TOP 10 SONGS AND 3 ALBUMS OF 2ND QUARTER 2020

TOP 10 SONGS

1. WETTIN DEY SUP-BURNA BOY 

2. ENJOY YOURSELF REMIX-POP SMOKE FEAT BURNA BOY

3. BALANCIO-NIFTY BOI

4. 1 SCALE-YOUNG DOLPH FEAT G HERBO / IMPERFECTIONS-POP SMOKE

5. YEA YEA-BLUEFACE FEAT COYOTE

6. BROKE OR NOT-DAVE EAST

7. GOD ONLY KNOWS-FIREBOY DML

8. BARAWO-AJEBO HUSTLERS / LAGBAJA-PERUZZI

9. DAMN-OMAH LAY / LO LO-OMAH LAY / PARANOIA-POP SMOKE FEAT GUNNA & YOUNG THUG

10. MAKE IT RAIN-POP SMOKE FEAT ROWDY REBEL / TUNNEL VISION-POP SMOKE

TOP 3 ALBUMS/EPs

1.SHOOT FOR THE STARS AIM FOR THE MOON-POP SMOKE

2.THREE-PATORANKING / KARMA 3-DAVE EAST

3.KING'S DISEASE-NAS / APOLLO-FIREBOY

CELIA ALBUM REVIEW: CONSERVATIVE TIWA MAY HAVE SHED SOME WIDTH BUT SHE STILL HAS CLASS

There are pop divas that get left behind for no other reason than they stay true to themselves.The older they get,the more matured and less commercially appealing their music gets.The ones that dare to be inorganically adventurous usually have to deal with the problem that you can't be anyone better than you.

Creative flexibility has always been one of Tiwa's main attributes so that certainly isn't the problem considering she recorded the out-of-the-box 49-99 less than a year ago.Miss Savage perhaps just wanted to sing and not worry about anything else on Celia and its a really good thing that she can sing.The album-opening Save My Life is the highlight of plain and simple Tiwa; a classy mid-tempo track you can vibe to on your seat or on the dance floor.Temptationand Dangerous Love were pre-album singles that already prepared us for a Tiwa more inclined to slow things down and lean towards her sonorous side.Though Pakalamisi with London singer,Hamzaa and Attention are unmoving and raise reasonable doubts as to the sustainability of this version of her, Park Well featuring Davido reiterates why no version of her should be written off.Its effortlessly classy and easy on the ears.

Fans of the jumpy and sassy Tiwa might say Celia is a mid life crisis for the most part they hope she will overcome in no time but 2 personal and to quite a degree,introspective songs therein suggest this Tiwa is here to stay.Rather than a mid life crisis,it may very well be a 40 year old lady no longer keen on stretching as far she used to.Us is an emotional lady looking back at the experience with her former husband and accepting that perhaps they just weren't meant to be without blaming anyone for it.Celia's Song is a song thanking God for her mother and all she has been through.(Celia is her mother's name incase you haven't heard already).

Koroba may not be razz Tiwa at 100 but she hits the bullseye on Ole featuring Naira Marley.A soft yet cheeky and absorbing song rendered on an inch-perfect Rexxie beat.She also comes correct on Bombay where she solicits Burna boy's beau, Stefflon Don and Otedola crooner, Dice Ailes.Tiwa lives up to her African Bad Gyal moniker here.She talks the talk and has Stefflon Don spitting pidgin for the very first time ever.

Tiwa's range has always stood her out from the rest and though we see a more conservative version on Celia, she goes for the extraordinary in Glory and to great effect i must say.

She may lack the intensity she had in 2015 when she released the R.E.D album with guests like D'Prince,Dr Sid,Iceberg Slimm,Busy Signal and Olamide to help produce a rich and commercially correct album but she still gets the job done.

$6.1BN FOR POWER SUPPLY: OF 'PARTNERS' AND 'FUNDING'..

It was disheartening to read the Minister of Power Resources' carefully spun narrative on securing a $6.1bn 'funding' to improve power supply with the World Bank,the AFDB and JICA named as 'partners'.They very carefully ommitted the word 'loan' because of the backlash it would attract and i must say that was a deft touch considering that just a day before,the President's Special Assistant on New Media,Bashir Ahmad was passing off our polio-free status as a Buhari achievement when infact the whole of Africa was polio-free for almost a year before Buhari became President.It was under him polio returned to Nigeria in 2016.

More and more nigerians are asking what exactly the huge amounts we borrow are being sunk into that no one sees and as such,the Buhari administration has learnt to describe lending entities as 'partners' and the loans they provide, 'funding' in evasive press releases.Our debt profile contrary to what many believe was not N12trn as at the time Buhari assumed office in 2015.His transition committee chairman,Ahmed Joda said himself that the Jonathan administration left a liability of N7trn.

