RAP IN NIGERIA HAS DEFINITELY TAKING A GOOD TURN.

Rap in Nigeria has definitely taking a good turn, you can not say that the scene is the same as it was about 10 years ago; we don’t even need to go that long, I can say that in the last 5 years, a lot of changes has taken place.

I can remember about 10 years ago, you could not have a rap song on radio without putting a little gimmick to it. That was when you had EDRIS ABDULKAREEM rocking the rap world with his group THE REMEDIES( consisting of two singers, and him), and he was giving NIGERIANS, the only form they would listen to for a couple of years, even though not everybody was feeling his style of mumbling words together(even if some of the words weren’t making sense), they had to make to with what was available.

Then about a year or so after his reign started, the TRYBES MEN (FREESYLE, L.D, and KABOOM), hit the scene with the international flavour of rap that a lot of people appreciated. This had a lot of people embracing them with warm arms. But the thing is that, although they were good, they still had to make party songs or include vernacular in their songs for radio acceptance, and mass appeal.

Then a couple of years went by, at around the early 2000’s, someone came in the game and made a change. The rapper, RUGGED MAN, hit the scene with a diss record hitting edris abdulkareem with verbal assaults. Taking shots at him for his wack style of rhyming/rapping, and all of a sudden, everybody realized that they had been listening to watered down verses all this long. And ruggedman took the crown of the king of rap in the country, and gave us his style, that people seem to like. He was a good rapper, and spat his rhymes in broken English. Now, he was good, but he still had to form a type of gimmick (spitting in broken English) for the masses to accept him wholeheartedly.

Around the same time, there were a lot of rappers from the north central part of the country doing the real hardcore rap. Rappers like “6 foot plus”, MODENINE, TERRY THE RAP MAN, O.D, PHEROCIOUS, just to mention a few. But all these rappers, that seem to be spitting the real rap were not getting enough airplay on radio, they kept doing there thing though. And with time, modenine became popular with his high use of intelligently woven rhymes mixed with metaphors and similes. His verses had some hard punch lines that always seem to get people’s attention. And, even though it was hardcore, his music still managed to get on radio and make him popular.

The years went by and there were not too many rappers on the scene, just a couple of old rappers trying to re-invent themselves. Ruggedman was still very prominent on the scene. Also, ELDEE and FREESTYLE of the” trybes men”did their thing, even though they had become rivals. All through this time, rap had still not gained the mass appeal it was meant to have. Other than rappers like RUFF, RUGGED AND RAW getting guest appearances on r&b songs, the rap game was still a no pay section of the music industry in the country. Except for a rapper like RUGGEDMAN who was making money from shows because of his controversial style at the time, no other rapper was really making money; I am talking about around 2003-2006.

Then around 2006/2007 a new wave of rappers hit the scene. Rappers that were delivering the undiluted foreign style of rap without having to add any form of vernacular to get acceptance; IKECHUKWU, NAETO C and M.I were the for-runners of this time. Ikechukwu and naeto c who were both on STORM RECORDS had lived must of their lives in the U.S, thus the explanation of the foreign accent and style in their rap.

Ikechukwu and naeto c hit up the scene, dropping singles after singles, plus catchy videos. After a while, more attention was given to the promotion of naeto c. With singles like “sitting on top”, “you know my P”, and “kini big deal”, naeto emerged as one of the biggest rap acts NIGERIA has ever produced. Although a lot questioned his lyrical prowess, but it was clear that this dude had the formula to make hits. His delivery for one was more of a spectacular than any other thing. I think the delivery covered up for any other faults he may have. Not saying he had noticeable flaws, and I am not going to say he was an impeccable lyricist either, but I guess rap is more than just lyrics.

Around the same time, M.I, who was more of a lyrical genius, had just hit up the scene. His first single, “crowd mentality”, was mad to address the way the music industry and every artist involved in it were not being creative and just following what the crowd liked. He challenged that odd, and still managed to make people dance to the song. When I heard the song, I knew that a rap messiah had been born. The song was very lyrical, yet very interesting to follow. The song rocked for a while, then it was like he disappeared to the lab to make more songs. And the following year he dropped his second single “blaze” which further solidified his ability to roc the mic. Then he dropped another single shortly after, “safe”, where he adopts American rapper, LIL WAYNE’S style, but what he did with it was phenomenal. He infused song titles, and common phrases that had been used in the most popular songs at the time into two highly lyrical verses, with his friend and co-artist, GINI, on the chorus. He got away with making a rap song so entertaining without loosing focus of the core roots of hip hop. It was a success and that made his debut album, “talk about it”,the most highly anticipated rap album ever to come out of Nigeria. Yes, quote me anywhere, he was that big.

