From our friends at WE PLUG GOOD MUSIC

WE PLUG GOOD MUSICpresent

A Prelude to the future


A collection of sound recordings featuring 20 emerging artists in
HIP-HOP, SOUL AND SPOKEN WORD



This Mixtape contains an array of passionate expression sonically captured in an element of these artists’ historical journey.

Available NOW for FREE DOWNLOAD

http://www.wepluggoodmusic.bandcamp.com

‘Good music perfectly relays what the author innately feels or intends to convey.’ - We Plug Good Music


A Prelude to the Future is that definitive window into the pool of the most current and distinguished artists and music that you should know about.


Since February 2009, We Plug GOOD Music has consistently provided its online community with the very best emerging music from all around the world vis-a-vis plugging these emerging artists to a wider range of audiences via its’ websites & online radio show as well as bringing quality live music to diverse audiences in and around London (UK) & Lagos (Nigeria) via their ‘One Mic’ showcases.

'We Plug GOOD Music' has established an online presence successfully plugging the emerging music that commercial radio doesn’t play, Aiming to push the true artform of music and NOT necessarily what the industry calls 'good' & in theirconsistent, continuous bid & effort to keep plugging the best of NEW & EMERGING Performing Artistes, they’ve come together with 20 of the most promising emerging artists to create ‘The Future is NOW’ project beginning with this ‘A Prelude to the Future’ mixtape


A Prelude to the Future features 20 of the best emerging artists that we have come across over the last year from all around the word & Specifically hand-picked from the ever-budding Nigerian Music scene is an array of amazing artists (with exclusive and unreleased material) including...

WAJE an incredible emerging Songstress, whose name is fast becoming a strong brand in Nigeria after having worked with the biggest African R&B duo, P-Square on 2007’s massive hit record, ‘Do Me’ and releasing two hugely successful singles herself, ‘Somewhere’ & ‘Kolo’. She is widely regarded as the Queen of R&B in Nigeria and her discography already includes collaborations with huge African artists such as Banky W, Eldee the Don and J Martins. We also feature emerging ‘Alternative Soul’ Singer/Song-writer BEZ, a natural performer with a charismatic and playful stage presence who has previously opened for International Sensation, Asa & performed alongside Nigeria’s premiere artists like Tuface, 9ice & D’Banj as well as World-renowned Hip-Hop/Soul singer, Nneka. Bez also took part in the Nigerian leg of the 2009’s Hennessy Artistry Series which culminated in the Series Finale in NYC featuring the legendary Common & The Roots.

KEL, the Poster Child of Nigerian Hip-Hop, who right now at such an early stage in her career & with the release of her first and only album so far, has already been nominated for a number of prestigious awards in the Nigerian Music industry including the MTV Africa Music Awards (Best Female), the Hip-Hop World Awards (Best Rap Album), the Future Nigeria Awards (Musician of the Year) and the Dynamix Awards (Best New Artiste), blesses us with a Remot-produced exclusive for ‘A Prelude to the Future’. Also featured on this mixtape is ‘Urban Soul’ Singer/Rapper/Song-writer & 6-time Nigerian Entertainment Awards (NEA) nomineeNAIRA (Nigerian American I Represent Africa) who, having already worked with & shared stages with the likes of Tuface Idibia,Raskimono, Banky W, Naeto C & Stacey Epps as well as contributing two original songs to the soundtrack for MTV Film's 'My Super Psycho Sweet 16', has taken time out of recording her forthcoming album ‘Fearless: The Art of Letting Go’ to link up with US-based Nigerian producer Kid Konnect for an exclusive track just for this project.

Also introducing Nigerian-born Yomi ‘GREEDS’ Sode, who is an emerging talented and eclectic spoken word artist, has been able to showcase and experiment with numerous musical styles & lyrical expressions so far in his infant career. In little over two years on the UK scene, he has shared the stage with amazing established poets such as David J, Kat Francois, Tshaka Campbell & Floetic Lara as well as new generation poets like Inua Ellams, Dean Atta, Deanna Rodger & James Massiah. On his latest release ‘Sampler 4’, GREEDS continues to bring a new sound to performance poetry & push the art form forward to the unaware.


