be very successful at it. Wale Olukoya
It seems the number one cognac in the country "Hennessy" has a lot of goodies for Hip Hop fans this year. Just when we had heard a lot of Hip Hop artist complain that there hasn't been any platforms for them to show off their skills, on the 1st of September 2015 we were pleasantly surprised that one brand could take that step to stand for Hip Hop in this great nation, the 1st edition of Hennessy Artistry Cypher was released and on the mic were some talented rappers both known and underground. The 1st edition featured Jesse Jagz, AO, Splint, Scar Dennis, Karma & Base One, well we were like “yeah right, cool stuff and all that but what next?” As we and some others all thought it was the end of it no one else could murked a cypher better than these guys, then they let go of the second cypher, which featured Show Dem Camp, Chinaydu, Dris, Prometh & Milli… personally I think Prometh was the best on this one. Then BANG!!! Things just got heated up on the 3rd part of the Hennessy Cypher as they made it more interesting giving us the feeling that they do mean business right now, the third cypher featured Oga Boss iLLBliss, CBN's Pryse
and some underground MC's namely, Gunzz, Aquadragon, Dynasty Babz, Dogginit. The fourth Hennessy Cypher which was released on the 11th of September 2015 featured Loose Kaynon, Magnito, Maxino, Lugame & Elveektor. And we do love the fact that they actually took out time to really pick true rappers from the bunch and not some lousy ones that think they are all that. We do have to recognize and appreciate everything good out there and also stands for what is right, so big ups to Hennessy for supporting true Hip Hop lyricism and we all respect that and hope it just doesn't stop there, as we got our eyes fixed on you. We do hope rappers out there keep getting platforms like this to showcase their talents and show the world that Hip Hop does exist in this part of the world. And to you other major brands out there, please learn from Hennessy and give Hip Hop a chance because it is big business, well I said “big business” because we know that that's what you are all about. Okay bye!!! Xi & Preach 33
5 PROBLEMS UNDERMINING THE STATE OF HIP HOP IN NIGERIA So while digesting on the state of our music industry, I made a list of some major problems demeaning the art of hip-hop in Nigeria. Have a good read. 1. Lack of Unity Within The Hip-Hop Community Segmentation in the hip-hop community has proven to be a huge threat to the growth of the art. The OGs (legends) on one side, and the new school on the other isn't the way forward. Nigerian rapper, Fecko once told me, "Pop artistes and comedians got more love for each other than our hip-hop artistes do for themselves". I couldn't agree more. Our artistes need to come to terms with the fact that in order for hip-hop to break through in the Nigerian music industry, and get to the pinnacle we've all yearned for, they need to put aside their egos and work hand- in-hand to achieve this feat. Working hand-in-hand here starts with making enough hip-hop collaborations, and extends to lending support genuinely to each other's grind and hustle. Don't just post cover artworks on Instagram with a caption that reads
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Article by Orimogunje Oluwatosin. (@Reemtos on Twitter) "Reemtos got a new one, link in his bio". No! Instead, listen and praise the greatness that you see in a colleague's project; irrespective of you being on the compilation or not. 2. Unavailability of Genuine Hip-Hop Projects. Let's not mince words here; Nigerian hip-hop today is very deficient of solid hip-hop materials. It's so terrible your favorite music blogs are flooded by pop singles and projects. Like nine out of every ten blog posts aren't hip-hop related; and chances are the ones you see wouldn't represent the art appropriately. The unavailability of projects can be narrowed down to two major factors; laziness of our artistes to consistently put out projects, and on the other hand, lack of content in most so-called hip-hop projects out there. Our 'hiphop legends' keep disappointing with the array of singles and projects they keep churning. The thirst for commercial success has done huge damage to our music - not that commercial success isn't of importance. But how about a 6-track compilation?
