Our #ThrowBackThursday for this week is a classic. We bring back Nigerian Hip Hop artist ModeNine with the song “Cry”.
The second track on Modenine‘s 2007 album E’ Pluribus Unum released under Questionmark Entertainment is arguably one of the award-winning rapper’s most successful singles. ‘Cry’ features the soulful vocals of songstress Nnenna, received significant critical acclaim, topped charts in Africa and bagged the hip-hop titan multiple awards.
For such a sad song with social import, it is important that lyrically, only a few rap Nigerian songs with conscious themes are comparable. Modenine did win the supreme award for rap heads in Nigeria, Lyricist on the Roll at the Headies, back-to-back for several years. And in its sedateness, the song’s production emphasizes the tragedy of its lyrics.
A song of two verses, ‘Cry‘ was released as a single off Modenine’s E Pluribus Unum album. With verses in English, the song’s whimpering Igbo chorus was provided by the singer Nnenna. Each verse tells a sober tale. The first follows a woman from her early, glorious days as a university belle to the child-bearing moment and the death of her alcoholic husband who dies on his way to meet his wife in labour.
“Baby kicking, got her crying on the phone/ Honey come home/ So he broke the speed limit/ After he’s drove like he is in a race/ Tryna win it/ Lost control overtaking on a bend/ And he was death an untimely end/ Wife gave birth, her joy was that he is a boy/ But cry when she found out she’s a widow.”
Where in an optimist’s telling, the second tale would redeem the first, Modenine doubles the tragedy. First, he sketches the friendly pair:
“Two young men/ Always topping their peers/ Their parents never thought they would bring home tears.” The boys become cult members at the university. “One night, both gangs had beef/hanging in the atmosphere, they let it out in grief/A face off right in the school premises/That night, they met their nemesis/ They shot each other point blank eye to eye.”
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Have you found this article insightful? Then kindly share and comment your opinions in the comment section below. Thanks.
Daniji Emmanuel is a content writer who has written hundreds of articles on various niches focusing on Entertainment topics. He’s also published interviews, conducted research and written opinions on the creative industry. BigDan, fondly called, also consults and handles brand promotions for people and organizations in the creative industry.
“Everything come easy when you got it in the bag.”
MagleraDoeBoy, 25K, and Dj Sliqe are coming for everything in their new music video. Toward the end of 2022, the trio released the second installment of Champion Music, and now have a new music video in its support. The project’s opening song, Everything, is a high-energy, celebratory track with assistance from Blxckie and Mashbeatz.
The music video finds the gang scattered around various locations. From performing their song in front of a graffiti wall, to kicking it at the barber shop getting fresh cuts. The video is steered by rising director, Young Matee, who has worked with some local superstars including Uncle Waffles.
The visuals later close with the guys sharing a meal and clinking glasses, toasting to their rising careers in the industry.
Everything music video
It’s no doubt that both 25K and MagleraDoeBoy are having a magnificent streak thus far. From project releases to features and back to back shows, the fellas are booked and busy, and show no sign of slowing down. This is the trio’s third music video from Champion Music 2, led by uKuphi and Sta Soft, both released last year.
Peep the new music video below and also stream Champion Music 2:
Nigerian artist, Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, has earned herself a spot as our #WomanCrushWednesday for her contribution to Future’s track titled “Wait For You” which featured Drake.
She bagged another international award at the 2023 Grammy awards.
The 65th grammy award which was held on Sunday at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles saw the flock of most of the greatest artists in the world in attendance.
The 27-year-old artiste won her first grammy for her part in Future’s hit single ‘Wait For U’ under the award category for ‘Best Melodic Rap performance’.
Tems is also the first non-mixed Nigerian female musician to win the prestigious award.
Sade Adu, who won the Grammy for ‘Best new artist in 1986, and Cynthia Erivo, who bagged ‘Best theatre Album’ in 2017, were British Nigerians
The singer has added this to her list of accomplishments following her Africa Future awards win and her Oscar nomination.
Temilade “Tems” Openiyi, has expressed delight over winning her first Grammy.
The “Try Me” singer also revealed in a Rolling Stone interview that working with American singers Future and Drake was a “dream come true.”
