rolling afro 2020

You’re damn right about “Woman”. So vibrant, joyful and... lecherous. Best slice of NaijaPiano so far.

I also am seriously besotted with Tiwa’s “Dangerous Love”. The way she suddenly pulls that I’m deep, I’m deep, I’m deep in love with you section out of the bag in the middle of the second verse!

The Nigerian big guns are really coming through right now.

haha AG and NB is an totally unexpected & delightful combination, but no I was not consulted :) It's a great song though, no? I was actually a bit disappointed in Nailah as her last single was such an obvious Doja Cat ripoffhomage, but all is redeemed and AG is truly having a great year.

"Addicted" is available for me now, and it's beautifully hypnotic.

The treated background vocals on that Tiwa are wild, I need a few more listens to make sense of it as a whole.

Bringing the beautiful noise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6PpiX8ptMw
Serge Beynaud • Kointabala

Warning: this is classic Beynaud!

That Addicted tune is wicked

It's a great Amapiano beat, combined with her solemn vocals. Omo Rapala had already grown to be my favorite of hers.

This is the big hit in Nigeria right now. It's slowly starting to grow on me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WqNQ49lYq0
Mayorkun ft. Davido • Betty Butter

and here's Joey Akan profile/interview on/with the Mayor of Lagos: https://joeyakan.substack.com/p/mayorkun-sound-leadership-of-lagos

in-te-res-ting:

Amapiano is Mayorkun’s lockdown love, and he’s recorded enough of them to make albums. It’s experimental stuff, mixed in with highlife, and other genres for individuality. With each new record on the speaker, there’s dancing in the room as all connect with the art. “I’ve not been releasing these ones because of social distancing,” he says, referring to his high-octane creations, designed for dancefloor engagement.

btw, does anyone have a handle on Omah Lay's popularity? Two months on, and he's still got four tracks of his EP among Naija's ten most-streamed songs. I mean, he's good, but so are many others: Why him? Is it that his music somehow fits the pandemic mood (see Mayorkun's quote)?

have a look:

1 = Mayorkun & Davido - Betty Butter
2 = Omah Lay - Bad Influence
3 = Rema - Woman
4 = Adekunle Gold & Nailah Blackman - AG Baby
5 = Omah Lay - Damn
6 +2 Omah Lay - You
7 = Rema - Ginger Me
8 -2 Wizkid - Smile (feat. H.E.R.)
9 = Burna Boy - Wonderful
10 = Omah Lay - Lo Lo

or is this the way to look at it:

How many people saw Omah Lay?

How many could predict that the boy from PH will carry so much of the conversation and plaudits on his shoulders?

That’s why I never get involved with predicting who will blow. Nobody knows. No one has an idea.

Keep working. Keep pushing.

— Joey Akan (@JoeyAkan) June 23, 2020

gotta say tho, "Lo Lo" is very good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYD2SQljwJo

haha i used that exact same tweet to express my confusion in an email to a friend...it feels like maybe one of those people's choice things...makes me wonder if he had some AMAZING song if it wouldn't be 8x as huge as his current stuff, that maybe its a personality/star appeal thing

breastcrawl you seem to be confused about how to make it big in Nigeria, I suggest you grab a notebook and pay good attention:

I’ve hacked the Nigerian music industry 😤😤😤😤😤😤 pic.twitter.com/0AGuLZYkUc

— Ditweni (@Ditweni) July 22, 2020

There's a new Fireboy DML btw (Eli)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UqZINIOB70
Not too many risks but I guess the exotic flute is a try

lol sounds about right, nabozo xp

d-40, my tweet comrade lol, I’m neutral on Omah L’s star appeal, but I’m thinking the persona plays a part, yes – and it must be mostly in the lyrics (I mean, he hasn’t done any shows or PAs due to the pandemic and his biggest song, “Bad Influence”, doesn’t even have a video). his lyrics are singled out in this profile too: https://www.okayafrica.com/omah-lay-nigeria-interview/

The starkness of the world he inhabits is a wonder and his lyrics are too. Phrases like "You dun burst my eyeglass" and "Omo she be SARS and she carry full van" are a cultural stamp, a burst out of the ordinary for listeners, many of whom now declare Omah Lay as "special."

this mostly eludes me as an outsider-listener, but what I can tell is that he also consistently portrays himself as a drinking, smoking bad boy who’s irresistible to girls in his songs (how novel!), being sexually quite explicit for Nigerian standards in the process, as far as I can tell.

