WEEKEND LUV - THE MUSIC EDITION

Hi Everyone!!
What’s going on?
Hope u had a good week…I had a really fab week actually and next week should be interesting to say the least…
The last month has been a whirlwind….I have barely had a weekend to myself but I am totally not complaining, I am very grateful to God for the blessings!
I am so bad when it comes to remembering people’s birthdays and such so since today is the last day in May, Happy Birthday to all my May sweeties! Hope y’all had fab birthdays…God bless!

It’s been a while since I’ve done Weekend Luv so let me attempt it today.

Styl Plus is out with a new album.
Yay! I love Styl Plus…Infact, I am almost a ‘stan’. I hope that the new album does well. I am feeling the tracks I have heard so far though.

Styl Plus New Album - Tracklist
1 - Four Years
2 - I No Want Trouble
3- I Don Tire
4 - If You Go
5 - Beautiful Ladies
6 - Mi O Ba E Sere Mo
7 - Still Gonna Love You
8 - Candy Man
9 - When You Smile
10 - Longing For You

This is just a taster, please support them and go and buy the album

The Nigerian music scene is growing and developing - its great to see some Nigerian acts diversifying in terms of the music they are producing. There is a new genre emerging – something along the lines of Naija Soft-Rock. Often times, their songs are gospel tinged such as the very popular, Lagimo.
Check out another artiste that is making waves – Nikki Laoye with her song, ‘Never Felt This Way Before’ which coincidentally was also produced by Cobhams.
Unbiased also did a recent feature on her. Check on it HERE


I have been searching for this song for ages! Its called ‘Oju Ife Lo’ by Abuja-based artiste, SLK – Luv it!


Interviews
Check out some recent interviews:
Genevieve Nnaji Interview – She talks about her new fashion label, St. Genevieve and her other projects
Ini Edo Interview by Stella Dimoko Korkus– She responded to the allegations that she was arrested in the UK for trafficking drugs (The Nigerian press gives Ini such a hard time.....I hope they ease off)
Photo Credit: Niyi Tabiti

RIP to Elder Steve Rhodes and Sammy Needle. They have both passed away due to illness. With the passing of Sunny Okosun, this brings the deathtoll of Nigerian musicians to 3 this month :( I pray their families are well. Read more at Ayeni's Blog

I just can’t resist posting this!
There is a new Nigerian movie called Beyonce Vs Rihanna
Nadia Buari as Beyonce, Omotola Jalade as Rihanna and wait for it…Jim Iyke as Jay-Z.
Jesus Take the Wheel! Seriously….why????
That said, U know I will still see the movie…LOL
Nollywood is crazy!. One of my fav blogs, Hair By Azara also blogged bout this.
You can watch online (watch out for the pop-ups)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Also check out these new initiative by some female Nigerian bloggers including Overwhelmed, Catwalq and many others called '14th and Serenity' -HERE. WoW. Very creative.

Have a fab weekend y'all!
Ciao

RUNDOWN

Hi Everyone,
How’s it going? Hope y’all had a great weekend.
I had a really fabulous weekend! Was kinda crazy tho….
So what have you been up to?

Here is a rundown!

RIP to Nigerian musical legend, Sunny Okosun. He passed away on May 25 in Washington DC USA. His legacy lives on….

I’m sure most of y’all have seen this vid already but here is the new vid from the Storm All Stars – Naeto C, Ikechukwu, Sasha P, GT the Guitarman. It’s a collab between Storm Records and Made Magazine called ‘Made in Lagos’


Here is the cover of the new Hip Hop World Magazine with D'Banj and Ruggedman. I’m feelin the concept! It feels so good to know that Nigerian musical artistes are now reaping the financial benefits of their hard work….Just a few years ago, people used to ‘pity’ musicians now they are ‘ballin’…..I hope most of them are investing their money wisely though…not just buying exotic cars.

Here are some new photos of Miss MBGN Universe, Stephanie Oforka. I know she is going to make an impact at the Miss Universe competition this year!