Tems’ performance in Future and Drake’s hit song “Wait for U” earned her a Grammy in the “Best Melodic Rap Performance” category on Sunday night.
In the interview, the singer says winning the Grammy was “just the beginning” for her.
“It’s incredible. I get to work with people that, five years ago, were on my playlist. You know, I was jamming with them, and now I’m working with them. It’s such a pleasure, and I feel like this is just the beginning,” she says.
The 27-year-old, who collaborated with Future, Rihanna, Drake, and Beyoncé last year, was nominated for a number of awards, including Album of the Year and Best Melodic Rap Performance, for her work with Future. She also made a guest appearance on Beyoncé’s Renaissance, which was featured on the Renaissance album.
“I’ve never been in the same place with so many artists in one space before,” Tems says, speaking to Vogue on Monday morning, from her hotel room.
“People coming together to celebrate work and art.”
Tems shares that the Grammys carried poignant significance throughout her childhood. “Back in the day, the Grammys were definitely an event,” she says. “So attending the ceremony was a full-circle moment.”
For the personal milestone, the artist opted to wear a gold satin off-the-shoulder gown designed by British label Vivienne Westwood, that incorporated a va-va-voom silhouette, a corset, and crisscrossing pearl necklaces and straps. Tems calls the look the perfect mix of “soft, but sultry.”
When asked how she stays grounded, the singer pauses for a second, then says she finds something new about herself every day by exploring as much as she can and going on many adventures. “I stay present and I’m always in the know,” she says. “I think that’s how you stay grounded.”
“Soon as I heard the @temsbaby sample over @atljacobbeatz. Instantly connected to my soul,” Future wrote on Twitter, praising her “AMAZING” voice.
In an earlier interview, she stated that she would rather not discuss Drake. “Just because you meet and work with someone, doesn’t mean you know them,” the “Try Me” singer said. Besides, she hasn’t seen him since they made “Fountains”. (“I mean, he lives in Canada. I live in Nigeria.”)
She was also tight-lipped when GQ asked about Rihanna, other than to say she is “the coolest babe on Earth” and “I’ve not worked with her yet, but it’s gonna happen.” When Openiyi decides to manifest something, you had better believe her. “Everybody I said I would work with, I’ve worked with. Wiz, Drake,” she says. “Every single person.”
It usually takes her a few days to fully grasp the significance of these novel experiences, especially the shows. In her downtime, she writes, paints, and draws.
Congratulations poured in for the singer after she became the first Nigerian female artiste to win the award
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Have you found this article insightful? Then kindly share and comment your opinions in the comment section below. Thanks.
Daniji Emmanuel is a content writer who has written hundreds of articles on various niches focusing on Entertainment topics. He’s also published interviews, conducted research and written opinions on the creative industry. BigDan, fondly called, also consults and handles brand promotions for people and organizations in the creative industry.
The beef between former Teargas members, K.O and Ntukza seems to be heating up as the latter shares a response to Forecast 23. Titled Long Road To Freedom, Ntukza goes after Mr. Cashtime; poking holes at his claims from his recent freestyle, also going as far as accusing him of buying YouTube views for his hit song, SETE. Let’s let him cook for minute.
Forecast 23 reception
About a week ago, K.O took shots at Ntukza, adding on to their long-standing feud. The Caracara rapper didn’t stop upstairs there because he went on to diss Ntukza’s wife for poking her nose in his business, as well as singer and Dj, Lady Du. While many people enjoyed the freestyle and the savage bars that came with it, a select few found his shots at Lady Du to be weak and in bad taste, Ntukza being one of them. “Sorry to burst your bubble but that Lady Du line a gimmick,” rapped Ntukza in his new release.
What’s the verdict?
