Author: sanusi

There are parts of me I only recognize in photographs Intricate feelings Little digital details only my Instagram followers see Thick smiles that scream ‘I’m happy!’ to the click-click sounds and flashing lights of cameras A peace sign, a cup of ice cream, and a tilting pose to sum it all There are places I’ve only visited on phone screens Google maps and photographs YouTube videos and Facebook feeds I can navigate the streets of New York to see the statue of liberty, Times Square, all the way to Mumbai, into the favellas Taking a brief stop to shop in…

It’s the middle of 2019 already. And so far, the Nigerian music scene this year has been unusually sparse with the release of party/dancehall songs. There have been a few, but “few” does not normally characterize the amount of hit dancehall songs churned out yearly. That doesn’t stop us from partying anyway. In the spirit of Friday, we have made a list of 5 party songs that are still rocking dance floors around the country. Timaya – Balance This song is so hard to get of your mind once you have heard it. The refrain, “balance” (pronounced with an extra…

Lagos is one of those cities in the world with many songs dedicated to them. Just like New York City has numerous to its name. The most popular of them being Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York”. And one thing about these cities and their admirers is that there can’t be enough songs about the beloved cities. For a city like Lagos, there is more than enough to write about. Lagos has a host of songs about it. Some are wholesome love songs, others highlight the love-hate relationship that residents keep with it. Banky W’s Ebute Meta comes to mind.…

The Nigerian pop music industry is a long way from where it started. we have made a lot of progress and improvements. Artists – both male and female – populate the scene now. It was not the case some fifteen to twenty years back. so much has changed and these benefits we enjoy are as a result of pioneer artists who took the pain to make music for us in spite of the obvious challenges at the time. In the spirit of #TBT (Throw Back Thursday), we have selected 5 Nigerian artists who made music for us. The artists who…

A lot has happened since we first heard Burna Boy sing. The Afro-fusion artiste whose signature style is the sampling of Afrobeats, Reggae, RnB and pop in interesting and entertaining ways has had a tough but rewarding career since the release of his debut hit single “Like to Party”(2012) and his album, L.I.F.E, in 2013 which featured a number of hit songs. Fast forward to the present day, Burna Boy has gradually become an artist whose music is beloved to people across varying ages and social status earning him appellations such as “modern-day Fela” among others.  This article will attempt…

We Nigerians, we like to dance. It is somewhat a thing of national pride. We look for excuses to party – funerals, christenings, weddings, you name it. Every ethnic group has a traditional dance or two they’re known for. Our modern society, however, has invented, adopted, and reinvented different dances and it doesn’t look like we’re going to ever stop. Depending on how old or young you are, some of these dances I’ll discuss might seem strange to you. You might even know some preceding the ones I have mentioned. So, let’s trace Nigerian contemporary dance from the year 2000…

Jude Abaga, popularly known as MI, is unarguably one of the best rappers Nigeria has ever seen. Depending on who you ask, he is even the best in Africa. At least SA rapper, Casper Nyovest, says so. His titles are numerous: Nigerian Hip-Hop Messiah, Africa’s Number One Rapper, etc. Over the course of his decade-old career, his body of work has become unwittingly large and prolific. He has five studio albums, three mixtapes, and over 60 collaborations to his name. This makes this list even harder to achieve without some hair-tearing. The lyrical content, flow, and public reception have been…

for the girl whose love was strawed away in sips as though it were a beverage in the bottle of another childfor the child who never knew what it meant to be a child for the songs that were stopped before they were composed for the soldier who never came homefor his wife who still waits even at midnight, for his unborn child who will never know himfor the arms stretched out that never received a hugfor the tears that dried before they dropped this is to those who touched our hearts and went awayleaving nothing but pain, longing and…

“Olarenwaju, ‘LanrewajuWhat you doing son?Olarenwaju, why you following these people son?You came to change the game don’t let the game change you You’re perfect how you run it Do not let them rearrange you” These are the wordings from the “Intro 1972” rap song on Vector tha Viper’s sophomore album, The Second Coming. This sentiment, expressed in different turn of phrases in different songs, has been the enduring plight of the talented rapper. Vector (real name, Olarenwaju Ogunmefun) appeared on the music scene in the late 2000s and has battled to remain relevant in an industry that would rather not…

There were few things in life that terrified Ms. Bunmi, and standing before a law court is definitely one of them. It did not matter if she was the plaintiff or defendant, a witness or an observer, or if she had hired the country’s best law firm. She often requested for an out-of-court settlement, if it were possible. She preferred a group of delegated family members sitting down to iron out things – whatever the issues were – to the rigorous, stretched-out procedures of a Nigerian law court. However, for some strange reason, it seemed like a sizeable chunk of…

Barka da Sallah, people. If you are reading this now, you’re definitely back home from Eid prayers. And depending on how big or small the celebration around your house is, you’re probably chewing on a big chunk of meat, crunching on homemade chinchin (Don’t you dare underestimate the value of homemade chinchin; so sad Minimie is all I have.), and sipping zobo, kunu or one carbonated drink or the other. Before you step out of the house for visitations or outdoor fun activities, pay close attention to the following advice your non-Muslim would love you to know. No Lectures, Please…

What would you do if I told you that on Sundays, people just sit down at home, turn on the TV to watch Paul Enenche, Johnson Suleiman, or TB Joshua do their thing – sermon, praise, worship, the whole shebang – and voila, Church attended? Okay okay, you probably already know that it happens, and you don’t find it strange or anything. But what if I tell you there is more? Technology has become an actively influential part of pop culture and by extension, contemporary society. And when I say everything and everyone is getting on board milking this innovative…

It is easy to fixate on the violence that has wreaked and wrecked Plateau State. It easy to pay attention to only the negative information we get about one place without stopping to steal as little as a glance on the other side – the beautiful side. Plateau is a place whose beauty has been ignored for almost two decades now. So, because this article is about the beauty of the place I’ll point out the obvious and main challenge that plagues the place and get it over with. For a place that once claimed the appellation of ‘the most…

Party going lovers were blessed with, True, a new party tune from the Afropop/dancehall star, Mayorkun, aka the Mayor of Lagos. Since its release last Friday fans and party goers have been raving about it and here’s why: Mayorkun Makes Good Danceable Love Songs Since Mayorkun’s foray into music after quitting his bank job in 2016, getting noticed and signed by Davido, we have heard a couple of good songs from him. Ranging from his debut hit single “Eleko” to his pre-released “Posh” and “Fantasy” off his maiden album – The Mayor of Lagos. His album tour around and outside…

On the 24th of May, reggae/dancehall star, Patoranking, released his sophomore album, Wilmer, to mixed reactions with many fans expressing how underwhelming it was. He had announced its release 3 weeks prior on social media and fans geared up for an equally impressive output as was his debut, God Over Everything. Anyone who has paid the slightest attention to Patoranking’s career trajectory will agree that since his debut hit single, “Alubarika” featuring Timaya, his career and musical style have grown better recalling that his first album which was largely well-received, and has aged really well. Wilmer, the 12-track album was…

So much has been said of pro-choicers, pro-lifers, and governments’ regulation of women’s bodies since 2016, when Donald Trump assumed office as the President of America, and more recently, when a number of states in the US passed legislature making abortion illegal. The outrage took on a new form with people protesting dressed in The Handmaid’s Tale costumes. That lingering fear that Roe V. Wade, the Supreme Court judgement protecting the woman’s right to choose on the federal level, might be overturned considering there are more conservatives on the bench since the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh hovers even closer. The…