Rolling afrobeats thread 2014

what do you guys think of the album? Sounds cool to me but most of the best songs were out already?

Ah. Interesting. The beat is very different though, it's basically the hook that is similar. So it would have to be Sean Tizzle himself I guess.
On another note, Wizkid and Legendury Beatz is such a killer combination. But then again Wizkid sounds good over almost anything. The range of producers here is interesting. Sarz, Uhuru, Maleek Berry, Shizzi, etc. have pretty distinct styles but Wizkid himself keeps it together. I'm not convinced that the best songs were out already - it's more that they're so strong that the new ones take some getting used to. So far Ojuelegila, Ki Lo Fe and the Akon one stick out among the new ones. The Wale one hits hard too, and In Love is a pretty obvious radio hit. In My Bed is a bit too close to Show U perhaps but I can see in it taking on a life of its own. The Uhuru beat is mean.

Also I don't really want to complain about seven out of eighteen tracks being already released, fantastic hit singles in a variety of styles. (Tyga remix doesn't count. He could have kept that one.)

http://www.dailytimes.com.ng/article/wizkids-ayo-album-fans-want-their-money-back

hmmmmm

ha agreed

that said 'in your bed' is dope

Pffft. Nigerian press loves a scandal and some backlash was inevitable in the age of twitter. There are some lazy parts but the album knocks imo.

not as good as the tiwa savage record which is the benchmark imo

Jaiye Jaiye, Show U The Money, In My Bed, Ojeuelegba, On Top Your Matter, In Love, For You, Ki Lo Fe, Bombay, One Question, Murder, Joy, Caro... 13 strong to great songs, and you could make the case that I left out a couple of pretty good ones too.

In other news, I'm enjoying this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kalAlZcJRg
(Iyanya and Emma Nyra - My Lane)

and this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nkk6wifoVEU
(Sean Tizzle - Rara)

Think for Wizkid the benchmark a lot of people had in mind was Superstar, this wasn't it. Had doubts when it became clear that Samklef wasn't going to be involved at all.

Superstar was a very different album though. He had very little pressure on him then as opposed to now and there's no way you're not going to hear that in this new album. Also, he's all over the charts/radio on other people's songs so a certain fatigue is inescapable. But he's been branching out and that's a good thing imo. A lot of the songs here make Superstar sound old. A song like Celebrate is pretty close to the Superstar sound but it feels dated on this one. His main problem as a songwriter is that he has to reach for his past every time he wants to say something meaningful.

I see a lot of people talking about his redundancy and laziness but really, he improves every single song he jumps on the remix of.

What other 2014 Nigerian albums are better than it though? I can imagine a case being made for the Sean Tizzle album but apart from that? The Phyno album was pretty uneven. P-Square's album has Collabo, which is awesome, and some hits. What am I missing?

a whole bunch of the songs you listed as highlights have been out for ages...

It's definitely different and I would never hold that against it but by any metric I can think of it just isn't as good. I think the laziness thing is all media bluster but when an artist tries to branch out and people complain that it sounds redundant or uninspired its usually pretty telling. His style isn't all that versatile, which isn't surprising wwith guy that half the time goes into the booth and freestyles. A lot rests on how he interacts with the beats, which is where I think the album is mostly lacking.

The thing is not many Nigerian artists have released wall to wall great albums these past few years and for the ones that have the level of expectation is different. If artists like Tiwa Savage, P-Square and D'Banj released less than stellar follow-up albums, we'd see a pretty similar response.

I know a lot of them have been out for a while but I don't really see how that affects the quality of the album. It's full of hits. How bad do y'all think the bad ones are though? And which ones do you actively dislike? I could definitely live without the Tyga remix but even most of the weaker ones are pretty nice.

i also sorta suspect looking for Great Albums from this scene is a fast track to missing the point

it is afroPOP and very dancefloor oriented so

Well that's my point basically. Ayo has eight singles out and a few more on the way afaict.

I agree that Tiwa Savage made a better, more versatile album though.

Loving the new Neptizzle mix. The "Dorobucci" / "Sekem" / "Gallardo" / "Shoki Remix" stretch in particular is just fabulous.

And always happy to hear Uhuru's "Y Tjukutja".