Rapping over a mellow, piano-laced beat, Ntukza stands firm in his belief that nothing K.O says can break him, but it was this response that ultimately let him down. If you’ve followed Teargas since its inception in the early 2000s, you’ll recall how Ntukza was, at some point, regarded the “Beyoncé” of the group. The one who had listeners’ attention, the one whose verses people were chanting. Now, I’m not one to keep score or compare rappers, but I’ll have to admit that this sad excuse of a response doesn’t even come close to the level of rapping K.O delivered in Forecast 23. Here’s what the Twitter streets had to say about it:
Disappointed is an understatement but a piece of me somehow believes that Ntukza can still go harder, even look further for a better beat while he’s at it. Let’s go back to the drawing board, shall we? Grab a fresh pen and pad and get back to writing, or perhaps sit this one out?
Listen to Long Road To Freedom below and tell us what you think:
Ayüü is seen as a sound and genre-fusing musical genius by his fans and describes himself as an introverted extrovert who is determined to break the barrier of African music and change the narrative that the entire African continent makes Afrobeats.
His latest project Toxic Sweet’ is a nine-track album that accompanies the listeners through a melodic landscape as Ayüü tackles mental health, toxicity, and romance in about 21 minutes. The features on the project includes GJtheCaeser, Dopeman Twizzy and Andrę Wolff.
Despite its thoughtful themes, ‘Toxic Sweet’ elicit a hedonistic atmosphere with the fan fervent “Makarena”, mental health with “Guns ‘N’Roses”, toxic love with “Vice Versa” and tranquillity with “2Much”.
Speaking to Ayüü, he opens up about his life growing up in Nigerian and pursuing a career in sports before eventually going to university to study economics and finding himself doing music two years into his degree.
His love for African music can be seen in his burning desire to change the perception of African artists and prove that they are more than afrobeats artists.
For more on Ayüü, read our interview below:
This interview has been lightly edited for the purpose of clarity and context
Daniel Young: What inspired the project name Toxic sweet?
Ayüü: Toxic sweet is an exploration of the duality of love and the complexity of human interaction. The name came about because that is literally my truth. You don’t have the good without the bad and visa versa. I’m not toxic without being sweet and it’s not intentionally of course.
Daniel Young: Was there any difficulty making the project?
Ayüü: Not at all I make a lot of music. Up until recently I record music every day, I don’t have singles I just have projects. I have about 10 or 11 projects that are just chilling in the vault. Making project isn’t a problem for me. I made Toxic sweet in a week.
Daniel Young: Can you talk to me about your process of being more of an ‘album’ artist if I can call you that?
Ayüü: Honestly, it wasn’t an intention. When I first started putting out music professionally in 2017 it was about redefining the culture and what it means to be African (and make African inspired music like Afro-fusion and Afro-beats). I really wanted to take away the stigma of being an African artist and that we could do anything. I don’t think that I could have done that if I just made singles which is why I focused so much on creating albums.
Even Africans and fellow Nigerians didn’t like listening to African music. Nigerian and African music was defined in one box you’re either making afrobeats,“dum, dum,dum” or you’re not making African music at all.
Ayüü
Daniel Young: What are some of the stigmas that you experienced as an African artist growing up?
Ayüü: There is the obvious main reason is that we weren’t taken seriously up until recently. Even Africans and fellow Nigerians didn’t like listening to African music. Nigerian and African music was defined in one box you’re either making afrobeats,“dum, dum,dum” or you’re not making African music at all. I remember that even my brother didn’t understand the music that I was making, and I can say this because I have a very supportive family – my brother absolutely loves me. Even when he doesn’t understand he is still there for me. He was worried in the sense that he didn’t know what lane I was taking, was it even lucrative? He was coming from a point where us as African don’t do this. I had to explain to him where I saw myself and even though some of those things didn’t come true yet but I’m on my way there. Its nice to have him experience my growth firsthand. Now one of the challenges that I face that everyone groups African music as afrobeats and we are so more than that. There are real rappers in South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria we aren’t just making afrobeats in Africa. Also there are real RnB artists as well. Being Nigerian the government also makes things very difficult for artist by banning videos and making life hard for creatives in general. Those are type of things that I have experienced and that I have seen personally.
Daniel Young: I know that in an African household its not ideal to be making music, you can’t necessarily share with your parents that you are making music but how did you get over that? Knowing that music was always something that you wanted to do and no matter what you would see it through.