Yeah. An EP properly written, recorded, and produced, with genuine representation of the hip-hop art. 3. The Media Genuine hip-hop isn't on radio, instead, we have them on our music playlists on our mobile phones. Nigeria, on all her radio stations nationwide, can hardly boast of a genuine hip-hop show that serves all-round hip-hop music and grants appropriate, non-clichĂŠ interviews to artistes, or reviews a project. How pathetic! Overtime, hip-hop has had to bank on social media for the support it needs in order to stay 'relevant'; as that is the only genuine means it gets the little form of life it still has. Very sad. 4. Lack of Hip-Hop Shows/Concerts Hip-Hop shows/concerts being implied here refers to a post-album release tour of an artiste/label across the nation or beyond. I was privileged to be at Battle Of The Year (BOTY) Nigeria - 2015, a dance competition which held at the prestigious University of Lagos. For an event that neither had the best of publicity, nor held for free, I was stunned by the crowd. The turnout was huge and everyone was mad-thrilled by the dancers as well as from the guest performances. I thought to myself, with a better planning and organization, we can certainly pull off a hip-hop concert successfully, and even do better. Sure we can, if we'd dare. 5. The Fans. This right here is another major
problem with hip-hop in this part of the world. The lack of constructive criticism from fans play a huge role in the wrecking of the art. The fans need to stop nurturing their distaste for the body of work put out by their favorite artistes by being deceitful or by keeping mum. A terrible project should be tagged terrible. A disappointing one, disappointing; and a great one should be spoken of greatly too. That way, hiphop improves gradually. In addition to the listed factors is the lack of (or inadequate) support of hiphop artistes by major record labels. We've got enough raw talent in the
industry that are without record deals. Without proper management, funding, sufficient studio time or guidance, the growth of these artistes is almost impossible. Hopefully, someone takes notes from these highlighted points and works towards improving the art. Hopefully. Till then, long live Nigerian hip-hop! Peace!
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Miss Why-Kay whose real names are Ogunjimi Elizabeth Adeyinka is a young upcoming female rapper who started writing rap songs for fun only in high school and after being encouraged later started to spit bars. One of Miss Why-Kay's songs is titled "Go Down� featuring Cartiair. She has been featured in a couple of videos! She's a combination of Beauty, brains and talent! Instagram : rapchic01 Twitter : rapchic01 36
The defunct boys are not smiling movement & clothing line (B.A.N.S) was founded by Terry Tha Rapman now Lord T.R with members like Fecko the Emcee, OsagZ, Pheroshuwz and so on.
The South African commercial Hip hop fans first met Kiernan Forbes, popularly known as AKA in 2002 when he was in a group with his schoolmates called Entity.
AKA South African heavy weight rapper has opened for Snoop Lion, Kanye West, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Big Sean and Kendrick Lamar in their South African tours. Lagos emcee Fecko and Compton rap god K.Dot aka Kendrick Lamar share the same birthday. Both rappers were born on the 17th of June.
Elajoe produced and promoted thorobreds 1st street acclaim single "Streethop" Popular South African rapper K.O hit song Caracara; video was the first local Hip Hop visual to reach 1 million views on Youtube.
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Reason's first mainstream appearance was on YFM in 2005, where he delivered jingles on The Unrestricted Freshest Breakfast Show hosted by the legendary DJ Fresh..
Khaligraph Jones made his debut in the Kenyan music scene in 2004 when he was 14 years old, and has been entertaining his fans since then.
Rapper Cassper Nyovest landed his first deal at the age of 17 with Impact Sounds.
Olamide is the first Nigerian to sign an endorsement deal with CĂŽroc.
Sarkodie's Rapperholic album earned him his first BET nomination and subsequent win. Sarkodie was also featured on the BET Hip Hop Awards cypher alongside Talib Kweli, Jean Grae and Ab-Soul.
Reminisce recorded a hardcore rap album in 2006 at Coded Tunes, that was never released and he decided to focus on his studies and complete schooling.
