Lagbaja’s new albums hit the streets

Written by Ogbonna Amadi

Saturday, 09 May 2009

The much-anticipated twin albums from Africano musician Lagbaja are now ready for release. Titled ‘Paradise’ and ‘Sharp Sharp’, the albums will be released into the Nigerian market on Monday May 4, 2009. Lagbaja As is characteristic of Lagbaja, all tracks on both albums have various slants and characters, but the common denominator remains the traditional African drums. Lagbaja’s saxophones also feature prominently on the new recordings; and it’s the first time since ‘Cest Un African Thing’ (1996) that the saxophone is taking such prominence on Lagbaja’s studio recordings. Listeners will hear Lagbaja doing remarkable sax solos on ‘Paradise’ and ‘Sharp Sharp’ – songs like ‘Bling Bling Panda’ and Sobolation have the saxophone blazing while tracks like ‘paradise’ and ‘sharp sharp’ actually have the saxophone in the intro section of the songs dueting with the lead vocals. The traditional African drums- the mainframe of the Africano genre- is also conspicuously present throughout the entire album. And, interestingly, most of the songs were recorded live. Lagbaja is an advocate of Live music; believing musicians should play their instruments as opposed to the recent common practice of completely ceding music production to the computer. The albums were recorded in Lagos at Motherlan’ Studios; and in the USA at Bennett Studios. All the songs were mixed in different US studios, including Studio Crash (Pennsylvania), Bennet Studios (NJ) and Studio 4 (Pennsylvania). Apart from mixing several of the songs on the album, Grammy award-winning engineer Dave Kowalski also recorded the Salsa version of Lagbaja’s composition ‘Deja A Mi Gente Quedarse’ (Let my people stay) at Bennet Studios. The cut features some of the top Latin music players of the New York scene. The albums will be available in traffic and all retail outlets in Nigeria, from Monday May 4. Meanwhile, another album ‘Africano Party’ whose release has been pending since 2005, is also scheduled for release later this year. Ayuba takes Fuji to Cameleon level Ayuba is arguably the first graduate of Fuji music. His fascination with the ivory tower tallied with an early ambition to reach the pinnacle of his act. Convinced that his acceptance by the University community would bring about a good turning point for Fuji music, Ayuba made up his mind to break into that circle with his music. Having found the recipe for a new bubbly kind of Fuji that settled in well with the youths, Ayuba began his climb to the top. Now, he is eager again to be properly remembered as the one, who opened the door of acceptance for Fuji musicians in the Universities and among the educated, as he is setting a new pace for Fuji music, with his coming album titled ‘Cameleon’. Cameleon is the next level; Ayuba is taken Fuji music to. According to him, Cameleon is an infusion of Fuji , Juju and Highlife with heavy percussion played in hip hop form. “This is necessary because I want to take Fuji into Disco Hall and create hip-hop out of the present Fuji music. Internationally, the way we are waxing our album, (Fuji Music album) is below standard that’s why they couldn’t play our music in stations like ‘Channel 0’, MTV base and the likes Secondly, the trend of music worldwide is changing, the era of singing from morning till night as we often practice is over. This new album has 13 tracks with re-mix of some old songs and collaboration with other big artistes like sound sultan, Kanga, Too fat among others”. Stressed further that, ‘this is the time for the corporate organization in the country to support our effort in taken Nigerian music to the top. There is no amount of money they put on our production that would not bring a multiplier effect for them in the future’. Cameleon will hit the shelves by next week and expected to be marketed both in Nigeria and Abroad. Segun Obe plans return to the US Contemporary gospel singer, Segun Obe has disclosed plans to move back to the United States as soon as his next album drops. This he says has become necessary due to the ‘seeming decline of gospel music’ and the need to move into the next phase of his life. ‘People don’t buy gospel music anymore. Maybe just a few church folks...’, he said in a chat. The singer recently released the video to his new single ‘Ayanfe’ and says that he will be releasing a couple more singles off his new album until nearly all of them (the songs) become anthems after which he will then roll out the complete album into the market. The reason for this, he says, is to produce a complete sing-along album. As regards what he hopes to do with his time after the album drops, Segun says ‘I need to move into the next phase; get involved with a couple of businesses and then come back to groom young people to do gospel music in the way songs are done in this age.’ The singer identified himself as a conservative person, an identity which is responsible for his reserved way of doing contemporary gospel music. However in his come back, Segun hopes to match the new generation skill for skill and style for style. Spy Da Man comes back on board Spy-da-man, as many know, is not a fresh name in the Nigerian music scene, especially when it comes to DanceHall/Reggae genre of music. He made his mark with the revolutionary video ‘Dancehall’. The video featured C-Mion and Dr Sid of today’s Mo-Hits All Stars. His first effort was “Oliver twist” with Sound Sultan in 2002. A member of Naija Ninjaz, his debut album was released in 2006, titled “Let it Go”, under Next Records, with hit single “So Sure”. His fan base grew on a steady rise especially with more female fans becoming endeared to him. His real name is Omin Nyong and he hails from Ikot Omin in Cross River state. The ideology of his name Spy-da-man is from the arachnid spider, whose lyrics are like its webs, which spread and captivate the young and old. The acronym ‘SPYDAMAN’ means Systematically Passing Youth’s Desires Across Musically Addicting Nations. He is also a TV presenter. He is a graduate of Computer Science and co-owns Side Golden Entertainment Limited alongside Solomon Inameti. His latest effort is a 14 track album titled ‘No bi Dream’, and it features Timmaya, MI, Sound sultan, Nig.g.a Raw, Pasuma Wonder and Lord of Ajasa. It has production input from rave making song producer- K-Solo. The album release party is scheduled for May 20th at popular hang out; The Place, GRA Ikeja, Lagos. Ali Baba Again! in “He Them and I” Plans are in top gear for a comedy & music show that will shake the entertainment industry and the country Tagged : Ali Baba Again in “He, Them & I” .The show according to its producer, young and creative Bunmi Bavies , will be a reference point in the showbiz industry in the country. Davies further revealed that the He stands for the rave of the moment in the music industry D’ Banj and the them stands for Ali’s lieutenants in the comedy zone and in the music industry and these include , Julies Agwu, Okey Bakasi , Basket Mouth, 9ice, Gbenga Adeyinka, Yibo Koko, among others. While the I literarily stand for the King of comedy himself Ali Baba. In the words of Olujuwon B.P the publicist for the show, Ali Baba in ‘He, Them & I’ will be different and unique from every other comedy show in the country because for a very long time Ali Baba has not done a solo show. The last time he did one was in the year 2005, tagged : Share Offer, which was a success, for years he was busy planning , his fans can be rest assure that they would get nothing but the best . The show is slated for the prestigious Expo Hall, Oceanview, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Friday 12th & Saturday 13th June, 2009. When asked why the show will lasted for two days, Bunmi Davies said , every other comedian does show for just a day and a day will not be enough for the King. This is part of what makes the show greater than other shows, coupled with the fact that, there are lots of artistes that will perform. So one day is not enough and since the first day is a public holiday, we can’t afford to deny Nigerians the opportunity to catch fun” he concluded.