Earlier this month, 2 Face Idibia (formerly of the Plantashun Boiz) was awarded African Artist of the year at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon, Portugal. It’s nice to see one of the so-called “local boys” getting international recognition!

While 2 Face is by no means, “putting Nigeria on the musical map,” for anyone that’s been paying attention or knows African music, he is the hottest pop sensation at the moment. With his wiry frame, good looks and hit song “African Queen,” 2Face Idibia is at the top of the African pop charts – helped considerably by heavy airplay on MTV Base and MTV Africa.

Here are a few things to consider:

*The one place I was able to did find 2Face’s Face 2 Face, sent me a poorly packaged bootleg CD-R that was so badly reproduced (copied) that it was completely unplayable… and for $8 (1000 Naira) no less. Complete with a smeared, inkjet-printed, paper adhesive cd-label of an off-center color copy of the original CD. The other films/music cds purchased from the site were more of the same.

**If Kennis execs comes across this, we would be happy to assist. Contact us here

Check out 2Face Idibia’s pictures in the Gallery

(link to photos)

Two weeks ago, an article on the 419 (or advance fee fraud) scam circulated widely in the blogsphere and among the online media publications. Much of the pick-up was due to the the song, that the author led the readers to believe, brashly affirmed that the Nigerian 419ers were out to grab foreigners’ dollars, and moreover, that the song was one of the most popular songs in Lagos.

Upon reading the article, the takeaway of most viewers could probably be lumped into three groups. The first group didn’t give it much though. The second group questioned if the song was indeed for real… “Are they really singing, ‘Oyinbo, I go chop your dollar?’” And the third group thought… there go those Nigerians (scammers) again… @#$% ^{emails? #%}&

Shortly after the release of the article, the full-length music video became available online which sparked a whole new round of discussions, yet somewhat to my surprise, none of them seemed to get it (i.e. none showed any well-founded understanding of the song… and many pointed to erroneous translations of the lyrics.)

Prior to seeing the video, I was confused and didn’t know exactly what to think. I asked myself, “Have the 419ers taken over Lagos? Are they so popular that their praises were being sung on the radio?” Thankfully the video is out and after viewing it, everything became immediately clear to me. I’d like to share a few points:

1. The artist on the track is Nigeria’s most popular comedic actor, Nkem Owoh
   
2. Nkem is known throughout West Africa for his comedic wit & flawless delivery in films such as, such as: My In Law, Atinga, Ukwa, Osuofia in London, etc.
   
3. He is often interchangeably referred to as the characters in his films – most commonly Osuofia.
   
4. The song, “Oyinbo, I Go Chop Your Dollar,” is the title track from the comedy, The Master, starring Nkem Owoh as a scheming 419er.
   
5. The song is intended to be a comedic accompaniment and title track to the film, The Master.
   
6. If there was any doubt, lyrics like, “National Airport na me get am / National Stadium na me build am” (I own the National Airport / I built the Nigerian National Stadium (Surulere – Lagos, Nigeria)) clearly communicate this.
   

Hopefully this clarifies things for some viwers.

Moving along… it’s interesting to see Nkem Owoh crossing over into music. Reportedly, several Nigerian actors are attempting similar crossovers including Nigeria’s Movie starlet, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, who is reported to be releasing an album later this year.

Have a laugh and check out Nkem Owoh in the music video, “I Go Chop Your Dollar” (Director: Uzodinma Okpechi) from the film, The Master (2005)

Osuofia – I Go Chop Your Dollar 16.9MB (mov)

(media offline)

Nigeria’s geographic North is well known for its rich musical traditions that pervade the numerous cultures and many aspects of daily life. In recent years, with much of this vast region embracing Sharia law, the once rich musical traditions are being severely threatened.

The article, “Fundamentalism’s Toll on Nigerian Music – ‘Shariahphrenia’ Reigns in Northern Nigeria” provides some insight into the multi-faceted issue:

“More and more Hausa musicians are thinking about leaving the North. Southern musicians, for their part, long ago gave up the idea of performing further north than Abuja, the federal capital in central Nigeria. In Lagos, Femi Kuti, the son of the late Fela Kuti, explained it this way: “A band like mine can’t play in the North. The dancers would be stoned to death.””

“To get a feeling for the damage Shariah law has done to Kano’s formerly cosmopolitan life, you need only take a walk in the Sabon Gari section of the city… this part of town, where the nightlife once rivaled that of the big cities of the South, now goes dark and quiet after 10 p.m. And if the venues are still here, the bands aren’t there any more. Who wants to risk his investment, coming with his equipment, and being vandalized? It’s more and more difficult to convince someone from the South to come to play here.”

“...the Shariah trap continues to tighten around the Hausa musicians. Despite some people’s good intentions and official guarantees, “such kinds of stories can still happen in the North; maybe while we’re talking, it’s happening,” says journalist Bayo Ohu. This past summer, the State Council of Ulama, responsible for implementation of Shariah in the northern state of Jigawa, banned public drumming and singing. As the conservative northern daily newspaper The Triumph described it, “The council has noted with disgust the rampant cases of drum beatings, especially during wedding and naming ceremonies.”

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