Rolling afrobeats thread 2014

What am I not getting about Olamide? I've been checking some of his stuff lately but it just doesn't connect for some reason.

I don't rate Olamide the highest, but I do like this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVLvMGzsHFk

That one's great. Thanks for reminding me.

Typically, I've started enjoying several Olamide songs since making that post.

Keche feat. Bisa Kdei "Diabetes"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARQ4Qg5i3co

(and good luck tonight, Black Stars!)

Brand new from Wizkid, featuring Phyno (who else?), "Bombay".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhXd0ZGLAx4

We're promised the album in July (one can only hope), and another video before that. That might very well be "Show Me The Money" - I have been tempted to post the Behind-the-Scenes-of-the-Video-Shoot video for that one, cause it sounds like such an amazing banger.

This one to take Ghana into the second half:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJx_C5m13aA

Nhyiraba Kojo, "Yaayi" (feat. Keche & One Joe)
(Ball J hits again!)

Does anyone know where I can find some useful info on how the Nigerian and Ghanese music scenes work (economy/infrastructure, etc.)?

Total summerjam btw:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0giqlgCdl6o

Does anyone know where I can find some useful info on how the Nigerian and Ghanese music scenes work (economy/infrastructure, etc.)?

― longneck, Wednesday, 2 July 2014 11:09 (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol at infrastructure. The whole thing is so insanely diffuse, you're extremely unlikely unearth anything that looks like an economic model. The majority of artists are functionally independent or belong to small labels formed by and around other artists they came up with. Artists have found success via so many different avenues and the heavy involvement of diasporic elements muddies things further, with so many artists being from, or operating in The US and UK.

As you can imagine artists make the vast majority of their money on tours with bigger artists eating off endorsement deals but that's hardly unique in 2014. There are no regulatory imperatives or organisations worth talking about. The government in Nigeria has almost entirely failed to ensure that artists Nigeria receive anything like royalties for use of their songs and the Ghanaian government isn't much better. I know for a fact that the bulk of physical distribution in Nigeria is controlled by pirates running massive operations who ironically work in conjunction with the labels but at this point digital distribution (mostly illegal of course) is far and away the foremost promulgator.

There is a conspicuous trend that has been noted regarding the artists that achieve success.
The title of Davido's debut album translates as "Son of a Rich Man", which quite nicely illustrates the initial driving force behind a lot of these artists: Moderately wealthy to obscenely rich parents, to name a few:
Naeto C
Wande Coal
D'Banj
Lynxxx
Tiwa Savage
Falz
Dr SID
M.I.
May7ven
Jesse Jagz
Terry G
Timaya
Eldee
Tillaman
Banky W
Burna Boy
Phyno

Of course there are tons of exceptions to this; artists like Ice Prince, Sarkodie and Samklef making the grind from genuine poverty but the proportions are certainly out of whack. Then again the money has to come from somewhere...

Reality shows have emerged as an increasingly viable avenue, with artists like Omawumi, Yemi Alade, Skales, D-Black and Iyanya getting their break that way.

Thank you for this. Wizkid has more of a middle class background, right? Also, I'm guessing the market is large enough that there's money to be made from touring? And there must be some money in iTunes, Google Play, etc? That actually reaches the artists I mean. Looking at the Shazam map, there should be enough smart phones in Nigeria to keep a scene running. Ghana is a total blank though.

Also, how do the clubs filter in? So much of this music seems to be club-oriented, so there must be some money in there for the artists somehow?

Thoughts on Simi?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_Bscf074ks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuq8kOMU0zc

RE Wizkid, Probably but can't be certain, in an interview with Westwood he said his dad has three wives so he's certainly not broke.

The market is massive and that can't be overstated. Putting aside the 180 million in Nigeria, there are up to a million Nigerians in the UK alone. Sizable communities in the States, Maryland, Houston New York and Atlanta in particular and 20 million Nigerians living outside of Nigeria total.