Ayüü: I feel like I was born in that era, you know where parents have a lot of children. When it was my time to receive ‘parenting’ they were a bit tired. They weren’t really on it like that so I haven’t really experienced constraints. I call music my last change at being happy because I wanted to play sport, I was literally top two or top three in every sport that I played so I wanted to play football or basketball at first. I remember that I got a scholarship to go play basketball abroad in Scotland or Ireland and my dad was like bin that, you’re going to university to study economics or something that makes sense. I ended up going to university to study business admin and economics at that time I didn’t even know that I wanted to make music. Music found me late. This was around second year of university; I was making music in secondary school but not with any intention of taking it seriously. I did everything that my parents wanted me to do and I got a good degree. When I was done I told my dad that I wanted to do music and he was okay with it. My mother on the other hand had a lot more to say even certain members in my family suggested that I should get a real job but it was never a point where I had to fight any of my family members the push back wasn’t that bad luckily.
Daniel Young: How would you describe the importance of your family members support so far in your music career?
Ayüü: Look I am not going to lie. Life would probably be more than 50 million times worse if they aren’t as supportive as they are. My mom for example she listens to a few songs here and there but generally she doesn’t want to hear it, but at least I don’t have to fight her. It’s funny because she is so nonchalant towards my music career, and she was the one who bought my first set of recording equipment. I made a song that she really liked back then, and she bought me a set of monitors and recording gear like a mic. With my dad he is more hands on and the reason why I am not a full on rapper before he told me that I could sing I didn’t believe that I could. He helped me find the ratio of my singing and he even helped me to make my music more listenable. I remember even watching documentaries about Quincy Jones that he introduced me to. I can really see how the support of my parents has carried me through a lot.
Daniel Young: What is your favourite song from the project?
Ayüü: That’s not an easy pick I wont lie to you. I don’t think I have a favourite but I would mention songs like High road, Vice Versa … Honestly every time I do this I end up naming the whole project because I think that every song is necessary for the whole body of work to exist. So I cant name a favourite yet at least!
Ayüü: What is your favourite off the project?
Daniel Young: Well, its between Toxic sweet Pt. 2 and Serpent. I am leaning more towards serpent because it was the very first song that I heard, and I had to play it back a few times.
Daniel Young: Are there songs that didn’t make the project at all?
Ayüü: Let me think? No there wasn’t so I do this thing even with mango juice and bad decisions, when my main project is becoming to complicated to figure out I would create another body of work with throw away songs. So, what happened with Toxic sweet is that it went from a 3 song ep to a 9 song project. As you can see, I have a recording problem where I record too much. There is a lot of music…
Daniel Young: How would you describe yourself as a person?
Ayüü: That is such a vague question, how would I describe myself as a person… If I am being completely real, I would say that I am a honest person. I am honest to a fault, there are certain things that would benefit me much more if I lied about them. Even the place where I am in my career I feel that if I faked a little bit more I would be better off but I cant help but live my truth. That is also why a song like toxic sweet pt 2 exists, in that song I literally out myself. I live my life very honest, straight forward and very direct.
Daniel Young: I was going to ask if that translates into the music, but I guess you answered that already…
Ayüü: If I had to describe my musical self, I would say that I am more diverse than honest. I think that I am extremely diverse and that my range is incredible. That is also why I want to put out more music because people think that they know what I sound like and the type of music I make but that’s not the case at all!
Daniel Young: Do you have any fears in life?
Ayüü: Of course! I have a lot. I think one of my biggest fears is that I don’t make it in music and reach the level that I want to get to. After that is my reoccurring fear of death, its not that I am afraid of dying I just think that I haven’t made my peace with the concept of death itself. It has to happen but I still cant wrap my head around losing people.
Ikechukwu is a black belt holder in karate with further expertise in Shotokan, aikido and tai chi. The muscular Nigerian rapper has always shown his martial art skills in his music videos and on social media. For this reason, Ikechukwu’s martial art lifestyle is our highlight for today’s Hip-hop Lifestyle.
