As the D-Day approaches, let’s take a look at the possible winners of the major categories: Video Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Next Rated and Lyricist on the Roll.
A scene from Davido’s The Sound video.
We start with the video of the year, a category that rewards the
most exciting and creative videos in the year under review. In this
category, unlike for others, video directors and not the artists go home
with the plaque. The nominated videos are: Simi’s Jamb Question
directed by Mex, Seyi Shay’s Crazy directed by Meji Alabi, The Sound
by Davido featuring Uhuru & DJ Buckz directed by Sesan, Reekado
Banks’ Katapot directed by Unlimited LA and Baby Jollof by Solid Star
featuring Tiwa Savage directed by Clarence Peters.
A scene from SImi’s Jamb Question featuring Falz.
These are creative videos by great artistes and directors. Simi’s
Jamb Question, filmed in Ibadan, went old school. It doesn’t get more
traditional and real the choice of the set was amazing. Music fans will
not forget easily Seyi Shay grabbing of Wizkid’s crotch in Crazy Video.
The costumes by Meji Alabi were on point. How about Davido’s famous sky
dive on The Sound? His management confirmed that the dive was real and
not some camera magic. Kudos to Sesan for that. We feel Unlimited LA
deserves commendation for Katapot and Reekado too if only for allowig
himself get drenched in dirt. Baby Jollof was Tiwa Savage’s last
video before she went on her maternity leave. Clarence Peters did a
marvellous job in the video as Tiwa lighted it up with her beauty.
Verdict: It is a close one between Katapot and Crazy but we give it to Crazy for its artistic ingenuity.
The album cover of Wizkid’s Ayo.
Excellent song writing, production, rendition, quality,
acceptability, promotion are major factors for consideration in this
keenly contested category. The nominees for this year’s Album of the
Year award are Praiz’s Rich and Famous Album, Yemi Alade’s King of
Queens, Olamide’s Street OT, Chairman by MI Abaga, Wizkid’s A.Y.O and
Double Trouble by P-Square.
The album cover for Yemi Alade’s Kings of Queens.
Many will wonder how Praiz’s Rich and Famous got into this
category, being mostly R&B based and going against the usual hard
beats of Naija pop which is common to the other albums in this
category. However, it must be noted that despite the genre, the first
runner up of the maiden edition of MTN’s Project Fame did justice to his
Rich and Famous album with some well written tracks. Yemi Alade’s King
of Queens was indeed a great effort from one of the hottest artists
right now.
The Effizzy Music act has some interesting award winning singles
like Johnny, Kissing, Temperature and many more. Everyone one wonders
how Olamide’s name keep appearing on every category. Well, that is hard
work and he sure knows how to woo the street. Little wonder he named his
4th studio album Street OT. OT is short for orientation.
Four years without an album is long enough. M I Abaga came back
hard with Chairman. The album topped all charts in its first week of
release and was rated in many quarters as the “best outta Naija”. With
some interesting collaborations, a record of 21 top artistes on an album
and killer tracks, I feel this list would have been meaningless if it
had omitted the Chairman’s album. Wizkid’s A.Y.O album housed that
monster hit, Ojuelagba a song rated in many quarters as his best ever.
The eagerly anticipated album lived up to its billing and was worth the
wait. P-Square’s Double Trouble showed the fantastic duo’s musical
dexterity. They have demonstrated that over and over so this latest
effort is not really a surprise.
M.I Abaga’s Chairman.
Verdict: A close call between Olamide’s Street OT and
M.I Abaga’s Chairman. But we give this category to MI for a top notch
and classy album. Well-conceived and nice finishing, no track on the
album was a push over.
Korede Bello and Reekado Banks
The Next Rated category has five young and promising acts that are
expected to take over the music industry in the next few years to come.
Pundits refer to this category as the most competitive, considering that
the winner will not only walk away with a plaque but also a brand new
car. The category being contested by Mavin Records duo of Reekado Banks
and Korede Bello, G-Worldwide act Kiss Daniel, YBNL’s Lil Kesh and
Cynthia Morgan.
Cynthia Morgan
Reekado Banks has arguably been the most prolific and impressive of
the new Mavin trio of himself, Di’Ja and Korede Bello. Korede has also
had an impressive year, although his latest single Somebody Great
featuring Asa does not fall into the year in review. Aside from his
music, Korede also has a likeable character that made him a fanfavourite
but I feel he hasn’t done much to deserve a nomination in this
category. Kiss Daniel’s Woju alone should ensure that he drives the car
home but his follow-up songs have not that been that impressive.
YBNL’s Lil Kesh is a strong favourite even Davido attested to that,
a comment that made Cynthia Morgan respond. Unlike Daniel, Lil Kesh has
been impressive with hits upon hits and collabos. He has however been
criticised for being vulgar but I guess that is what the streets want
and is surely paying off for him. This list would have been incomplete
without Cynthia considering her dynamic style of music. She carved a
niche for herself with her reggae dancehall style. German Juice was a
hit.
Lil Kesh
Verdict: The five were carefully selected and it is
very close but I’ll go for either Lil Kesh or Reekado Banks they have
more fan base and their contribution to music in the course of the year
was alarming.
The organizers decide who wins this category as they don’t allow
votes. It is meant to celebrate that rapper with the best lyrical depth
on a song or an album. Questions have been raised about the category in
the past as many don’t know what the organizers look out for. Mode 9 has
won it for a record six times based on his word play and lyrical
strengths. This year has four strong contenders: Ill Bliss for his Bank
Alert remix featuring Ice Prince, Eva Alordiah and Phyno, Vector for
King Kong, Reminisce for Baba Afusa album and T.R for G.O.D. featuring
Veedee.
Ill Bliss’ Bank Alert remix aside from having four very good
rappers was a huge song and more of dancehall music than rap. A
large part of the song was sang in Igbo but its remix caped it all with
Ice Prince, Eva and Phyno killing it. It truly deserves a nod in the
category. Vector’s King Kong is arguably the best track in this
category. As fast and hardcore its lyrics seems, fans can sing along
with ease as the rapper used some easy to understand words to
demonstrate his lyrical competence. King Kong was so big it was remixed
twice. We won’t be surprised if he wins the category for the second time
for this.
Reminisce’s Baba Hafusa the Album, was a little upgrade on his
previous one Alaga Ibile. Baba Hafusa housed Tesojue and the
controversial Local Rappers, a song that almost created a divide amongst
Nigerian rappers with its lyrics. We feel Reminisce’s album was worth a
nomination but we doubt its lyrical strength. T.R’s G.O.D featuring
Veedee has lyrical strength with Veedee doing the chorus and T.R killing
it with hardcore rap. The song might not be popular but it has depth.
Verdict: We give it to Vector’s King Kong for its
acceptance and new grounds in rap music; a combination of good dancehall
music and message laden rap.
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