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Let me preface this by saying, I love filming. I appreciate filming as an art. I love the way people tell different stories using different scenarios, some metaphorical just to express themselves. Now, music videos are more like the mind of the artist when the song was written. He/she shows you what he/she is really trying to say. When we listen to the song (audio), each of us comes up with different visuals up in our head. If the visuals of the song you watch was what you imagined when you were listening to
the audio, then go kill yourself. Artists try to re-interpret using visuals, more like motion pictures. Let's get into the video review of Vector's "King Kong
Remix" featuring Phyno, Classic, Uzi and Reminisce. This video is an abstract film (experimental film). "Abstract films are non-narrative visual/sound experiences with no story and no acting. They rely on the unique qualities of motion, rhythm, light and composition inherent in the technical medium of cinema to create emotional experiences"-
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Wikipedia. In other words there's no right or wrong in abstract filming. There are no rules. It's just an art form. It's more like abstract painting. The video uses a di-chromatic coloring. The monochromatic (black and white) and a strong red is the only visible color. I don't really know what the Director Matt Max was driving at with his coloring. But by my experiences after watching the video several times, I can tell he is trying to emphasize the theme of the song "Dominion (taking charge)". The breaking texts (kinetic typography) shows the viewers some lyrics of the song. This is just another style Matt Max uses. Like I said earlier on, there's no right or wrong in experimental filming. The only thing about the video that put me off-balance was Uzi's part (the 3rd minute). The use of high saturation. I can't still say it was wrong but it created another feeling entirely. It made me
start questioning the video's composition. Although there were some recognizable scenes like the beginning shot from Kendrick Lamar's "Swimming Pool (Drank)" video, the 3rd minute was just out of it. The coloring was off. This is a personal view. Matt Max should have continued the video like he did. A friend said “The high saturation was to emphasize the coming of an unknown rapper into the community, more like a welcome party scene". That was his own view. Aside that, the composition was artistic. The ending shots was really good (the part where Reminisce tried to do the "shoki" dance). It eases the viewers after watching a video of fast rhythm and motion. At least I giggled in that part. Over all, the video was okay. There are very few Nigerian directors that have done experimental filming. Director Matt Max just tried to show his art. Niyi Adegboyega
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The Democratic Party in the United States of America has welcomed Kanye West's declaration to run for the US presidency in 2020. “Welcome to the race, Mr. West. Glad to have you,” the party said on its Twitter handle. The Democrats then went ahead to use different Kanye West's memes and short video clips to mock the Republican presidential candidates, putting a comical spin on the US 2016 presidential campaigns.
Rapper Drake is reportedly unimpressed with Meek Mill's apology over their highly-publicized feud. The Drake-Meek Mill feud seems neverending as the former continued slamming the Philadelphia hip-hop star even after he seemingly ended their fight in a lengthy Instagram comment earlier this week. Drake is not impressed with Mill's “so-called apology” and said that the “dude can't write,” Hollywood Life reported Friday, citing a source. “Drake has seen Meek's rant, but had to read it about ten different times before it made any sense. Drake also understands why Meek's rhymes are so pathetic -- dude can't write! But nevertheless, Drake's iffy on this so-
called apology. It was a nice attempt, but at the same time, Drake wants Meek to know that in no way is he better than him in any way,” the source told Hollywood Life. “It's cool if Meek wants to bow down to Drake and end their little spat, but Drake would have appreciated it if he would have been a man about it and flat out said, 'I'm sorry Drake' or 'I apologize to you Drake,'” the source added. The clashes began after Mill wrote on Twitter last month that Drake didn't write his own rap songs. To that, Drake released a diss track “Back to Back” slamming Mill. Rumors surfaced that Mill's girlfriend, Nicki Minaj, was breaking up with him following the row. However, the “Anaconda” singer slammed the gossip by posting several PDA-filled photos with Mill on her Instagram account. Drake, who criticized Mill for using Minaj to gain fame, once again targeted the 28year-old after reports surfaced that Minaj may be pregnant with Mill's child. Mill reportedly made an attempt to end their public spat by posting a message on his Instagram account. However, the post was later deleted from the account.
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There will be no rap battle between Yasiin Bey and Lupe Fiasco, according to Bey himself. In a conversation with journalist Ferrari Sheppard, Yasiin Bey cleared the air regarding a supposed challenge he issued to rappers to face him, Black Thought and King Los in a war of words. Calling the video that surfaced “barbershop, 'around the way with the crew' talk,” the rapper formerly known as Mos Def made it clear that he would
Concert goers at the Ms Lauryn Hill live in Lagos concert have expressed their happiness over the quality of the singer's performance. American singer Lauryn Hill was live on stage in Lagos in August . The 'Ms Lauryn Hill live saw performances from some of Nigeria's
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“rather be filing paperwork at the post office” than to engage in a battle for battling's sake. “I see certain people; I have an opinion about them. It's a private opinion made public I will say again, without my knowledge or permission or consent, so that's a violation,” Bey told Sheppard. “I stand behind the statement, but at the same time, I'm not trying to arrange some sort of exhibition of that reality.” Sharing that his son advised him not to speak out on the battle because his statement would seem contradictory, Bey instead decided to discuss the “bloodsport” hip-hop atmosphere, courtesy of a recent beef between Drake and Meek Mill. Calling the current climate “another Fight Night type of atmosphere,” Yasiin Bey vowed not to participate in the spectacle. finest talents including: Tekno, Dil, Capital Femi. Shaydee, Tesh Carter, Kenya's Victoria Kimani as well as Aina More and Rachel Kerr, both from the United Kingdom. After which a 25-man band hit the stage including the headliner Lauryn Hill bringing it down with a breathtaking performance. The event was hosted by Steel and Vina as opposed to Basketmouth who was originally slated to direct the activities of the evening. The official event DJ, DJ Jimmy Jatt was absent from his decks as well. Both Jatt and Basketmouth were spotted earlier at the event venue though.
