Flashback Fridays: Loving Things Jeje with Seyi Sodimu

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Friday, February 21, 2014

Out of nowhere, back in 1998, this dude came serenading our heads with a fresh kind of music that redefined Naija contemporary music and cut across listeners of young and old. His hit track 'Love me Jeje' topped the charts in Nigeria for over six months and also earned him several nominations and musical awards. Even the title of the track became a trending lingo for a while.

While growing up in Nigeria, he was influenced by various genres of music-highlife, juju and afro beat. This indigenous music is the basis of Seyi’s style of music. After his high school education, where he majored in the arts, He travelled to America (Washington DC) for his University education. This was where he began his musical pursuits. Seyi’s style of music takes the traditional African rhythms of highlife, juju and afro-beat.
Seyi sings smoothly in English and Yoruba (his native African language) and sometimes accenting his music with Yoruba chants. He writes all his songs. His style of writing celebrates life, love and the truth, as well as the spirituality of a higher existence. His music acknowledges the trails of everyday people in today’s society and the struggles of oppressed people, but never animated in hate or revenge. His music also tells a story, and inspires people. --- source

Seyi's style was so unique that anywhere you heard his songs without knowing who was singing, his style would just give him away.

This popular song along with its video captured the hearts of Nigerians way back then; it was a clean and matured song with a video that added class to it for its time back then. One of the popular catch phrases that came from the song was that moment where the girl said 'Eh kilowi?' which in English means 'Say what?'. I don't know what it was about that word that made it so memorable; maybe its the way it resonated in the lady's sweet voice. I heard the lady who sang the vocals is his cousin. I can't truly verify that though...

Where was I during this period? Ha...I was an 3rd year student in the university...wow time has passed.

Anybody remember this guy back in the days? 

Valentine Gobe: Bottom Tinz [Funny Video]

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Friday, February 14, 2014

Here's a special valentine video skit for all you Valentiners from a friend (@907concepts/datvideoboyy) ...beautiful skit. Stay faithful to your loved one!



Need I say what the moral of the story is? Keep your eyes on your love and not on a piece of A$$.Yeah...you can see the message there at the end of the video.

Have an awesome val....

Valentine Special: Who Sabi Kiss Pass? [Photos]

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Thursday, February 13, 2014

 Readers, readers on the wall...who sabi kiss pass of them all?

A kiss between two people is a unique experience that can mark the begining of tingling things that are either legitimate or illegal. Its beautiful to look at but Africans have a way of making a kiss look ridiculous...maybe its because it was never part of our culture.

So for this Valentine day...let's check out these lovebirds and find out who is the most ridiculous of them all. I wish I had their personal contacts so I can mail the winner as decided by viewers...lol!

So once again I ask...

 Readers, readers on the wall...who sabi kiss pass of them all?

This brother's powerfully in-drawn cheeks must have come
from years of orange-sucking practice

This guy's mouth must have too wide to stay horizontal for a kissing moment.

She must have forgotten that her mouth
is attached to a lip and not a piece of 'ponmo'

Sleeping on kissing duty?

You're supposed to kiss her lips, not eat it!

He sucks at her mouth with so much passion,
 its enough to make a vampire envious

Desperado! You're suppose to kiss him, not consume him..ha

She must have wondered if she could survive the size of his mouth.

 

This illegal things some people do when Father-in-Isreal is not looking!

She's not kissing wholeheartedly because his mouth stinks of 'paraga'

The future of this kiss is very clear - an upcoming break up.

Elderly folk....licking face in respect.

His lips must feel like sandpaper so she went for his tongue instead.

Its obvious who's in control of the relationship
...with a vice grip on the neck like that

Somebody's warped idea of being romantic...

The nature of this kiss is bound to result in baby number three
...I can bet my salary on it!

Being assaulted by massive lips is not a pleasant experience
as the look on her face out-rightly says

You're supposed to kiss her dude...not give her CPR!

So which is the Kissiest of them all?

Share your own thoughts.....lol!

Have a nice Valenines Day

Randoms: Uche of Etisalat, Iyanya's Lie, Fani-Kayode's 'reputation', Moet Abebe's 'Yam' Legs, Olu Maintain's video wash etc

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Its another week and I gotta do another set of randoms...don't blame me, I couldn't resist the urge to do it!

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By now many would be conversant with the popular Etisalat Nigeria customer care call recording known as 'Uche, face your work' which went viral earlier this month.