I was listening to radio the other day, and was surprised when people were calling in to request for rap songs, what would not have been the case a couple of years ago. I think while they claim, in the U.S, that hip hop is dead, it is just getting better over here. I think hip hop just moved down to Nigeria. I think we gave hip hop “mouth to mouth”.

JAY-Z RESPONDS TO BEANIE SIGEL DISS TRACK

A couple of days ago, PHILLY rapper, and former ROCAFELLA records artist, BEANIE SIGEL dropped a diss record(ain't your average cat) aimed at his former boss, JAY-Z. On the record, he talks about how jay-z has not been there for him, and how jay had no more love for the people that helped build up his dynasty.

Jay-z has commented on that in a recent interview. Below is what jay had to say:

"He has a lot to complain about," Jay jokingly said during a press conference. "Not me. Well Beanie Sigel at the time, and you can look it up if you like, just to be honest, was driving two Bentleys, I don't know how. It's impossible to drive two cars at one time with his mama in the sticks and selling 800,000 records. I don't know what more you can do for somebody at that point. What people choose to do when they attain that type of success, you know, at some point you have to look in the mirror and look at yourself. Beanie Sigel had a record deal, a record label, and a clothing line. And never went platinum, ever. I don't know in the history of rap has anyone done so much with so little. I don't know what more you can do for a person at that point. But a record deal, that's normal. A record label and a clothing line, so, if that's not pushing a person, sh*t. Thank-you."

Wow, there isn't a need for jay to drop a reply diss record, this is enough. But it's so hard that it had to come to this; former friends exposing themselves to the public. It's just so sad. I don't know what beans would do after this. But let us not forget that beans said he didn't want money from jay, he just wanted to be let out of his contract, and also some brotherly love. I guess jay is not really with all the drama that people like beanie sigel bring along with them. As i said earlier, it's just so sad.

BEANIE SIGEL DISSES JAY-Z

Concidering the number of people that have come out to talk about how shady JAY-Z is, i am starting to believe that this dude is really a cold-hearted bastard,as all these people say he is; the type to only care about himself. I would have never thought in a 100years that BEANIE SIGEL would drop a diss record taking shots at jay-z. I can remember how jay had put beans against JADAKISS around 1999-2000, not concidering the fact that jadakiss was his homie, beanie siegel went at jada like a real loyal soldier. I read an interview of jadakiss where he said that that was his must personal beef. He said it was like fighting your own brother, because he said he had been close with beans whole family; his mother, sibblings...and for him to go at beans because he had some problems with jay, was the hardest thing he had to do.

Beanie sigel dropped a diss record aimed at jay-z, clearly through the direct disses, titled "i am not your average cat", which landed online this week.
Below are some lines from the track:

"This ain't a diss record, this a real record/How it feel to get exposed -- I was the fly on the wall, I witnessed," Beans raps. "I could say sh*t to make B look at you different/And my gangster was never on trial, I was, stood up tall, no snitch/But the rapper Shawn called the police on me/Because I was front row at the Blueprint 3/I just wanted to see him emcee/Reminisce when we were the R-O-C/But he called on the c-o-p's/Not only that, he brought in the f-e-d's/So that's telling me, F-U Sig/So F you too and F Bleek three/Whether I rap or riddle out this motherf*cker -- my name good in every hood."

I think when beans says he can expose jay, we all know he could actually do that, but who would lsiten to him? Jay has a lot of people hypnotized right now(excluding me though).
At the end of the track, he talks about how jay never came to see him or wrote or called while he was in jail last year. He also said when he got out, he tried to get jay to let him off the ROCAFELLA record deal because someone wanted to sign him, and give him some big money, but jay didn't let him go. He then goes back to all the beefs he fought for jay, and all the street credibility the roc benefitted back in the 90's that could be created to him being on the label. He specifically mentions beefs like the NAS BEEF, the beef with jadakiss, and the beef with the DIPSET crew that he had to handle for jay. It's just so sad that things had to turn turn out like this. Very ugly. SUPER UGLY.

