10 MOST BANKABLE AFRICAN ARTISTS: 1. Akon – CEO of Konvict Music, opened doors with other African artiste. 2. Don Jazzy – Producer. CEO Mavin Records, influential producer, MTN, Samsung and Loyal Milk endorsement. D’Banj, Kanye West, Beyonce and Jay Z on production credit. 3. P-Square – Music Duo. Featured on Forbes Africa twice, sold out concert, presidential guest in at least 5 African countries. 4. D’Banj – Music Artiste. International music brand, GO D Music deal, Sony Entertainment deal. 5. Wizkid – Music Artiste. EME artiste, Starboy CEO, affiliation with Disturbing London, several international collaboration, highest paid Pepsi ambassador in Africa, ambassador of MTN. 6. 2face Idibia – Music Artiste. 10 million disc and at least 7 million digital sale, multiple ambassador, one campaign… associated with Guinness, Haven Homes, Airtel Worldwide and philanthropist – 2face foundation. 7. Anselmo Ralph – Music Artiste. Samsung and Coca Cola ambassador, Angola prince, Perfume line, clothing label, multimillion dollar tour bus, Sony artiste. 8. Sarkodie – Rapper. Presidential youth ambassador Ghana, Sark clothing, Samsung ambassador, fan milk Ghana. 9. Ice Prince – Music Artiste. Six million downloads, 2 studio owner, one foundation member, Plug N Play ambassador, Zamani foundation. 10. Banky W – Music Artiste. Co owner EME, Samsung Ambassador, Philanthropist, winner of multiple awards.
BURNA BOY ALBUM: L.I.F.E (LEAVING an IMPACT FOR ETERNITY) LABEL: ARISTOKRAT RECORDS RELEASE DATE: 08/12/2013 TAYOTV EDITOR'S RATING: 8/10 1. Intro(My Life) 8/10: I had this intro on repeat for a minute. It was really an intro, it served the purpose. It will ginjah you, get you ready for the whole album with that optimistic state of mind that it's going to be good. It's like a attractive floor mat that says WELCOME on it, lying by the door of a castle as you about to walk in. A simple song telling you to get familiar with his face, his songs and what he has to offer. Putting the voice of his grandpa on it even made it more meaningful and a little bit emotional, to show how much the album/music meant to him. Surely one of the best intros i have heard off a Nigerian album. I like it. 2. No No No 8/10: Only problem i have with this track is that it's short! I wish it could be longer. LeriQ on the beat was smooth, pretty simple beat with steady tempo. Perfect for someone like Burna Boy and you just expect him to rip it. At a point, i was miming Abeg Abeg to the beat. A motivational song to say the least to combat negativity. Good song overall. 3. Say So 8/10: One of my favorite songs on the album! I'm a big Sax fan, and listening to the Sax on this one was soothing. The hook is sweet, I can see this coming on at a party and the girls get to shaking/whinning something. A jolly good song you can bump with your guys, while you hit some drinks. I am expecting a video for this song.Its LeriQagain, call the paramedic. 4. Abeg Abeg [Remix] ft 2face & Timaya 6.5/10: Despite the fact that 2face and Timaya were on this one, i prefer the Original version. I felt like 2face could have done way better, it felt like he was freestyling. This was the song that gave Burna Boy's the first few Buzz of his career and it certainly deserved more than this as a remix. I didn't really expect much from Timaya judging by his latest songs which are very great dance-hall songs but at the same time contains little or no meaningful lyrics, so i cant really say his delivery was disappointing. The Original song had meaning, but what 2face and Timaya offered this song had absolutely nothing to do with the song, confusion of concept. Very average for me. 5. Na So E Suppose Be 6.5/10: The beat was alright, Lyrics was a little bit all over the place. I'd prefer Celebrate or Smoke Some Weed in place of this song on the album, speaking of which both didn't make the album. Nothing special about the song in my opinion, an album filler perhaps. 6. Run My Race 9/10: This is arguably the Hardest song of 2013 so far, i put it before Maleek Berry x Wizkid's The Matter. Burna burnt this one down. Get some good speakers/headphones and you will understand what i'm saying. This is that song that comes on and the people turn up. The Fela influence on this song is very strong and quite impressive, it was even evident in the video. LeriQ is a beast for the beat. 8. #YawaDey 8.5/10: First thing that comes to your mind when you hear this song is Galala Dance. Reminds me of the likes Baba Fryo and Daddy Showkey, their influence on this song was pretty strong. Burna Boy stepped into a whole different zone and he did well. This is my jam, one of my favorite songs off the album. The streets will relate to this tune easy and fast just with that pidgin hook alone. It's one catchy sing along tune, where he briefly talks about his journey in the music industry amongst other things. My Jam! 9. Ma Loda Ma Motto 7/10: The only thing spectacular about this track is the production, LeriQ shows he's versatile with his beats, reminds me of some core dancehall tune. Burna Boy's delivery on this is below par but acceptable. 