WATCH DREMO DO THE ZANKU IN LONDON

Davido had an epic night performing at the 02 arena and he had everyone of his crew with him; among them Dremo.Watch the rapper do the Zanku on the streets of London.

FUTURE SCORES HIS 6TH NUMBER ONE ALBUM WITH THE WIZRD.MAKES BILLBOARD HISTORY

There may have been differences in projected numbers but everyone was unanimous in the expectation that Future's 7th studio album,The Wizrd will become his 6th to top the billboard 200 charts.It did moving 126,000 album units and 143.6 million on-demand audio streams in its first week.
Another perhaps over-looked feat,is The Wizrd currently having 8 songs on the Billboard hot 100 chart.Pre-album singles, Crushed Up and Jumpin On A Jet are on 43rd and 57th respectively while six other tracks made their debut after its release-Take Off with Travis Scott at 47th,Never Stop at 65th,Temptation at 76th,Rocket Ship at 83rd and Call the Coroner at 100th.
Future has a grand total of 84 songs to ever hit the 100 chart and that makes him only the 10th artiste to do that in the 60 year history of billboard.Big deal.

ON A LATINO DIET: WATCH A LADY SHAKE IT FOR SINZU

Sinzu has responded to the many calls by fans to drop something new with the recently released 'Zumix' of Chinko Ekun's smash hit, Able God.His first offering since release from jail in the US and getting signed to Davido's DMW.

Looks like 'Baba-Lo-LA' wants to catch up on as much lost fun as possible before switching back fully to grind mode.Watch this instagram video of him making a latino chic show her 'goods'.Video

KANYE WEST SPITS HOT FREESTYLE AT DAME DASH'S STUDIO IN LA

Kanye West is still working on his Yandhi album and was at Dame Dash's LA studio on Sunday 27th.Kanye reeled out a free style quite reminiscent of the old 'Ye we all loved so much.Recall last year he was at Uganda supposedly to work on Yandhi where he was joined by renowned nigerian entertainment personality,Bankuli and videoed dancing to Mystro's Immediately and Burna boy's 'Ye.
Watch Freestyle

FUTURE CHOPPED UP THE 4:44 DISS WITH JAY-Z

Remember how that Jay-Z line on 'Kill Jay-Z' raised some dust back when 4:44 dropped-'I don't even know what you'd have done/In the future/n***as playing with your son'?.It appeared to be referencing rapper,Future's estranged relationship with his ex,Ciara with whom he has a son and her new relationship with NFL star,Russell Wilson.
Future is currently promoting his new album,The Wizrd and on Tuesday,he was with Durrty Boyz of Hot 107.9 fm in Atlanta where he addressed the issue.He says he met with Jay-Z after then and he says he meant no harm.

"With Jay-Z when I talked to him he was like 'I didn't mean to say that. I didn't mean it like that,'" Future said. "I was just like 'You supposed to be bigging up the rap community. You need to let the NFL deal with the NFL. You supposed to be bigging up me if anything we come from the trenches. I come from the streets, you come from the streets. You supposed to be bigging me up. You not supposed to be giving no negative attention on a hot line for something that's always going to be out. He was like 'My fault and all that' but it's out now so it ain't just 'my fault' or whatever it is. It is what it is. I'm not even trippin' off him."

Watch Where Future Addresses That on The 40sec Mark

Future has also been in some Ciara news lately as well,accusing Russell Wilson of not having a mind of his own and doing anything Ciara tells him to.

FORMER WIFE RUNS OFF WITH RAP LEGEND, NAS' SON

Rapper Nas has been engaged in a custody tussle with his former wife,Kelis over their 9 year old son,Knight and now the rapper has claimed she has moved to Colombia with Knight in a clear violation of their custody agreement which requires her to give him a notice.
He also alleges that in an agreement which stipulates him to have Knight for even numbered years,Kelis has denied him access on father's day,halloween and thanks giving.All occasions on which he was supposed to have him.He also alleges that she has withdrawn him from the private school he attends in LA and is home-schooling him in Colombia.
TMZ reports that Kelis is moving to Colombia to set up a sustainable farm called Bounty Farms in La Soledad with her new husband and is documenting the process on instagram.

MOVIE NEWS

Unsuprisingly,Black Panther dominates this year's Oscar Awards with 7 nominations for Best picture,Costume design,Production design,Sound editing,Sound mixing,Best Original score and Best Sound track with 'All My Stars' which lands rapper Kendrick Lamar his first Oscar nomination.The most successful super-hero movie in history grossed $1.3 billion world wide and $793 million annually.It is also the first super-hero movie to be nominated for Best picture.

Showtime has reportedly acquired the North American rights to a Wu-Tang clan docu-series which is being produced by Nas' production company,Mass Appeal.The series will highlight the very early days of one of hip hop's biggest ever crews which started when a group of friends from Brooklyn and Staten Island came together-Raekwon,Ol' dirty bastard,GZA,Method man,RZA,U-God,Inspectah Deck and Cappadonna.The first 2 episodes will show at the Sundance festival later this month while Showtime is expected to stream the whole 4 episode series afterwards.
Showtime just weeks ago,brought to us an intriguing documentary on former deathrow boss and one of the most feared men in music,Suge Knight titled American Dream American Knightmare directed by Antoine Fuqua.Best known for The Equalizer and Training Day.Watch American Dream American Knightmare Trailer

Vin Diesel has said on instagram that a female-driven Fast and Furious is currently been developed for Universal pictures and that it was one of 3 spin-offs planned.

Kelly Rowland will play Gladys Knight in an upcoming BET series chronicling the rise of Don Cornelius and the start of  Soul Train,the first huge platform that celebrated blacks in music.Rowland's former Destiny's Child colleague,Michelle Williams will play Diana Ross.Promises to be a great watch.Peep Trailer

Kerry Washington (Scandal's Olivia Pope)'s 'American Son' is a hit on broadway and Netflix has entered into a deal for her to star and produce its on-screen adaptation.

NEW MUSIC ALERT

Kenyan rap star,Kaligraph Jones released the visuals to his song 'Gwala' featuring Nigeria's Ycee 3 days ago.Both really spat some tight bars.Kaligraph was nominated for best rapper at the recently held Soundcity MVP Awards.Watch Video:Watch the video

The last time DJ Neptune collaborated with MI,it birthed the rap classic,123 which had MI spitting one of his best verses of all time.DJ Neptune has solicited MI again many years after and this time,along with his brother and Chocolate City rapper,Jesse Jagz on 'Blood and Fire'.Recall DJ Neptune won the DJ of the year at the last SMVP awards.Watch Blood and Fire video: Watch Blood and Fire

Lil Wayne has dropped the video to 'Don't Cry',a song off his platinum-selling Carter V album.In a quite emotional act,Tunechi pays tribute to slain rapper,XXXtentacion on it.Watch video: Watch Video

Like we all know,J.Cole's 'Middle Child' is buzzing right now.Yes,he maybe dissing Kanye West but other than that,this is really a great song.Arguably the very best by a first tier rap act this year.Listen: Listen

Fetty Wap has a new song out called 'Hold On' and its nothing like you would have expected.Its low tempo and he sounds really nice waxing slow.Wap,who recently had his 7th child,a son with the mother of his 2nd born daughter released  his Bruce Wayne mixtape on his birthday in June last year and this song could very much be part of a build-up to an album in 2019.Listen: Listen

2chainz's much awaited Rap or Play In The League is expected to drop soon but before then he has released a freestyle titled 'Stay Woke'.With Tity boi you are always guaranteed a funny line or two. Listen