Ikechukwu Onunaku, known professionally as Ikechukwu and Killz is a Nigerian singer, rapper, and actor. He was a cast member in The Wedding Party and The Wedding Party 2: Destination Dubai. Onunaku was born in Manassas, Virginia to Nigerian parents but was raised in Lagos, Nigeria. He moved to the United States after completing high school at King’s College, Lagos. He returned over a decade later to Nigeria shortly before the release of his first album Son of the Soil in 2006 which featured the smash hit My Name is Ikechukwu. Son of the Soil was followed by Life and Times of Killz Volume 1 which featured production by Don Jazzy and an appearance by DBanj and Wande Coal and frequent collaborator Naeto C.
His hit single “My name is Ikechukwu” from the Son of the Soil charted at No.1 in the East, in Lagos and Abuja for 21, 6 and 5 weeks respectively. His third album The Alliance Reconstructed featured other hits like “Critical”, and “Now is the Time”. His other singles include “Bu Lie Oto, B.A.D.A, Carry Me, Balabala.”
He made his debut on the big screen in a short feature written produced and directed by Walter Taylaur’s The Wages. It went on to garner critical acclaim, was selected for screening at AFRIFF 2014 and subsequently won the best short feature at the AMVCA’S in 2015. Following that with a major appearance in the Ndani-produced Gidi Up, Ikechukwu secured a major role in the blockbuster The Wedding Party in 2016. In 2017, he returned to the cast of the sequel The Wedding Party 2.
In 2019, Ikechukwu released another single, Nnukwu Azu.
In September 2019, Ikechukwu made a post on his Instagram page, alleging that he was pulled out of an Uber taxi, bundled into a police van and beaten by the operatives of the Nigerian Police Force. He said that he was taken to an ATM and forced to empty his bank accounts.
He married British model Ella in May 2021, originally from Imo state and the daughter of a Nigerian politician.
He returned back to the music industry this year with a new single titled “White Givenchys”
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Have you found this article insightful? Then kindly share and comment your opinions in the comment section below. Thanks.
Daniji Emmanuel is a content writer who has written hundreds of articles on various niches focusing on Entertainment topics. He’s also published interviews, conducted research and written opinions on the creative industry. BigDan, fondly called, also consults and handles brand promotions for people and organizations in the creative industry.
It’s a new year and festival season has begun, first in line being the annual Cotton Fest hosted in Johannesburg this past weekend on the 4th of February.
Before I continue – seeing that it is black history month, I’d like to clarify that this festival has nothing to do with cotton picking, does not reference slavery or the cotton plantations in the 1800s in any way. In South Africa, “Cotton” or “Kotini” in Zulu, refers to style, while being a “Cotton eater” describes someone who dresses very well, so in other words, “eating cotton” means having style or dressing well.
Cotton Eaters are colloquially known in South Africa as people who dress well. Cotton fest, was created by Ricky Rick, who was and still is, the best dressed person our country has seen.
We never picked cotton in SA & have no trauma from it like Americans. Hope that helps
Now let’s get right to it. Cotton Fest is an annual South African music festival that hosts a slew of attendees from all round the country, coming together to celebrate South African artistry, fashion, and the late Rikhado Makhado, known to many as Riky Rick who sadly passed away just last year following a long battle with depression.
Rikhado “Riky Rick” Makhado.
Right before he passed, Riky was looking forward to going back to school, promoting and making music, as well as preparing for Cotton Fest which was to be hosted in March 2022, only to die just a month prior. As they say, “the show goes on” and the late rapper’s team and supporters pulled out all the stops to make sure the festival went on without a hitch.
Keeping the same infectious energy he carried on and off the stage, the Cotton Eaters, as Riky affectionately called them, kept his memory alive and pulled off a groundbreaking festival, complete with a number of bars, a cafeteria, a skate area, and 3 different stages to house all our favorite artists. Cassper Nyovest, A-Reece, DBN Gogo, Black Coffee, and Mashbeatz was among the superstars booked to share their talents with fans at The Station in Newtown.
CottonFest2023 line up.
With three different stages to cater for all the attendees’ music tastes, Cotton Fest brought the heat. The “Cotton Stage” hosted the likes of Anatii, Okmalumkoolkat, and Cape Town emcee, YoungstaCpt; “The Lot Stage” had Mellow & Sleazy, Slade, and Sizwe Alakine (formerly known as local rapper, Reason); and finally “The Bunker Stage” that hosted Thato Saul, Priddy Ugly, as well as Love & Hip Hop SA cast member, Money Badoo.
