By Urowayino Warami
Nigerian music stars Burna Boy, Teni and Mr Eazi have been nominated in different categories for the Black Entertainment Television (BET) awards.
The BET Awards were established in 2001 to celebrate yearly African-Americans and other American minorities in music, acting, sports, and other fields of entertainment.
Continue reading “Nigeria’s Burna Boy, Teni, Mr Eazi Nominated for BET Awards”
By Adewojumi Aderemi
Growing up in Nigeria, there is a clearly prescribed mode in which genders must be performed: women are the caretakers; men are the financial providers. Men must also be the emotionless defenders of everyone, particularly the women, around them.
Coupled with his time spent watching American films of valiant men, such as Rockyand Commando, it was this image of machismo that Oluwatobi Ajibolade ascribed to being a man. It is this image that the Nigerian-Canadian artist hopes to redefine with his debut album, STILL.
Continue reading “TOBi Is The Nigerian-Canadian Musician Taking North America By Storm”
Some of the facilitators present at the signing of the deal at UMG office in California wereJoel Katz, Efe Ogbeni, Vanessa Amadi (Stealth Management), Sipho Dlamini, Managing Director of Universal Music South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa (English-speaking), Adam Granite, Executive Vice President, Market Development at Universal Worldwide and Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group Worldwide.
By Makeda Easter
This has been a particularly global year for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The lineup also includes Nigerian stars Mr. Eazi and Burna Boy, two artists representing afrobeats, a genre that’s steadily gaining traction in the U.S. and beyond.
It’s not the first year that Coachella has hosted Nigerian artists. The 2012 performance of Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, featuring Fela Kuti’s youngest son and band, is just one example of the handful of the country’s artists who have played the Indio festival. And 2018 was expected to be a big moment for afrobeats at Coachella when Wizkid was booked, but he missed the gig due to visa issues.
Continue reading “Mr. Eazi and Burna Boy highlight the rise of afrobeats at Coachella”
By Adewojumi Aderemi
Just last week, Kida Kudz released another infectious single, “Jiggy Bop”, which saw him unveil even more of his rap range than we had heard on his previous hits, “Issa Vibe” and “Again”.
While Kid Kudz’s melodic delivery certainly made the song extra catchy, it’s the fantastic production work, particularly its mystical beat, that pushed the track over the edge, and that’s all thanks to British-Nigerian production duo, Sons of Sonix.
Continue reading “Discover Sons Of Sonix, the British-Nigerian duo looking to spread Afropop to the world”
By Socrates Mbamalu
Alex Boyé has become known for his uplifting music. Now his support of mental health campaigns has seen him being honoured for adding his voice to suicide prevention efforts.
Three years ago, Nigerian-born Alex Boyé appeared on one of America’s best-known talent shows, America’s Got Talent. He was 44 years old at the time and had been singing for 25 years. With his signature white mark under his right eye, a boisterous spirit and great charisma, he took to the stage and blew away the judges with his energy and music. Boyé has gone on to become an important voice in music.
Continue reading “Nigerian-Born musician Alex Boyé releases two singles for Mental Health Awareness Month”
By Christina Cala
Thutmose is the name of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, but it’s also the stage name of Nigerian-born rapper and songwriter Umar Ibrahim. After immigrating with his family to Brooklyn, N.Y. at the age of 8, Thutmose grew up caught between the America he was experiencing and the America he imagined.
Continue reading “Thutmose experiments with genres while honoring his Nigerian roots”
When Afrigo band ascended to the stage at the magnificent Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Washington DC last year, the audience went gaga.
On their feet were thousands of Ugandans living in the diaspora and well-wishers who had gathered for the Uganda Festival and Business Expo 2018.
Continue reading “Afrigo band set for Uganda Festival in New York”
By Lizbeth Brown
Ghanaian hip hop musician Samuel Adu Frimpong popularly known as Medikal pulled a massive crowd when he performed in the United States of America.
The ‘Omo Ada’ hitmaker delivered a stupendous and amazing performance to a fully-packed auditorium.
By Inemesit Udodiong
Afrobeat, a fusion of African pop, dance, and hip hop, is having a great moment right now. All over the world, people are listening, dancing and buying tickets to sold-out shows by Nigerian artists.
It is also topping streaming and airplay charts across the US and Europe. Earlier this year, Davido‘s 2017 hit single, ‘Fall’, became the longest charting Nigerian song on American Billboard chart. It was the most Shazamed song by New York radio listeners in 2018.
Now, New York-based Warner Music Groupjoins the likes of Universal Music Group andSony Music, who have already boarded the Afrobeat train. The world’s third largest record label has a new partnership with Nigerian music label Chocolate City.
Continue reading “Nigerian music label, Chocolate City, signs new deal with Warner Music Group”
Celebrated Kenyan rapper King Kaka on Wednesdaygot a moment in the spotlight after his song got played at American Airlines Center, Dallas, USA.
The musician was attending an NBA match between Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings when his song ‘Dundaing’ featuring Kristoff and Magix Enga started playing in the arena.
In an Africa fresh from economic liberalization, music found a new voice, thanks to social media and platforms like YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music, which streamed thousands of African songs into the homes of millions in the diaspora.
Continue reading “Put Your Money Into These Rhythmic Beats from Africa”
It all started one night in Lagos, Nigeria. The first time that Bas, the Queens-bred rapper signed to J. Cole’s Dreamville label, performed in front of an African audience was surreal. He’d accompanied Cole on tour following the release of KOD, the North Carolina rapper’s 2018 album.
Bas, the son of two Sudanese immigrants, had gone to Nigeria just to kick it with his labelmate and longtime friend from Fayetteville.
But when Cole asked him to come perform a few songs, Bas planned to play two from his March 2016 album, Too High to Riot.
Continue reading “The Queens Rapper Connecting American Hip-Hop to African Audiences”
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It’s good to be J.S. Ondara right now.
The Kenyan-born singer-songwriter just wrapped a successful show at SXSW in Austin, Texas in a victory lap promoting his newly released debut album, Tales of America.
His next stop on a nationwide tour is right here in Philadelphia as the headliner at World Cafe Live on March 22.