MY TOP 10 TRACKS & 3 ALBUMS OF 2ND QUARTER 2019

1.NON-STOP-TERRI

2.MEDUSA-WSTRN FEAT UNKNOWN T

3.SOAPY-NAIRA MARLEY / HATE ME-ELLIE GOULDING FEAT JUICE WRLD / BLESSED-SHENSEEA FEAT TYGA

4.RICH OFF-KEVIN GATES

5.UNUSUAL-CRAYON

6.I BEEN WAITIN-BIG K.R.I.T

7.BLOW MY MIND-DAVIDO FEAT CHRIS BROWN

8.WATER-BEYONCE FEAT SALATIEL & PHARELL / ALREADY-BEYONCE FEAT SHATTA WALE

9.DIFFERENT-BURNA BOY FEAT DAMIEN MARLEY AND ANGELIQUE KIDJO / ANOTHER STORY-BURNA BOY FEAT M.ANIFEST

10.ALAKORI-FALZ FEAT DICE AILES / THE BAG-PHYNO

         TOP 3 BEST ALBUMS

1.AFRICAN GIANT- BURNA BOY

2.ONLY THE GENERALS GON UNDERSTAND-KEVIN GATES

3.WILMER-PATORANKING

A DEVOTED BEAUTY AND AN INSECURE GIANT: A LOOK AT THE BURNA BOY-STEFFLON DON RELATIONSHIP

We may wake up tomorrow or next to find a Burna boy and Stefflon Don joint instagram post denying the story that they have gone their separate ways and it won't suprise to see a lot of people rush into saying it was all a publicity stunt.But then before anyone does that,it is important they study the facts available to us.First,someone leaked that video of Burna and the monstrously hipped Gambian actress,Princess Shyngle.There was a reason and for the simple fact that Burna boy isn't already promising to get whoever did it or threatening to shoot up instablog9ja for publishing it,he is the prime suspect.

A Stefflon Don post on her insta story read "Old Old videos,Please let it rest.We good over here.Thanks.".But a careful look at the videos will show while Burna's look on the Face time call was his in the period he shot the YE video,the look at the arcade machines where he was just a couple of seats away from Princess Shyngle is his look as of today.

On the Face time call,Shyngle is heard asking of songs he made while they were together which implies they had split even before he hooked up with Steff and it could pretty much be argued that since he wasn't by Shyngle's side at the arcade spot,it could just be that they happened to be in the same place at the same time.But that also leads us back to the million dollar question-why was that video leaked?.

A careful look at the Burna-Steff relationship will reveal an unpleasant behavioural pattern on the part of the African Giant.An inferiority complex manifests in several ways.While some guys depict a low self-esteem in public others try to over-exert themselves as the dominant partner and yet others,bottle it all up to punish their bigger partners with it.Stefflon Don showed up to celebrate with Burna boy after his BET best international act accolade and the first words out of his mouth in public were 'Our wife,you can't be dressing like this oo'.A lot of ladies would end the relationship there and then for not telling them so in private.

When interviewed on beats1 radio by Oldman Ebro,Stefflon Don's first reaction to the Burna boy question was 'that is husby' and in sharp contrast,Burna boy told Charlamagne tha god on the break fast club show before the African Giant album dropped that 'he didn't want to talk about that' when asked about his relationship with Steff.Then also add the fact that Burna made a whole album without putting her on any of the tracks.Our African Giant may not be as emotionally and psychologically secure as we would like to think.

For Steff to overlook the stuff we have seen her do means she loves Burna boy a lot.The leaked video could very much be an over-pampered lover trying to make his girl jealous and then get back with her afterwards just as much as it could also be an egoistic and psychologically insecure lover being eager to tell the world 'i broke up with her and not the other way round' irrespective of the scum tag that comes with it.Time will unravel everything.