The show was electrifying and the Cotton Class of 2023 were dressed to the nines. As someone who was always dapper and effortlessly fashionable, Riky Rick never had a bad day when it came to his fits. The kicks were on point, the threads were always designer, the sunglasses were of the best quality, and the combos were always communicating. Check out some fits from the show:
Cotton Fest wasn’t just a music event, it was an experience and it’s no doubt that everyone who was there had the time of their lives. With sponsorship partners like Spotify, YFM, Jagermeister, and Oros, the organizers make it a night to remember. The aim of the show is to celebrate South African music, culture, fashion, as well as highlighting known and unknown talent.
Competitions were held during the build up to the show, as well as on the day where attendees were offered hampers, prizes, and exposure. Among the competitions were the UFC Open Mic where Nico Freso, Moshpit Cindy, as well as Behold Benzo were crowned the winners and offered an opportunity to perform at the show.
Special tributes were made to honor Riky, one that had the crowd jumping was A-Reece’ performance of his song featuring Makhado, titled Pick You Up.
Courtesy of Spotify, attendees were offered a treat with the “In Black & White: Wall of Legends” activation that told the story of South African Hip Hop culture with many of our favorite artists, past and present. On the wall we saw rappers AKA, Blxckie, and the late Jabulani Tsambo, also known as Hip Hop Pantsula or “HHP” who, among others, had his own Spotify sticker.
The festival celebrated how local Hip Hop has influenced the culture in more ways than just music. From business and fashion, to entertainment and the slang – it’s culture, it’s Hip Hop, it’s South African Hip Hop. We can’t wait for the next Cotton Fest and what you’ll be wearing to honor Riky Rick in the best way you know how, through fashion.
Chocolate city emcee and music promotion genius Emeka Akumefule, popularly known as Blaqbonez has just released a promotional single titled ‘Breaking The Yoke Of Love’ in anticipation of his annual Valentine’s Day concert of the same name.
The single features former the Voice finalist and Nigerian Singer Chike, and female vocalist Raybekah providing a choral hook as the backdrop for Emeka to spit anti-romance and chauvinistic rhymes.
”there ain’t no soul mates,” ”in a world of seven billion people somebody told me that one is enough,” the rapper spits before going on to list his celebrity crushes.
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In November of 2022, Ghanaian rapper, M.anifest was in Nigeria to shoot the Hennessy Africa Cypher alongside M.I Abaga, Vector from Nigeria, Octopizzo from Kenya and A-Reece from South Africa.
M.anifest (born Kwame Ametepee Tsikata, 20 November 1982) is a Ghanaian rapper, singer, and songwriter.
He won Best Rapper and Hip-Hop song of the year at the 2017 Ghana Music Awards. He featured on five songs on the Rocket Juice and The Moon album.
He is the grandson of one of Africa’s foremost ethnomusicologists and composers J.H. Kwabena Nketia. In 2012, BBC’s arts program The Strand tipped him as one of four acts to look out for 2012.
In 2015 M.anifest’s single “Someway bi” earned him a third-place honour in the International Songwriters Competition (ISC). In the same year, The Guardian named M.anifest as “the foremost rapper on the continent.”. M.anifest currently lives in Accra (Madina) and Minneapolis.
M.anifest is the son of Ghanaian lawyer and academician Tsatsu Tsikata and Reverend Dr. Priscilla Naana Nketia, a lawyer and pastor. His maternal grandfather Joseph Hanson Kwabena Nketia was a composer, professor, and ethnomusicologist.
M.anifest migrated to the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St Paul, USA) in 2001 to attend Macalester College, where he graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts in economics.
M.anifest went to high school at SOS-Hermann Gmeiner International College in Tema. He was the entertainment prefect of his school known as Amet Tsikata.
He has had artist residencies and given lectures in St. Lawrence University, University of Ghana, and spoken to several classes in Hamline University, Macalester College (his Alma Mater), Penumbra Theater’s Summer Arts Institute, Ashesi University.