In the recording,  the receiver (who happened to be the wife of the owner of the phone and who obviously was ignorant about what the job of a 'Customer Service' personnel entailed) warned the customer care agent Uche to face her work and stop trying to steal people’s husband. She also threatened to show up at Etisalat’s office to report Uche to the management of the company.

I Listened to the recording and in all honesty Uche was not at fault, she was simply doing her job but the woman simply read the wrong meaning to it. I was given access to listen to this recording by a friend who works at a Telecoms company and she gave me some inside info as to how often they get all manner of silly calls from nut case subcribers.

Now recently, Etisalat has came out to disclaim the recording and as stated by Daily Post, that it was not a commercial done by them. 

“We are aware of the telephone conversation from the so called Etisalat customer care personnel. We are currently investigating the matter but it is not a commercial from Etisalat. All our commercials are handled by our agency and it will be duely signed before it can be released”. Although, no agency has laid claim to the commercial, speculations abound that the commercial might have come from competitors and distractors who are adapting measures on how to cope with the competitive market.

I seriously don't believe that the recording was not made from etisalat after the pointers my friend gave me. According to her, the customer care line can be recorded and this type of calls were common at the call centres. She even played another recorded call she had obtained from another network which was more outrageous than the 'Uche face your work' call.

And from the nature of the recording, it was no commercial or strategy to hit at the network…well, except for the part where the woman says;

‘…face ‎ your work ooo because MTN don’t call customers like that, face ‎​your work.’

Unless that one sha…. 

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As a popular artiste, its a regular thing to always display and show say you get swag...but when you have to go as far as lying, then your swag don get K-leg.

Many celebrities have always been in the news and mostly on social media displaying elements that show that they are 'making it big' - such as showing off cash around them; Psquare, Skuki and a host of others are guilty of this. No problem. But if its a lie, then there's problem...because a lie is not designed to stay hidden for ever.

And so Iyanya was reported as lying to his fans as reported in the Daily Times: 

It was all over the news last week that a computer gadget Chinese company had signed Iyanya as its ambassador in a multi million dollar deal. In fact, Iyanya had announced it himself when he posed with a Lenovo tablet and wrote: ‘New Product !!! New Ambassador !!! Brand Ambassador !!!! Lenovo !!!! Iyanya !!!! Task Direct 2014 Started #triplemg’.But Iyanya's lies has been blown open, as Lenovo denied any of such deal with the Kukere dude.
Iyanya’s manager when reached on the phone confirmed the deal, claiming they made about N150M – N170M from the deal. ‘It’s true, it cost about N150 to N170 million and the duration is for 24 months’, Ubi Franklin told a NET correspondent over the phone.But NET investigation also revealed that there was no such deal as the company's rep in Nigeria named Mr. Olumide. Lenovo SA also said they are not aware of the deal.Olumide told NET's editors over the phone that he was not aware of any signing with Iyanya.‘I can’t really say on that. I don’t know anything; I don’t know who he is. Honestly I don’t know anything, maybe you should call him and ask him yourself’, Olumide told our correspondent over the telephone. 

If I were Mr. Kukere, I'd do quick damage control before more shit hits the ceiling fan. But it bothers me...why did he lie (if he really did)?

He needs to clear the air oh...mess dey smell.

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(In)famous Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode is raising hell and accusing the federal government of using his on-going trial to smear his reputation. According to a report:

Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has accused the federal government of using his ongoing trial before the Federal High Court in Lagos as a smear campaign to tarnish his reputation.According to the former minister, who is now a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Federal Government, through their incessant and relentless persecution, has sought to make life uncomfortable for him, strip him of his dignity and diminish his status.Fani-Kayode, who said that the campaign reached a crescendo after he quit the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for APC, however, insisted that he was ready to take his plea and defend the alleged money laundering charge against him.

I laugh in Spanish.

Which reputation is this man trying to protect?

The reputation that has made him renown for ‘misyarning’ frequently on Facebook and trying to ignite scandals all over the place from long gone old relationships? The man has become famous for just talking anyhow without discretion (which made him look like he’s desperately trying to stay relevant or looking for attention).

Or is there a good reputation of his that I am not aware of? Somebody please inform me oh….

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There’s so much false and nonsense information circulating concerning Naija’s political arena. One of the recent ones was the aftermath of the APC registration which took place last week and was recently extended.

The PDP went all out to say Nigerians have rejected APC because of the extended membership registration since many Nigerians were believed to have failed to show up for registration. In a news report:

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Monday criticised the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the extension of its membership registration, saying it was a sign that Nigerians had rejected the opposition party.The APC, which had accused the PDP of trying to sabotage its membership drive, had on Sunday extended the exercise, initially billed to end yesterday, by two days to enable those who have not registered to do so.But the ruling party derided the APC's action and commended Nigerians for shunning the membership registration, prompting the opposition party to extend the exercise.

