THIS Friday's Free Downloads | Featured Artiste: Justice Ark

I know I say this a lot on this blog, but I cannot say it enough:  'Thank You' to all the artistes who make their music available for free.  A lot of work, time, sweat, etc goes into producing each track, and it's commendable that they're giving there 'work' away for free.  From my heart to yours, 'E se!"

Justice Ark | ReverbNation

SONG REVIEW: Kabio'osi (Royalty) - Jid-Vocals, featuring Mqhele (Zimbabwean)

Jid-Vocals is a Nigerian gospel artiste, based in Ukraine.  He had already released a single titled 'None Compares' (see video below) earlier this year.  He is back with another single titled Kabio'osi (Royalty), a song written in English and Yoruba.  He features a Zimbabwean gospel artiste, Mqhele, on this track as well.

Kabio'osi (alternatively called Kabiyesi) is a Yoruba term/name used to address kings.  It means 'Unquestionable.'  This song is an expression of Jid-Vocals (and Mqhele's) 'take' on the fact that Jesus, the King of Kings, is unquestionable.

Jid-Vocals and Mqhele

Listen to 'Kabio'osi (Royalty) below:

Is Polygamy (in Africa) a function of Education?

For the purposes of today's discussion, polygamy is the marriage between a man and two or more women.  I wanted to expand that definition to include men who are married to just one woman, but who have several mistresses / girlfriends / concubines or whatever label you want to use. In other words, I wanted to expand the definition of polygamy to include men who are monogamous on paper but polygamous in practice.  But, I think it would be better to leave them out for the sake of simplicity.

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THIS Friday's Free Downloads | Featuring: Fonny Michael feat. Patricia Uwaje-King & Ibitayo Jeje, BNG, Son of Wonder (S.O.W)

Picking up from where I left off last week, three more singles are made available here courtesy of the artistes listed below:

Ke Nsinsi - Fonny Michael featuring 
Patricia Uwaje-King and Ibitayo Jeje

One of the artistes featured here today is Fonny Michael, whose single, Abasi Amanam, was one of last Friday's free downloads.  Her other single, Ke Nsinsi, is the first song I would like to introduce to you.  It features two other female gospel artistes: Patricia Uwaje-King (Member of Midnight Crew) and Ibitayo Jeje, fondly referred to as the Gospel High life queen.  KE NSINSI is a praise song that tells God that we will praise Him as long as we live. Special thanks to Victor Igbinigie of Gospogroove for sharing this track with me.

More information on the preceding artistes:

FONNY MICHAEL:  Real Name: Mfon Michael | Find her onTwitter | Facebook 

PATRICIA UWAJE-KINGFind her on: Twitter | Facebook | Official Website

IBITAYO JEJE: Find her onTwitter | Facebook

Fonny Michael | SoundCloud

Patricia Uwaje- King | Source

Ibitayo Jeje | Twitter

Introduce yourself properly without irritating innocent bystanders

We shall start our lesson today by staring at the blackboard.  Okay, it is not really a blackboard.  It's just a wooden background.  But this issue don vex me so tay I carry my legs go construct placard wey I go take use illustrate.  Let me save you the heartache of reading my poor attempt at pidgin any further.  I will continue in English for your sake (You're welcome).  What I was saying was that this issue annoyed me to the point that I decided to make two visual aids to demonstrate what exactly I mean.

So, for the sake of today's blog post, we have two examples:

Example 1: The Wrong Method

Example 2: The Correct Method


Guess which 'Method' this example illustrates?

But wait, I am getting way ahead of myself.  Let me back up and start from the top.

THIS Friday's Free Downloads | Featuring: Fonny Michael, Creatives, Pastor J

For today's free downloads, the featured artistes bring different messages from various parts of Nigeria.  We start off with Fonny Michael's Abasi Amanam, a praise song written in Efik and English.  It is a song that expresses gratefulness to God for all He has done and extols the virtues of God and the things that God does for people. 

Fonny Michael | Gospogroove
She mostly sticks with a traditional theme, adding a little modern flair in the instrumentation and occasional use of auto-tune, which should have been omitted.  The music video is included as a bonus, for your viewing pleasure.  Special thanks to Gospogroove for sharing this song with me.

Yours Irreverently: Omit 'that' nasty hiccup

My first memorable encounter with the 'F' word (Yes, THE F-word) ironically was during an all-night prayer vigil in church.  I had just met this guy, who later became my friend (wonderful vocalist, by the way) at that same vigil.  I think we were supposed to be getting prayer points before jumping into the group prayer.  In the process of relating his frustration with his sister for not helping him with his plans to study abroad (at least, that's what he told me), he said the F-word.  I thought I had misheard him, but after he repeated it several times, I knew I was not dreaming.  This guy was using the F-word at a prayer meeting!

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THIS Friday's Free Downloads | Featured Artiste: Gameman Beatz Jockey - Riverside EP (Part II)

Picking up from where I left off last week Friday, today's free downloads are from Gameman Beatz Jockey's 6-track Riverside EP.  The first three songs were offered here last week, so if you missed them, you can check them out here.

Gameman Beatz Jockey / ReverbNation

Frustrated Fans Ask: Nigerian Artistes, how do we buy your music in the diaspora? | Featured Artiste: Ambassage

Imagine this scenario: You are browsing on the internet one day, when you stumble on a track by an artiste.  On closer inspection (and possibly from listening to the song), you discover that this artiste is a Nigerian, and in fact, LIVES in Nigeria.  You love that track so much (nothing like a well-written song to make you long for the entire album, ba?) you now have only one mission in life (okay, one mission relating to this artiste): Get your hands on his/her album.

Lara George's 3rd Album, HIGHER | Source

So, you keep your ears on the ground (and your eyes to the screen).  You don't shave, brush your teeth or hair in anticipation of this album.  And then finally, it drops! Yes, it drops ONLY in Nigeria.  You look online and can't seem to find the album to buy online either.  Now, you're faced with a major dilemma: how do you buy this artiste's album from the diaspora, where you live?

SEPTEMBER GIVEAWAY: Three $ 10 iTunes Gift Cards

Happy September, y'all! Thank God we made it to another new month. *does the Halleluyah wave and bursts into three seconds of the Hallelujah chorus*