Not blown away by either of the post-album Fireboy singles.
xxp

digging the new fireboy. he hasn't even dropped album #2 yet, he reserves the right to continue working the formula for a minute

I think he's actually going for something new on both of these singles - and listening to "Eli" on headphones now I have to say I am quite digging this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E3_RF_NNFM
Masauti "Kenyan Boy" - Inawauma

That’s lovely!
file under “SwaRnB” apparently

brb searching for examples of Swamapiano and SwahEDM

the fireboy single from a little bit ago "new york city girl" is one of my fav songs of the year... he's almost on his own wavelength. both of these new songs are pretty subdued which is interesting when you consider i.e. "jealous"

omah lay is pretty cool to me, it feels pretty contemporary american R&B to me. like he could do a song w/ 6lack pretty easily or something. it doesn't blow me away but he is really popping right now.

"eli" is excellent, can't stop playing it

Pulling all the right strings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilRXM7h_oPg
BwoiiDaas • Radar

it had been quite a while, but here’s Patoranking showing he’s still got it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIKF16oagBY
Patoranking • Abule

(no small thanks to “Wonderful” producer Telz)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT6aBynWDgE
Reminisce feat. Fireboy DML - Ogaranya

Sarz on the beat!

Follow-up to Yo Pe and it comes... close ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLu6yW56ALg
Innoss'B - Olandi

great track! can see this low key crossing over to Nigeria. Has a real Naijapop ca. 2014 vibe - Skales, “Show You The Money”...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WekJRXIKbco
Dj Tunez - Cool me Down (feat. Wizkid)

I love what Wizkid does on these recent tracks. Effortless magic.

that’s more or less how I described it on the Wizkid thread lol

Haha sorry I should have known, even if it makes sense to have them on both threads, sorry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1dNx8Dschw
Juls feat. Miraa May & Donae'o - Blessed. Good vibes, always interesting.

Very good song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDN5FjXqcMQ
Boybreed ft. Minz • Julie

random thoughts on “Eli” - what a song!

I like to think Fireboy wrote it about the girl in Ace of Base’s “All That She Wants”. There’s a synergy between these songs.

The official video is out now. It’s kinda funny how director Clarence Peters* basically remade his video for “Pana” for this one.

*Nigeria’s most famous video director, and, I didn’t know this, son of juju musician Shina Peters.

I feel so microtargeted right now: a Turkish afropop track (from a Dutch-born guy to boot) featuring the actual Oxlade:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LQjWuGpuPQ
Umut Timur ft. Oxlade • Saralım

(from my yet to materialize EUfrican Pop thread)

You’re all invited to participate in this poll:

🇳🇬 NAIJA SPECIAL: which of these *seven* current high-profile Nigerian hit songs is the best one? please help me decide

good and encouraging to see this kind of shit called out in/by the Nigerian music press:

https://thenativemag.com/communities/general-public-might-cynical-simis-apology-lgbtq-community/

This is a jam:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgKwYrSzMok
DJ Kaywise ft. Mayorkun, Naira Marley & Zlatan • What Type Of Dance

More good Tiwa:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKSfQqYTFRo
Tiwa Savage • Koroba

More faya from Fireboy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQpD2EmoS_w
Cracker Mallo ft. Fireboy DML • Wickedest Wyne

Even the new Peruzzi is good:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tev_ohOnEg
Peruzzi • Lagbaja

Fireboy goes full afro&b:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsdopaqg85k
Fireboy DML • Passion

Very excited for his second album Apollo, out next week (!)

EUfrican Pop subthread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_vK-Z6bHLI
Yung Felix ft. Niniola • Pareke

Yung Felix is a Dutch producer, one of the biggest and the best in the game over here – I posted an NSG track produced by him on the UK Afro thread recently.