Not to mention audiences across most other sub-Saharan African countries and their diaspora communities, (P-Square have a massive following in SA for reasons I don't understand) that have gravitated towards Nigerian and Ghanaian afrobeat in a big way. Wizkid and Davido and D'banj have sold out shows across Europe, Africa and the US so tons of money is definitely being made there.

Digital sales and streaming? I have no idea and haven't really paid much attention to it. Instinctively figured that it can't be much of a factor. Nigeriasn made 40% of all smartphone purchases in the whole of Africa last year, so there's certainly no shortage there but people in Nigeria aren't exactly conditioned to feel any type of way about not paying for things they can conveniently get for free.

Yeah, clubs would be another huge source of revenue and with low/nonexistent taxation and seemingly endless amounts of cash slushing around in Lagos, they're extremely profitable in their own right (think D'banj owns a few, not sure about anybody else). Promoters pay famous artists large sums sometimes just to turn up and then charge fees at the door and inside that would put some Vegas night-clubs to shame. There are probably a number of factors I'm overlooking. I'd imagine Nollywood is certainly a factor but frankly I don't have all that much interest in it and can't really say.

The first is cool the second is a straight rip of an 07 Timbaland beat lol

Nothing wrong with that, lol. There's definitely a huge Timbo element in Ball J's beats as well, even though he's definitely more original with it.

As for digital downloading it's pretty interesting to me that iTunes and google play seem to be the only way to get CDQ versions of most of these songs - and also tha no one bothers to upload those versions.

I'm loving this Tekno track from the new Triple MG album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOIKU3g33Tw

Rip Castro. If anyone could point me in the direction of his best work I'd be grateful. I only know him from the Adonai remix.

Very sad news. Without really knowing much about his career I enjoyed quite a few songs that he was involved with. Tbh, I wasn't even sure for a long time that "Castro" and "Castro [D']destroyer" were one and the same artist, because the name could be found both on wild Ball J productions and on more sentimental stuff, and he used his voice differently from one track to the next as well.

According to one Ghanaian website, these are his ten best songs.

The numbers one and two might be there because they're among his most recent, but they're both very good:

"Odo Pa" (feat. Baby Jet/Asamoah Gyan & Kofi Kinaata) - where he's really using *that* gorgeous voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3Gph2VfUIw

"Seihor" (feat. D-Black) - a party track released just two months ago, where he's not singing in *that* voice, but it's still great stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxD3GNltmV0

And then there's this personal favourite, a song from Bisa Kdei's debut album Thanks Giving: "Vamijo". Two of the most beautiful voices of Ghana singing together.

Bisa Kdei – Vamijo (feat. Castro) (Spotify link)

Btw, his 2004 debut album Toffee is on Spotify as well. Boy, Ghanaian pop music has gone through some changes! And horns as well! Have their been any azonto tracks with horns?

That Spotify link again:
Bisa Kdei -Vamijo (feat. Castro)

Thanks. A couple of questions stay with me. First of all, if most of these artists are millionaires, why are they making music? Are they the only ones who can afford it? Or is there a sort of prodigal son paradigm underlying it? And if so, what does that tell us about Nigerian society? All the major influences of the afrobeats major musical movements (reggae, hiphop, disco, house, etc.) have had important political meanings at different times and in different ways. So what are the political aspects of the afrobeats movement?

Sorry if my questions sound naive, I'm just trying to figure this out.

*"all of afrobeats' major musical influences (reggae, hiphop, disco, house (not to mention afrobeat itself) )have had..." Sorry, typing on my phone here.

Well, slight correction they're not millionaires, their parents are and while no matter where you are in the world, that distinction isn't likely to mean much in terms of quality of life/prospects and nepotism remains a key factor in all facets of Nigerian life, simply free-loading for a lifetime isn't really tolerated by Nigerian parents.

Of course the question remains, why music? Surely there are tons of avenues available to those of the silver spoon, especially considering that most of the artists I listed above graduated or at least attended university. The question itself illuminates a difference in respectability politics that I hadn't fully considered until now.

