2FACE IDIBIA PREPARES FOR FOURTH ALBUM

Multi-talented act, 2Face Idibia is working on two projects simultaneously. As he is preparing to release the international version of his Unstoppable album which is alleged to have the inputs of Mary J Blige and other international acts, he is also preparing for the release of his fourth album.
He will soon release the first single from his next album titled Implication and he has also shot the video. On the international release of the Unstoppable album, he has reworked some of the songs to meet international standard. The album will be distributed by Vanquish Music Group in the U.K

MO’HITS TAKES ON IKECHUCKWU

Ikechukwu has once again made a bold statement that he has finally pitched his tent with Mo’Hits Records. Aside working on his album with Don Jazzy- the producer and CEO of Mo’Hits Records, he is about to release three singles form his forthcoming album.
The titles of the songs are Critical featuring D’Banj, Now Is The Time featuring Don Jazzy and It’s All On Me. These are the singles that will precede the release of his first album on Mo’Hits tentatively titled The Alliance

BRIEFS

• Dance hall act Timaya buried his late dad on December 18th, 2009.
• Banky W’s “The W Experince” album has been be released. The album featured acts like Naeto C, 9ice, Eldee, Muna and D’Banj.
• Talented singer cum producer, Sheyman has shot a new video of another single titled Wonkulu. It’s another single from the on-coming album tentatively titled King of Melody
• Comic act, Owen Gee will unveil a new video titled Same Olgee on December 25th.
• Winner of MTN Project Fame 2009, Mike Anyasodo has released his first single titled You Sweet Pass.
• Well versed rapper, Alaye, is presently warmig up for the release of his next album titled Flight. It will be released under Sugarkane Entertainment and Storm Records.
• Nigeria’s longest surviving hip-hop group- Blacktribe and one of Nigeria’s finest- 9ice released their third albums on December 7th, 2009. The album release party for Blacktribe was held at La Chaccette club in Lagos.
• Eldee Da Don’s “Is It Your Money” mix tape will soon hit the market. It’s a double CD made up of 20 tracks.
• Talented reggae act, Righeousman is ready to release his next album comprising 15 tracks
• One of Nigeria’s famous groups- Styl-Plus has released another album titled Unbreakable
• Gospel act, Lanre Teriba popularly known as Atorise has released his new five tracker album titled Soul Mate. The album is marketed and distributed by Bayowa Films & Records Intl.

DR PAT BURIES MUM
The late mum of Patrick Nwokolo otherwise known as Dr Pat- Late Mrs.Maria Nwokolo, 56, who died on October 5, 2009 after a nagging sickness will be laid to her final rest in her hometown, Isan, Edo-State on December 22. According to Dr Pat, arrangement has been made to give the deceased a befitting burial. The rapper also has a new single titled I Don Hammer.

TOSIN MARTINS RE-BRANDS

Since he joined Storm Records, lots of people have been skeptical about the next line of action that the artiste that initially defined his style of music as gospel will tow.
Glitz Stage gathered that the new album he is working on has a more urban sound. We were reliably informed that it actually contains much more than gospel. There is music for the church, Clubs, mind and soul.
Three singles form this on-coming album will soon be released. The songs are; Still Made In Nigeria featuring Naeto C, Ogaju featuring MI and Na U. He worked with producers like Cobhams, Wole Oni and Jesse Jagz

DANNY YOUNG GAINS PROMINENCE

There is no doubt that he has stayed too long underground after the release of the hit single that brought him to the lime light- Welcome To My Party featuring Lord of Ajasa. He worked so hard on different formulas to become one of Naija’s most sought after hip- hop acts but things didn’t just turn out right. He survived the turbulent times from the money he earned from music production.
The recent happenings around are clear indicators that the young Ondo State born act, is actually moving progressively in an upward trend. Few days back, he took delivery of a black Mercedes Benz E Class 320 which he proudly showed off to Glitz Stage amidst smiles. This is not actually his first but the best ever. He struggled to buy a Honda Accord 1980 series two years back from the few shows he performed at and later hobnob with friends for mobility.
His new album has actually dictated a new direction for him and he is really aiming for the top. He has been performing shows all over the country winning converts in droves and building his fan base. His performance was also one of the most outstanding last Wednesday in Lagos at the album release party of one of Nigeria’s finests- Blacktribe.
Danny’s new album is made up of 14 tracks with songs like Oju Ti Won, Story, Kolokolo,Cross Over, Aderupoko, among others. The album featured acts like Paul Play, Kel, Olu Maintain, LKT and Freakall. He produced 90% of the album.