REVIEW: ILLBLISS STEPS UP HIS GAME ON ILLOSOPHY

Illbliss won't give us jaw-dropping punchlines or awe-inspiring metaphors.We already knew that much.Illygatti is reputed for just about anything other than his hard core lyrics and for Illosophy to work in a way the Illyzilla joint EP with producer,Teckzilla didn't,Illbliss would have to decentralize the focus on pure content rap.This EP is splendid because he does just that.

He infuses components from his comfort zone of indigenous rap to create very catchy choruses and solicits a more groovy set of beats to de-emphasize lyricism and an erratic delivery.He captures his modus succinctly on Osadebe when he says-"Do my shit differently shout out to Johnny Drille,the lyricism nice but the marketing is key".Oh yes it is.

The hippy ibo/english chorus on the banging Suspekt beat for Ruler2 (RIP B-Elect) kicks in the adrenaline as soon as it comes on and has you nodding till the end.All Illbliss had to do was string together any set of rhymes.

Illychapo does combine a host of factors to make pleasant music but it also has to be said for him that he stepped his lyrical game up a notch.He was miles better than he was on Illyzilla.Its at a level where no one can say Illbliss can't rap,they can only say he isn't an outstanding wordsmith.He thumps gloriously on the Suspekt produced Lie Down Dia in perhaps his best lyrical display on Illosophy-"Mentally i'm chess; you lose more or less,wisdom reveals the devil in a dress.Prayers ensure i never digress,you don't wanna see the claws on a tigeress".

The Illyzilla EP may not have been a classic rap offering but it had a really top notch production.Those Teckzilla beats were better suited for an out and out lyricist.Most heads sprang up Mode 9 as a first thought and its good they have both hooked up for a joint project.Illy appears to have understood better on Illosophy that there are good beats and then there are good beats meant for the artiste.Major Bangz's breath-taking instrumental for the opening Player To Coach allows Illbliss strut authoritatively through his statement of intent.Even the worst pessimist would have to accept he may be in for a helluva ride.

Bangz replicates his magic on the triumphant Die there (Hustle) where another fresh beat comes on at the 1:48 mark for Illygatti to lay the same 'still winning' chorus and pick up the rhyme spree.

Black Intelligence sets him up perfectly on the absorbing Thankful where Illy drops some really hot bars-"I let the words paint on the pad,thats the canvass,acrylic whatever lyric,such a relic".Uzezi's singing complements him to great effect on the uplifting chorus.Overall,Illbliss has in Illosophy a 7 track EP,you can hit play,sit back and enjoy.No skippables.

If he'll get flak for anything its his lack of versatility.I remember saying on my Illyzilla EP review that he was stuck on the very first stage of a hardcore lyricist's evolution-the freestyle stage.Illbliss still beasts through an entire body of work solely self-glorifying.He only does it much better on Illosophy.

Even when a song is titled Thankful,he praises self till the very end where he reels out names.Grown Man Raps too which on the face of it,would have one thinking along the lines of Jay-Z's 30 Something.His friend and fellow thoroughbred,the late B-Elect was much more in tune with the message.Illygatti aka Illychapo aka Illy... doesn't talk growth,he just gets to painting that monochromatic image he is used to.Gratefully,he doesn't bore us here.

I'm pleased to announce llbliss has a winning formula for pure hip hop as well.Thats the major takeaway from the Illosophy EP.

THE REVOLUTION MEANT TO HANG SOWORE VS THE REVOLUTION THAT ACTUALLY IS

rev·o·lu·tion

\ˌre-və-ˈlü-shən\

noun

: the usually violent attempt by many people to end the rule of one government and start a new one

: a sudden, extreme, or complete change in the way people live, work, etc.

: the action of moving around something in a path that is similar to a circle 

(Culled from Merriam Webster Dictionary)

Omoyele Sowore never threatened to overthrow President Buhari and he never called on anyone to join him in doing so.He only demanded that government end the killings across the nation and that every government implements the N30,000 minimum wage to alleviate the sufferings of his fellow countrymen.In view of how the average nigerian has been made to live,Sowore felt it was only right he was rest assured that his children are educated in our public schools for free.There have been blackouts across several parts of the country for the last weeks and as if to mock our impotence,Vice-President Yomi Osinbajo came out to say N900bn had been spent on electricity with another N600bn due to follow.Sowore didn't ask Buhari to probe himself,all he requested was that the power companies ease our problems by abolishing their estimated billing policy and ensure that their costumers get a right to audit their electricity bills.Just so we are clear,this is a list of his demands-

*All governments must pay the N30,000 minimum.