10 Freaky Girls with 21 Savage was the best track of Metro Boomin's Not All Heroes Wear Capes album (personal opinion) released November last year.Metro released the visuals for the song during the week and its everything you'd expect.Girls,Girls and more Girls.Watch Video

YWM Melly had a song with Kanye West everyone kept talking about last week.A really great song.Watch Video

T-Pain released the video of 'Getcha Roll On',the first single off his 1UP album due for release soon.Teddy Pain brought out trucks in New York City displaying the video along with 10 drift cars all the way from Broadway through Times square before ending with a pop-up concert.T-Pain featured Tory Lanez whose chose Chitape mixtape is due soon and is reported to have a remake of T-Pain's classic,'Sprung'.T-Pain performed 'Getcha Roll On' on Wednesday night at half time in the game between the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets at the Madison Square garden.Watch Video

Logic has released his first song of 2019 and its titled 'Keanu Reeves'.His YSIV album last year was a quite successful one and the rapper who once said he had 80 unreleased and 7 projects worth of songs might just drop another one this year.Listen to song

ART WORK OF TUPAC MAKING LOVE GETS SOLD TO RICH MAN IN HIS 60'S

An art work of Tupac having sex with his girl friend has been bought for $21,155.75  by an undisclosed rich man in his sixties according to TMZ.
The late rapper while incarcerated in 1995 at the Clinton correctional facility in Dannemora,New York made a painting for his then lover,Desiree Smith of both of them having sex together.The memorabilia is also said to contain a hand-made envelope with a love letter to her.
Steiner,an auction site more reputed for its sports memorabilia sales,received a total of 10 bids for the art work.
Last year there were reports Tupac's break-up letter to then love interest,Madonna would be sold.That really would raise some dust if it eventually goes down.

DRAKE BIZZARELY FOLLOWS SOULJA BOY ON INSTAGRAM.WE MAY GET SOME PUSH-DRIZZY DRAMA IN 2019

The Weeknd's Lost In The Fire has these lines-“And I just want a baby with the right one / ‘Cause I could never be the one to hide one,” .That more than anything suggests a shot at fellow Canadian,Drake whose secret child with porn actress, Sophie Brussaux named Adonis had to be exposed by Pusha-T on the beef-winning 'The Story of Adidon'.
A petty Push rushed to retweet the song with fire emojis to spite Drake and Drizzy responded by unfollowing The Weeknd on instagram and in a quite bizzare move,followed Soulja boy who just last week was on Break fast club talking 'how he taught Drake everything he know'.
Still on Drake,he is believed to be the target of a cryptic tweet by Pusha-T on Wednesday which read- “You tried, you failed…I’m hearing you wanna try again, this time I’m not gonna play with you, any of you,”.
Remember Push's response to The Associated Press on getting nominated for best rap album with Daytona while his rival's Scorpion didn't was-“I think everybody needs to stay in their respective category.I don’t think me and him are in the same category.”
So no one gets caught off guard,there may be some more Push-Drizzy drama in 2019.

2CHAINZ,SOULJA BOY AND PRINCESS NOKIA CLAIM ARIANA GRANDE STOLE FROM THEM

Ariana Grande's 7 Rings is arguably the most controversial song out now.Fans drew Soulja boy's attention to the song and claimed it stole elements of his 2009 song,Pretty Boy Swag.Big Draco quoted an appreciation tweet of Ariana's for her friends who went out with on the day she got the inspiration for the song and said 'Give me my credit.Period'.
Rapper 2chainz who is reportedly set to drop his long awaited album,Rap Or Play In The League, amidst very strong claims Ariana took some flow off his 2011 hit,Spend It,posted a clip of the song's video on instagram in what appeared a prototype of his pink trap house concept for his last album with the caption 'Tryna figure out if i should Big Draco Ariana'.
Last but not the least,an upcoming rapper from New York who goes by the name Princess Nokia is also claiming 7 Rings rips off part of her song,Mine off her 2016 mixtape titled 1992.

BIRDMAN SUPRISES EX,TONI BRAXTON ON STAGE

Birdman and Toni Braxton announced they were engaged in February 2018 after dating for 2 years and being friends for 17 years.Stunna made quite a show of it by buying her a $5 million engagement ring.
Braxton said in April last year she was planning a Great Gabsy-themed wedding.The couple reportedly broke up early this year when Birdman posted on instagram with a caption 'Its over' and Toni Braxton that 'She needed to close an old chapter'.
This Wednesday,Braxton was performing on the Atlanta lap of her 'As Long As I Live' tour at the Fox theatre when Birdman suprised her with an appearance on stage.They got locked in a long embrace and walked off stage together hand-in-hand.Watch HipHopDX's video on how it went down:Watch HpHopDX's video on what happened

Birdman said last year while at Wendy William's show “That’s my girl, my friend, my family...That’s my love, my soldier, my life… She’s my life. I love her to death.”

Looks like things are back to being rosy.

HILARIOUS: CHECK OUT VECTOR THA VIPER DOING THE DRUAAKE....DRUUUAKE!!!.LOL

Nigerian star rapper Vector tha Viper has this funny post on instagram mimicking Soulja Boy's out burst at the Breakfast club...'Druaake..Druuuake
'

Watch

CASANOVA FEATURES TORY LANEZ AND DAVIDO ON 2AM,TRIES TO LURE SOULJA BOY INTO A FIGHT

American rapper, Casanova has a song out titled 2AM featuring Tory Lanez and none other than Nigeria's own, Davido.Whether or not Davido pays to be on these features,he has stacked up a quite impressive resume.From AboogieWitThaHoodie to Quavo,he has been on songs by the hottest American artistes.The Roc Nation artiste actually flew down to Lagos to shoot the visuals for the song.Watch a Behind-the-scene clip at Lagos:Watch a B-T-S scene in Lagos

While it could really be argued that Wizkid has the massive RCA/Sony promotion machinery actively backing him,Davido has nonetheless managed to thrust himself at the big leagues in a highly commendable manner.Watch 2AM Video:Watch 2AM Video

Casanova featured prominently in the news over the last week due to a highly tense argument with Soulja boy which was caught on camera.Big Draco,still basking in the euphoria of his Breakfast Club interview was doing a couple of media stops and while at Sirius Mx,Cas stopped him on his way out to talk about  him disrespecting a female.
"You screamed at a lady. You bugging the fuck out, homie," Casanova told Soulja. "You got shit all over your face. Are you bugging out? You high? You smacked? You don't see how she ran out?"

Soulja on the other hand retorted "If they females, they need to talk like females. Why she talkin' like she gangsta?".

In the video,Soulja boy's body guard is seen trying to get in the mix but he is held back by Big Draco who suprisingly was more than willing to let the moment slide.
To state the very obvious,Draco has been getting a lot of publicity recently and it appears Cas wanted a share of it.He pulled up on him and made sure one of his was recording.Soulja wasn't willing to let him in on his shine.

Watch VideoWatch Clip

J.COLE'S 'MIDDLE CHILD' IS HOT

J.Cole dropped his first single of the year, Middle Child on Wednesday to much acclaim.Its blazing hot right now and while we see Cole big up Kodak Black,21 Savage,LeBron James and Drake who he says gave him a rollie (Rolex watch),he drops some lines that may very well be targeted at Kanye and his recent social media exploits.He raps-

But I'd never beef with a nigga for nothin'
If I smoke a rapper, it's gon' be legit
It won't be for clout, it won't be for fame
It won't be 'cause my shit ain't sellin' the same
It won't be to sell you my latest lil' sneakers
It won't be 'cause some nigga slid in my
lane

Kanye has said Drake was threatening his life for questioning why he was following his wife,Kim Kardashian on instagram.J.Cole seems to think its all a ploy to sell records and also his Yeezy sneakers (the ones Soulja boy hilariously referred to as tennis shoes last week).