X-PROJECT PREPARES FOR A NEW ALBUM

The three man hip-hop group; X-Project made up of Majeed Akinwumi Akinwoye (Majeed), Aziz Mohammed Kamara (Slez) and Salieu Umaru Sindi (Saal) is seriously working hard for the release of their next album. The most surprising part of it was the shooting of 11 videos out of the 13 songs on the album;
The album made available to Glitz Stage has songs like Na Wetin featuring Daddy Showkey, Turn It Up which is the title of the album, The Way U Wyne, Put It On Me, Bo Se Nlo featuring Pasuma Wonder, 2much Money featuring OJB & Azadus, Get Down featuring MI, among others. The album has the production imprints of the likes of OJB, Puffy T, Chris Okoro and MJ Nastie.
The group has no doubt come a long way. The group was formed in 2000 and released their debut album- Tumba Dance in 2004 and their sophomore album- Dance for Me was released in 2005. The Dance for Me album had songs like Aiye Mi and Tumba Dance Remix and it won for them a Presidential Award in Sierra Leone in 2005. However the album which gave them the much needed popularity was their last album titled Sierra-Naija; it contained the monster hit single- Lorile. It got them few awards and nominations as well as rave reviews nation wide.

JUMOKE ALAO OGUNSOLA UPS THE ANTE

Her never say die attitude has always worked for her from the beginning of her career as a broadcaster. She is definitely one of the few tube girls that look beyond the glamour of being on TV. Jumoke in her own case wants to leave her footprints in the sands of time and the results are here for everyone to see.
Jumoke is the presenter of the popular entertainment programme- Gbedu on Africa Independent Television (AIT). Due to the dint of hard work, Jumoke Alao Ogunsola has become one of the most celebrated presenters on TV with international recognition. Her name will go down in history of musical programmes as one those that fanned the embers of quiet revolution.
Jummy’s newest baby is her independent entertainment programme known as DJ on Rampage powered by Sprite. The program is an expose on disk Jockey’s life style and their musical interest as revealed by them. DJ on Rampage is a recorded programme currently showing on 9pm Saturdays on AIT network. Already DJ humility, bombastic, among others has featured on the programme.

GOBBLE ABBA NOMINATED FOR FUTURE AWARDS 2010

Innovations, ideas and brilliant results, those must definately be the watchwords of the youngmen running Gobble Abba web studio. The Nigerian owned UK based firm has been underground for sometime now powering international standard, worldclass websites for high profiled clients such as Basketmouth, M.I, Chocolate city, NMVA, Live Beats, Lasgidi Entertainment, LASU, Cue Sports Association of Nigeria, DJ Neptune, Ace magazine, just to mention a few. It would be recalled that Gobble Abba got criticial reckoning when it launched a first of its kind open ballot voting system for the recently concluded Nigeria Music Video Awards (NMVA’09) and barely one month after achieving that huge feat, the reward for excellence has come knocking at the door of the company as it has been nominated for Nigeria’s most prestigious all youths awards; The Future Awards 2010 in the category of best use of technology. Online voting has since commenced on the awards official website @ www.thefuturenigeria.com and incidentally the voting system is still being powered by Gobble Abba. Obviously the duo of Adekunle Adegboyega a.k.a K-slim and Ibrahim Adewale Otolorin a.k.a Wale Abba the brains behind the company are surely determined to revolutionalize the web service industry in Nigeria and beyond, their official website @ www.gobbleabba.com is an attestation to the fact.