Speaking of Uhuru it's interesting how they're kind of infiltrating Nigerian afropop w In My Bed, Skelewu Remix and For You after Tchelete and Khona. Also Dtunes' Rara, posted above, bears their influence.

Speaking of Uhuru it's interesting how they're kind of infiltrating Nigerian afropop w In My Bed, Skelewu Remix and For You after Tchelete and Khona. Also , Dtunes' Rara, posted above, bears their influence.

Double!

That crossover area is probably my favourite part of this whole spectrum right now.

Nekupenda as well...it's almost, dare I say, balaeric?

I mean that in the most superficial of ways obv

The phrase should only ever be used superficially IMO

haha well i just mean that it's not literally balearic as in it comes from the other side of the continent

Does anyone know where I can find the albums D'Banj released with Don Jazzy? I'd like to hear them.

New Skales is just perfect imo. Breezy, sweet and bouncy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inGbDCA9Dsk#t=13

fyi

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=13152

Singles Jukebox crits Sept. 9th dissing WizKid's vocals on "Show You the Money"

Lol

My sister has all the Don Jazzy produced albums but skimming through now and the quality is very poor, I remember them being on itunes but it seems not anymore, should I upload?

Yes please!

His first 3 solo plus the curriculum vitae Mo'Hits album
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gab7hhtgh6fivvr/Dbanj.rar?dl=0

Perfect. Thanks!
Any thoughts about why Bother you didn't hit, btw? I like it a lot, actually.

dont worry one of those TSJ dudes is a spaceghost purrp stan and the other one is alfred so

No problem, Bother you isn't a bad song but alas it doesn't bang in the whip. More seriously it revisits old territory in Scapegoat yet somehow it doesn't really feel like a D'banj song. His personality usually bleeds through his tracks but Bother You feels subdued and neutered.

The Scapegoat retread thing makes sense. But while it doesn't bang in the whip, the friendly disco party vibes make it a keeper to me.

I'm loving the nautical metaphors in Skales' Give It To Me btw - been missing that set of cliches. Are nautical metaphors common in other/older Nigerian songs?

Well, there's Rayce's recent Jack Sparrow, sort of...

…and the Castro tragedy becomes an international news story…

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/sep/24/asamoah-gyan-denies-murdering-rapper-human-sacrifice

(and of course Castro is described as a "rapper", because, yeah…)

I forgot about Jack Sparrow! I love that one too lol.

Loving this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms5LgLvUoPg

Boj "Trips"

Yeah that's nice. He's also featured on this one, which I like a lot even though Naeto C is a bore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fy1zrXdSeE

Googling to see who is paying attention to this music:

So Jon Caramanica reviewed D'Banji & others for the NY Times at Irving Plaza in NYC in 2012 but nothing really since.

http://dailypost.ng/2014/09/25/africa-music-awards-2014-davido-tops-nominees-list/

Nigerian artist, Davido and South African musicians Mafikizolo and Uhuru received the highest number of nominations at the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) according to a list released on Wednesday in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Davido and Mafikizolo got six nominations each while Uhuru got five nominations.

Mi Casa (South Africa) and TemiDollFace (NIGERIA) got four nominations each while Zahara (South Africa) and Wiyaala (Ghana) got three nominations each.

Diamond Platnumz (Tanzania), Amr Diab (Egypt), Angelique Kidjo (Benin Republic), Tiwa Savage (NIGERIA), Patoranking (Nigeria) and Noura Mint Seymale (Mauritania) all had two nominations each.

Other nominees were Fally Ipupa (DRC), Sakordie (Ghana) and Davina Green (Zimbabwe) who got one nomination each.

Nominees for the Producer of the Year were Don Jazzy (Nigeria) for the song ‘Eminado’; Robbie Malinga and Mojela Thebe (South Africa) for ‘Impilo’; Uhuru (South Africa) for ‘Tchelete’; Mikky Me (Nigeria) ‘Down’ and Del’B (Nigeria) for ‘Pull Over’.

Worth it for the guitar alone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eD7GcAJiR8

Runtown "Baby Answer"

Everybody seems to be going highlife these days...

Meanwhile, in Ghana dancehall is stronger than ever. This one is fun (and it has Parade-era Prince strings):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjaNEyADbhE

Kaakie "Ronaldo"