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Blaqbonez Settles into His True Form with ‘Young Preacher’s’ Hedonistic Gospel.

One thing about Blaqbonez is, his music and style may not be for everyone but you cannot deny his genius. Emeka the stallion is an honest pimp. While most playboys and f**kboys wallow in denial, Blaq has never been shy to admit that his hedonistic approach to love and relationships asides stemming from evolutionary animalistic human tendencies, also has roots in past trauma and is just a defensive mechanism to avoid future heartbreak or as the Nigerians call it… ”Breakfast.”

Blaqbonez set out to make a worthy sequel to 2021’s ‘Love>Sex’ and that, he achieved, also settling into the most authentic we have ever heard Emeka and stretching the possibilities of his creativity beyond what the fans and critics already perceive of his artistry.

Blaqbonez attains Super Saiyan status on this project by rapping more than he ever has on a project since 2018, one would think that he set out to prove that he can join the league of Nigerian legends who dropped rap projects that were also as commercially viable as pop records like Olamide, Ice Prince, Falz, MI Abaga etc.

In the words of Drake ”rap albums doing numbers like it’s pop…”

Furthermore, Blaq brings his pen to the party but leaves some of the autotune from ‘Sex>Love‘ at home, taking on more complex melodies and hooks by himself (with a little help from Oxlade background vocals) and shows that he’s been working on his singing.

Young Preacher is by far Blaq’s most experimental work and his most honest work since he broke into the mainstream.

Blaqbonez albeit being a typical Yoruba demon (Emeka is Igbo by the way), Femi named Lagos bachelor with the libido of a rug rat and the commitment issues of a white girl from Alabama. At the same time, the second testament of his hedonistic gospel is rooted in truth and honesty. More accurately, his truth, his honesty.

Just like on the last album, Young Preacher is curtain called by a trap song fully celebrating his hedonism. The mellow trap title track introduces us to the latest of Blaq’s dozens of alter-egos ‘Young Preacher.’ Blaq explains that though he’s against marriage he believes in the sanctity of fatherhood, a weird concept to speak about while checking the list of female body types in his body count.

A radio talk show aside accompanies certain songs acting as either intros or outros explaining the concepts of their parent track.

‘Hot Boy’ is a bass guitar-laced galala and late mix which could easily host a Santi verse.

”One song on the album could be about your girlfriend’ Blaq spits as he goes on to describe graphically his lustful thoughts towards Nigerian female celebrities like Nancy Isime and Diana Eneje. The Preacher connects his hedonism to childhood trauma and abandonment issues. At this point on the album, Blaqbonez is mostly rapping which is a very brave thing to do.

Turns out he was warming up for the magical, falsetto-laced, infectious hook by Lojay on ‘Whistle’, which can easily compete for hook of the year in the Nigerian music scene. Ruger would settle easily on this song too.

One could imagine this track as a re-enactment of last year’s ‘Bling’ with Amaarae and BNXN fka Buju, but it still sounds fresh and present.

Interpolating a Zinoleesky flow while referencing his sex playlist which includes Santi when dealing Alte girls and the Marlian Records artist when dealing with Trenches thots. The track blur the line between groupie and anti-groupie anthem.

Employing the multiple choral voices on hooks techniques popularized by Asake, but like with everything else on the album, minimalism is Blaq’s watchword.

The lead single and standout track, Jae5 produced ‘Back in Uni’ is next and falls perfectly into the transition of tracks. An unapologetic confessional of some sort about all the hearts he has left to hyenas and vultures in Lekki. Definitely a contender for the best song on the project.

The gospel takes a detour to chronicle pride in living within one’s means and investing smartly ”i’d rather put a mill in crypto, name brands don’t guarantee drip tho” he raps proudly on ‘Fake Nikes,’ another standout track with some help from SA rapper Blxckie and penthouse rapper Cheque. Blaq kept the features mostly hip hop too, another big risk that paid off and keeps the sound cohesive and unique from 80% of what’s in the mainstream Nigerian market.

The production on the tape is as unique and fresh as it is catchy and replay worthy as displayed on ‘Ring Ring’ and also as experimental as can be on Paul Play sample laced ‘Loyalty.’

Blaq impresses and taps into his R&B bag to carry what’s probably the melodic and sing-songy performance of his career, more impressively with minimal autotune. ‘Loyalty’ gives ‘Back in uni’ a strong run for best song on the tape.

The next track is the stoner girls’ anthem interlude ‘She Like Igbo’ ending with a funny skit, glad to see Blaq move his IG comic antics to spice up his music too.

Blaq channels his inner Burna Boy on Tekno assisted ‘Ess Mama’ and a standout performance by Bien of Sauti Sol and Takura on ‘Mazoe.’ Oxlade’s Backups spice up the celebratory ‘Star Life,’ which also chronicles the lonely side of celebrity life.