Hours after the track hit the internet, MEMPHIS BLEEK had this to say:

"Just waking up my phone going crazy over this segiel sh*t," Bleek wrote Friday (October 30) morning. "I just seen son at power house wasn't nothing now its something..... I'm lost on that.... Guess that's how the rap game work....F*ck bleek 3 haaa that's a good one...And for the rec....I can't diss that's my nigg we gotta get up an chop it up that's all..He know me that's all I could say..." (Memphis Bleek's Twitter)


And you should know that nobody can talk about jay-z without fabolous butting in. I guess it's because jay has helped him in the past. below is what fab had to say:

"I jus heard a JayZ diss record by Beanie Siegel..," Fab wrote Friday (October 30). "That's ill to me.. And the record is hard! Never thought i would hear a JayZ diss song by Beanie Siegel....WOW..jus wow.. (Affion Crockett chris brown on larry king impression voice) To me its disappointing, i hate 2 c family fight.. But i dont know either side of the story.. So im neutral & enjoyin the music, as u should i made JayZ & Beanie Siegel a trending topic not even tryin to.. SMH...lol..i hate hip hop family splits & beef's... the Cam vs. Jim & Juelz, the Cash Money vs. Juve, B.G. & Turk.. Dr. Dre vs. Snoop... all bad." (Fabolous' Twitter)
Lets see where all this goes in a couple of days.

RICK ROSS AND BABY MAKE COLLABO ALBUM.

I think RICK ROSS is trying to stay in the media eye for as long as he can. After releasing one of the best rap albums of the year, DEEPER THAN RAP, early this year, and also currently about to drop an album with his group, TRIPPLE C'S, now it has been reported that he has finished a collabo an with CASH MONEY C.E.O and friend, BABY/BIRDMAN.

I think he is trying to ride his current buzz to the most he can. I respect his work ethics for that; i see ross as a rapper that is not all the way lyrical, but the image he has created for himself, and the way he drops his rhymes make up for that. He also has some great production on all the albums he has dropped so far. So i really respect him for being so hardworking.

The album is scheduled to drop in the summer of 2010.

JADAKISS SAID P.DIDDY HAS GIVEN THE L.O.X A SHOT AT AN ALBUM UNDER BAD BOY.

THE L.O.X, a rap group comprising of JADAKISS, STYLES P, and SHEEK LOUCH were signed to P.DIDDY'S BAD BOY label, back in the mid 90's. And due to working differences, they opted out of the label, after a long battle with puffy, but now they are looking to work with puff again.

People are looking at this as a wrong move, considering p.diddy's reputation with artist that have been signed under him, but i think l.o.x have nothing to lose. I think puff would give them the right exposure for the album, and it is a 1 album deal, so if anything goes wrong, it's only for this one album. What can go wrong? They are all grown men, they know what they are doing. He is not signing them individually, he is doing a deal with them as the l.o.x, and after the deal is done, they go and do what ever they want, individually. So i do not see anything wrong with this deal.

Below is what jadakiss had to say about the deal:

Speaking with Philadelphia’s Power 99FM, Jadakiss [click to read] recently gave light to the possibility of the forthcoming L.O.X. album, the group’s third album, but first since 1998, that would be released by Diddy on the mogul’s Bad Boy label. 'Kiss said that “[Diddy] put an offer out there for a one album deal.”

This would be the first L.O.X. album to feature the Bad Boy name since the group’s debut over a decade ago. Jadakiss has attributed a lack of industry savy on the L.O.X. part as one of the reasons for the split but acknowledges, “We learned a lot from [Diddy].” Jadakiss also believes this possible reconciliation “shows maturity as artists, it shows respect as men” and that “if we all make dollars then it can all make sense.” As of right now no deal has been finalized as the Yonkers group continues to put the finishing touches on the new album.

A LOOK AT THE BILLBOARD CHARTS.

Looking at the billboard charts for this week, JAY-Z is still waxing strong with his 11th studio album, BLUEPRINT 3. He moves 43,000 copies this week, bringing his total to 1,159,000. I think those are good numbers in just about two months in stores. I hope he makes it to 2 million copies.

