"See I like Beyoncé, but she dey with Jigga / I like Nicki, her yansh is bigger..." // D'BANJ - OLIVER TWIST // afrobeats in the charts

Trust me your work is greatly appreciated.

I heard a full-on afrobeats power-ballad last night. Freeman Nawado & Slim Flex's 'One More Chance' is sadly not on Youtube and the song itself is no great shakes but the producer's willingness to employ ludicrous sci-fi orchestral bombast ensured I played it three times in the row.

Seconded - keep bringing those Ball J beats!

Well alright then!

http://www.mixcloud.com/bennybrassic/ball-j-beats/

Download
http://www.mediafire.com/?uhz9osdd1uw7s5v

1. Sun Rich - D33d3w Dot Com
2. Conzy - Megye Hit
3. Kwaw Kese ft. Black Prophet - Let me do my thing
4. Nickmoah ft. Stay Jay - Head and Shoulders
5. Guru ft. Edja- Lapaz Toyota
6. Guru ft. Joe B - Karaoke
7. Guantoa - Asore party
8. Agbeko ft. Guru - U go fly
9. T-Blaze ft. Ball J and Joe B - Wa Sei Bebia
10. Prodonz - Virgin
11. Black Kat ft. Zador - To dey be to dey
12. Mr HmHmm (Obrekuo) ft. Joe B - Non Fa
13. Nashaay ft. Guru - Sea Side
14. Joe B ft. Guru - Dongor
15. Castro ft. West Side Legacy - Faa No Saa
16. Stay Jay - Twaame Lala
17. Stay Jay - Prepaid Gurl
18. Guru - Anything goes
19. Gasmilla - Innit (UK-Zonto)
20. Nadjat - Gbaa Alert
21. Obour ft. Mugeez - One People
22. Nyame K ft. Ball J - Pay her
23. Dr Poh ft. Castro - Ebe Ko

Oh, awesome. Appreciate the ability to d/l yr mix, too, as this thread had been crashing my browser something fierce.

LOVING this mix, thank you!

oh shit The Thing and Lapaz Toyota are so hot. djing them both next time i dj something.

Refreshing the thread with some Naija stuff, not exactly recent, but still good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YvzTizFakk

Wizkid (who has an album out now) with an older track: "Pakurumo":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S4S-2sMS5w

And this one from Ice Prince feat. Brymo "Oleku". Brymo's hook is gorgeous.

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

Yes I love that one too. Ice Prince has an album out as well but I wouldn't say it's essential listening outside the singles. Obviously Superstar is all-time though.

boss mix benny, sorry i didnt get round to it earlier

when will i be able to clone another me to have time for all the music i wanna hear :/

i think it's fair to say afrobeats has not bled into the rest of the world even in the relatively minor way i had envisaged, like 'oliver twist' might as well be the macarena now

i mean obv it was always going to be a novelty hit but the tide beneath it hasnt particularly risen and seems to have subsided if anything

I dunno the commercial infrastructure behind D'Banj is pretty hefty now so maybe he's just the outlier. Difficult to tell without a follow-up. Oliver Twist doesn't sound particularly African either which may have helped it crossover.

Like so much of the rest of this stuff, especially the best stuff, isn't in English. Although I'm not sure its a blessing or a curse that no US mainstream producer or UK hipster type has started knocking out fake Ball-J or Don Jazzy beats.

Also I thought I'd commented on Benny's mix but apparently not - one thing that you really notice when you listen to them all back-to-back is how much variety he's able to get out a fairly small number of sounds. Like he makes a handful of sounds do so much work, there are constantly little surprises popping up all over the place, it's all ravey in the best possible way.

tbh my pov there is overly azonto-centric

i would dearly like to think there's still a space for melodic naija pop to carve out on a mtv 93 euroreggae tip

if we could just get ace of base to reform and cover 'oleku' we're laughing

http://www.naijapidginenglish.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/AsernalAzonto-dance.jpg

Like I challenge you to find anything dorkier than that.