Again preaching the sex-fiends gospel powered by a lack of genuine connections due to past trauma.

With perfect transitioning, Blaq ends the tracklist from where he started on trap/rap songs ‘Back on BS’ and ‘ I’d Be Waiting.’

‘Shorty told me love is the highest vibration I told her I disagree’ he raps on the former as he woes a girl to cheat on her man with him, situations have never been more artsy and romanticized, the mellow vibes transition into the acoustic outro, which leads to Asa’s ‘I’ll Be Waiting’ sampled unto Blaq rapping about his successes and taking dumps on rappers like a hobby.

‘I sold out MO park no rapper can do that,’ ‘three top 10s I did it solo,’ ‘when they want to drop they go on my page to find something to copy.’ Now that’s a flex.

Flexing on ladies, flexing on rappers. The album bows us out with a rags to riches skit of a voice presumably Emeka’s mother’s.

The risk to rap more and use beats that cannot be easily categorized into Afrobeats or Afropop, keeping the features mostly rappers, minimalism in lyrics and performance, trusting more in his vocal abilities than Autotune all paid off.

Few things like the lacklustre Tekno verse, shortlived Cheque verse unlike the last tape where Psycho YP, AQ etc gave him a run for his money and Blxckie‘ ostensibly out-of-theme verse set the album back from a solid 10/10 performance,

Young Preacher is not the banger-filled classic that the last tape was but is Blaqbonez in his most confident and rawest form, the lack of bangers one can say is on purpose as he also took the risk to leave ‘Commander‘ off the album, in an era where Fireboy used ‘Peru’ to stat pad streams for ‘Playboy’ and Ckay used ‘Love Nwantinti’ from 2019, with a thousand remixes to statpad streams for ‘Sad Romance.’

On ‘Young Preacher’ Blaq does not mirror the poetry of Fireboy, the melodies of Rema, the hums of Ckay, nor the falsetto of Oxlade (via Autotune). Instead he brings rap Blaqbonez into a marriage with Mr. Boombastic and gives us a ragga, Alte-inspired Afro-rap album that sounds fresh and unique enough for us to bear listening to the same theme from the last tape without burning out.

Kudos to Emeka for adding some psychological and emotional context to his hedonistic gospel. Time will tell how this one ages. Bravo. Take a bow Emeka.

PRODUCTION: 9

LYRICISM:9

FEATURES: 8

COHESION:9

TRANSITION: 9

STRONG POINTS: Blaq’s rapping, thematic cohesion, Lojay’s hook on ‘Whistle’, Blaq’s singing on ‘Loyalty’

WEAK POINTS: Cheque’s shortlived verse and Blackie’s verse on ‘Fake Nikes,’ Tekno on ‘Ess Mama’

BEST/ WORST SONG: Mazoe, Loyalty, Whistle/She Like Igbo

TOTAL: 8.9/10

VERDICT: A classic if it stands the test of time, a solid project, and an experimental success regardless.

Mashbeatz Announces First Album in Two Years, with Lead Single

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Former Ambitiouz Entertainment, TWC, Rubberband Gang producer, and frequent A-Reece collaborator Mashbeatz has announced that he will be giving fans an album from him for the first time since 2019’s ‘Reece Effect’ and ‘Fire In The Water.’

However, since relinquishing his title as Reece’s right-hand man, official producer, and President of Rubberband Gang Records, Mash has not been silent, if anything he’s been booked and busy, helping breakout Pretoria rapper Thato Saul with ‘If You Know, You Know‘ and ‘Life is Gangsta’ also contributing to the success of another breakout Pretoria rapper Tyson Sybatelli.

Mashbeatz collaborated with Thato and Maglera Doe Boy to make the hottest SA hip hop single of the year with ‘Never Ride,’ and the star-studded remix featuring Lucasraps, Saudi, Sjava, Wordz, Youngsta CPT etc.

Mash is looking to solidify his status in the pantheons of the best hip producers in SA alongside names like Tweezy, Gemini Major, Master-A-Flat, Zoocci Coke Dope etc., as he drops the ‘This is Heaven’ Album.

Lucas Henshaw is a versatile writer and music blogger who has written countless reviews and blog posts for several big brands. Follow his work @Lucas Henshaw on Facebook, @lucas_9ja on Twitter and @Lucas Henshaw on Linkedin.

Are We Not Excited That Blaqbonez is Now a “Young Preacher”? Listen!

I was personally waiting for this. The “Young Preacher” project has been on the lips of many Hip-hop Lovers globally.

Blaqbonez who is known for his humour and comedic approach to promoting his creative works has won the hearts of Hip-Hoppers across borders in anticipation of his latest project.