But information I got from reliable source was that there were not enough registration slips because the APC got more response than they bargained for, especially from Northern parts of the nation. Thus they ran out of registration forms and had to extend the period for more to get registered.

So wetin PDP dey talk?

And then…unless the info I also got was a propaganda…hmmm

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Okay…some or one self-proclaimed fashionista abi na stylist have gone on to label Soundcity VJ, Moet Abebe’s lower limbs as ‘Yam legs’ because dem dey quite thick. 

Fuse.com.ng reports:

The TV presenter has been under attack from various stylists and fashionistas about her very *erm* thick legs.She couldn’t take it anymore and so like every self-respecting celebutante, she took to social media to let everyone know that their opinions matter very little when it concerns her body. 

Errmm…is that suppose to mean that her legs are ugly? I hope these dim-sighted stylists are not dissing those limbs of hers because for me, Moet’s portability and thickness is cute…and that very much includes her legs. People sha...if they're not analyzing somebody's big nyansh, they are speculating someone's legs.

I don’t know whoever made this an issue that it has become overblown news…this girl has a physique many guys would die for and legs many would trip for (yes I know many who love thick legs). Which one come be the yam there now? Moet in response tweeted about her love for her legs:

But then Fuse.com.ng reported that she was once said to have declared that in a youth magazine that she despised her trotting twosomes: 

Weird thing is, Moet was quoted in Teen Y! as saying ‘I hate my own legs…’“I hate my legs. Honestly, I do…I just don’t like the way my legs are personally right now but umm… that I know is with cardio, you know leg exercises and stuff, I can get it to the way I want it to be. But there’s nothing I can do about my height, do you know what I mean? So, I’m always going to have short legs.”So Mrs Abebe, which one is it? You hate em or Like em?

Hian! Okay…wetin make Moet change her mind if this is true then? I’d really love to know…

But seriously….people, aren’t those legs cute? I no see yam there nah!

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Olu maintain has released another music video.

Uumm..on second thought, he shouldn’t have.

I watched it and felt offended that I had wasted five minutes watching a clichéd copycat of the previous video he shot.

Why shoot a music video when you don’t have anything to shoot?

There’s nothing memorable and wow about the video. All we see is just Olu on a plane taking his bath, flaunting drinks, cigars, cash and frolicking about with skimpily dressed chicks while lip syncing a boring and pointless tune.

Everything looked all so familiar and already done.

The video also lacked believability.

Above: Olu comes down from the plane
Below: The supposed interior of the plane he just embarked from

Above: A scene from the video which would be the real interior of the plane
Below: The fake interior...too obvious.

If you want to fool us that a small plane like the one we saw its exterior was the same one we saw of its insides, then do it convincingly.

Instead we see a small plane on the outside with the inside of a massive luxury Boeing 747. Abi the plane na vehicle like Doctor Who’s time travel phone booth ship, the Tardis?

Dr Who's Tardis (above)
Inside the Tardis (Below)

I doubt that.

The video was probably just (in igbo accent) a waste despite all the glamorizing and video vixens fooling around with Olu. Meanwhile the song was just there…like there was no song at all but mumblings and repetitions; the song be like an extremely sour garri ijebu that has refused to swell…

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 And so I end this set of randoms...have a nice week.

Funny Video: Samuel L. Jackson yabs reporter for mistaking him for Lawrence Fisburne

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Tuesday, February 11, 2014

This was one hilarious video which took place during a brief interview with Samuel L. Jackson on the recently release re-boot of the 1987 sci-fi action thriller Robocop.

Jackson & Fishburne...dem resemble? Dat oyinbo reporter sef...

The reporter goofed by showing how little he knew about African American actors when he mistook Samuel L. Jackson for Lawrence Fishburne. Jackson responded in such an intelligent way that got me thinking that some white folks seriously think all blacks look alike...



The embarrassed reporter made a statement at the end of the video that was unmistakably prophetic when he said:
'That is a tape I believe is going to have a life all on its own'

And one of his colleagues says:
'We'll see it on youtube!'

Yep...the tape did develop a life of its own as it has now flooded youtube...and my blog, lol!

Lesson of the story: Don't ever talk about what you're not sure of!

Funny Video: Who Says the Grass Is Greener on The Other Side?