Listen to song

DMX SET TO BE RELEASED FROM PRISON

Legendary hip hop figure,DMX is scheduled to be released on Friday 25th (yesterday) from prison having completed his one year sentence for felony tax evasion.He was sentenced in March 2018 while in prison custody for failing a drug test in January 2018.Earl Simmons (government name) has been in and out of prison since 2002 and is originally slated for a Sunday 27th release but federal prisoners are set free on the last work day if their release falls on a weekend.
He will be under supervised release for 3 years.

SUGE KNIGHT'S SON SAYS PAC IS ALIVE AND WORKING IN THE STUDIO

In October last year,Suge Knight's son,Suge Knight Jnr claimed Tupac was alive and well some where in Malaysia.On Saturday 19th,he posted on instagram with a caption 'Pac is alive and in the studio'.On Sunday 20th,he said he needed the hottest producer for a Pac project and went on to say a Tupac feature would cost $3 million.
His incarcerated dad,Suge Knight snr whose Death Row records Pac was signed to at the time of his death has claimed at several times too that Pac never died despite having agreed he did on record.
With Suge snr,everyone said he wanted some publicity to kick-start his label after being released for violating his parole in the beating up of an alleged Crip gang member,Orlando Anderson by Tupac and some members of the Death Row entourage on the night he died.With Suge jnr,the verdict is he needs to see a shrink fast.

50 CENT'S BMF SERIES WILL HAPPEN SOON

50 Cent has one of the most watched tv shows in Power.He is stepping things a notch with a new series on the Black Mafia Family titled 'BMF'.The BMF; a black American drug cartel headed by the now incarcerated Flenory brothers-Demetrius 'Big Meech' Flenory and Terry 'South West T' Flenory were a vicious and very rich lot.50 has been talking about the series for some time now and even flaunting a letter from Big Meech at some point.
Big Meech ran the cartel and was reputed for throwing some of the biggest parties Atlanta had ever seen,even bringing out tigers on a particular occasion.His more conservative brother with whom he reportedly had a falling out with at some point,helped oversee the affairs of one of America's deadliest and wealthiest crime families in recent times.
50 announced that he and writer,Ray Higgins will be having an open audition for the highly-anticipated BMF series on February 1st at Suite Lounge,375 Luckie Street,Atlanta Georgia.
Not necessarily one of your tv stars,just about anybody could end up playing Big Meech.

A GOOD LOOK AT OUR MAJOR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

President Buhari was absent at last Saturday's Presidential debate and that shouldn't really suprise anyone.The official word when the issue of the debate arose months ago was that Vice-President Osinbajo was going to represent him.Nobody in his right senses would allow a man like Buhari get on that stage without an Osinbajo to help him navigate through the questions about their administration they have no answers to.

It however must still be said, that Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate's decision to refuse to debate solely because Buhari wasn't there is as nonsensical as it is irrational.Is Atiku seeking a chance to make Nigeria better or is he fighting a personal war with Buhari?.How does Buhari's absence stop him from shedding more light on what he has to offer Nigerians?.

In as much as the priority for the well-meaning Nigerian is kicking this government out of office, we must elect a leader who is as close as possible to what we deserve.

This is how our presidential candidates are looking at the moment.

PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI

Most of the people willing to vote back the President are going to do so based on reasons other than his performance.The President's image has suffered lately (no) thanks to the Kadaria Ahmed interview where he appeared like a blind man being led by Osinbajo and also the prosecution of the Chief Justice Of Nigeria,Walter Onnonghen at the Code of Conduct Tribunal which is quite ironically, the one good deed his administration has done in eternity.It took that one act for a lot of people to miraculously wake up to the selective and hypocritical nature of his anti-corruption campaign.His more liberal-minded supporters especially in other regions outside the core north who have not been configured to see him as a man of integrity and competence and everyone else a rogue, have started to seriously rethink their position moreso after his absence at the Presidential debate.You simply can't make any sense defending Buhari's performance over 4 years.

His chances in the South West are gradually tilting below 50-50 and with another northern candidate in Atiku to prevent him from winning the North East and North West landslide, its starting to get virtually impossible for him to win a free and fair election.

ATIKU ABUBAKAR

Atiku who has presented himself all through his Presidential campaign as a more intrepid and intellectual alternative to the current President, disappointed a lot of people rooting for him by refusing to attend the Presidential debate.Buhari has been referred to countless times as the worst President Nigeria has ever had and attempting to prey on his weaknesses instead of highlighting his own objectives is too opportunistic.Without Buhari to make him look extraordinary, Atiku would be intimidated by the intellectual sagacity of the Moghalus, Durotoyes and Ezekwesilis.It would be very hard to disprove that.What Atiku has going for him above anything else however, is simply the fact that most nigerians do not want to risk having Buhari for another 4 years and he remains the best chance of ousting PMB with the PDP being one of the 2 biggest parties in Nigeria.

That nothwithstanding, Atiku, whether you like it or not still remains the candidate with the best manifesto.Buhari took 6 months to realize oil marketers' inability to access foreign exchange was the reason for the scarcity that plagued us in 2016 and in that period removing, reinstating and removing fuel subsidy; what a lot of countries have done just once in their history before hiking fuel price to N145 per litre.The handling reeked of incompetence and Atiku's promise of reverting the price to N87-N90 more or less,seems to ratify that.He first spoke of restructuring before other candidates and has also promised to privatize our refineries in addition to having a very vivid and realistic plan on empowerment with his National Open Apprenticeship Programme that will recruit 1,000,000 apprentices annually.

The one fear a lot of Nigerians have is that people would get accustomed to getting less than what they deserve and be 'too appreciative' for it due to the epic lows they have been sunk into over the last 4 years but Atiku, on paper at least, doesn't seem like he will take advantage of us.

FELA DUROTOYE

A lot of the lesser known candidates are ones we have only seen a few video clips of and apart from Sowore who enjoys quite a decent amount of publicity by virtue of his being a media practitioner of note, the last Presidential debate was most people's opportunity to access the 'new school' candidates up close.

Fela Durotoye represents the best argument the old school has against the new breed-excessive idealism and utter lack of pragmatic substance.He did not seem to come ready to roll out endearing plans and policies, he appeared more ready to impress the audience with his speaking above anything else.Nigeria needs a lot more than its own version of Martin Luther King.

He is going to use drone technology to check illegal crossing at the borders and on the boko haram question where he should have used that line, he said he was going to tackle the idealogy fuelling the insurgency.The best thing he said all night was providing buses to pick and drop off public school students.

While Durotoye might be a hot sell in the places he derives his inspiration from-tall,handsome and young, this is Nigeria.It takes a lot more than that.Of all the candidates we know their names, Durotoye will come last.

KINGSLEY MOGHALU

Anyone who desires a change from the old guard but doesn't support Kingsley Moghalu of the Young Peoples Party definitely needs to know him better.He is all the pleasant things used to describe the newer generation-vibrant,intelligent and articulate.

He appeared to be only focused on tackling our economic challenges prior to Saturday's debate but he proved there was more to him than that.

Not to take anything away from the fact that he was by miles the best candidate at the debate, Moghalu's startling revelations against the incumbent government while driving home his points was a great strategy.We got to know corruption in the military is being fuelled by government by-passing existing agreements on military hardware for deals with private contractors.While promising to put our public hospitals in proper shape, he told us the 'number one medical tourist' budgeted $11bn in 3 years for the Aso Rock clinic which was more than the $6bn allocated for our entire public hospitals yet the clinic didn't have a single syringe.The first lady herself told us that.