Oh wait:

http://www.djshyne.com/index/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/azonto-530x378-e1347492535330.jpg

why is this gif not moving xp

Glad you guys enjoyed the mix. Ball J is crazy prolific, there was about another 10 tunes from this year I wanted to fit on there. Was quite surprised (and somewhat flummoxed tbh) to learn from an interview that he sees himself primarily as a hip hop artist. His whole attitude seemed to suggest he thought this Azonto thing is just a sideline for him. Thing is, his hip hop stuff is awful Jay-Z impersonations over standard-as-fuck beats!

This new one goes hard though

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=39ypFYi5Yak#!

This one too from a London based singer.

Gizo - Makofa Aba (prod. by Ball J)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvTJnzfMZ7Q

The first few seconds of this had me thinking of early Wiley riddims. I always kind of wanted Wiley to have jumped on producing funky, it might have sounded a bit like this. Also, wouldn't complain about more Grime like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2sHpvmZ9Ts

Here's my top 50 azonto songs for the year (or really since the abrantee mixtape). Might be a few from last year and the order is fairly arbitrary after the top 10 or so but whatevs. Also no Naija cos i don't really have enough knowledge.

1.Guru - Lapaz Toyota
2. Keche - Aluguntugui
3. EL - U Go Kill Me
4. Zigi ft. Amanda
5. Keche - Sokode
6. Kwaw Kese ft. Black Prophet - Let me do my thing
7. Guru - Karaoke
8. D-Black ft. Joey B - VERA
9. Yaw Siki - Wupe Dodo
10. EL - Obuu Mo
11. Fada Gran pa - To da centre
12. Obour - One people
13. Joey B - Azonto bomb
14. Sarkodie ft. EL - Dangerous
15. D-Black - Ha mi shoulder
16. Flexy Da Don - Tsofi sausage
17. EL - Kaalu
18. Mr HmHmm ft. Joe B - Non-fa
19. T-Blaze - Wa Sei Bebia
20. Greenfield ft. EL - Carry dey go
21. Fuse ODG - Antenna
22. Stay Jay - Twaame Lala
23. Stay Jay ft. Tiffany - Shashee Wowo
24. Eduwodzi ft. Stay Jay - Yenko Nkoa
25. Guantoa - Asore Party
26. Gasmilla - Innit
27. Funny Face & Eddie Kadie - They doubted
28. Humble Dis - Corner corner
29. Guru - Akonta Fried Rice
30. Stay Jay - Prepaid girl
31. Buk Bak - Kolum
32. Nadjat - Gbaa Alert
33. Bluebox ft. Bottlez - Spedede
34. Castro ft. Sarkodie - Swagger
35. Sun Rich - D33d3w Dot Com
36. Tiffany - Akyee wo
37. EL - On a long tin
38. Joe B ft. Guru - Dongor
39. Eyi Rap ft. Va - Serkle
40. Nyame K - Pay her
41. Edem - Over Again
42. Yaw Siki - Jeggings party
43. Black Kat ft. Zador - To Dey be to dey
44. Conzy - Megye hit
45. Gizo - Makofa Aba
46. Da Little ft. Limit - This London Girl
47. 4x4 & MarcusBeatz - Casanova
48. Fifi Selah ft. Stoneboy - Survival
49. 4x4 - Moko Ni
50. Fuse ODG ft.Tiffany - Azonto

Great list, Benny. That's some of the very best music of the past year imo. I can't wait to listen to the ones I haven't heard yet.

(btw, #3 U Go Kill Me is by Sarkodie (featuring EL).

...wish I had enough knowledge of Naija pop to make a coherent list...

xp oh yeah, should also read 'Zigi ft. Sonniballi - Amanda' at number 4

My top three: Gbaa Alert (Nadjat), Chop My Money (P-Square), Oma Ga (Tiwa Savage). Lots of co-signs with Benny's list, e.g. Obuu Mo, Twaame Lala, the two big Guru tracks...

The latest from Keche is another good one: Body Lotion.