In Nigeria professional musicians, are held in far higher regard than in the West regardless of fame or success. Of course most parents would prefer their children become doctors lawyers etc. but your child becoming a musician is very unlikely to be seen as a cause for shame or derision. You'll find some exceptions but generally there isn't much of a gap to bridge between generations regarding the performative function of music in 'Nigerian culture'* and its centrality.

Wizkid's 'Pakurumo' remains one of the songs I cherish the most largely because its underlying conceit illustrates syncretic and cross-generational ties so accurately.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S4S-2sMS5w
The video plays up the divide perfectly with the Pasuma/Wizkid mixup, the initial confused reactions of the older guests and the faux-hysterical outrage of the hostess (played by Funke Akindele, who would probably have been the most popular actress in Nollywood at the time the video was released and is notable for her cross-generational appeal).

The song calls back to traditional fuji singers who historically sang Islamic call to prayer. Over decades it has evolved into what has been the most prevalent form of party music amongst older generations across Nigeria for a while now, and elements of it are regularly found in modern Afrobeat songs (Pasuma from the video is a widely known fuji singer). When fuji singers perform at parties or events, they typically incorporate the names of important guests/dignitaries into their improvised songs, as Wizkid alludes to in the chorus:
'Funke','Tolani', 'Folake', 'Alimo' all Nigerian girls names first 3 being Yoruba, last being Hausa.
'Pakurumo ko jo dada' basically = "have a good time and dance well"
and the outro albeit in a more traditional fuji fashion:
'Alhaji M.O Balogun', 'Governor Fashola' (current and much revered governor of Lagos), 'Mrs. J.M Balogun', 'Mr Wellington'
'A kin yi o' = we welcome you
'Mo rin yi o' = I see you
'E na mi lowo' = spray the money on me (refers to a traditional wedding custom that you see being done at 5.48 in the video)

Sorry bit of a wild digression there :/

The question regarding Nigerian society is harder to parse because it only really makes sense if you disregard the through line between afrobeat of the past and present and the historical narrative that goes with that, which is unfortunately pretty easy to do because there is a tendency to treat the new stuff like it sprang up from nowhere in 2005. There's a huge digression in there that I unfortunately don't have time to make but taking the question at face value? As far as I'm aware there is no political element to current Nigerian afrobeat, largely because people don't go to clubs, parties and weddings to listen to songs about how corrupt their government is. The depoliticization of afrobeat is a book that I'd very much love to read but unfortunately it hasn't materialised yet.

*Strictly speaking, there's no such thing but this notion rings true amongst the vast majority of groups in Nigeria.

More digressions please! I'm learning a lot from them! And with regard to a "political element" I made sure to mention disco and house, where lyrics might not be political as such but the movements and the cultures behind it definitely carry political meanings tied to, say, identity politics, modernity and the like. I take it, for instance, that Boko Haram are, generally speaking, no fans of Wizkid? And also that the American (hiphop, r&b) influence on afrobeats does something to how the relations between the sexes are treated in the songs, in contrast, perhaps to earlier afrobeat treatments? Or am I overthinking this?

Really dig this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0giqlgCdl6o

(i know longneck already posted it)

bring back trencoat swag is the real lesson here

love that song

had actually written out something longer but chrome crashed kmt, this is what I could remember:

While afrobeat as a politicised movement may have begun with the railings of Fela against censorship, poverty and heavy handed government it pretty much ended with him in that respect for most people in Nigeria. Why? Well I could tell you that its because a few years after he died Nigeria became a civilian democracy, but that would be an oversimplification to the point of being a lie. Its hard to know where to even start with this without knowing how much of Nigeria's history you're already familiar with. I mean I ain't looking to write a book here. Not throwing any shade but this stuff doesn't form part of any public discourse and its difficult to put forward concise, relatable ideas when we're talking in such broad strokes.