The next notable rapper on the charts is DRAKE, with his SO FAR GONE EP, which droped some weeks ago. The album moves 17,000 this week, bringing the total to 197,000 copies. That is not bad for an album that was being given away for free on the internet a couple of months ago, exclusive of a couple of new tracks, every other song on the album has been heard before, just repackaged.

KID CUDI, KANYE WEST'S protege is the next notable act on the charts. He moved 8,900 copies of his debut album, MAN ON THE MOON:END OF DAYS, this week. This brings his total to 183,000 copies so far.

EMINEM is still waxing strong with his 5th album, RELAPSE, which moves 8,500 copies this week. Bringing his total to 1,490,000. This is good numbers considering the climate of hip hop right now. But if it were to be compared to his previous albums, then it would be tagged a flop. You can't compare this any of his other albums, in respect to sales.

ROYCE DA 5'9 rides on the recent buzz of his rap group, SLAUGHTER HOUSE (HIM, JOE BUDDEN, JOEL ORTITZ, and CROOKED 1), and drops a solo album. Knowing royce, and his lyrical capabilities, i know he would not disappoint, but the hip hop listeners don't seem to be feeling him. His album moves a slopy 4,600 in its debut week.

MTV'S HOTTEST IN THE GAME LIST.

There has been a lot of talk about this year's, 2009, MTV'S HOTTEST IN THE GAME LIST, people saying one person or the other was not meant to be on the list. If you would ask me, i think the list is on point. Nobody that is not meant to be is on that list. And, everybody that is complaining about it is not really looking at the definition of the list. It says "hottest in the game", not "best ever", or "most lyrical", or "highest selling rapper", and it also makes reference to the present time, that means you have to be hot right now. So, i just don't understand people that are saying the list is not credible and that mtv has just lost all it's credibility. That is just uncalled for, if you would ask me.

I would like to say, the only person i think deserved to be on the list and wasn't is JADAKISS. They could have just removed REAKWON, and put jada at number 10 instead. But maybe out of the utmost respect for him, they left jada out.

Below is the list;

10. RAEKWON.

9. 50 CENT.

8. FABOLOUS.

7. YOUNG JEEZY.

6. GUCCI MANE.

5. RICK ROSS.

4. KANYE WEST.

3. DRAKE.

2. LIL WAYNE.

1. JAY-Z.

So, that is the list,and there you have it. I am sure it was pretty tuff for mtv to put that together. I think regardless of how the list would have come out, it would still have offended some people. I think this particular list affects the list number of people though.

This is what JAY-Z had to say about the list;

"MTV, Thanx for this nod of appreciation," he wrote in a statement. "Although I don't strive to be 'hot' for any particular year, I thank you for the acknowledgment. My whole goal is to be recognized as the best ever. I created the term 'best rapper alive' as a sign of respect to my fallen comrades (Biggie and Tupac). I believe I've allowed a significant grace period, and I believe I would not be respecting myself if being the absolute best was not my goal, and that's why I continue to push myself until exhaustion ... salute. Sidebar: Kanye moment if I may ... Eminem?!?! I think you do the credibility of this list a disservice if you don't thoroughly explain his omission. As of this second he has the highest selling rap album of the year and a scene stealing verse on the best 'posse' cut of the year . (*Hands mic back to Taylor Swift ... and nobody was harmed, I apologize in advance.)" (Rap Radar)

You see what i was talking about, he says eminem deserves to be on the list, solely because he has the highest selling rap album thus far this year. I do not think that should be the one and only criteria, because if we really look at the rap scene presently, eminem has not done much but drop an album, and vanish after wards. An album that sold so much, and yet received the highest criticism, compared to his other albums. I go on blogs, and at least 80 percent of the people that comment on the album say they do not like it. Now, if we are to work on that alone,. you would understand why he was not on the list. I do not know the section of the population that contributed largely to the sales of the album, but i could hardly get anybody that really like the album in totality, maybe a few songs, but not in totality.
Maybe me, because i liked his display of skills, even though i do not like the fact that he is still talking about the same things (homophobic remarks, drugs, and his mom), but i am not the thousands and millions of listeners that make up the market.