However, in as much as Moghalu is a very vibrant individual who truly inspires whenever he has a chance to sell himself, he lacks a very graphic and clear-cut blue print to achieving his goals and that has in essence, made him only a little different from the 'I will,I will' with no 'how' candidates we have been seeing over the years.

OBY EZEKWESILI

Ezekwesili answered best the boko haram question on Saturday with special emphasis on intelligence-gathering and some of the little details other candidates neglected to discuss but other than that, she was uninspiring.Like she has been for most of her campaign.She used Atiku's 'Jobs,Jobs,Jobs' mantra; a political abomination to say the least, without really delving into how that was feasible at a time when this country is at its lowest financially.Ezekwesili and Moghalu are all economists who want to revive our economy but none has bothered to address in detail, the most imperative step at bettering the life of the poor nigerian considering our current state-empowerment.Skills acquisition is quite cheap and only Atiku has spoken at  great length on that with his master craftsman and woman scheme.

It is also this same man who has beaten Ezekwesili to what should ordinarily be the focal point of her campaign-women and youths.

Overall, Ezekwesili lacks the bite of a Moghalu, the drive of a Sowore and the assuring disposition of an old hand.

OMOYELE SOWORE

Sowore is the most 'revolutionary' of all our major presidential aspirants and he has as his primary target, the angry and frustrated Nigerian youth which he has little or no problems relating with because of his history as a student union President of the University of Lagos.He will not prosecute Saraki, he will lock him up.He will not only fire the current service chiefs but all army generals and finally, he will export Ekiti state's marijuana to the rest of the world and grow our GDP.The only one clear thing synonymous with Sowore is 'We must take back Nigeria from these people'.We can talk economic policies,short and long term goals at length later but for now, the main goal is to take back our country and hand it to him.

He has been the most entertaining government we have had in a long while.

CHAMPAGNE PAPI: DRAKE STARTS CHAMPAGNE LINE

Diddy scored big with Ciroc and for what appears an eternity, Jay-Z's D'Usse has been one of the World's choicest beverages.Drake has decided to join that train with his Mod Sélection champagne.
In partnership with Brent Hockings, Mod Sélection has 2 varieties currently available in 750ml bottles-the Mod Sélection Reserve champagne for $300 and Mod Rosé champagne for $400.
Champagne Papi has always been one of Drake's aliases.Guess he's just walking the talk.

MOVIE NEWS

Tracy Morgan's The Last OG had a wonderful debut season and he has released a trailer for the second season scheduled to start airing in April this year.The Last OG is about a man called Tracy (played by Tracy Morgan) who returns to his Brooklyn neighbourhood after a 15 year jail sentence for drug trafficking to discover just how much his family and neighbourhood have changed.He has as co-stars,Tiffany Haddish and Cedric the entertainer.
Also set to join the show this year are rap icons,Method Man,Rev Run,Talib Kweli and Rakim.

Watch Trailer

Kevin Hart may be returning to the Oscars next year (definitely not as host).His movie The Upside co-starring Tiffany Hadish has pushed Aquaman to the second spot on the Box office.The Upside posted $19.6M to shatter every sale projection on the movie.

The John Wicks 3: Parallebum trailer just dropped and most movie buffs can't wait for May 17.You really should check this one out if you love action thrillers. Watch trailer

Legendary Hip Hop artiste,Producer and Founder of No Limit Records, Master P has signed a deal with Lionsgate to produce his biopic titled King Of The South.No release date has been set yet.

NEW MUSIC ALERT

Nigerian rapper, Falz the bahd guy released his 4th studio album, Moral Instruction over the week.The 7-track album which is a deviation from his other works, is a socio-conscious effort which sees the rapper tackling several issues bedeviling the Nigerian society.

Quavo has told Billboard, Migos' much-anticipated CULTURE 3 album will not be ready till after the release of Offset's album also due for this year.Migos have been working with Kanye West on his forthcoming Yandhi album and have also made a song titled 'Position to Win' for Mountain Dew's 'Do the Dew' commercial.

A follow-up to T-Pain and Lil Wayne's 2017 collaborative album, T-WAYNE could very well be happening soon.In a text conversation between the two after Lil Wayne sent a verse for T-Pain's upcoming album, 1UP, T-Pain suggested it to Tunechi who replied that he was ready whenever T-Pain was.
The T-WAYNE album was originally recorded in 2009 but had to be shelved by T-Pain after Wayne went to jail in 2010.He released it in 2017 after sitting on it for 8 years in what he jokingly referred to as freeing up his hard drive.

A-Boogie-With-The-Hoodie's Hoodie SZN has become the lowest selling number 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart.Despite managing to sell only 823 physical album copies online,he racked up 83 Million in digital download purchases.All adds up to an official 60,000 copies sold.

Labrinth,Sia and Diplo, the powerful trio known as LSD have dropped a remix to their song, Genius featuring Lil Wayne.Their album is also due for release later this year.These 3 should add up to great music.

Check out the Genius remix

BURNA BOY HAS A COACHELLA CO-REBEL IN NONE OTHER THAN KANYE WEST

Turns out Burna Boy isn't the only artiste unhappy with Coachella.Just when co-founder, Paul Tollet was getting set to announce Kanye West as a headliner at this year's edition,Ye requested that a giant dome be built at the middle of the festival grounds according to billboard.
The organizers would have had to remove a large number of portable bathrooms at that area of the grounds and when he was told his concept couldn't be fitted into the remaining 4 months of preparations by senior executives at Golden Voice, the parent company of Coachella, he hung up the phone on them.
...And we were calling Burna Boy an arrogant child for wailing over font size.

MAC MILLER'S PARENTS TO RECEIVE HIS AWARD IF HE WINS

TMZ reports that Mac Miller's parents will attend the 61st Grammy awards.The late rapper's last studio album, Swimming is nominated for Best Rap Album along with Pusha-T's Daytona,Cardi B's Invasion of Privacy,Travis Scott's Astro World and Nipssey Hustle's Victory lap.
His parents have said they will go on stage to receive the grammy on his behalf if he wins.Recall that Mac Miller lost his life last year to what is widely believed to be a drug overdose.
If Mac wins the category at the 61st Grammys hosted by Alicia Keys, he will become the first rapper to win it post-humously.

RIHANNA SUES HER OWN DAD

Rihanna is suing her dad, Ronald Fenty for wrongfully using the 'Fenty' name in his business endeavours.Riri, who just released Fenty Beauty, her cosmetic line, was said to have taken the matter to court after several 'seize and desist' letters by her lawyers to Ronald.
Her dad in addition to having started a talent development company called Fenty, a name which has been trade marked by Rihanna, is also said to have gotten into an agreement with some promoters in Latin America for her to perform at 15 shows for $15 Million without her consent.She is asking the court to halt the further use of the name by her father and is also suing for damages.
Rihanna's 'Dang' album is scheduled for release this year.
Whats that she says-'B**ch Better Have My Money', right?.

PERFORMERS NAMED FOR THIS YEAR'S GRAMMYS

The first round of performers at the 61st Grammy awards have been announced.
Cardi B, who is nominated for 5 categories including Record of the Year,Rap Album of the Year and Album of the year will perform for the second consecutive edition after her performance with Bruno Mars last year.Post Malone, who is nominated for the Rap Album of The Year and 3 other categories as well is another big name on the list.Others are Camilla Cabello,Shawn Mendes,Day + Tay and Kacey Musgreaves.
The Grammys will hold at the Staples Centre in LA on the 10th of February 2019.