You will also get to hear new, exclusive, previously unheard & some re-released material from some of the finest emerging artists we’ve been privileged to work with, in the genres of Hip-Hop, Soul, R&B & Spoken Word from all around the world including emerging UK Soul & Hip-Hop artists Shanaz Dorsett, The BB Architects, AKS & Shadez the Misfit, America’s fast-rising underground Hip-Hop and R&B artists Remot, Midian, EOM & Emay, Spoken Word artists Greeds & Zayna Daze and so much more in this 20-track opus & ode to EMERGING MUSIC.

This mixtape contain specially selected artists with real GOOD music for your listening pleasure... We want you to get to know these artists as we believe they are the FUTURE... Nothing more can be said on paper without you actually hearing the music so please PRESS PLAY via our Bandcamp page: http://www.wepluggoodmusic.bandcamp.com

We Plug GOOD Music presents: A Prelude to the Future is NOW available for FREE download at: http://www.wepluggoodmusic.bandcamp.com

For further information, press + artist enquiries, please contact:
Ayodele Adepoju
Email: ayodele.adepoju@wepluggoodmusic.com
Telephone: +447595947017

Swe Celebrates Nigeria at 50

I like Swe Bar because once there is some holiday or special event, Swe always has a plan!



The INDEPENDENCE weekend is here, and there are so many events to look forward to! Swe has planned long weekend, and there is something for everyone!



THURSDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER, 8pm
Godbless and the Ebony Band, with guest comedians and artistes in the building!
Ladies i hear there are complimentary Naija at 50 cocktails waiting for you!
From 8pm till ........................

FRIDAY 1ST OCTOBER
1pm -7pm

Karaoke (SPECIAL NAIJA @ 50 EDITION)
Loads of gifts to be won, cos there's going to be a karaoke competition

From 7pm till dawn

Repping Naija music till dawn with DJ Deluxe & DJ Collins


SATURDAY 2ND OCTOBER

From 12.45pm

The day starts off with the Premier League match of the day (MAN U .v. SUNDERLAND), and then the Independence Party Train continues with music from the 60s to today!


SUNDAY 3RD OCTOBER

There is more football action during the day, with BLACKPOOL v. LIVERPOOL and CHELSEA v. ARSENAL

And Sunday Karaoke resumes till....



FOR RESERVATIONS :

Call these nos

01-8797671

0703 516 9111



Sounds like fun from where im typing, and i think CON.tra.diction will make an appearance on Friday!
hmmn

This is Not the News Again!

Nigeria Idol is back! And it looks like this time, we will have some fun with it!

The press conference held this week and the buffet was excellent. Okay fine! There was also a lot of information passed as well!
The host for this brand new Nigeria IDol is Missimolu. You might have heard her on Beat FM? Well let's just say, im going to steal her stylist!
The judges are not bad at all! We had originally heard that Steve Babaeko might be one of the judges but Steve? He borders on shy!
The judges are Jeffrey Daniels, Yinka Davies and Audu Maikori.




Now, most female judges end up playing the mother role, from Paula Abdul to Mary Murphy. But id rather a Mary Murphy than a Paula, i am sure Yinka will be her eccentric self on that panel!


So, i am off to drink some lemon tea now, Area Mama wants to go audition!



Now i told you Audu was one of the Nigeria Idol judges right? Well Audu is the C.E.O of Chocolate City, the label M.I, Jesse Jags and Ice Prince are signed on.
Now Ice Prince is, 'the other Choc Boy'. He is like the cousin or friend you love so much and always want around!
Plus, the ladies will probably admit he is probably pretty cute too!
now Ice Prince has moved from cameos and collabos, to his very own single which is fast being downloaded! Titled 'oleku', it was produced by Jesse Jags and features Brymo.
heres a link that is notjustok

http://www.notjustok.com/2010/09/21/world-premiere-ice-prince-oleku-ft-brymo/



I love Ellen
This of course has nothing to do with anything, but i thought to add that!