Uneku Saliu-Atawodi is a 20 year old polo player/polo team owner/entrepreneur…and the list goes on! I am constantly blown away by the amazing things that young African ladies are doing these days! It is so refreshing to see girls being so unapologetically ambitious!
Uneku along with her team, bella MATATA and the 5th Chukka Polo Club are organizing the first female all-international polo tournament held in Nigeria. The tournament will be playing alongside the coveted charity field tournament, from the 3rd - 8th June, at 5th chukka, Kaduna, Nigeria.The games are being played in aid of Unicef, with an auction to raise even more for the charity.It will also see the launch of the bella MATATA clothing range, and the AMAZONS POLO TEAM champagne, which has a portion of its sales going to charity.Teams are supported by TIME OUT NIGERIA, CAVERTON HELICOPTERS, and VIRGIN NIGERIA. TeamsThe African team: Uneku Atawodi (Nigeria, -1), Dominique Theones (Kenya, 0), Emma Beardashaw (Kenya, 0), and Erin Jones (RSA, 2)
The "American" team: Claudia Hodari (Argentina, 0), Kristie Hanbury (Brazil, 0), Jennifer Ciotti Diaz (Argentina, 0), and Terri (America, 1)

Luv it! I know some look at Polo with a certain amount of distain and consider it as an elitist sport.
For me that’s the same way that Tennis and Golf were looked at and see what the Williams Sisters and Tiger Woods have done to change the perception of those sports! Who knows Neku might be able to do the same for polo.

That's it for today! Have a fab week.

BRAND SPANKIN' - PSQUARE

Ifunanya

Roll It

No One Like You

More Than A Friend

RANDOM: DARE ART-ALADE + MAN U + FUNMI'S FAVS

Hi!!!!!!!!!!!

I am basically just looking for an excuse to gloat..umm...I mean celebrate! WE WON!!!!!!!!!!

Man U won the Champions League and I am esctatic, I actually cried LOL

Anyways, I cant say I feel bad for Cheski fans and John Teary...better luck next time!

Now that I have that out of my system, here is the cover of the new True Love WA featuring Dare Art-Alade and his baby on the cover. His baby is soooooooooooo cute! Awww. His new album is the business, y'all should get a copy. Bola Atta and the True Love WA team are really doing a fab job this year. The last 2 issues were amazing! Cant wait to grab this one.

Sasha is on the cover of the new Soundcity Blast Magazine. I'm feeling the cover! I love her song, 'Strong Thing' Feat. Pype.
Funmi Iyanda is launching 'Funmi's Favourites', a commemorative look back at all of her best moments since she launched her show so many years ago! I cant wait to check this out. I hope there is a DVD box set as well.

That's it!!!!!!
Ciao

ON THE SCENE: ASA

Hiya!

Our London scene Editor, Wana Udobang is back again. Last time she reviewed the Nayo show @ Imperial College - HERE. This time, its budding superstar, Asa. Enjoy!

ASA GIG REVIEW
Since the release of her eponymous debut album, Asa (meaning - hawk) has been tipped to become an unstoppable juggernaut.
Being hailed by most of the British press as the proprietor of “Afro-Folk” music, her originality has gathered more spins on the airwaves and now her new single 'Jailer' is set to bring her to the forefront. But as we all know, for the artist, its all about the live performance.
Home to great rock bands and stellar musical performances, the Carling Academy in Islington hosted Asa’s first London gig on Monday the 12th of May and I was there to hone in on all the excitement. I even sneaked in a little chat with her back stage before the gig.

