Get Even More Visitors To Your Blog, Upgrade To A Business Listing >>

See Photos Of Nigerian Music Stars Who Killed The Show At The One African Music Fest In New York




Before I give my personal award to who claimed the night, I will have you know who and who were there: It was advertised that Tiwa Savage, Timaya, Wizkid, Praiz, Banky W, Davido, Diamond (Tanzania), Stone Bwoy (Ghana), Iyanya, Flavour, Ayo Jay, Seun Kuti, were going to be performing along with American-Nigerian rappers Jidenna & Wale. For those that were not able to go see the event live, they could catch it on Tidal (Jay Z’s music streaming company) and dare I say that is a marriage made in music heaven. Jay Z has smartly been able to tap into to rich African music renaissance that is taking place all over the continent. African music over the years had been largely ignored by the Western media except it was traditional like Juju, Makossa, etc. No to disrespect to our African music forebears but  today’s African youths, exposed to the influences of hip hop, dance hall, reggae, and globalisation have mixed it traditional music, added a twist of  indigenous language, and have come up with their own unique brand  and popular sound.
Davido
Some call it Afro Beats (Not to be confused with the original Afro Beat by Fela) Through the help of social media, this music has spread like wild fire first to the Diaspora and now over to the main stream with what we see with Wizkid and other artistes doing collabos with U.S artistes. Okay, I digress but I had to chip that in.
Back to the event, it took place at the prestigious Barclay’s centre (which was sold out, by the way!) and they certainly didn’t not disappoint. Im not going to give a blow by blow account but rather I’ll give my take on most of the musicians that stood out for me; for the right and wrong reasons.
The Goofs…
Banky W
Now I love Banky W.. I think he is fine, articulate, smooth and can actually sing good songs but I really think he should hang up his boots now and let the younger ones like Wizkid, Tecno, Olamide etc do all that dancing and gyrating. Like someone said Banky sometimes reminds one of an Uncle that is struggling to dance just to show you that he still has it in him! Sorry, if you’re his fan (abi stan) but that is my opinion. He should hang the dancing and performing boots , leave it for the younger ones and focus more on looking for more Wizkids for us! Or what do you think?
Davido…. Hmmm…. let me just say he tried and move on to the next topic!
The Good
Tiwa Savage
Tiwa Savage’s performance was fire! ‘Mummy Jam – Jam’ took no prisoners o! She danced (barefoot), wriggled, dutty-whined and even twerked massively for the audience! Almost like she wanted SOME PEOPLE to know they could not dull her shine! (sips tea). She and her group of female dancers (reminiscent of Beyonce) gave their all in what was to be a night to remember. She did a medley of her songs from ‘Eminado’ to ‘My Darlin’, ‘Keys to the City’ from her new album etc. She even performed with Don Jazzy. Tiwa was truly worthy of being called one of the biggest female singers/entertainers in Africa. Then on a little side note; At the end of her set, she lifted up her hands and flashed it in a triangular shape over her head. Is that a sign that she has been signed by Jay Z who reportedly has been looking to sign African acts to his label? Hmm… let me move on before the conspiracy theorists come in…
Flavour….
Flavour before getting on stage
Where do I start? Flavour.. Flavour.. Flavour! First of all, Flavour is someone that understands his market, which are the women folk. He speaks a secret coded language to us that says; ‘Baby, I like you, I’m gonna to toast, you  will love me and you will ‘gree for me!’ Lol! Just watching him strut on stage, in his tight, white suit, reminiscent of Fela Anikulapo Kuti tells you what he is on about. He was very much at home, in charge and he came with his own live band! The only artist to do so. His set was amazing. He represented the Igbo culture very well; danced, whined, twirled and did his usual waist gymnastics that had all the girls screaming for more. Someone said he behaves like a thot! Lol! I  agree, I also say he understands his market. By the way, most artistes that appeal to women are more successful and make more money. Check it. The artiste that discovers that formula has separated himself from the boys in the industry. Infact I was sorry for any guy that brought his girlfriend to the event. Poor chaps! If they thought that was bad they didn’t know what was ahead of them! They were hit by the pint-sized bundle of talent, energy and sex appeal that was ‘Star Boy’; Wizkid!
Wizkid

If there was any confusion between who is a better performer on stage between Wizkid & Davido, I think last night settled it. Wizkid is in a class of his own. Yesterday he held the crowd spellbound as he took them down memory lane from hit song to hit song. That the guy has stage presence ; without dancers or hype man, he made good use of the stage and actually sang a number of his songs, showing he has a good voice. In as much as I do not like to compare, Davido needs to take some lessons from him. Stop with all the ‘My father has money’ BS and actually sit down to study how stage performing is done. All the jumping around and shouting does not quite cut it. Which is the problem with many Nigerian artistes. They have nice songs but going live, many can not carry a crowd. At least with the exception of Wizkid, Flavour, PSquare, Yemi Alade etc.
Wiz & Swizz
The best part was when Wizkid brought Swizz Beats up on stage and they jammed together! Omo … Our boy has gone o! He has able to organically cross over and bestride the two continents without diluting his flavour; Which is what D’banj should have done. Am I a witch for saying that? Is it not better we tell ourselves the truth so we can do better? Then there was something funny I noticed; Some of the Nigerians were trying sound like Americans while some Americans e.g Jidenna was trying be more African! (Bringing out the masquerade and stuff!) Lol. Crazy, right? I guess each was trying to blend. To which I say just be yourself. You are perfect as you are.
A big congrats to U.S rapper, Wale who was to be at the event but couldnt make it at the last minute because his girlfriend gave birth to a bouncing baby girl. I’m sure he would have torn the place down had he been there, but there you go… I am very happy for him.
In all, I must say I am proud of our boys (and girl!) Next time we want to see more female presentation, more African countries represented … but overall, it was a good show… one that will live in the minds of those that watched it for a long time to come.


This post first appeared on 9ijaclicks, please read the originial post: here

Share the post

See Photos Of Nigerian Music Stars Who Killed The Show At The One African Music Fest In New York

×

Subscribe to 9ijaclicks

Get updates delivered right to your inbox!

Thank you for your subscription

×