This new project will serve as his second official album following the release of the “Sex Over Love” Album.

The 14 tracks consist of numbers which feature previously released singles like “Fake Nikes” and “Back in Uni“.

Furthermore, the album houses guest artists like Lojay, JAE5, Amaarae, Cheque, Tekno, Tay Iwar and Takura.

Listen and Download it below

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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. 

Follow On Social Media:

Instagram – https://instagram.com/iam_bigdan

Twitter – https://twitter.com/iam_bigdan

WhatsApp: https://wa.me/message/25R7LQMJIZL5A1 

Email – bigdan@hiphopafrica.net

Focalistic Announces Long Awaited Debut Album

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As the holiday season draws nigh, groovers all over South Ah and the rest of Southern Africa are gearing up for never-ending parties and dancefloor hits, almost nobody in SA has the ability to churn out groove-worthy hits like Amapiano youngster Focalistic, he does it so effortlessly its hard to believe he used to be a rapper. The ‘Ke Star’ hitmaker has had an amazing run at the top since the aforementioned song went viral in 2019, attracting the attention of Nigerian popstar Davido who asked for a remix and took the song to West Africa and later the Billboard Afrobeats chart.

Foca recently released the lead single to his coming album titled ‘Sjepa‘ accompanied by a video. This one is definitely a groovers’ favorite and signals that the album will just as expected be filled with hit after hit.

Focalistic took to his Instagram to announce that his long awaited body of work will be titled ‘Ghetto Gospel and arrives in December.’

https://www.instagram.com/p/CkLQ0sHNMDR/

Lucas Henshaw is a versatile writer and music blogger who has written countless reviews and blog posts for several big brands. Follow his work @Lucas Henshaw on Facebook, @lucas_9ja on Twitter and @Lucas Henshaw on Linkedin.

Sizwe Alakine (Reason) Set to Drop Riky Rick Inspired ”Rapiano” Album

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Former Motif Records rapper Sizwe Moeketsi, known as the rapper Reason or more recently the Amapiano artist Sizwe Alakine is enjoying his ride in the South African Amapiano world since making the switch from Hip Hop to Yanos last year. The Katlehong-born artist after delivering a string of hits and collaborations with Maphorisa, Young Stunna and others, is now ready to release his debut Amapiano project titled ‘Alakine World.’

Sizwe took to social media to announce the arrival of the project and the huge inspiration he got from the lat SA hip hop veteran Riky Rick.

He shared a statement highlighting how he does not care about naysayers who think a former now-doing Amapiano is ”selling out.” The statement also shows how he got a co-sign and ”go ahead” from Riky Rick who branded Alakine’s version of rap fused Amapiano as ‘Rapiano.’ Since then Alakine has been describing his sounds as Rapiano.

He also called for unity between practitioners of hip hop and Amapiano instead of both camps warring against each other.

“Musicians and producers who don’t see a separation between Rap and Amapiano. But instead, see a combination that brings life to something new, fresh, and poetic for the youth of South Africa, Reason said.

Lucas Henshaw is a versatile writer and music blogger who has written countless reviews and blog posts for several big brands. Follow his work @Lucas Henshaw on Facebook, @lucas_9ja on Twitter and @Lucas Henshaw on Linkedin.

Cassper Confirms Fight with Big Zulu is Definitely Happening

In the aftermath of knocking out Priddy Ugly between the ropes, SA rapper and entrepreneur Cassper Nyovest has been on a never-ending high. The Mafikeng rapper’s Don Billiato alcohol brand is making waves in and outside South Ah and he just announced the return of his well-acclaimed #FillUp series of stadium concerts. A few days ago Abuti Fillup performed his collab with Nasty C ‘Loco‘ on the Ivyson Army Tour, where he rocked his own fashion brand Root Of Fame from head to toe, at the show Cass also announced a forthcoming single for the fans titled ‘Bana Ba Stout.’

On SABC1’s Sport at 10 program, Inkabi Nation founder Big Zulu took jabs at Cassper and likened him to a woman who talks a lot, whilst challenging Nyovest to accept his request for a boxing match.

‘I do not have too many words for this ‘boy’, I am a man enough, so to speak a lot like a ‘woman’ is not my thing. All that is left for Cassper Nyovest to do is to set up a date and stop talking non-stop on Twitter. He just needs to give me a date and that will be all. And then I will be able to beat him up and leave it at that because I will definitely defeat him in the first round,” he said.

The ‘Imali Eningi’ rapper also said that al he needs is one round to knowck out Cassper and there won’t even be a need for judges to adjudicate upon who wins the fight.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1585578184333983744

Cassper took to Twitter to send a reply to Zulu, “This is gonna be fun !!!! Lemme #FillUpMmabathoStadium Dec 3rd and then we deal with it. I’m still enjoying myself, training for Priddy was hard cause I had to lose gang weight. Lemme let my body recover a bit. Me Vs Big Zulu definitely gone happen. That’s my next fight,” tweeted Cassper.