5 OTHER TAKEAWAYS FROM SOULJA BOY'S BREAK FAST CLUB INTERVIEW

Everyone is buzzing about Soulja Boy's Break Fast club interview on Wednesday 16th but quite contrary to what a lot of people, think there was more to the sit-down than Soulja going off on Drake,Kanye,Six9 and Tyga.Here are 5 other takeaways.

RICH THE KID USED TO SLEEP ON SOULJA BOY'S COUCH

'I've been sonning n***as'.Take Big Draco seriously.He has a legit claim to being the pioneer of hip hop's new sound with 'Crank Dat' and asides saying most of the new cats were people we all got to know when he put them on his records and naming Lil B and Chief Keef as some of them, in one quick moment, he also mentioned that 'Plug Work' rapper, Rich The Kid used to sleep on his couch.

'DRACO' IS GOTTEN FROM HIS NAMES

After the Drake rant, Charlamagne tha god chided him on getting his name 'Draco' from Drake as well and Soulja Boy said his first name was Dre and his middle name, Cortez.He took the first name (or at least the sound of it) and added the the first 2 letters of his middle name.
'Draco' has gone on since he first used it  to become one of the many names for a gun.

SOULJA BOY'S VIDEO GAME IS SOLD OUT

Soulja Boyhandheld and SouljaBoyconsole which he started in December last year on his official webstore, souljawatch.com has sold out and he is about to make a '2' of them.His hosts got to see proof he had raked in over $200k the day before.Soulja Boy is getting it.Best believe.

A SOULJA BOY MOVIE ON THE WAY

When pressed further on his fatal shooting of a would-be robber, Soulja referred DJ Envy,Yee and Charlamagne to an upcoming movie on him.He made sure he sent his hosts the link right there in the studio while making them promise not to send it to anyone.
Draco says it'll soon be at all AMC theatres across America and that he got $3 Million for it.

FAKE WATCH SCANDAL

He flaunted an AP on the gram some time back that turned out fake.Without naming names,he said someone from the industry gave it to him as a gift.He had to be let off on that.

GOOD TIMES FOR YOUNG MONEY: DRAKE GETS $6 MILLION CHAIN FROM THE BOSS, NICKI MINAJ'S QUEEN AND WAYNE'S THA CARTER V ARE CERTIFIED PLATINUM

At the start of the week, Eliantte, a jeweler who has Young Thug and Migos as part of his A-list clientele, posted a photo of a $6 million chain Lil Wayne ordered made for Drake complete with a customized '6' pendant.A generous act regardless of $6 million being just a token off what Drizzy pulls for Young Money.
Still on Young Money news, Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj both received plaques from the Recording Industry Association of America for their albums, Tha Carter V and Queen released in September and August 2018 respectively.Wayne's much delayed and long anticipated album, Tha Carter V premiered at No.1 on the Billboard 200 chart and had the third biggest first week sales in the whole of 2018 with 485,000 equivalent album copies.It also did the second biggest ever first week streaming numbers in music with 433 Million on-demand streams.Behind only Drake's Scorpion which raked in a massive 785.9 Million on-demand streams in its first week.
Nicki Minaj's Queen on the other hand, premiered at No.2 on the Billboard 200 chart behind Travis Scott's AstroWorld and scored 185,000  equivalent album copies.Queen went Gold within a month of release and has Platinum and Gold selling tracks in the monster hit, 'Chun Li' and 'Barbie Thingz' respectively.
Nicki Minaj is officially just one million units shy of becoming the first female rapper ever to sell 100 million units.She is currently on 99 million in albums,singles and features sales as certified by the RIAA.

DON'T EVEN DOUBT IT, DRAKE LIFTED SOULJA BOY'S LINES FOR 'MISS ME'..

The biggest story of this week has to be Soulja Boy's interview at the Break Fast Club.The 'Crank Dat' rapper pissed on just about everyone and everything from Kanye's Trump affiliation and his 'tennis shoes' to showing off his new video game console and showing Envy and Charlamagne proof on his phone he made over $200k the previous day off it.
Big Draco in the first huge talk point of 2019, got visibly agitated when Charlamagne jumped into his argument with Envy on who had the biggest come back of 2018 to say Drake was the biggest rapper on the planet.Soulja dropped some lines off 'Whats Hannenin', a song he made in 2008, which were used by Drizzy on his 2010 hit, 'Miss Me'.Watch Clip

He had told some perhaps shaky stories in the interview notably when his house in Atlanta got invaded and he had to shoot dead one of 5 persons clutching AK 47s.First he saw 5 of them unnoticed when he stepped out of a studio session with Araab and shot and killed one while the others took off.Then No, they had a gun to his artiste,Jabar's head while getting away.
No one had noticed prior to that moment that those lines of 'Miss Me' had been stolen from him and that landed Big Draco the most publicity he has gotten in a long while.
A huge part of the hip hop community have always had a problem with Drake's credibility and with ripping off Soulja Boy now sitting on the confirmation he had been ghost-written for in his response to Pusha-T's  'Infrared' and getting put to sleep on 'The Story of Adidon', things couldn't get any worse.

DAME DASH TRIED TO GET WITH BEYONCE BEHIND JAY-Z'S BACK-FORMER ROC-A-FELLA PRODUCER

Funk Master Flex and Nick Cannon have been having this little beef going on and last week, Flex in an instagram diss, referenced the story of how Jay-Z was with Aaliyah first before Dame Dash, former Roc-A-Fella co-owner,friend and business partner of Jay's went round to steal her from him.Dame was Aaliyah's boy friend at the time of her death and was on Nick Cannon's podcast talking about how 'disrespected' he felt when Jay-Z made the Best Of Both Worlds album with R.Kelly, a man who was with his girl when she was less than 16.'Raped' as he put it.
The Dame Dash Aaliyah coup had been long tagged an unsubstantiated rumour since Jigga and Dame never talked about it but a former Roc-A-Fella producer, Choke No Joke told The Starr Report this week that not only did Dame actually do that,he also tried to get with Beyoncé behind Jay's back.
"We all know there was a point at Roc-A-Fella where Dame wasn’t allowed around Beyoncé. Everybody that worked there at that time knew […] because he was a creep."
No Joke goes on to say Aaliyah probably got with Dame because he promised he wouldn't be private with her.
Guess there's more to the Roc-A-Fella story than we thought we knew.

MORAL INSTRUCTION REVIEW: THE 'SERIOUS' FALZ NEEDS SOME MORE WORK

Hate it or love it, shame or not, Falz has been the best Nigerian rapper for at least the last 3 years.If you look past the humourous yoruba accent, he has on a consistent basis dropped some very tight lines and showcased an effortless versatility that has stretched all the way into the french language.The major takeaway from 27, his last studio album was that he can be many other things apart from a hip hop yoruba boy.

The Fela samples on the Moral Instruction tracklist right after the buzzing pre-album single, Talk suggested this album was going to be on the socio-conscious path and it turned out so.

Falz gets a thumbs up for his excellent narrative skills and cognizant effort to pass messages through his songs but that is really just as far as it goes.

Some unnecessary Fela comparisons were started online after Talk dropped and with the heavy Fela presence on the album, its starting to appear the whole thing was arranged by Falz himself.