Another reason why i would agree with eminem not making the list is that, asides from featuring on drake's FOREVER track, he did not guest appear on any other person's songs. He was not dropping hot video's, or doing cameos, or mixtapes, as i said earlier, he just dropped an album, and disappeared.

Now read to what the people at mtv had to say

Eminem's ranking was one of the most discussed topics at the Roundtable. His hotly anticipated return to hip-hop after a long absence drove first week sales of over 600,000 - the highest first-week of the year so far. He granted a handful of select interviews here and abroad, and was part of a massive moment with Sacha Baron Cohen at the MTV Movie Awards. But then Em retreated to the lab, where he spent the summer crafting Relapse 2. From June to September, Em all-but took himself out of the public eye, while other MCs generated week-to-week heat with mixtapes, guest appearances, performances and Web activity.


Wayne is at number 2, and this is what he had to say;

"Uhm, who's number one?," Wayne asked radio personality Tim Westwood in an interview. "Jay-Z? Nah, that's cool [me being at number two.] That's cool. That's okay, I thought Drake was gonna be number one. Eminem [is not on the list]? Who else is on the list? Gucci who? Gucci Mane? Gucci Mane was on the list and Eminem wasn't on it? [laughs] Shout-out my n*gga Gucci. [laughs]" (Tim Westwood TV)


A lot of people just kept commenting on the list, some going with it, some disagreeing, but non surprised me more than ATLANTA based producer/rapper, and C.E.O of SO-SO DEF records, JD. The one time rival of EMINEM, after eminem and DR DRE had dissed him on "say what you say"(eminem show),he surprised me when he rode on eminem's side for this one. Below is what he had to say about the list;

"WHATS UP LIFERS HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!," he wrote today (October 9). "TODAYS QUESTION IS ABOUT THE MTV HOT MCs LIST. MY QUESTION IS HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT EMINEM NOT MAKING IT? I PERSONALLY THINK THE LIST JUST LOST ITS CREDIBILITY BY NOT INCLUDING HIM. NOT ONLY DID HE MAKE A ALBUM THIS YEAR BUT THAT ALBUM OUT SOLD 75 PERCENT OF EVERYBODY ON THE LIST .SERGE WAS TRYING TO EXPLAIN TO ME THE LIST AND WHY THIS HAPPENED BUT TO ME THIS IS WHY SO MANY PEOPLE KEEP SAYING HIPHOP IS DEAD. WE HAVE NO RULES AND THE FIRST RULE SHOULD BE, UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS THE RECORD BUSINESS (KEY WORD BUSINESS) THE END RESULT IS TO SELL RECORDS NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. IN THESE BAD TIMES OF THE RECORD INDUSTRY HE SHOULD'VE MADE IT FOR THAT FACT ALONE THAT HE STILL HAD THE POWER TO MOVE 600K RECORD HIS FIRST WEEK. ANYWAY YALL ALWAYS ASKING HOW I FEEL SO THERE YOU HAVE IT LOL!!!!! TALK TO ME!!!" (Global 14)

The only person that defends the list is the boss himself, RICK ROSS. Now, we can say he defended the list because, at least, he is top 5 on the list, or he had some reason for his comment, i don't know. Let's check out what he had to say;

"I don't speak on nobody that ain't on the list," Ross jokingly said. "It's called 'Get Like Me' at this point, you feel me? At the end of the day, those are people's opinions and I respect MTV's opinions. I respect those brothers over there, you know what I'm saying because I've seen 'em in the streets. If it was some motherf*ckers I never seen at these venues watching the performances, watching what's going on, I may not be able to respect it but I see [panelists] Shaheem Reid, I see Buttahman, they visible to me. When I see 'em, it's [respect] and as far as the list goes, I'm honored to be mentioned. And it is what it is and to me, I feel like the only spot that counts on the list is number one. Second means you were the first to lose. So as far as Jay-Z being number one, I totally concur, that's one of my white words. I totally agree with that because Jay-Z done influenced so many of the artists on that list. Signing Rick Ross to Def Jam, signing Kanye West to Def Jam, influencing Lil Wayne, co-signing Drake and the list goes on, so most definitely you gotta tip your hat off to Jay-Z." (SOHH)

That's that, you heard my opinion, you read the opinion of the other rappers, it's left to you to consider if the people that put up the list can be justified or not.