Subsequent loans by Buhari after the Debt Management Office's last official figure of N28trn has taken us way past the N30trn mark.That is more than 3 times what Buhari met.We know electricity tariff will increase on September 1st and not next year as we had been earlier told because according to reports,it is a condition given to us by the World Bank before we can access any loan for power.

What has Buhari done with all he has been borrowing?.$6.1bn adds up to N2.3trn.For the umpteenth time,What has Buhari done with all he has been borrowing?.How many of our hospitals have been upgraded to world class?.How many roads have been completed?.How many schools have been built?.How many young nigerians have benefitted from skill acquisition schemes since jobs are not available?.How many of our refineries are at optimum capacity?.

As far as the issue of power is concerned,we have had to sit and watch him and his cronies reel out some very outrageous sums.Vice-President Osinbajo said the government spent N1.5trn on that from 2017-2019.El Rufai was reeling out another figure of N1.7trn just months later.What significant improvement has Nigeria seen as regards power supply to justify all that spent money?.Just days ago,an investigation by a reputable news outlet revealed that the power sector lost N468.4bn from January-August 21 and also that 33,122MWs wasn't utilized in that period.

Last year Buhari promised to chase and catch a 'previous administration' that claimed to have spent $16bn (N3trn) on power (the Obasanjo administration did).Nothing has come out of that probe.As a matter of fact,they have stayed mute and wished it out of our consciousness.If Buhari really probes that expenditure,it would also draw attention to how much he has spent on power since 2015 and he doesn't want that.He and his people have grown scared of being straight with Nigerians and have started referring to our lenders as 'partners' and their loans as 'funding' because it has become simply impossible to explain how all that is being borrowed is used to improve nigerian lives.

An extra N2.3trn is going to be spent on power in addition to a figure that is already more than what Buhari wants to probe another administration for frittering away.The scariest part of it all is that this man has 3 more years to do as he pleases.God help us.

ALBUM REVIEW: BURNA BOY'S TWICE AS TALL IS A DISAPPOINTMENT

Burna boy had cracked the international market and the Grammys no longer seemed a tall order.What better way to move than have Diddy co-produce this album.This project promised to be a taller Burna boy going all out for the kill but what quite sadly,what we see on Twice As Tall is an artiste that wipes the smirk off our faces.At perhaps the most crucial point in his career,Burna boy simply didn't turn up.

You know OluwaBurna being out of sorts is an understatement when his most vital attribute is glaringly missing-structured composition.His ability to make every detail come together so well is what has always stood him out from the rest and that quality is largely missing here as quite a number of songs that could have been great turned out stop-start experiences.

The opening and album title track with Senegalese legend,Youssou N'dour best exemplifies Burna's creative waywardness.There was a total lack of synergy between the dour instrumental,Burna boy's lifeless vocals and N'dour's soulful rendition.Alarm Clock badly needed some dexterity in vocal display to spread the sauce to parts other than the 'This Early Morning' chorus and ensure a balance with the heavy instrumentation.

Alarm Clock and 23 were two attempts at re-enacting the Ye global magic and while Alarm Clock has a repetitive catchiness amidst regressing factors, 23 is a pleasant vibe with no real cutting edge.

Different off the African Giant album featuring Angelique Kidjo and Damien  Marley was a fabulous socio-conscious effort i believe deserves special praise and Burna goes that route again on Monsters You Made with perhaps a more thought-provoking content.Monsters You Made is quite easily one of the good songs of this album that had the potential to be much more.Coldplay's Chris Martin sets you on a high with a mesmerizing chorus and then Burna jumps at it with a great delivery but then by the time he steps in for the second verse with the very same delivery,the monotonic feel ensures you don't get higher than you already are.

Without an Angelique Kidjo and Damien Marley to fuse width,Burna ought to have utilized Chris Martin a bit more; at the very least get a verse in between.The stop-start factor also robs Time flies featuring Sauti Sol of the ideal effect.Burna does some breath-taking singing and has the swahili chorus sitting pretty on the track but in as much as the Kenyans put up a nice display themselves,they fail to complement each other and leave the listener to revel in a little too much of everything.

As far as combining with his guests go,no song on this album measures up to his collaboration with another duo,legendary American hip hop group Naughty By Nature on a song with that title.The Don Guorgon's vocal ingenuity comes to the fore and is perfectly matched by some effortless golden era rap to give a flawless ride all through.Real Life with Stormzy has to be the worst of his international collaborations as all there is to like is Stormzy on the chorus.

On the Afro front,Comma and Onyeka exemplify the ordinary levels Burna boy's artistry has sunk to.Bebo is a quite presentable effort but ladies and gentlemen, Wettin Dey Sup illustrates class is permanent and that even on the worst days,there is always a hint of that.Burna thumps through his in a way only he can to remind us he is capable of just about anything and why he is so enigmatic we allowed him pick a genre for himself.

Bank On It is made on the same template as Calm Down,the most underrated song of his 2018 classic Outside album which opens with a slow introspection that transits smoothly into an exquisite ballad.Burna's quality is not in doubt,he just has to deploy it to better use.A product's quality ultimately sells it but the way this album was brought forth points to just how less co-ordinated Burna boy has gotten.