(track should have been at least twice as long obviously)

I am finally getting around to checking out the full Reniss album, Nzo, and it's really good. Would especially recommend it to curmudgeon if he's reading this.

well now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYiUHMF7upY
DJ Tunez ft. Wizkid, Adekunle Gold & Omah Lay • Pami

I mean...

lovely guitar, and yes, I’m saying it: not enough Omah Lay

xp

thanks for the Reniss reminder, rob. I should revisit.

happy to see there is now a video for "Nyama Nyama":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC314NX9MvE

Ghanaian alkayida/dancehall banger:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OCwQYYOAQs
Stonebwoy • Putuu Freestyle (Pray)

(they sped it up and danced to it)

Bosom P-Yung, Kweku Smoke - Krakye Geng

A drill-inflected sound right here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oTITj6SBAg

Surprised that people upthread are cool on Omah Lay, I love love love "Bad Influence". It sort of... hovers... mysteriously. Love how he kinda swells up on "'Cos the doctor said I burst my liver".

Yeah, I found his success mystifying for the longest time, but as I hinted at when I posted DJ Tunez’s “Pami” last week, I’ve really started to come around on him. “Bad Influence”, “Damn” and “Lo Lo” are all great.

(the guy makes it very clear he’s a cigar smoker tho, how do I even begin to deal with that?)

new fireboy album, gonna check later today

feels very much like a mainstream play, still some jams, especially in the second half, thinking “afar,” “shadé,” “go away”

So yeah, Apollo… I went from ‘this is a fun, but extremely bumpy ride’ (‘whoa, did he really go there?’ ‘bagpipes?’ ‘are you Naija Derülo?’) the first time around to ‘boy, he’s really really really indulging his corny/sappy side here, huh?’ the second time. Listening again today, no way is it the near-perfect afropop album LT&G was, but I’m really enjoying it for the most part, even if the sequencing is a mess. I also think I can safely say this is not for everyone here tho.

My favourite tracks are the IamBeatz-produced “Lifestyle” and “Spell”, a super fun trio with Wande Coal and the ghost of MJ.
“Champion” is his “Way Too Big”, “Remember Me” is cheesy as fuck but I like it, but “Dreamer” is definitely way too much of a... thing (if he survived the key change, the rock guitar here will be the death of rob, I’m afraid).

I don’t agree with voodoo chili’s “mainstream play” assessment, at least not in the sense that this is a calculated effort to cross over beyond Africa. Fireboy is a total pop kid at heart, I think he’s just being his musical self here, for better or for worse. This is from an interview from the beginning of this year:

What musicians actively influenced your music, growing up and now?
Fireboy DML: Growing up, I listened to a lot of Celine Dion. Elton John helped me discover myself, there’s this song by him “Sacrifice”, that I consider the greatest song ever made. My dad was always playing Celine Dion and my mum always played Yinka Ayefele and Tope Alabi. Those influences made me realise how beautiful music is. But it transcended into people that really started influencing my sound, and they are just three people: Passenger, Wande Coal, and Jon Bellion.

Just listened to Jon Bellion’s biggest hit, “All Time Low”, and it makes total sense in the context of this album.

‘boy, he’s really really really indulging his corny/sappy side here, huh?’

yeah, this was my issue, but i think the real issue is that most of these songs are stacked up in the first half of the project (champion, favorite song, dreamer). the back half is more my speed, tho i do like that wande coal collab and even champion a bit

I don’t agree with voodoo chili’s “mainstream play” assessment, at least not in the sense that this is a calculated effort to cross over beyond Africa. Fireboy is a total pop kid at heart, I think he’s just being his musical self here, for better or for worse

lol this is very possible. i wasn't really thinking that it was a cynical or calculated crossover attempt, more that he was tapping into a more 'global pop' sound than leaning into the naija of it all.

yeah, he definitely doesn’t feel bound by Naijapop genre restrictions any longer. I think his success has freed him in a sense, he’s in uncharted (no pun intended I think?) waters here, as a lot of these major Afropop artists now are. I think it’s partly as a result of this that these big new albums are throwing me for a loop (looking at the Burna in particular), but it’s fascinating to witness.

one thing I really really love in all this tho is how all these artists continue to work with local producers (even when moving away from Afropop in the narrow sense like Fireboy is doing). everyone seems very much aware that together they’re the best ticket in town (this also goes for the Adekunle album and, by the looks of it, the imminent Tiwa).