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Monday, February 10, 2014

I came across this funny video which echoes a serious truth about travelling abroad to search for greener pastures. Today there are so many undocumented testimonies of the fact that its not as rosy as many think it is to live abroad. 

The Ghanaian dude in this video registers his displeasure more with something else other than survival in the white man's land. It may not be the best representation for grass not being all that green on the other side but it does get one thinking.

Flashback Fridays: Awesome Fathers of Renown Sons

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Friday, February 07, 2014

Today's Friday flashback takes brief look at 3 awesome and famous fathers whose offspring have gone on to keep the family name very relevant on the entertainment scene. This wasn't meant to be a list but as I rummaged my mind on how to go about it, it ended up being a list...of just 3. Don't call me lazy over creating a detailed list...it was never meant to be a list...it was meant to be just a flashback peep at historicals...

1. Art Alade

Art Alade with friend. Inset: Darey 

I'm not sure many young Nigerians of today may have heard of the Darey Art Alade's Late father. Darey actually leveraged on his Dad's first name 'Art' in his early days in showbiz. His Dad, Art Alade was a legendary Nigerian Jazz pioneer. As a child, Dare used to rummage his father's rich jazz collection and tag along with him to concerts; these early experiences exposed him and helped him cut his teeth in the ways of showbiz.

Unfortunately, its hard to come across any archive on Art Alade online. The above photo was a rare find. At least he left behind a son that has now become famous.

2. Arinze Ejiofor

Arinze pictured on his highlife album. Inset: Chiwetel

Arinze Ejiofor was a doctor as well as a highlife singer/atilogwu dancer. The father of famous Nigerian Hollywood actor Chiwetel Ejiofor had a promising career but it was cut short when he perished in an car accident in 1988. 

Chiwetel was just 11 at the time of the accident. It happened during a family trip to Nigeria for a wedding; he and his father were driving to Lagos after the celebrations when their car was involved in a head-on crash with a lorry. His father was killed, but Chiwetel survived. He was badly injured, and received scars that are still visible today on his forehead.

I was able to come across this footage of the 20th anniversary memorial celebration of Dr. Arinze Ejiofor in 2009. The footage below shows Chiwetel grooving to traditional Igbo praise music. BY this time he had featured in almost 20 movies.

3. IK Dairo

I.K Dairo Inset: Paul

One of Nigeria's early front runners of the Juju music genre, I.K Dairo stood out for his style of music and his creative fuse of traditional musical instruments with western musical instruments. He was to Ebenezer Obey and King Sunny Ade, what The Remedies were to today's artistes.

His son, Paul (also known as Paul Play), also carved a niche for himself in Naija's music industry some time back with hit tracks that became the toasts of parties but he has been away from the scene for a long while now. In the begining (just like Darey), Paul also leveraged on his father's name (He was known as Paul I.K Dairo) and it got him the needed attention. Later he would graduate to just 'Paul Play'.

Below is a rarely seen video documentary on his legendary father, I.K Dairo; it wasn't easy finding it but I eventually did after some serious digging. 

Like I said, I'm only focusing on just these three...maybe I'll do another set some other time but the focus is on the flashback videos and photos.

Have a lovely weekend!

The Copycat Crimes of Naija Music Video Directors

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Thursday, February 06, 2014

Somebody once said if something is too good to be true, then it actually is too good to be true. Over the past few years, the production of Naija music videos has grown and developed with the entrance of a fresh crop of music directors who have revolutionized the quality and nature of videos produced for Naija artistes. Not only does quality play a key role but creativity as well.

Clarence Peters, Lynxxx and Ice Prince on set of VIP

For a long time, we were wowed by the powerful display of creative colorful videos as well as scandalized by dirty raunchy ones. There is so much glitter and fame over the work of these directors who have in a number of ways succeeded in making uninteresting music look interesting with the nature of their visuals.

The concepts, creativity, execution...everything looks so good...but how true are they?

Olamide's Ilefo Illuminati bore striking similarity with The Game's Martians Vs Goblins

The above question begins to arise with the discovery last year of Olamide's 'Ilefo Illuminati' video shot by Godfather Productions, being a rip off of the concept of The Game's 'Martians vs Goblins' video. This did not seem to catch the attention of many. Later in the year, director Moe Musa would rip off the concept of UK Pop duo LMFAO‘s 2011′s ‘Party rock anthem‘ video for Davido's 'Skelewu' video.