On this album, we see an artiste trying  too hard to exert himself on some Fela sounds.Amen; a song on the modern day church business which takes a slice of Coffin For Head Of State is the only Fela sample that works.After you figure out Johnny could very well be his slang for 'John Doe', you are treated to some good story telling but effect is compromised in the desperate bid to conform to an over-stretched Journey Just Come sound.He tries to tie the bandwagon mentality to Fela's Zombie on Follow Follow but the inability to sync delivery on his verses with the fast pace of Fela's chorus leaves the listener loving mostly parts of a song they have spent the whole of their lives listening to.

There's really nothing wrong in an artiste transforming his music into a tool for social activism as long as he does it to his strengths.You can't effectively get your message across if the song doesn't move the audience.Falz seems to have understood that on Talk.A hippy sound, a catchy chorus and some quite intriguing lines-'Shey dem neva tire dem wan continue the race/We buy your story/But you no give us 'change'...Sarcasm and wit are 2 of his greatest gifts and moving forward, he has to employ them as best as possible while managing to keep his 'present day youth' fan base on their feet rather than their seats.That way his sermons will make better impact.

No matter how powerful the messages on E No Finish and Paper are, they are songs that will hardly get a second listen.He however, commendably gets slow right on probably the best song of the album; Brother's Keeper where he is complemented beautifully well by a singing Sess the problem kid.A quite arresting effort.

Demmie Vee's voice sits pretty nicely on the chorus of Hypocrite but lyrically, its as loose as it gets.What suprises however, is how it seems to do little or no harm to the song.

Overall, i would say Moral Instruction is good but definitely not great.

'ITS BUHARI SO ONNOGHEN IS A VICTIM'.WHAT IS HAPPENING TO US?

It is important we get this straight.Walter Onnonghen, the Chief Justice of Nigeria is not a member of the PDP neither is he an APC member in the bad books of the Presidency.If anything, choosing to charge the CJN for false declaration of assets with the 2019 general elections only a matter of weeks away would only be detrimental to Buhari and his party.They are the ones who will bear the brunt of a requital by the judiciary.

Having said that, i simply do not understand how Nigerians, who supposedly want the best for this country would find anything wrong with the Buhari administration's move against the CJN.

The outcome of investigations by our authorities revealed that not only did Onnonghen fail to fill his 2014 asset declaration form,he declared 5 Standard Chartered bank accounts with one of those accounts holding about $164,000 and the other £108,000.Two other accounts held a total of over N11M and the last,an account holding €55,154.

Two other bank accounts with Union bank held naira sums totalling more than N37M.All as at November 2016.Are we seriously trying to castigate government for looking into this man?.There are oil magnates who can't boast of that much liquid cash at hand.

Of what purpose is any anti-corruption campaign if there are corrupt people at the helm of the nation's judicial system?.

If there is one thing i have learnt from the Onnoghen situation,it is that our problem transcends Buhari,Jonathan or who was there before them.Our main problem is us.That Buhari has shielded his cronies and party faithfuls from prosecution or has turned out probably the worst President ever in our history doesn't mean we shouldn't appreciate any good thing he does.We are not only willing to live with corruption but are also willing to accomodate the very people who provide it an enabling ground just because we don't like Buhari.What is happening to us?.

Similar to the NBA-NEC resolution on the NBA President, Paul Usoro's case with the EFCC where supposedly trained lawyers converged in a room to declare the EFCC a third party in a contractual relationship in the investigation of a financial crime, patriotic nigerians devoted to seeing this country work have had to sit and watch respectable personalities, some of them lawyers, spew gibberish about the Onnonghen situation.We have watched them ridiculously talk about the CJN refusing to enter into an agreement with the government for favourable judgements in election matters and how Buhari hates Southerners.Nobody has addressed the most fundamental issue which the CJN himself hasn't denied.Were those outrageous sums really in his account?.Neither has he nor anyone of his sympathizers bothered disputing that there were discrepancies in his 2 CCB forms as the authorities have claimed.All we are hearing is Babachir this,Omisore that and then the issue of jurisdiction in the best but lame attempt at making rational sense.They have configured their psyches to see Buhari as a villain and anyone else, a victim.

While i am not disputing that Buhari's selective and hypocritical anti-corruption crusade coupled with his mediocre performance as President have turned the tides of public opinion against him, it still is baffling that a genuine move in the best interest of the nation and one to his disadvantage, would attract so much hatred.

You can't be Pro-Nigeria,Pro-Justice or any of the other many Pro-s these people parade next to their names and still not agree that a supreme court justice with that much in cash shouldn't in one way or the other be asked any questions.

As things stand currently, the main issue is no longer 'Babachir,Kalu and Omisore' but that of jurisdiction.The provision of the law is every clear on false declaration of assets with the Code of Conduct Bureau by public officers; they will be tried at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.Plain and simple.Judicial misconduct will be dealt with at the National Judicial Council and nothing precludes our regular courts from trying criminal cases against judges.It is disgusting to see Senior Advocates of Nigeria arguing otherwise.God help us.

If we hate Buhari so much that we'll never see good in anything he does then we are our problem more than he is.

SOME SAD MOMENTS BUT OVERALL, A GREAT NIGHT : A REVIEW OF THE 2019 SOUND CITY MVP AWARDS

Whether or not you agree with all the wins at the 2019 Soundcity MVP, you just have to agree that it was a great spectacle.From back to back performances by some of the hottest names in music to the epic acceptance speeches of Bose Ogulu, Burna boy's mother and former manager who the internet has fondly dubbed 'Mama Burna'.With most people starting to give up on the Headies after the last edition,the MVP got a lot more attention than it used to.Africa's biggest music industry deserves an award befitting that status and it had everyone rooting for it.

The awards proper.

VIEWERS CHOICE

1. YE – BURNA BOY
2. DROGBA – AFRO B
3. SCIENCE STUDENT – OLAMIDE
4. FEVER – WIZKID
5. SOCO – STARBOY FT WIZKID, TERRI, SPOTLESS & CEEZA MILLI
6. KUPE DANCE – A STAR
7. MAGUN (RMX) – NINIOLA FT. BUSISWA
8. AVAILABLE – PATORANKING
9. TIWA’S VIBE – TIWA SAVAGE
10.SO MI SO-WANDE COAL (WINNER)

This was the first award of the night and it came as a shock to everyone that Wande Coal's So Mi So won Viewers Choice.A great song no doubt but not a fans' favourite.At least compared to Soco,Science Student and Afro-B's Drogba outside these shores.The Headies has categories it lists as non-voting that allow it reward whom ever it pleases and i couldn't help but think the MVP would be better off doing same than trying to pass off So Mi So as Viewers Choice.

LISTENERS CHOICE

1. CLUB CONTROLLER – PRINCE KAYBEE FT LASOULMATES
2. KATIKA – NAVY KENZO FT. DIAMOND PLATNUMZ
3. SOCO – STARBOY
4. WETIN WE GAIN – VICTOR AD
5. KWANGQARU – HARMONIZE FT DIAMOND PLATNUMZ
6. FAKE LOVE – WIZKID & DUNCAN MIGHTY
7. CONFUSION – KUAMI EUGENE
8. CCTV – KING PROMISE FT. MUGEEZ, SARKODIE
9. ASKAMAYA – TENI
10.YE-BURNA BOY (WINNER)

There is making categories tight so you can pick a choice without raising much dust but you put credibility at stake when that choice isn't one of the songs that made it a tight contest.This was really between Victor AD's Wetin We Gain on one hand and Wizkid's Fake Love and Soco on the other.The MVPs will get away with this for the sole reason that for the very first time in a long while,the hottest artiste in a year isn't Olamide,Wizkid or Davido.Its Burna boy and anything Burna boy would fly.