KOFFI AND THE WORKERMAN MOVEMENT

In a bid to further drive his musical career, frontline comic act, Koffi, has teamed up with some new acts to form a group known as the Workerman Movement a.k.a Workerholiks. Koffi revealed that the aim of the group is to further foster serene music devoid of lewd lyrics and obscene content.
The five group members are made up of Koffi, Yeankeys, Afroholic, Outshine and Boomerang. Koffi of course no longer needs any introduction, Yeankeys is one of the producers of the group, Outshine is a rapper cum producer, Afroholik is a rapper and Boomerang is also a rapper and the only female member of the group.
They made their first statement last week in Lagos when their debut album was released by Soforte- Nigeria’s first automated distribution company. The twelve tracker album has tracks like; Take Over, Swagger Dis Swagger Dat, Sink or Swim, Money, Adrenaline, S.E.X.Y, Jamming and others.
In the past, Koffi has released three different albums. He released his debut album- Confusion in 2005, Abinibility in 2007 and Tradofunkhipsoul in 2009. His fourth album- Root and Roll is scheduled for release in December 2010

BRIEFS

• Dance hall act Timaya will bury his late dad on December 18th, 2009.
• Banky W’s “The W Experince” album will be released on December 14th, 2009. The album featured acts like Naeto C, 9ice, Eldee, Muna and D’Banj.
• Talented singer cum producer, Sheyman will release the video of another of his singles titled Wonkulu in few days time. It’s another single from the on-coming album tentatively titled King of Melody.
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• Nigeria’s longest surviving hip-hop group- Blacktribe and one of Nigeria’s finest- 9ice released their third albums on December 7th, 2009. The album release party for Blacktribe was held at La Chaccette club in Lagos.
• Eldee Da Don’s “Is It Your Money” mix tape will soon hit the market. It’s a double CD made up of 20 tracks.
• Talented reggae act, Righeousman is ready to release his next album comprising 15 tracks
• One of Nigeria’s famous groups- Styl-Plus has released another album titled Unbreakable

JUMOKE ALAO OGUNSOLA UPS THE ANTE

Her never say die attitude has always worked for her from the beginning of her career as a broadcaster. She is definitely one of the few tube girls that look beyond the glamour of being on TV. Jumoke in her own case wants to leave her footprints in the sands of time and the results are here for everyone to see.


Jumoke is the presenter of the popular entertainment programme- Gbedu on Africa Independent Television (AIT). Due to the dint of hard work, Jumoke Alao Ogunsola has become one of the most celebrated presenters on TV with international recognition. Her name will go down in history of musical programmes as one those that fanned the embers of quiet revolution.
Jummy’s newest baby is her independent entertainment programme known as DJ on Rampage powered by Sprite. The program is an expose on disk Jockey’s life style and their musical interest as revealed by them. DJ on Rampage is a recorded programme currently showing on 9pm Saturdays on AIT network. Already DJ humility, bombastic, among others has featured on the programme.

NEW SINGLES

Kelly Hansome- Merry Christmas
Banky W- Omoge You Too Much
Thief My Kele
Morachi- Marry Me
Shine- Amin
Mallam Spicey- Free Cure
Darey- Stroke Me
Dr. Pat- I Don Hammer
Sammie Okoposo- I Go Dance
Prince- I Like What I See
Omoba
Ooze
Eldee- Ota Mi
U Blowing My Mind
2-Shortz- Oyoyo
Weird MC- Happy Hard
Gele Gogoro

ALBUM REVIEW

ARTISTE- OMAWUMI
TITLE- WONDER WOMAN
Let me start by commending Omawumi’s courage for stepping out with this brilliant album. She is indeed a singing mannequin for talented writers to hang their work on. She actually proved this during her days at West African Idols reality show while she also justified her award as the best vocalist at the last Hip-Hop World Awards (HHWA). We also understand her fear for debuting with this album probably as a result of her emergence as the Next Rated Act also at the HHWA. We deduced her fear was due to the successful outing of Asa and Wande Coal, who are also previous winners of the Next Rated category with their debut albums.
Omawumi’s debut album comprises 14 tracks, 1 skit, intro and the outro. All the songs on the album were produced by Dr. Frabz except In the Music and I Miss My Baby which were produced by Cobhams Asuquo. She sure kept the collaborations at minimum. The album features Eldee Da Don, Shank, Naeto-C, Dr. Frabz, Kel, Eric and Waje.
When her first single; In The Music hit the airwaves last year, some music enthusiasts were exposed to an eclectic style of music that incorporated the South-African kwaito beat into one brand and matched with charismatic lyrics. The record became a mainstay in clubs across the country, as well as making its way up to the top singles chart.
Working with Dr. Frabz; her boyfriend on this album was a good decision. He brought his wealth of experience to bear on the production of the album. Despite keeping her numerous fans on a long wait, Omawumi finally dropped her much anticipated debut effort titled Wonder Woman. In effect, this is Omawumi’s best chance of emerging as an emcee to court with at a time when most of her other female counterparts are more concerned about their sex appeal rather than skills.
Aside the intro, the album opens with a beautiful song titled Mafimisere featuring Eldee Da Don’s cocky verse. Over an upbeat backdrop from the producer; Dr. Frabz, she proceeds to Today Na Today which was her second single. Serious Love Nwantinti comes in immediately afterwards with a more contemporary approach describing how love struck she is with her love.