Often when albums of a personal nature are released, the describing words 'transparent' and 'raw' are used. I've been one to throw them around from time to time. But sometimes you press play on a record that is so intensely transparent that it blows all the others out of the water. That, friends, is what you discover in gamie's ttss (thinker tailor soldier spy). The well crafted album first caught our attention and have since then caused us all drooling for months after he dropped his off the hinges track title 'crucifix'.the ace rapper who is also a talented producer said he was saving some surprises for his full-length. Never would we have dreamed that it would be such a massive album as ttss, and we'd be hearing it for a long period of time. In short, ttss is a masterpiece (no bragging). It's a big space, and quite often a dark place. The gloomy album cover is quite reflective of the sound and content of the record. As gamie explains on the title track, and also a greater
hope that lies beyond the walls. Intro takes you through the foyer of gamie's mind, a chilling cinematic soundscape with some quickly spat cadences. Gamie expresses thankfulness to god for where he has been brought, but there's a sense of anticipation that there's more of a story ahead. Artbeat is one of the standouts on the album: a smooth, slower, rap number that sounds like something crafted for intellects. After the intensity of the opening tracks, it's a surprise to hear gamie spend more time spitting deep poetry . Gamie has quite a skillset. Just rap featuring wallz wordcykic features some takes you down to deep thoughts , 'i'm motivated! Would have loved to say more but.... Naaaaaa yall need to cop the album coming out october 2015, trust me, it's worth it!. Tracklists 01. Infinity rhymes 02. Ttss (thinker tailor soldier spy) 1 feat bill bidiaque 03. Selection 04. G.o.e (god over everything) 05. The voice freestyle 06. Lmvts 07. Rockin' 08. Artbeat 09. Ttss (thinker tailor soldier spy) 2 feat bill bidiaque 10. Just rap feat wallz wordcykic Wale Olukoya 45
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Underground Buzz
Emmanuel Kwadwo Opoku Jnr Popularly known by my stage name Smorllgod from Kwahu the eastern part of Ghana. He has been in the game for three years and it hasn't really been easy for the young lad. He has works yet to be released in the pipeline and is currently working on his EP titled Visionary which has eight tracks on it. He is also featuring several artists on it and also with different producers at the moment. He has already released one track from it featuring Ghana's fast rising singer KueiQu Knicklez titled WANTING and he is about to release another titled BLESSINGS, you all should anticipate. He just doesn't intend to rap but take Hip-hop to the next level worldwide. Instagram- Smorllgod Twitter - Smorllgod Facebook - Smorllgod
Okueyungbo Oluwatosin a.k.a 'Titan' is a 19 year old rapper who also happens to be a law student from UNILAG., He started rapping at the age of 12 with major influence from rappers like J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne etc. His debut track 'Me Against the World' basically explains how he wants to break from the norm be his own man and do things his own way.
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BBA is currently represented in ten African countries and the network is expanding constantly around the enthusiasm of many players for its operation and its objectives. BBA is a group of artists who aim to carry forward the African dance contents with innovations and responsible projects, staying close to young people. BBA is supporting the project of an African event through the encounter of street arts and hope to see a united Africa through urban dance .The BBA Festival is a project whose main ambition is to bring together the organizers of major urban dance events recognized internationally, around a single official competition in Africa and create a Significant multi-cultural international network. Africa needs a major event to bring together the talents of artists and dance enthusiasts of urban culture from all countries of the continent to one centre stage, to help grow and motivate the dance industry which is less patronized in this part of the world. Now we have an idea with all networks that must be implemented through our
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network, we set up a selection of the best urban dance groups from the Continent. The Nigeria version of the BBA comes in play here where we intend to hold regional finals for participants who aim to compete on the continental stage. There will be an audition for these different categories Power move, Footwork and 7 to smoke, but our major focus is to get the champions in the 2vs2 battle. The champions will thus fly the flag of Nigeria to the annual continental championship held in Senegal in July 2016, with delegations from other panAfrican countries as participants and an event due to Cameroon in August.