EASTER,AFROBEAT,HHWA ,P SQUARE,100 MAN MARCH,AYO SONAIYA..

THE JOY OF EASTER

Hope you had a swell Easter? O course I realise this may be an unnecessary question:This year's Easter period will go down as one of the most action-packed,entertainment-wise , particularly l'Eko!Big shows,this and that Awards,all the big acts on parade,etc,etc.Let's therefore appreciate and thank God for the Gift of Easter;it's the reason we're all alive and smiling.

ARISE OH AFROBEAT ARISE !

I felt sad when I realised that in the midst of all the musical action during Easter,afrobeat - Naija's own authentic original music was hardly heard.In fact in the last few years afrobeat had virtually dissappeared from our air waves,with the exception of the routine Fela's oldies at lunch time.

This is surprising,considerring the massive upsurge in the genre's popularity in the immediate aftermath of the abami eda's death.Where is Dede Mabiaku (and his forever expected debut)?;Kola Ogunkoya was becoming a huge afrobeat act before he fizzled out.Alariwo,Seyi Solagbade,etc etc,same story.

Not surprisingly,the leading light in the afrobeat expedition has been the crown prince (who is now in all parameters the king),Femi Kuti.Unfortunately the man seems to have taken a sabatical from music,over the last few years,in favour of procreational activities.The positive thing about the Positive Force is that they have kept the africa shrine busy all the way.Then,one can't but applaud Femi for reconciling with his kid brother ,Seun.

Will the forces that be now Clear Road for Jagajaga in the Big Blind Country?Most shrine aficionados will readily state that Fela's best works were the unrecorded ones which he frequently unleashed at the shrine just before his death.A joint recording of these works by Femi and Seun will provide the big tonic that afrobeat desperately needs for revival.I earnestly hope that those songs,as legacies,will not go the way of Bobby Benson's Hotel.

Then there is this issue of the Lagos Mega City project.A revival of afrobeat will immensely boost the tourism credentials of that project; and I know Governor Fashola can make a positive intervention if his advisers make a case before him.Eko o ni baje o !

So arise afrobeat! Take your rightful place as Naija's one and only original,authentic,world class
music.

35 MM NONSENSE

It was becoming embarassing the rate at which Naija artistes travelled or sought to travel to Nelson Mandela's country just to shoot musical videos.And the excuse often given was that they wanted to shoot with the 35mm camera.This of course was taken to extra-terestrial boundaries after P Square's run-away hit, Do Me.

I've always found something curious and terribly wrong with this craze,but could not really comment on it.Not until a most distinguished cinematographer,director and film expert decided to make a categorical but most instructive comment to put the matter to rest once and for all.According to Ayo Sonaiya,a good musical video is a result of a combination of factors,largely on the creative side and not so much on the economic.I couldn't agree more.There's a particular local musical video that always trips me since like five years ago.Sometime recently I had a chance meeting with one of the crew and a bombshell!I was told that that video was actually recorded with a camcorder!This might be an extreme example, but I stronly recommend Ayo Sonaiya's article ( which by the way was all over the press some three weeks ago) to all Nigerian artistes.To Sir K though,I say congratulations on his new acquisition;At least in his own case we know he's always been a creative guy.Sorry SA embassy,to Klink Studios we head!

THE 100 MAN MARCH TO ALAUSA

A few weeks a group of top celebrities led by smoking hot D'Banj and highly regarded writer Ayeni Adekunle staged a peaceful march to the Lagos government secretariat to protest the security situation.I commend them.Each one of us citizens has a big role to play in combating crime.The artistes that marched with D'Banj played their part.Sometime this role may entail 'little' things like counselling our kids (which seems to have gone out of fashion),or asking questions about a neigbour's sudden wealth.But by and large,I think it's imperative that we reverse our value system to what it was many many years ago:stop worshipping the rich as if they are gods.Secondly,the manner in which our successful musicians flaunt their wealth these days does not help matters at all:An artiste records his very first hit song,and suddenly his home is decorated with all the known exotic cars in the market.Yet,as has happened severally in the past,he may never achieve another hit status for years to come;yet he still lives in the same poverty-stricken environment,and still mingles with the same poor 'hommies' that his life has been built around.Modesty is the key word here, eventhough this should not in any way diminish the message of the 100 man march.

HIP HOP WORLD AWARDS SCORE-CARD

I'm sure you read my predictions on the 3rd Hip Hop World Magazine Awards.I'm equally sure that you noticed I was spot on in several categories:Tuface,Ruggedman,Timaya,Jimmy Jatt etc,etc,et cetera!!!Congratulations,Ayo Animashaun.Congratulations Asa,9ice and everybody else that won.As for the controversisies,there's nothing to say.It comes with all and any awards event anywhere in the world.I've always had the impression that any awards list merely represents the opinion of the organizers,simple;if you don't like their choice,then organize your own show and 'right' the 'wrong'!Meanwhile,the yellow carpet event was something else.Splendid.

P SQUARE'S REACTION

If there was anything I didn't like about this year's HHWA,it was the unwarranted and absolutely unnecessary negative publicity given to the apparently unhappy reaction of members of P Square to their inability to win a single award at this year's show.What these writers failed to remember was the fact that the Okoye brothers are human beings like everybody else;and I daresay that 8 out of 10 of us would have felt the same way if we were in their shoes.Let's consider the facts:In 2006,P Square's Get Squared (Busy Body) album which only crept slowly to the top of the charts, won a sensational 6 awards at the same HHWA.In 2007,the follow-up,Game Over was an instant chart-topper,breaking (as the press reported) all known sales records in the process:Indeed christmas 2007 was dominated by one song - Do Me.How would members of the band then ever imagine that they would achieve anything less than the 100% haul of 2006 in 2008, not to talk of going home EMPTY-handed?

What really dissappointed me was a certain instance where an innocuous personal phone call from one of the group members to a writer on the issue was not only revealed to the whole world,but also made the source of a very damning article against the group.However,I'll advise the group to take these things calmly.Remember that it's easier to get to the top than to stay there.