I had Chuddy K on the show today, and it was fun chatting with him.






His album, 'I am Me' is out now, and has interesting songs like 'I no know', 'Shampoo', 'Craze' with Da Grin, 'Bazooka' and of course, the very popular, 'Slow Slow'.
Oya, buy!
And while you are at it, download Teeto's Mixtape, 'Da Freshness', which is really cool!


Okay then, 'Mard' and 'Toofan' await me.

TU many memories to PAC in one post

It was the anniversary of Tupac’s death a few days ago. I mean, more like a memory of the day he died. And memories indeed.
The last time a great rapper died, i remembered Tupac for he always seemed to remind me of Pac even though he himself loved Biggy. I am talking about Da Grin who would sometimes tie bandannas, grin on his beats, and speak with the sort of honesty Pac did. And hey, he was in the hospital for days, battling, with fans praying for him. Just like Pac.
Of course, while he died as a result of complications arising from his motor-accident, Tupac Amaru Shakur was shot.










Tupac.

I must have heard his songs before i heard his songs.
Raised mostly on popular music, i learnt to flirt with most but love none. Until i heard a song by a rapper called Tupac. My cousin had come to our house that day with a tape/cassette ( i know!), saying in yoruba, “Won ma pa bobo yi, o ti bu won ju”. ( Meaning, they will kill this guy, he has yapped them too much). He slot the tape in, and it was ‘hit em up’.
First off, the first line said, and that was sort of an introduction to everything. To anger, to music, to my lifelong bystander-ish interest in hiphop, was ‘First off’. It sounded like something you would say to a friend, a course mate, a lecturer. It was a very general way of starting something, well, so personal. After ‘First off’, everything else went angry, and i became so fascinated that my cousin had to leave the tape with me.
Unilag was an eye... no scrap that, ear-opener for me. Having listened to r n b like most of my classmates in secondary school, it was almost a redemption for me, when i discovered what else was out there. My room mate in my first year in University would play the Cranberries, someone at mt fellowship would be listening to Seal with their earphones, my best friend at the time would listen to Alanis Morisette, a course mate would have more Tupac songs and albums by other artistes. And then of course there was Rick Dees.
And somehow, the music i heard opened up the things i felt.
Back then, i was carrying a lot of weight i did not even fully understand. Music was helping to process. With some i learnt anger. And i was amazed. I did not know you were allowed to express yourself so honestly in music. Some brought me peace. Others gave me an insight into one simple assertion- everybody hurts.










With Pac, i found a good dose of... all.
No, i had never been a victim of racial profiling nor seen the walls of a prison, nor been born to a mother that took drugs nor had to sell drugs, nor seen a gun before, nor worn bullet proof vests, nor been paid for sex . And yet, i could still relate to each song i heard. The things he spoke of were sometimes physical, but i could relate them to the emotional and the psychological. Yes, sometimes it felt like all eyes were on me, and i firmly believed only God could judge me. When people pissed me off, i wanted to defiantly tell them to picture me up, and i craved changes! Some songs i enjoyed as were. No need to analyse ‘2 of America’s Most Wanted’ or even ‘Hit em up’. I enjoyed listening to them and yes, every once in a while, we would dance to songs by Tupac at clubs.

When Tupac was shot, the news got here and somehow, like all those other fans who kept vigil in front of his hospital day after day, praying and lighting candles, i KNEW he would survive. ‘he has been shot before’ my cousin and i consoled each other as we waited for news to trickle in that Pac was better and alive and could rap again. Knowing how this went, it must have been foolish of me to, this year, have that same conviction when Da Grin had his accident. I KNEW Da Grin would rap again.
But he didnt. And neither did Pac.
My sister called me when she heard Pac died. She knew i would be crying. And i was. I was crying for humane reasons- mourning a fellow human being. But i was crying for selfish reasons- I would never meet him, never listen to new material that came from him, never see him on stage, never....