While smoother tracks like; The Way That I Feel and Love It provide a bit of dynamism. ‘When Breeze Flow is one of the few slower cuts that actually leave an indelible impression of emotional gush on your minds. In all, Omawumi’s strongest point is her lyrical prowess which she proudly displayed like a peacock. The album is infectious enough to get your feet shuffling and salute her vocal dexterity. At the end of the album, Wonder Woman charts a direction for other female emcees to be more concerned about their mode of delivery other than sex appeal.
With the album ending on high note, it’s reassuring to see Omawumi getting her act together and making an album that’s good from start to finish.
Wonder Woman could be summarized as an attempt to blend R&B ethics with a Hip Hop edge, yet only the former is apparent. While Omawumi may have made a conscious effort to instil a lasting effect through her playful cadence and free spirited antics, Woder Woman is ultimately an album about to gain serious reckoning. For some listeners, the groove may be enough to keep this CD in rotation. About two years after her stay at West African Idols, Omawumi has left other contestants scratching their heads.
She pours so much soul and emotions into each song with her angelic voice, and it's interesting to see how much different this album is, compared to some other albums.
The album is the foundation of her growing into a different woman, at least behind the soundboards. The problem with it however, is that she is yet to discover that secret other singers such as Asa have to massage the ballad and grab your emotion.

SOFORTE RESTRUCTURES MUSIC DISTRIBUTION IN NIGERIA

SOFORTE is the first automated entertainment distribution company registered under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. So far, they have created the largest distribution network comprising of both locations and supply chain distribution with outlets in over 60 key locations nationwide and well over 800 Wholesalers and Retailers spread across several business districts all across the country.
Soforte has created a scientific entertainment distribution template towards giving a structure to the music industry in Nigeria. Some of the objectives of the company are to reduce the scourge of piracy to the barest minimum, maximize unit sale of entertainment products, making royalty a norm in the industry, to ease customer purchase process through the use of technology and to reduce the current chain in the distribution network, thereby increasing returns on investment to stakeholders.
The company’s goal is to create an enabling environment within which the Nigerian entertainment industry can thrive by providing an effective distribution network throughout the country and beyond for the works produced by the practitioners of these industries and with a mission to be the leading provider of business support for the entertainment industry first in Nigeria and for Africa.
They have formed several strategic alliances with key organisations in Nigeria, amongst which are TNT/IAS Courier Company (TNT) and Maevva Solutions. TNT handles the entire back-end logistics service for Soforte; ensuring products are delivered to all distribution outlets nationwide.
SOFORTE operates an automated business process. This solution, which was built and tailor-made to suit their needs, was built and deployed by Maevva Solutions, a reputable IT consulting firm. They have 9 major hubs nationwide which are integrated real-time online and connected to Soforte’s head office in Lagos ensuring that their business processes are monitored real-time, online. Upon this backbone, reports on sales of products are generated and uploaded to their website, access is given to artistes and labels signed on to Soforte to view report on sales on regular basis. They have done this to show the transparency the industry lacks, and not only is Soforte the first in Nigeria to run a system like this, they also lead the world in deploying the most transparent distribution business process.
Another first in the music and movie industry from the stable of SoForte is the provision of holograms for CDs. This security code helps to further protect the product from piracy and also helps to distinguish between the original and pirated work, thereby making for easy prosecution of offeders.
Finally, they have also pioneered the use of barcodes for music works in Nigeria. This barcode is recognised in any store or mall worldwide and more importantly by Nielson Soundscan, the largest marketing and media information company in the world. The barcode is product specific and it’s used to trace sales anywhere in the world through a barcode scanner. Nigeria’s music industry is growing so fast that our products are beginning to sell in millions of copies outside the shores of this country and it is very important, for the sake of the IP owners and stakeholders and investors to be able to capture sales no matter where it is effected in the world.
Soforte Entertainment Distribution presently works with the following licensed Artists; Lara George, 9ice ans Sammie Okposo. They are also in talks with Storm Records and Chocolate City.