Ok.. So I cant help it but I have to say its only natural that we had a two hour intermission before we could be graced by the voice of Ms Asa herself (African time never goes amiss).
The band was on top form and she opened the gig from behind the stage with “360 degrees” and there was no doubt that everyone at the Academy was a complete Asa fanatic. They went berserk once she appeared on stage and oh yes there were the resounding echoes to “Bibanke”. She managed to tame the crowd with a bit of freestyle and jiving. She even gave us a hint of vocal gymnastics every now and again. We were able to hear her really perform on “No One Knows Tomorrow” accompanied by a samba laced beat and equally amazing percussion. Asa serenaded us with an acoustic set for the track “Subway” and the forever captivating “Beautiful”.
I remember seeing a girl crying hysterically to 'Beautiful', who knew that Asa had the power to tickle the tear glands.
In my opinion, her voice and music really shines through in these acoustic and semi-acoustic arrangements. It didn’t take long for the karaoke house to come alive to the singles “Jailer” and “Fire on the Mountain”. I was still a little bombed by the fact that I didn’t get to hear my favourite track on the album “Iba”.
She reintroduced the band back on stage for the track 'Awe' creating a stand-up meets 'Tales By Moonlight' atmosphere (don’t pretend you dint used to watch tales by moonlight when you were a youngin).
During the performance, she enchanted and mesmerised the crowd with the vocal repetition on the lyric “O bi mo” and left me with that all so familiar shiver down the spine.
She danced her way through the instrumentals letting the band shine through in their entire element. Who knew that Asa was such a hot stepper with an incredible sense of humour on the stage. It was also great to see her invite some audience members to enjoy the spotlight with her, Tamilore Kuboye did an amazing job when she was put on the spot and called up stage to sing briefly.
Watching Asa perform was really what jam sessions were about, Interacting with the crowd, entertaining and just rocking out with musicians on stage.

When I caught up with her back stage, I had to ask about the record label controversy in Nigeria before she moved to France. The thing is that she takes a more philosophical perspective to these things these days. She claims that she has no resentment towards them these days and since she got to record the album the proper way, the most important thing is that she is free. On the subject of defining her music, Asa says “I see my music as soul music and this is because I sing from my heart and soul and that is where it all comes from”.

Well before the gig she told us that we would leave fulfilled and we definitely were.

Check out Asa's latest vid below, 'Jailer'

ASA music video 'Jailer'
Uploaded by naiverecords

That's it for today!

Your feelings on Asa?

MADE MAG + MORE

Hi Everyone,
How are y’all doing?
So sorry I have been MIA.
I was in South Africa for a lil bit and had little no internet access…on the bright side, my trip was really fab!
Last week, work has been crazzzy! I actually started writing this blog post last week but havent had time to continue until now. I was in my office soooo late all through last week. Crazy!

So what have you been up to? I can’t wait for ‘summer’. The months of June, July and August are my favs. Something exciting always jumps off.
So how was your weekend? Mine was soooooo good!

MADE Magazine held an event last week. Here are some photos.

Ini Edo and her date - Sarah Ofili

Ikechukwu & Naeto C - Sasha P - Obi Asika

Felix Okoye - Sokari Biggs - Model, Titi Adelagun

Mimi Akintobi - Tosyn Bucknor - Noble Igwe

Sike Idowu - Onohi Iremiren - Bisola Kamson

Archie Ezenagu - Matthew Mensah - Ugo Okoye

Tokunboh Benson & Funke Ogunde - Bimbo & Seyi Oladapo

Nwando Ozobia - GT Guitarman - Olisa Adibua

Kehinde Okunoren - Yemi Adebonojo - Gbenga Ashiru & Mark Slade

DJ Sose - Ruby Dabbour - Bimbo Ashiru

Unrulies

Other Guests

Photo Credit: Purefoto

Best Dressed Ladies
Lola Maja - Joke Ladoja

Both ladies hit opposite sides of the style spectrum, Lola went for the classic but sexy little black dress by Yemi O while Joke went for the quirky choice with bold choices in cut, colour and accessories. Uber fab!
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Congrats to comedian, Basketmouth (Bright Okpocha), he's now a daddy! His girlfriend, Elsie Uzoma gave birth to a baby boy earlier this month. The baby's name is reportedly Jason.


That's it for today.

Tomorrow, promise!