In his time in the Twin Cities, M.anifest learned to adopt the do-it-yourself credo and the know-how in becoming an independent musician. He released his first solo album, Manifestations, in 2007 funded by royalties he received from lending his voice to a Pepsi jingle that played nationally on U.S radio.
Manifestations earned him Songwriter of the year Honors in the City Pages as well as top five albums of the year recognition in the Star Tribune. In 2009 he released a free album, the Birds and the Beats, to raise awareness and funds for the work of a non-profit, Young Entrepreneurs Africa.
In 2010 M.anifest linked up with Africa Express and played gigs in France and Spain with them in the same year. He caught the attention of Africa Express co-founder Damon Albarn who thereafter invited M.anifest to be a collaborator on Rocket Juice & the Moon in 2011.
In September 2012, M.anifest joined the Africa Express train touring the UK. He wrote for The Huffington Post about these experiences.
He released his sophomore album Immigrant Chronicles: Coming to America in September 2011, which included the singles “Suffer”, “Asa” and “Blue (Chale What Dey Happen)”. It marked a decade of his life in the U.S. and the beginning of his transition back to Ghana.
In 2012, M.anifest began making major inroads in Africa performing on The Big Brother Africa stage as well at the Channel O Music Video Awards in South Africa. The video for his single “Makaa Maka” also got him nominated for Most Gifted Hip-Hop Video at the 2012 Channel O Music Awards and won him Best Hip-Hop Video at the 4syte Music Video Awards.
M.anifest produced and co-wrote an independent mini Hip-Hopera for Channel O and also performed a piece, at the first-ever Ghana Music Week, detailing the history of Ghanaian music. M.anifest is the co-founder of Giant Steps, an interactive conference for entrepreneurial creatives and creative entrepreneurs.
He is also included in the feature-length documentary We Rock Long Distance by filmmaker Justin Schell.
On 30 June 2016, M.anifest released a diss track to fellow rapper Sarkodie titled “god MC” attacking Sarkodie with hit backs which made Sarkodie reply within two days by dissing M.anifest on the track “Kanta” (Panda cover).
M.anifest’s god MC which is deemed the highest point of his career so far went on to win Hip Hop Song of the year in the Ghana Music Award the following year.
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Have you found this article insightful? Then kindly share and comment your opinions in the comment section below. Thanks.
Daniji Emmanuel is a content writer who has written hundreds of articles on various niches focusing on Entertainment topics. He’s also published interviews, conducted research and written opinions on the creative industry. BigDan, fondly called, also consults and handles brand promotions for people and organizations in the creative industry.
The Nigerian Hip Hop Czar and Social Crusader, Eedris Abdulkareem of “Nigeria Jaga Jaga” fame drop his much-awaited Thanksgiving single aptly titled “Thank You“. This single according to the multiple award-winning artists is in appreciation of the love and support that was showered on him a few months ago as he went through one of the most trying times in his eventful life.
Recall that the head honcho of Lakreem Entertainment Inc was diagnosed with kidney failure sometime last year and had to undergo months of dialysis which was followed by a kidney transplant surgery at St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos, with his delectable and adorable wife Yetunde as his donor.
According to Eedris: ‘To whom much is given, a lot more is expected, and a grateful heart never forgets but lives to testify of the Goodness of our God through the wonderful souls He places on our individual and collective paths.
It was a rough ride that was made a lot easier by family, friends, associates and well-meaning individuals from all walks of life, and that makes me very humbled when I recall the enormous amount of Love I got from you all.
I will forever remain grateful and appreciative, and one of the best ways of showing my gratitude is through my vocation – music.
The single “Thank You”, which was officially dropped on the 25th day of January 2023, via all reputable music platforms’ already has a video to it.
Seat Back, Relax, Watch, Listen and Enjoy!
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Have you found this article insightful? Then kindly share and comment your opinions in the comment section below. Thanks.
Daniji Emmanuel is a content writer who has written hundreds of articles on various niches focusing on Entertainment topics. He’s also published interviews, conducted research and written opinions on the creative industry. BigDan, fondly called, also consults and handles brand promotions for people and organizations in the creative industry.