SOLAH BACK WITH A BANG

Sola Odumosu popularly known as Solah is a gifted Nigerian artiste cum TV presenter. The first time we heard of him as an artiste was when he released a collaboration album with a South-Africa based Ghanaian artiste.
Solah, a graduate of Political Science at Olabisi Onabanjo University started his career as a TV presenter back then at Murhi International Television (MITV) in Lagos. He was the presenter of the popular programme known as Old School Jamz which featured lots of artistes like Orlando Julius, Eedris Abdulkareem, Tony Tetuila, amongst others.
The Masters Degree holder in International Affairs and Diplomacy in Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria has also done lots of voice over in the past before he traveled to U.K and South-Africa to further pursue his dream as an artiste.
He picked up an employment offer with Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps when he returned into the country because he needed time study the music structure in Nigeria. Against all odds, Solar is currently ready to re-launch himself into the music. His ten tracker album is now ready and it scheduled for release the first quarter of 2010.
Two tracks from the album, Swagger and Naija 4 Life are enjoying airplay on different radio and TV stations.

THE RISE AND RISE OF BLACKTRIBE

THE RISE AND RISE OF BLACKTRIBE
As a matter of fact today in Nigeria, Blacktribe is the longest surviving group. All the hip-hop groups before them which include X-Appeal made up of Jazzman Olofin and Lexzy Doo, Remedies which was initially made up of Eedris Abdulkareem, Eddy Remedy and Tony Tetuila before Tony left the group and Plantashun Boiz made up of 2Face, Blackfaze and Faze had all broken up.
Ahead of the group’s third album release on December 7th, friends and fans of the group hosted them to a lavish pre-release party in Festac Town on December 4th, 2009 to wine and dine with the talented duo. Another party that will attract lots of major players in the entertainment industry is slated for December 9th at La Cachette club in G.R.A, Lagos. Several artistes such as 2Face Idibia, Faze, Timaya, Dagrin, Sound Sultan, OJB, Klever Jay, Danny Young, among many others have confirmed their attendance. The privileged few that have listened to the album described it as a brilliant effort.
Blacktribe’s album titled Addicted boasts of 15 tracks and it features acts like; 2Face Idibia, Sound Sultan, Timaya, OJB, Mallam Spicy and Prince Banton. The album was produced by some of the best crop of producers in the country which include the likes of K-Solo, Spanky, J-Sleek, Dr. Frabs, OJB and Jiggy Jegg. Some of the tracks on the album are Chacha, Ife, Trusted Friend, Ganja, Gbabeski, Follow Me Go, Story, Leave Am, My Size, U Make Me Wanna, 2nite, Wondale, Chikito and Addicted. Two videos 2from the album, Chikito and Trusted Friend were shot in South-Africa. The video for Trusted Friend has been enjoying massive rotation on different TV stations for a while before the duo followed suit with the second video; Chikito last week to herald the album release.
The group has no doubt come a long way in the music industry. They recorded their first single in 1999 titled Be Ma Girl featuring 2Face Idibia and Blackface of the defunct Plantashun Boyz and it was produced by Paul Play. Accordingly in 2000, they recorded another successful single titled Nino and it turned out to be another hit. It was produced by ace producer, Nelson Brown. The song was well accepted then in all spheres of the society and it instantly turned them into a household name.
Due to their growing popularity then, they rocked so many concerts in the country and they are still doing same till date. Some of the most popular shows they have performed at are Star Trek, The Play Safe Campus Tour for the awareness of HIV/AIDS, Y’hello Africa, Taraba and Benue States government organized Peace Concerts, Big Brother Nigeria Show, MTN 2Face & Friends Tour, amongst others.