* Abolition of tuition fees in universities and secondary schools.

* Stop the killings in the country and sack all the incompetent service chiefs.

* Stop all estimated billing by the power companies, provide pre-paid meters for free, and communities must have the right to audit the electricity bills they get, and review the licenses of all discos.

* Free all political prisoners now, including El Zakzaky and his wife.

* Employment for the youths.

But government having failed the citizenry understood what a medium as elaborate as Sowore's #RevolutionNow portends.The aggrieved will get a chance to voice out their grievances even if it means sleeping on the streets.Government will either cave in to their demands and face serious backlash for having to be forced into it or watch its citizens embarrass it by crying out to the world non-stop.In typical lawless fashion at about 1:45am last Saturday,the department of state security in breach of his constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of expression,association,liberty and dignity arrested Sowore and bungled him to their offices.The next day they issued a statement after the police also had,relying on the definition of 'revolution' that best suited their diabolic agenda of silencing a dissenting voice to government-one that meant Sowore was planning to forcefully kick Buhari out of office.It would have been easier to just pick him up on grounds that he was conniving with foreign enemies of Nigeria abroad to destabilize the country but pressure would be mounted on them to name those accomplices and that lie could boomerang right in their faces so they crafted a narrative that dwelled essentially on Sowore waging war against the government of Nigeria.The man just had to be stopped.In its rapid entrenchment of a lawless order,the Buhari administration has grown increasingly intolerant of criticisms.An attempt to point out the truth to it is an affront on its authority.

Sowore's demands were made publicly and he never said anywhere he would ensure Buhari is kicked out of Aso Rock if they aren't met.His revolution is totally in sync with the second meaning in the aforementioned text i referred to-"a sudden,extreme and complete change in the way people live,work etc".Enough of the killings,enough of the unemployment,enough of the hunger.Government must live up to its responsibilities.#RevolutionNow.

That was what Sowore invited every aggrieved nigerian out there to come and demand from its government without any sort of threat as to what would happen if they didn't comply.The only set of people that have threatened to take action if their demands weren't complied with is the Arewa group that demanded that the RUGA initiative be implemented within 30 days.And before that the one that ordered the ibos to vacate the north or face drastic consequences.

It is not half as painful as it is about our authorities choosing to so shamelessly wallow in self-inflicted ignorance and profound nescience than it is about how they have chosen to so do.They don't take into cognizance everything he has claimed to stand for or has proferred as his reason for publicly calling on nigerians to protest,they just say 'revolution' commonly means forceful change in government and as such,Sowore was planning to commit treason.Why not just say the man is mobilizing the masses to complain about how they are being governed and that that doesn't sit well with government?.Perhaps Sowore should have taken into consideration more the primitive times we live in.

The outrcry over his arrest has been massive and it is likely he will be charged to court soon just to save face if he isn't released outright.How demanding better and leaving it at that amounts to a plot to overthrow government will be answered.Only the guilty are afraid.

The revolution Sowore meant and as has been evidenced by every step he has taken in the furtherance of his cause,we all know.

I remind Buhari and all his dogs that nigeria belongs to everybody,it belongs to nobody.The clamp down on free speech and freedom of expression will only create more voices of dissent.The irrepressible nigerian spirit guarantees that.If Buhari doesn't want to be criticized then he must govern us like he should.If he can't then its better he moves back to his farm and cater for his stagnant number of 150 cows.Nigeria must move forward.

I am revolutionary Umar Sa'ad Hassan and i stand with Omoyele Sowore.His only crime is wanting better for his country.#FreeSoworeNow