Yesterday afternoon, I received email saying that I had been tagged in a video on Facebook. Anyone familiar with facebook knows that more often than not, you’re not actually in the video, but rather someone wants to spam you wants you to see something.

I was pleasantly surprised to see an awesome video about a yet unknown to me musician, Siji. The video promos Siji’s sophomore album project “Adesiji” that features a sharp cast of musicians and co producers including Rich Medina and King Britt.

The wonderfully chill soul sounds are a refreshing complement to his ideas on music, production and the like. Look forward to more from Siji. New album drops September 2008.

His official website launches soon: http://www.sijimusic.com

In the meantime, check him out on myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/sijimusic

Siji’s debut album is available for purchase here on itunes

Update: Higher quality video courtesy of Siji

Okosuns, 61, died on Sunday (May 25) in the United States following a battle against cancer of the colon, they said.

Source: Yahoo

Rest in peace.

Sonny Okosun – Power To The People
A clip of Sonny and his band in Lagos, 1979 – taken from the documentary Konkombe – The Nigerian Pop Music Scene. Includes lagos street scenes, a jam session, a pressing plant and more.

Sonny Okosuns – Papa’s Land (16MB)

(right click, save as)

Excellent tributes over at Comb and Razor:
In a mannish mood
Among friends
My people, wake up
You want to live in the moon?
Sonny Okosuns (1947-2008)

In case you’ve missed it, Olu’s Yahoozee is the one of the songs given incessant rotation on the naija air waves. The video hit the web several weeks ago and with it came rave commentary. I had high expectations given some of Olu’s previous work as part of Maintain, but after watching I wondered what all the noise was about. It seemed like just another dancefloor track with very little else going on. The video could be a parody of a bad rap video. It reminded me of the brilliant and very funny video for “What They Do” by The Roots.

And if one video wasn’t enough, the remix version takes it to another level, complete with a blonde woman giving a Hummer a sponge bath! Wow.

Olu Maintain – Yahoozee (youtube)

Olu Maintain – Yahoozee (remix) (youtube)

I’d love to hear what the rest of you think.

» Official Olu Maintain website

» Olu Maintain on MySpace

Olu Maintain may be slick and suave in his videos, but sit him down with the sharp women of Funmi Iyanda’s New Dawn, and… well, let’s just say lots of squirming ensues. I don’t get the sense he’s had to support his answers like this before.

Check out Olu’s awkward interview where he talks about chasing women, yahoozee the breakup of Maintain and more:

You’ll find more videos of the New Dawn program on the official website.

According to TheNews, Tuface was attacked and shot at his home last night after returning home from London.

“Hip hop music star, Innocent Idibia popularly known as Tuface, is currently on danger list at Cedar Group Hospital, 202 Road, B Close, Festac Town, Lagos, following an attack on him by unidentified gunmen last night. P.M.News learnt that the award winning artiste was attacked at about 8.30pm at Cele bus stop, along the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway on his way home from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja. He had just arrived the country from London.

Sources said the shots fired by the gunmen hit Tuface on his thigh and he was rushed to the hospital where doctors immediately wheeled him into the theatre to save his life.

As at the time of going to press, doctors had removed about 22 pellets from his thigh and he is currently battling for life at the hospital.”
Source

(For what it’s worth, I’ve yet to see any other news sources corroborating this story)

Update: Times of Nigeria has posted a similar report. I wish Tuface all the best and a speedy recovery.

Update 2: Sun News reports indicate the attack occurred while driving… “Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, precisely at Cele Bus stop.” It looks like he’s in good spirits and will make a full recovery.

I know say this na naijajams and no be ghanajams, but I wanted to share a discovery that made my day. The artist is Wanlov. The song, “Smallest Time,” from his album Green Card (that incidentally just released today) is a savory mix of afrobeat-infused easy breezy california hiphop stylings with a mixture of pidgin and poetry. “My people, I dey greet you.”

If you’re feeling this song, be sure to pick up the album – you can order online, pay with paypal.

If you’re in the US, check out Wanlov live at his release parties in LA and NYC this week before he relocates to Ghana:

October 5:at KAOS Network, Los Angeles, CA

October 6:at the Shrine, New York City, NY

More info at Wanlov’s official site or at Wanlov on MySpace