BEST GROUP OR DUO

1. DISTRUCTION BOIZ
2. SAUTI SOL
3. MI CASA
4. MAFIKIZOLO
5. SHOW DEM CAMP
6. R2BEES
7. TOOFAN
8. GOLD FISH
9. REGGIE N’ BOLL
10. NAVYKENZO (WINNER)

Sauti Sol made the very mesmerizing Melanin with Patoranking and Afrikan Star with Burna boy just before it.NavyKenzo's Katika was huge in East Africa but it would only be logical for a group with hits and a fan base stretching from East to West Africa to win this.But then there is logical and there is what you get.

BEST NEW ARTISTE

1. KIDI
2. SHO MADJOZI
3. ODUNSI
4. PERUZZI
5. KIDA KUDZ
6. SHANE EAGLE
7. KING PROMISE
8. KWESI ARTHUR
9. MBOSSO
10.TENIOLA (WINNER)

Spot-on.There was no way in the world this wouldn't be Teni.Kwesi Arthur is buzzing in Ghana and as talented as Peruzzi may be,he is still yet to score a hit.Teni went into the night with 2 very huge ones.

Kida Kudz has to have some major lines at Sound City.He appeared from no where to perform before the show proper and was nominated for best new artiste.Kida has been around for long and is best known for his 2014 song titled Le Boo featuring Ice Prince.if Sound City doesn't know that then its a Wawu.

DIGITAL ARTISTE OF THE YEAR

1. DAVIDO
2. TIWA SAVAGE
3. BURNA BOY
4. CASSPER NYOVEST
5. VANESSA MDEE
6. FALZ
7. WIZKID
8. DIAMOND PLATNUMZ
9. YEMI ALADE
10. MR EAZI (WINNER) 

I heard a lot of people cry over this but i totally agree with it.Mr Eazi was reported to have made a total of $600k in streams and views in October and in the first week of December, had racked up 163M streams on Spotify alone.Quite impressive for an artiste that isn't even top 3 in Nigeria.

Upcoming artistes get a lot of tips on how to make the most of this digital era and Mr Eazi references will feature prominently in those tips.

BEST POP

1. KIZZ DANIEL

2. FALLY IPUPA

3. TIWA SAVAGE

4. YEMI ALADE

5. DIAMOND PLATNUMZ

6. MAYORKUN

7. WIZKID

8. KUAMI EUGENE

9. MR EAZI

10.DAVIDO (WINNER)

This was always going to be between Wizkid and Davido and in as much as Wizkid is the bigger artiste,Davido is more consistent with a lesser miss ratio.Very much on point.

BEST COLLABORATION

1. MAKHE – DJ MAPHORISA, DJ SIMBA FT MOONCHILD SANELLY
2. JIBEBE – DIAMOND PLATNUMZ, MBOSSO, LAVA LAVA
3. KATIKA – NAVY KENZO FT. DIAMOND PLATNUMZ
4. ISSA GOAL – NAIRA MARLEY, OLAMIDE, LIL KESH
5. SPIRIT – KWESTA FT WALE
6. FAKE LOVE – WIZKID AND DUNCAN MIGHTY
7. CLUB CONTROLLER – PRINCE KAYBEE FT LASOULMATES
8. SAID – NASTYC & RUNTOWN
9. AMAKA – 2FACE IDIBIA FT. PERRUZI
10.SOCO – STARBOY FT WIZKID, TERRI, SPOTLESS & CEEZA MILLI (WINNER)

This has to be the tightest category of the night.Any one of 5 other songs out of the 10 listed would have won this without raising any eyebrows.This was Wizkid's (Star boy if you like) only award of the night.Sound City some how managed to keep everyone happy.

VIDEO OF THE YEAR

1. GRINGO – SHATTA WALE
2. MIDNIGHT DRUM – A PASS, ROUGE, FIK FAMEICA
3. SHORT N’ SWEET – SAUTI SOL
4. YE – BURNA BOY
5. FEVER – WIZKID
6. SURRENDA – ADEKUNLE GOLD
7. SCIENCE STUDENT – OLAMIDE
8. KING – NASTY C FT A$AP FERG
9. KSAZOBALIT – CASSPER NYOVEST
10.HEAL THE WORLD – PATORANKING (WINNER)

Patoranking's Heal The World is not only the best video in Africa right now,it is the very best in recent memory.Quite magical.I feel so sorry for Shatta Wale.I would be saying the very same thing about Shatta Wale's Gringo if Patoranking hadn't made Heal The World.Two of the very best videos Africa has seen in one year; talk about a blessing and a curse.Special credit must go to the MVP for its nominations here.Wizkid's Fever aside,every other thing here was top notch.

AFRICAN PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

1. KILLERTUNES
2. JULZ
3. SARS
4. NAHREEL
5. NORTHBOI
6. DJ TIRA
7. SPEROACHBEATZ
8. FRESH VDM
9. KEL P
10. PHANTOM (WINNER)

'Since Ye is the song of the year then its only right the producer is the best of the year'..I really don't quite agree with Mama Burna's logic.If you'll give the Headies props for anything,it is that they have the songs the producers are nominated for listed along with their names.Killertunes,Speroach beatz and Fresh VDM made more than one hit in the period under review.And even if we were to talk one hits, then Sarz made the quite monstrous Diet.Finally, if robustness were to count above 'pon pon' then Julz will take this home.All of them over a Phantom we don't know.Or rather didn't know.

BEST HIP HOP

1. M.I ABAGA

2. KHALIGRAPH JONES

3. NASTY C

4. KWESI ARTHUR

5. PHYNO

6. SARKODIE

7. KWESTA

8. FALZ

9. MEDIKAL

10.AKA (WINNER)

This is the craziest moment of the night.People in the hall grumbled loud right into the next award.AKA beat Nasty C to best hip hop based on the year he released the most critically acclaimed rap album Africa has ever seen; Strings and Blings.At this point it was starting to become clear that Sound City rewards foreign artistes who attend with the awards they are nominated for.Perhaps to sell its brand on the integrity card across the continent.NabyKenzo,AKA,Busiswa all came and clinched their categories.

If it was meant to be a secret then this category blew it all open because people will always look into just how possible it was for AKA to pull this off.Falz had This is Nigeria and a couple of other great singles while Kwesi Arthur was hot all year.Medikal got so much love for How Much,he had to make a remix.All these artistes would win this category ahead of AKA on a level playing field.Nasty C lost best hip hop to AKA.How on earth can anyone sell that?.

SONG OF THE YEAR

1. SHORT & SWEET – SAUTI SOL FT NYASHINKI
2. AFRICAN BEAUTY – DIAMOND PLATNUMZ FT. OMARION
3. SOCO – STARBOY FT WIZKID, TERRI, SPOTLESS & CEEZA MILLI
4. KATIKA – NAVY KENZO FT. DIAMOND PLATNUMZ
5. MAKHE – DJ MAPHORISA, DJ SIMBA FT MOONCHILD SANELLY
6. SKELETON MOVES – MASTER KG
7. ASSURANCE – DAVIDO
8. AMAKA – TUFACE IDIBIA
9. KWANGWARU – HARMONIZE FT. DIAMOND PLATNUMZ
10. YE – BURNA BOY (WINNER) 

I understand the Modric as opposed to Messi and Ronlado analogy on the need for fresh air and how everyone loves a new kid on the block but to put it quite simply-Soco,Assurance and Amaka were bigger hits than Burna boy's Ye.But then again, Burna had such a great year,anything with his name on it will stick.