Its easy to take for granted but we're able to grasp the political implications of movements as influential and sprawling as disco and house, past and present, largely because the narratives behind them and the contexts in which they evolved are readily historicized and accessible as part of western cultural lexicon. There is no great treatise on the evolution of afrobeat and there has never been a dedicated legion of journalists and commentators documenting its every turn, or anything approaching that.

Nigerian democracy is only 15 years old. In that time there have been few if any popular political movements worth speaking of and frankly it'd be easy to argue that for the vast majority of Nigerians afrobeat didn't constitute one. There is no singular cultural impetus you can attribute to the growth and form of afrobeat today besides globalised materialism, pop aesthetics and the fact that Nigerians love to party.

Boko Haram, generally speaking aren't fans of anything that isn't explicitly Islamic and being a small extremist group aren't very useful as a representative baseline for anything really.

I wouldn't say you're overthinking it but you are failing to consider how existing sexual politics within Nigeria might already encompass that and that most of the widely known early afrobeat songs had little to do with romantic love and sex leaving little ground for comparison in that regard.

excellent stuff as always tsrobodo

^^^

^^^

hear hear
(especially loved the insight you gave into "Pakurumo" song + video)

Yes. Thank you so much for all of this. I was trying to get an idea about to what extent this "movement" intersected with existing public discourses and your answers have all been marvellously enlightening.

Can't get this song out of my head:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN6sdfIm9pU

DJ Xclusive feat. Wizkid, "Jeje".

The track DJ Xclusive did with Olamide "Ibebe" (I posted it before) is great too. If ever a song was waaayyy too short… I mean, just 2'36 of that? Come on!

Jeje is awesome.

Another question: how is it possible that Dorobucci is not even on the afribiz charts? That song is huge, right? At least it should be, judging from my shazam research, lol. Shouldn't it be at least as big as King Josh & Iyanya's Good Looking (at #18)?

The answer is very simple: it doesn't have a video (yet). Not clear to me how that chart is compiled, but that's the first prerequisite for a song to chart there at all. The Afribiz is an interesting initiative, but it has definite flaws. I wrote something about it last year.

And yes, Dorobucci is huge, biggest song in Nigeria for some two months straight now.

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

Mavins, "Dorobucci" (remix) (feat. Don Jazzy, Tiwa Savage, Dr Sid, D Prince, Reekado Banks, Korede Bello, Di'Ja)

been playing jeje a lot. great record

Xpost lol I guess that explains it. Weird though.

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

this feels like such a smash to me. no vid yet tho

really enjoying tsrobodo's posts itt

I'm downloading (even buying) a lot of these tracks but mostly as singles. Are there any essential albums from these artists yet or are we mostly talking three singles and a lot of filler? (I love the Uhuru album I mentioned upthread but that's the exception to the rule so far). Also, this is great:

http://youtu.be/AhmzLMzHdNQ

Also, this:
http://youtu.be/gyU4W7MlPLU
Sammie Okposo - Who Tell You Say

On the somewhat shallower end, this is growing on me:
Dj Xclusive, Wizkid & D'prince - Gal Bad
http://youtu.be/ecrgBc3lcRo

Well, there it is, the new Wizkid banger, video included: "Show You The Money". Album next, please.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMAsSEH3yys

fire

It's perhaps hardly afrobeats, but this Kenyan r'n'b-track is really doing it for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYFQRuqQ7EM

I'm in Hyde Park right now and there are a load of Nigerian kids on bikes all singing Kcee and Wizkid's 'Pullover' really loudly. I just want to record this moment for posterity.

Afribiz chart alert! "Dorobucci" has a video now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDHBe1BA-Nk

Holy fuck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd46jAe1ukU

Busiswa ft DJ Buckz & Uhuru "Lahla"

full version:
https://soundcloud.com/search?q=busiswa%20lahla

I finally gave in and bought a track from Spinlet. 123 kbps VBR. Lol.

Rolling Afrobeats / Afropop 2015 thread