And there are times like this week that just went by, when i feel those pangs. Now though, it is just easier to like the music as much as i love it.

They say some people are Tupaclysts, i do not even know if i qualify. I do know that i have as many of his songs as i can get, and that i also have his poetry. I dedicated my Final Year Project in Unilag to ‘The Rose that grew from Concrete’. I learnt what ‘T.H.U.G.L.I.F.E’ meant, learnt his raps (‘Changes’ is the only one i have down perfectly though). I spent time watching ‘Notorious’ and hating how Pac was potrayed. Yes he was a thug, if you like, but he was a thug with heart. And while some might argue who the greatest M.C is, i know who brought passion and the most heart.
I doubt if one article could ever say how i feel. Infact, it almost seems wrong to try to use written words to express things felt. But still, i had to write.
Thank you Tupac for the music.

But this is not news now...

So M.I is joking right? He isn't really going to quit music is he?
That is what i heard sha. He basically said he was now in love with movies, and was going to make the anticipated second album, 'MI2', a movie, instead of an album.

Which means he would leave Chocolate City right?

Erm...

Speaking of Chocolate City, i hear, Kel wants people to know that she might like the company, but she isn't signed yet. Not to Chocolate City, and not to any other record label.
You know, if Chocolate City needs any more signees, they should sign MC Wack!
yeah.

You know who i'd sign if i owned a record label?
Ese Peters
Now that is one guy who can sing! And strum. I saw him casually randomly perform one of his singles 'Wetin I Go Do' in a little booth during an interview, and unplugged, he sounded great! I recommend him highly to any record label that is sure, they can handle alternative music.

Like how Bez will hopefully be handled well by Cobhams label, and how Etcetera has been handled by X3M.
Etcetera's album is coming out soon by the way!
Yesterday i broke my diet, ate pork chops, and listened to songs from the album
They not only have great titles, but they have wonderful melodies. I. Am. Excited.
Guitars, Music, Life.
It is perfect

And hopefully, we will get a lot of that on the Alternative Mixtape i am working on!

Tell you more about that later!

In the meantime, i am off to take my recommended two caps of agbo, and miss j!
Bye!

International Literacy Day

Hi guys
i thought i had to at least blog on the day that celebrates Literacy, abi?

International Literacy Day was proclaimed by UNESCO in 1965 and celebrated for the first time on September 8th 1966.

On my radio show today, and also on twitter (you can follow me on twitter as @toptosyn and @abisonaspeaks), i asked people how we could celebrate World Literacy Day. These are some of the suggestions that were made, what do you think? And what would you add?

- 'No Gbagauns on Twitter".
Well this is funny on one level but you know, also true. Let us try to be grammatically correct today, and watch out for those common syntax errors!

- s.h.a.r.e a book
Nice! Be it a novel, or a textbook, if you have read it and you liked it, please s.h.a.r.e it!

- Write with no abbreviations
This i like! What would life be like if we did not lol or loaf or get peoples attn or ....

- Write a letter
THis is my personal suggestion joo o!
I cannot remember the last time i opened an envelope and read a letter that was not an invite or a stock report! Today i shall write a letter to J and possibly to my father!

- Book Reviews and Literacy Segments
Specifically requested for my show, i think if there is anyone who owns a blog, or works on radio, tv or print media, then they could also think of this as a long term thing. Book reviews are no longer in style, but books still rock! And yes, we might all be waiting these days for the movies to be made (Eat Pray Love anyone?), but nothing beats turning the pages of a book!

THese suggestions had me laughing and thinking
Truth is though, if you are reading this, you can celebrate today. That is basic. But we never stop reaching, never stop learning, so why not read a book today? And hey, if you can help pay someone's school fees, that would also be swell!