AFRICAN ARTISTE OF THE YEAR

1. DAVIDO
2. SARKODIE
3. YEMI ALADE
4. A.K.A
5. TIWA SAVAGE
6. WIZKID
7. DIAMOND PLATNUMZ
8. NASTY C
9. OLAMIDE
10. BURNA BOY (WINNER) 

Very well-deserved win.Burna boy owned 2018 and no one would make any sense disputing that.Wizkid is steady making strides but the closest thing to a threat was Nasty C.For the very first time ever,an African rapper is getting recognition outside this continent not out of courtesy but a true acknowledgement of the quality of his songs.

AFRICAN DJ OF THE YEAR

1. BLACK COFFEE
2. DJ SPINALL
3. DJ MIC SMITH
4. DJ KAYWISE
5. DJ XCLUSIVE
6. PRINCE KAYBE
7. DJ ARAFAT
8. DJ MAPHORISA
9. DJ VYRUSKY
10.DJ NEPTUNE (WINNER)

The only talk worthy thing DJ Neptune did in 2018 was releasing an album.Spinall on the other hand was at the One World concert in South Africa and had 2 smash hits in Nowo with Wizkid and Baba with Kizz Daniels.Yes,those songs and lest i forget,he was made a Pepsi DJ ambassador in March.The choice of DJ Neptune over him is quite absurd.

BEST FEMALE MVP

1. SIMI
2. NINIOLA
3. TIWA SAVAGE
4. YEMI ALADE
5. SHEKHINAH
6. EFYA
7. BECCA
8. LADY ZAMAR
9. MAUA SAMA
10. BUSISWA (WINNER) 

Most of the top female stars here were either not consistent (Tiwa Savage's Lova Lova is her only decent effort), semi-hibernating (Simi especially) or are simply starting to lose it (Yemi Alade).Becca released a joint EP with Ycee that didn't quite measure up and she hasn't had a hit since Number 1,her 2017 hit with Mr Eazi.Efya on the other hand put in some good work but i agree with Busiswa.She has been on a meteoric rise over the last few years.Great artiste.

BEST MALE MVP

1. NASTY C
2. MR EAZI
3. OLAMIDE
4. A.K.A
5. SHATTA WALE
6. HARMONIZE
7. DIAMOND PLATNUMZ
8. DAVIDO
9. WIZKID
10. BURNA BOY (WINNER) 

OluwaBurna no doubt.Burna ended 2017 on a high and moved onto another realm altogether when he released the Outside album.Google searches for Kanye West's Ye led to his song with the same title and that earned him some massive international exposure.His mom made sure she thanked Kanye for that.He was featured on YouTube's artiste on the rise campaign for 3 months shortly after collecting his plaque for selling out the 5,000 capacity Brixton Academy 02 arena in the UK.Everyone agrees 2018 was his year.Even the ever fanatical #Teams Wizkid and Davido have had to overlook some very controversial Ye wins.In his honour perhaps.

The 2019 MVP was a very crucial one and despite some very sad moments,it did not disappoint on an overall scale.Nigerian artistes aren't quite elaborate or extraordinary with award performances and the MVP lumping multiple artistes into a single performance break is a very nice touch.They say you can never go through an entire award show without being disappointed with a win or two but that disappointment is a lot more harder to take when those wins defy reason.I hope to see a better Soundcity MVP next year.

MY VERY BEST OF 2018

These are the things that stood out for me in 2018.

BEST MOVIE

We all loved Black Panther and it would be it in the literal sense but then this has always meant for me,anything on TV.The Netflix spanish series,La Casa De Papel was the best thing i watched all year.It was simply breath-taking.

BEST COUPLE

This would be Davido and Chioma.Whether a girl who stayed over 2 daughters from 2 different women was in it for true love or just patient enough to get her slice of OBO's goody bag didn't really matter when the affair became public.He was so crazy in love and he flaunted it.He opened a kitchen for her and bought her a Porsche reportedly worth over N40M for her birthday.That came with the smash hit Assurance dedicated to her as well.Word is she had to drop out of school to accompany him on his many trips across the world.It may or may not fizzle out but in 2018, Davido had everyone loving his Chioma and labelling him 'wicked' for setting the bar so high for male lovers.

BEST TEAM

The Super Falcons of Nigeria won the 2018 Awcon in Ghana for a record 9th time.The girls had to overcome familiar foes in gruelling 120 mins + penalties encounters in their last 2 games of the tournament and they kept a cool head through it all.Overall,the stats say we have ruled African Women football since its inception.Big deal.

BEST COACH

I would ordinarily have said Mauricio Pochettino but for the extraordinary exploits of Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.He led the team to the Champions league final last season and to the top of the English Premier League at mid-stage this season.He has put in place a very efficient counter-attacking style using the pace of Sadio Mane and Mohammed Salah and also created an extra awareness to the defensive responsibilities of the whole team.Klopp has proved what he did at Dortmund with even more unheralded legs was no fluke.On merit,he is the best coach in the world.Unlike other prominent coaches,he hasn't had a fat account to work with, he has just been shrewd and gotten the most of players he works with.

BEST BOOK

I went shopping one day and i stumbled on Eghosa Imasuen's Fine Boys in what was supposed to be a brief stay at the book section.I flipped through some pages and took it.Proved a very good call.
The middle-class folks appreciate a lot, the 'realness' of the social media with its every day pidgin slangs and interactions between youths being entirely themselves.It was fascinating to see a writer capitalizing on the Warri syndrome so well.

BEST LEADER

No one leader stood out for me in 2018 but if i'll have to choose,i will choose Governor Ikpeazu of Enugu state.
Babatunde Fashola deserves a tip of my hat also for the remarkable improvement recorded in power supply across the country in the last few months.Much earlier in some places.In as much as i don't want the Buhari government to return,i still have to say such improvement is unprecedented.Fashola has been the shining light in this administration.

BEST ARTICLE

I found Mitch Findlay's Does Going Platinum Still Carry The Same Weight? quite a fascinating read.In this era of digital record sales,a lot has changed in music and Findlay highlighted the highly 'technical' case of Cardi B's Invasion Of Privacy banking on the successes of pre-album singles-Bodak Yellow and Bartier Cardi to go platinum.

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR

Anthony Joshua beat Joseph Parker and knocked out Alexander Povetkin and more importantly,kept the 3 heavyweight belts to himself.Still the undisputed champion of the world.

SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR

Onome Ebi was pivotal to the Super Falcons success at the 2018 Awcon in Ghana.She was by some distance,the best Nigerian player at the tournament.

MAN OF THE YEAR

Atiku Abubakar without a doubt.A lot of people including my humble self didn't think he could win the PDP presidential ticket.Asides being a member of the old guard,he ditched the party and actively worked towards ensuring they were defeated in 2015.But win he did and in some style.I don't just support him now only because i am desperate to see President Buhari booted out,i do because he, by a hundred thousand miles has the best manifesto of all the candidates on display.If i knew then what i do now,i would have pitched my tent with him from the onset.

WOMAN OF THE YEAR

Lisa Murwoski, a Female Senator from Alaska was the only republican to vote against the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh as a Justice of the Supreme Court by the American Senate.Kavanaugh was probably the most controversial US Supreme Court nominee ever.He faced numerous allegations of sexual misconduct and of lying under oath about never being black-out drunk in college.His room mate at Yale said he saw him in that state first hand.Murwoski defied the republican party line and in a traditional senate practice called striking, she voted 'present',technically a 'Nay' to strike out her colleague,Senator Steve Daines of Montana's 'Yea' who was attending his daughter's wedding and couldn't be present.
For her courage and bravery in towing the path she believed was right and damning the consequences of disobeying her entire party and President Trump, Lisa Murwoski is not only my Woman of the year but also my Person of the year.