The fight has been long overdue as there have been tension between the two rappers since Big Zulu released his friendly diss track ‘150 Bars’ which Cassper took to heart.

Many rappers were dissed on the track and rappers like K.O., Duncan, Kwesta etc replied on wax, Cassper’s reply though was very personal on the track ‘4 Steps Back.’

Lucas Henshaw is a versatile writer and music blogger who has written countless reviews and blog posts for several big brands. Follow his work @Lucas Henshaw on Facebook, @lucas_9ja on Twitter and @Lucas Henshaw on Linkedin.

Zambia: Empire Squad Releases “Lesa Wabonse”, Features El Javier

Budding HipHop Trio “Empire Squad” drops a thrilling brand new single called “Lesa Wabonse” featuring fellow rapper “El Javier“. The song which emphasizes God is for all is laced with a captivating hook and a dance-able sound. Empire Squad which comprises Sharu Baru, Tie Zyo and Kelcy Kay has been dropping amazing music. The video is shot and directed by The Visual Lord China.

Download, Stream and share!

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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. 

Follow On Social Media:

Instagram – https://instagram.com/iam_bigdan

Twitter – https://twitter.com/iam_bigdan

WhatsApp: https://wa.me/message/25R7LQMJIZL5A1 

Email – bigdan@hiphopafrica.net

Zambia Vs South Africa: Slapdee Challenges Cassper Nyovest To A Boxing Match, Cassper Replies Him

Things are getting hot between South African rapper Cassper Nyovest and Zambian Rap OG Slapdee.

Zambian rapper Slapdee challenged Cassper Nyovest to a boxing match on Tuesday and Cassper Nyovest’s clap back was scary.

Following Cassper’s disrespectful reply in Slapdee’s opinion, the Zambian has asked Cassper to pick a date, place and time for them to fight.

We can’t wait for this OG fight

HipHop artiste Slapdee yesterday took social media by storm when he publicly challenged Cassper Nyovest to a boxing match. The KMP rapper who posted a video of him training in a boxing ring managed to get the attention of the South African rapper who responded.

According to his Facebook post, King Dizzo means business with the boxing Challenge. Cassper Nyovest who later responded in the comment section of Slapdee‘s post threatened to ‘whoop his ass‘ and also told him to ‘calm down‘. It’s not yet clear if a boxing match between the 2 will come to light or if it’s just social media clout.

Cassper Nyovest has been involved in 3 Celebrity Boxing matches in his country which he won 3. He has also been the initiator of the matches by calling on fellow Celebs to Challenge him. He won the matches against Slick Talk earlier this year and also Priddy Ugly a few weeks ago and lost to Naak MusiQ.


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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. 

Follow On Social Media:

Instagram – https://instagram.com/iam_bigdan

Twitter – https://twitter.com/iam_bigdan

WhatsApp: https://wa.me/message/25R7LQMJIZL5A1 

Email – bigdan@hiphopafrica.net

Cameroon: After So Much Fuzz About The Video, Doveman Finally Releases “Ten Ten”.

    Fast-rising rapper, singer & Performer, Doveman releases another potential hit song titled “Ten Ten“. This single comes after his “Geng Geng” freestyle which got much attention from the media 2 months back.

A few days ago, we reported that the Cameroonian rapper Doveman called on the Guinness Book Of World Records to verify and award him the title of “Most Real Bank Notes Used By An African Artiste In A Music Video.” Doveman who brands himself as the richest fast-rising artiste in Cameroon brought a whopping sum of 50 Million FCFA cash on set for his soon-to-be-released “Ten Ten” music video.

ICYMI: It’s a “Ten Ten” For Rapper Doveman Has He Shares BTS Of New Video

Stream Full Video Below

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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. 

Follow On Social Media:

Instagram – https://instagram.com/iam_bigdan

Twitter – https://twitter.com/iam_bigdan

WhatsApp: https://wa.me/message/25R7LQMJIZL5A1 

Email – bigdan@hiphopafrica.net

Cameroon: Popular Poet, PenBoy Addresses Hate Speech On Social Media

After winning several national and international Spoken word & poetry awards, PenBoy embarks on another journey to address the spread of hate speech on social media through arts.

He’s one of the best, most renowned & successful spoken word artists in Cameroon & you might want to check out the full video here and a couple of his other works: 

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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. 

Follow On Social Media:

Instagram – https://instagram.com/iam_bigdan

Twitter – https://twitter.com/iam_bigdan

WhatsApp: https://wa.me/message/25R7LQMJIZL5A1 

Email – bigdan@hiphopafrica.net