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

Dr. Slim - S3k3 (Seke) (feat. Double)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_n51HQPBKI

"Let Me Do My Thing" is amazing, was the highlight of yr Ball J mix, Benny. Gonna take a while to get through yr top 50, thanks for all yr work in this thread!

yeah the vocal performances on that song are incredible. There's an radio interview with Ball-J floating around on the net somewhere and he singles out that song, saying that it was the craziest studio session he'd ever done.

Quite digging this London-based crew from Nigeria
https://soundcloud.com/studiomagicmusic

Apparently this dubstep influenced track is making waves in Nigeria

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DGdB_ccyipo#!

more info here
http://www.thefader.com/2012/09/05/lungu-lungu-too-much-senrenre/

Sony Music Entertainment is proud to announce the signing of Nigerian megastar D’Banj to its RCA Africa label. The breakthrough deal also includes a multi-album, worldwide exclusive contract with emerging Nigerian singer-songwriter star Kayswitch and a strategic partnership with D’Banj’s Nigerian record label DB Records, who’s catalog includes artists and producers such as J.Sol, Jay Sleek and DeeVee.

http://www.citifmonline.com/index.php?id=1.1189988

Maybe I missed this ilxer posting his list here that includes the below cuts (or maybe he didn't)

http://thecorner.co.nz/2012/12/14/the-corners-2012-year-in-review-50-best-international-singles/

D’Banj – Oliver Twist
Tiwa Savage – Kele Kele
Sarkodie ft EL – U Go Kill Me
Kwaw Kese ft Black Prophet – Let Me Do My Thing
Nyame K – Pay Her
Guru – Lapaz Toyota

I know it's old now but I flat out adore Guru's "Anything Goes".

That Ball J mix is great Benny, you always dig your mixes! I admire artists that have a fully formed unique sound, and can create a whole range of different tracks from a few simple elements- in Ball J's case those crazy technicolor, tropical, carnival synth stabs. With Azonto and Naija, Jersey/Philly Club, Jackin, and Funkystepz, 2012 been such a great year for music.

"The debut Gospel Porn album by the most politically incorrect Christian Rap group of the times"

http://foknbois.bandcamp.com/releases

I haven't listened to it yet, but there's a new (i think) Abrantee mix: http://www.okayafrica.com/2013/01/10/afrobeats-dj-abrantee-mixtape/

^ looks a bit crap, think I'll just be googling the few tunes I don't know from the tracklist. Conor Maynard Afrobeats remix? No thanks.

Couple of good Kwaw Kese cuts:
https://soundcloud.com/akwaabamusic/wossop-remix-feat-kwaw-kese

Shoelace (feat Buda) - this one produced by Krynkman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAEXXmcOoaM

"After the long drama and talk about his infamous boxer shorts at the Big Brother House, Keitta has finally released a new song that address the entire situation. The song is titled 'One Boxer' and was produced by Krynkman, aka Amadaa aka Nshorna Music. It's Azontomania...One Boxer!"

http://youtu.be/ZODE68sSmyA

How about we start a new Rolling Afrobeats thread for 2013? There's bound to be loads of exciting new Azonto, Naija, etc etc stuff this year (obviously!) Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel the current thread title is becoming increasingly irrelevant and confusing, and it would be nice to be able attract more people. Good idea or not? Mainly looking at you, Benny B, since you've been by far the greatest provider for the thread :-)

yeah this one has become a little unwieldy. I'll start a new one.

cool :)))

new thread for 2013: Afrobeats 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6zixMk7gnQ

has someone posted this yet? It's the jam

obv not

Yansh yansh yansh yansh
Yowsah yowsah yowsah!

that's great, reminds me I meant to post this beautiful azonto tune a while ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWsuzm650qw

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

does anyone write about this stuff in a way that contextualizes it at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiHh2-6jmnU

this jam actually makes me think of

The Ibadan Sound: Jerome Sydenham, Dennis Ferrer etc.

Oops:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiHh2-6jmnU