10. Always Love You 7.5/10: This is something an International pop star would do, once again very unique from Burna Boy. This is not the typical Reggae/Dancehall/Azonto melody tune. This is house music, techno all in one; LeriQ is a king. 11.Tonight 8/10: I had the ultimate faith in Burna Boy after he released this song, Good music, sing-along music; the video made me love it even more. "It's LeriQ; Pull the Paramedic" Download & Listen to Tonight Here 12. Like To Party 8.5/10: This was the first single off the album, to be honest i didn't like it. Then i started hearing it everywhere and was wondering who made the song, every bar/clubs and radio stations over played this song. Before i knew it, it's one of my favorite from Burna Boy. He's unique, you have to be in some type of mood to actually enjoy this. 13.Smooth Sailing 6.5/10: Can't say much, the problem with Burna Boy's voice is you can get bored easily, I got bored and tired listening to this, didn't skip because of LeriQ's production. 14. My Cry ft M.I 8.5/10: This is a song with a heavy message: CHANGE & INTERVENTION, obviously influenced by the situation of things in Nigeria. Goes all the way from discussing corrupt people in power to the victims of the abuse of power, the nonchalant masses and the line between right and wrong. I was impressed by M.I's verse on this song. He didn't deviate from the concept, no lines about cars, clothes, money, girls or anything like that. His verse was Real. He even touched the unfortunate and rampant Jungle Justice habit some people exhibit "I don tire, tire tire brother, tire tire tire // Man turn to Robber, Robber go thief, carry gun fire. Innocent boys dem catch am put tyre". Real song, real message, Good Music. 15. Guilty 6.5/10: Once again another tiring love tune, his attempt at R&B failed! The message behind this is superb, abut not his style. 16. Dem No Know 7.5/10: Burna describes his goals, what he wants. The theme is No New Friends' and he isn't going anywhere anytime soon, he's only aiming for the top...get familiar!! His flow here reminds me of Ajegunle music, street music. 17. Don't Run ft Reminisce & Olamide 8.5/10: I was excited to see 2 top Yoruba rappers on this song and they didn't disappoint. This song is about the struggle, the street, and the ghetto; who else knows more about all of the above than these 2 guys. Even though i don't like when Reminisce mix English with his Yoruba rap, he was quite impressive with this one. You cant help but love his sharp flow and smooth, relaxed, but yet hard delivery. Olamide's verse was decent on this one too. I would have loved to see 9ice on this one, this is his kind of beat. 18. Jahs Love is True ft Wizkid 8/10: A typical song of starting from the bottom and rising above hate. Having Wizkid on the song was a good choice, judging by the fact that we all saw how both guys went up hill with their music career despite all the obstacles, mistakes, allegations and media crinkum crackum, higi haga, odoriferous saga kum gaga tu-agaga. Wizkid was pretty simple on this one, different too from the regular "Iyeyeye Yaga" Wizkid we know. Burna didn't carry last on his own song either. Good Music once again. 19. Outro (Remember Me) 8/10: A good way to end an album, the beat was right, the tempo was right, it has this distinct emotional feel to it once again just like the intro that caught my attention. Basically he is saying now that you know who he is and what he is capable of, there is more to come. Also not to forget his face, the sweat and hard work he put into the album. It's as simple as that. He closed the album well with this song.
Summary: Not to over hype, I have to say this was a very good album overall, it was unique, it was different from the regular Oh nananana. tungbagba, iyeyeye, go down we are used to. The Understanding between LeriQ and Burna Boy is one of a kind, i mean for LeriQ to be able to produce all 19 tracks on this album with this high degree of togetherness, without sounding all over the place nor one track sounding like the other takes a very strong talent, technical know-how, and understanding between the two guys. LeriQ made a clear statement of "Next Best Thing" with this album. One thing i liked about this album was how Burna Boy showed the influence of Legendary Musicians like Fela & Baba Fryo on his own music. He brought back the old school, added his new school touches, to produce some very good songs. I also feel like Burna Boy could have pulled this off with less help, judging by a couple disappointments from a couple of A-List artistes he got help from. Either way, i have to salute the fact that he didn't put the whole industry on this one and still, it made sense. I can almost say he raised the bar a little bit higher with this album and anything coming after this must meet or surpass the standard and quality of this one.
-Ronke Adepoju (Guest Editor)
Video of the Month : KAYSWITCH ft. DBANKJ - OBIMO
KaySwitch with his big brother Dbanj by his side....this two cats are awesome...Let the video speak for itself......