Above: Opening Scene from LMFAO's video
Below: Opening Scene from Davido's video

The LMAFO video starts with RedFoo and SkyBlu waking up from a coma in the hospital, hitting the streets to notice the town has been deserted. Just when they get on the road, someone comes to warn them about a song that has caused a frenzy in the town, then a bunch of crazy dancers get close to them and start dancing, LMFAO later join the dance.The above description just about sums up Davido’s ‘Skelewu‘ video too; Davido waking up from a coma, hitting the streets to be warned by a young man bla bla bla…       

In both LMFAO's and Davido's videos, we have the scene
where a man warns the artistes about the song. The dude
in the Davido version sounded and looked retarded.

I have always wondered what the Moe Musa directed Skelewu was really about because it didn't make sense to me; to me it didn't look any better than the Sesan Ogunro directed version. The drama was weak and carried a lame story line I didn't understand until several watches later.

Copycat scenarios: Empty deserted streets from
LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem (above)
and from Davido's Skelewu (Below)

Dancers like Zombies...LMFAO (above)
Davido (below)

In the words of Nigerian Entertainment Today:

What was director Mr Moe Musa thinking? That there was no MTV or YouTube in Nigeria back in 2011? Not only should he be berated for this unacceptable creative plagiarism, he should be visited by LMFAO’s label Interscope Records with a lawsuit.

There is no mention of Moe Musa borrowing the concept or paying homage to LMFAO. The official release from Davido’s publicist WildFlower PR states, ‘HKN Music presents Davido in a revolutionary movie showing the viral effect of the ‘Skelewu’. Revolutionary indeed!

Hmmm....serious matter.

Another offender has recently surfaced. With a high profile and consistent track record of which has amounted to shooting hundreds of colorful music videos, one would least expect Clarence Peters to be stealing video concepts or dallying into copyright infringement - if he never actually sought any permission for the videos he plagiarized.

Above: Drummer from Tumi & the Volume - 'Asinamali‘ 
Below: Drummer from Tiwa Savage & Don Jazzy - 'Eminado'

Above: Tumi in the chair rapping ('Asinamali‘) .
Below: Don Jazzy in the chair singing ('Eminado')

A few weeks ago Tumi Molekane, a South African rapper accused Peters of stealing the concept of his music video 'Asinamali‘ and using it for Tiwa Savage's 'Eminado' music video. Looking at the two videos, you can see how Peters copied the retro concept as well as the boxed screen. Though we can credit him for getting a bit more creative with the 'Eminado' video, adding more elements and making it even look better than the 'Asinamali‘ video, the fact still remains that the 'Eminado' video owes its good finish and foundation to the 'Asinamali‘ video concept.

Copycat scenario...
Above: SlaughterHouse with featuring artistes
Below: Ice Prince and featuring artistes

They decided to use a female pilot instead of male
...probably a weak attempt to differentiate

But Peter's copycat crime on the 'Eminado Video' may not be as profound as that of what he did with Ice Prince's 'VIP' video. The 'VIP' video release online June 21, 2013, was a total rip-off of US rap group SlaughterHouse's music video, 'My Life' which featured Cee Lo Green, released about June 2012. Clarence's greates crime in this shoot was going as far as stealing footage from the SlaughterHouse video. Unlike what he did with the 'Asinamali‘ video in which he shot everything, the 'VIP' video is fraught with footages that bear the exact semblance to what we see in the 'My Life' video.

Same copied scene...could this be a stock footage?

Another copied scene...could this be a stock footage
with picture manipulation to change pilots?

While I'm aware that directors and filmmakers can make use of stock footage when shooting videos, the fact that a video ends up having way too similar elements with an original is where the issue arises.

The Ice Price scene below is definitely not a stock footage.
It's a copycat of the one above. 

This scene gives away clues that it was copied.
Check out the figures on the left hand side above
and below...they're the same! 

It’s obvious from this growing trend that directors may be trying to cut corners due to a busy schedule but then there’s always the danger of somebody eventually discovering the act. 

To be honest, majority of the footage that looked duplicated in the ‘VIP’ video also look like stock footage that directors can buy to use as fillers and establishing scenes when shooting and cannot be a basis for being sued as Nigeria Entertainment Today thinks.

However, what do we say of other scenes that are definitely not stock footage and copy off the ‘My Life’ video? This is where Clarence may be guilty of actually copying the SlaughterHouse video.

Are music video directors running out of ideas just like many artistes today or their schedule is just showing them 'pepper'?

This now makes one wonder…how many other Naija music videos out there on air are actually rip-offs and copycats?

Photos and additional Info Courtesy: Nigeria Entertainment Today

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