When he slayed the Jerusalema remix and got massive props for it,he put out Wonderful on the dance/electronic format to appeal to the international audience.It was left to stand as the sole single even when the reception wasn't encouraging.No Fit Vex, a sublime effort which cryptically references the beef with Davido and preaches harmony is a publicity gold mine that could have been best exploited by making it a second pre-album single.Anticipation would have translated to more pre-orders globally if he had teased the Chris Martin chorus on Monsters You Madewith a part of his verse on social media.

To put it frankly,4 great songs out of 15 and disjointed flashes of brilliance mean Burna Boy's Twice As Tall is not a good album.

REPS SHOULD ORDER THE ARREST OF EMEFIELE,KYARI & BALA USMAN NOT PETITION BUHARI

All the 'Acting' MD of the NDDC,Prof.Kemebradikumo Pondei had to do was appear before the House of Representatives' probe committee and 'faint'.Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila was waiting in the wings to announce that he will no longer appear before the committee while the public was busy reacting to what happened.

Its a lot like when the Buhari administration ignored several calls to place travel restrictions when coronavirus was forcing far more advanced countries to shut down and he refused.When they were to embarrased to announce 5 new cases at the same time from the UK and the US, they announced restrictions and then the new cases about an hour later.Nigerians were too pre-occupied with the news of the ban to notice and blame Buhari for his inaction.The 'Acting' NDDC boss,Pondei will be the butt of jokes for a while but more importantly,he will get off thanks to Gbajabiamila; the lawyer accused in the United States of stealing a client's $25,000.It was very cleanly executed.

Gbaja and his fellow rubber stamp senior colleague at the Senate,Ahmed Lawan are being said to have been issued a N37bn allocation for renovation of the NASS complex to help keep as many of their boys happy.Little wonder why even a PDP lawmaker like Wole Oke, who was accused by his former colleague,Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin of receiving from Dasuki's arms loot, would order the clerk of the house committee investigating financial irregularities linked to them to write the President over the refusal of top government officials to appear before them instead of issuing an arrest warrant as stipulated by law.

These officials include Godwin Emefiele-Governor of the Central Bank,Mele Kyari-the Group Managing Director of NNPC,Hadiza Bala Usman-the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority and Alex Okoh-the Director of the Bureau for Public Enterprises.The CBN,NPA and NNPC particularly have featured greatly in public discussions after the NDDC show of shame with many Nigerians wondering what would be discovered in these agencies that deal with way more money than the NDDC.

As should be expected,the heads of these agencies are scared of any probe and have refused to respond to valid summons issued by the House of Representatives.The thing is no one gets to do that.Section 89 (1)(d) of the Nigerian constitution mandates the House (operative word 'shall') to not only issue a warrant of arrest against anyone who disobeys a summons to appear before it but to also have them cover the costs incurred in executing that arrest.That section also bequeaths a power to impose a fine if prescribed in a secondary legislation.No where in the Constitution or Legislative Houses Act (which also stipulates arrest for defiance of a summon),is it stated that a letter should be written to the President if his appointees refuse to honour an invitation by the House of Representatives.

The legislature exists primarily to make laws and act as a check on the executive,it does not exist to service its whims.So what will happen if Buhari doesn't order the invitees to attend?.The probe will be put to bed?.The President is known to fiercely protect his corrupt cronies till he no longer can.He stuck to Ibrahim Magu as EFCC boss and didn't toss him to the side till he had fallen out with his Attorney General and refused to reach out to him despite knowing fully well that Magu had been indicted for living in a N20M per annum residence paid for by highly suspicious persons and also that he was found guilty of tampering with EFCC files by the Police Service Commission in 2010.

Former SGF,Babachir Lawal was absolved of any wrong-doing after a sham of a probe by his Attorney General and only got penalized when public outcry became unbearable.The House of Reps should under no circumstance, ever subject what is right to the discretion of a man like Buhari who not only oversees the most corrupt nigerian government in recent times but relies on a man like Abubakar Malami to handle legal affairs.Malami was saying just days ago that the clause waiving sovereignty to China in a loan agreement COULD mean waiving our 'sovereignty to a contractual obligation'.

Malami,who is Chief Law officer and is supposed to study all agreements entered into by this country, isn't himself sure what we have gotten ourselves into.He is guessing.To clarifiy,that clause specifically allows us retain military and diplomatic assets over what is ceded to the Chinese.How he came about the nonsense on 'sovereign contractual obligation',only he knows.The same constitution which confers on the House of Reps power to compel attendance is what the man honestly believed gave him the power to disobey valid court orders; what even a first year law student would find preposterous.

Following the NDDC drama, corrupt government officials will try as much as possible to evade public hearings,the truth is they have no choice but to attend and it is imperative that the National Assembly orders the arrest of anyone who doesn't.