There’s less than a month before the US election on November 3 and there is so much going on it’s hard to keep up. The rollercoaster of Trump, his awfulness and his corona causes one to forget how much he has damaged not only America but the world. Thank goodness there are hundreds of books […]
100 SONGS OF BEN TOMOLOJU for Freedom Park@10 Multi-talented, multiskilled artiste, BENSON OMOWAFOLA TOMOLOJU, will be a special guest artiste at the ongoing Freedom Park @ 10 celebration. The composer, singer, dramatist, theatre director and culture communicator will be performing LIVE, some of his 100 Songs, which were recently unveiled on a […]
Our Album is out TODAY!! Our baby is finally out and we are super excited to be sharing it with you.The new long player was a collaborative effort of all band members, with some contributions from our larger musical family. A big shout out to Seun Kuti for the powerful feature on “Yeye Theory”! For this album, […]
Since releasing his debut single in 2018 Lagos-based musician Oxlade has been steadily making his way up the charts in his native Nigeria and throughout Africa. Now, hot on the heels of the likes of Wizkid and Davido, he’s got his sights set on the rest of the world, and he knows exactly how to […]
There is the wrong notion that Fela as Godfather of social commentary-and-protest lyrics/music in Nigeria, literarily covered all the bases! Yes, he did a huge bit, but on meticulous examination they were mostly about settling personal grudges against his kinsmen; Abiola and Obasanjo in particular and, reactions to military/army raids […]
Outside, it is Charly Boy, Inside It is Charles Oputa Who is Charly Boy? Who is Charles Oputa? Are these two characters interfacing in any way? Or are they intruding on each other’s comfort zone? Do they share common values that make them symbiotic? Or are these two distinct entities that only share a […]
We, as Africans, were quite amused yet sympathetic to the fervour and serious antics of the Black Power movement on the campuses of American universities; as Black student leaders openly proclaimed at rallies on campus that their flat noses, thick lips, nappy kinky hair and black skin, were all collectively beautiful! These gestures were well-calculated […]
The guitar from its lowly beginnings in palm-wine/tombo bars had, at the turn of the eighties, shaped Highlife and its hybrid genres of popular music in Nigeria for nearly five decades. As from the seventies it was now the turn of the youth; more in-tune with and influenced by ‘global’ […]
In his interview with Nigeria Monthly, Ambrose Campbell identified the instrumentation of early juju music as, “tambourine, a guitar and small sekere (gourd rattle)” and the location of the music as “palm-wine (tombo) bars.” The style of guitar playing in these bars in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia was […]
Ife students of a certain vintage of my admission and generation will remember the Institute of African Studies. It was natural attraction to new entrants to the university, especially if you were in the humanities. You were certain to encounter some energizing performance, most likely from Ola Rotimi’s oeuvre. If […]
