Are you ‘gearing up’ for the much talked hip hop world awards? I’m always looking forward to the yellow carpet reception:  the glitz, the bling, the glamor, the rags, the drabs, the fashion madness…the everything!!lol

Here’s what a couple of your favorite Nigerian celebs plan on ’showcasing’ at the Hiphop World Award’s Yellow Carpet this year:

9ice

I would be putting on a suit designed by Marco for the yellow carpet, and another outfit to perform, but you should be rest assured that I will be looking my best on that day..says 9ice.

Ruggedman, as usual, plans to grace the event with designs from his 20th September clothing line.

Say Hello to Headie!!Ruggedman arrayed in his 20th Sept Apparel

Sasha in one of Her 'Ecletic' designs

Like Ruggedman, Sasha will be clothed courtesy of her clothing line ‘Eclectic by Sasha’

… I will be putting on something bright, so it can stand me out and blend with the yellow carpet, she disclosed.

Banky W

My costume for this year’s awards will be designed by Clothesense , I wont step on that yellow carpet not looking  good, you can take my word on that, he says

ID Cabasa

I can’t tell what color I’d be putting on right now, but I’ll unquestionably be putting on a suit, although I have not made up my mind on who is making it. I have an option between Steel’s Needles and Stitches or Marco Martinez’

eLDee the Don

I really don’t have a lot of options right here, but I hope to be putting on an outfit made by Steel

eLDee The Don - Big Boy

Masta Plan

I would be putting on a three piece suit by Ozwald Boateng or I might just decide to dress down by putting on a v neck cardigan by Cavalli with a fitted shirt inside. To go with that I will have on a black or grey pairs pants, prada shoes and my signature Dolce and Gabanna shades to complete the ‘osamo’ look

Mastaplan and his 'dolce n gabanna'..i mean his Sunglasses!!lol

Omawumi

I will be putting on a Nigerian print that is predominantly orange on the yellow carpet and for the awards, but for my performance, I’d be putting on a white and black African print and its going to be designed by my own tailor.

Omawunmi - in d music

Sound Sultan

For me, it will be nothing other than Naija Ninja, although I haven’t made up my mind on what I’ll be wearing exactly

Sound Sultan and His Naija Ninja Look

The Hiphop World Awards which has been penciled for the International Conference Centre, Abuja on Saturday, May 16, 2009 is usually preceded by a glamorous yellow carpet ceremony, where celebrities will get to show case the designers behind their outfits amongst many other things.

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….. As organizers keep mum on foreign acts

The much talked about hip hop world awards is just around the corner, and as it gets closer, artistes who are on the bill to perform are already warming up to storm Abuja.

9ice

According to a statement signed by the awards CEO, Ayo Animashaun, top on the list are amazing rave of the moment Abolore Akande popularly known as 9ice, Lyricist and rapper MI, new kid on the block Kel, and rising female singer Omawumi.

MI recently released a Mixtape tagged Illegal Music!!

Others are Lord of Ajasa, Darey Art Alade, Banky W, 2face Idibia and rested loose coalition- ‘Da trybe’ comprising of Eldee, Del, KB, Sasha, 2shotz, Freestyle and Blaise.

Darey

Banky W who first hit lime light in 2007 with ‘Ebutte Metta’ will thrill fans with songs off his debut album ‘Mr. Capable’, and select singles off his upcoming sophomore album

9ice will perform his hit song- ‘Gongo Aso’, and there is no doubt he will excite fans the way he did last year.

Darey Art Alade will make his first major performance of his hit single ‘Not the girl’

‘This year’s awards is going to be exceptional, there will be so much excitement people should look forward to more exciting performances this year, I am so sure the crowd will find it exciting seeing Da Trybe on stage again, they have not performed together for a long time, every one has been busy doing their own thing, where else will they be reuniting if not on our stage?’ Ayo Animashaun says.

Omawunmi

Already tagged ‘a prize to die for’, this year’s awards will hold at the International conference centre Abuja on Saturday May 16 and will be hosted by Banky W and Kemi Adetiba.

Ayo animashaun, Kemi Adetiba and Banky W (source: http://www.gistmaster.com)

Even though there are indications that some foreign acts will be performing at the awards ceremony. Animashaun says- ‘we have promised you an award that matches international standards he insists ‘The ceremony promises to be full of surprises and it’s going to be the first of its kind’ he explains. ‘If there is any gospel the award has preached over the years, it is the power of Possibilities’. He re- assures again.

The awards ceremony which will be officially sponsored by MTN and Lipton will commence with the yellow carpet ceremony.

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the Un.DAREY.ted Album by Darey

Barely a week after his album hit the stores; Darey Art Alade’s second album has become yet another prey to piracy.

The NCC on Thursday April 2, 2009 caught Akina Music International Limited formerly Benrit Outlook Ltd in the process of illegal mass production of suspected pirated products. The optical discs plant which will soon be charged and prosecuted for piracy of copyright protected works had also been raided by the Commission about four years ago and is currently being prosecuted at a Federal High Court in Lagos for piracy of musical works and cinematograph films.

‘If not for the timely intervention of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), I am not sure what story we’d be telling today. A lot of our intellectual work, time, money and energy have been put into the release of that album, and to think someone was trying to pirate it breaks my heart’ Darey says

Un.DAREY.ted. which has been on a test run since 2008, and has over time gained momentum as one of Nigeria’s most anticipated albums was finally released on March 31, 2009 under Soul Muzik after a string of videos for ‘With this woman’, ‘Carry dey go’, ‘Not the girl’ and ‘More’.

‘I hope and pray that this criminal act will not be allowed to continue to happen, I mean, people can’t continue to feed off our sweat and toil, its not fair’ Darey who was at Dubai as at the time the news broke disclosed.

Expected to hit the media are more eye catching, irresistible videos from the album- Un.DAREY.ted

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Cool Dj Jimmy Jatt

In a bid to present gifted and talented people a platform to express themselves, Nigeria’s finest DJ, DJ Jimmy Jatt counts down to the launch of Battlefield -  his talent hunt/reality TV show of some sort.

Expected to debut in a matter of days, Battlefield is expected to take a whole new dimension from the usual reality shows on TV.

“I have been around for a while and I have moved around a lot. I have realized that most talent hunt shows here are all about singers, but we should understand that just the same way we have a whole lot of young people who want to sing; we also have a whole lot of young people who want to rap and dance and become DJs,” says DJ Jimmy Jatt who plans to kick off auditioning of the battle series by mid April.

The auditions he says will commence in Lagos with a Dj Battle on April 15, 2009. the venue is The Place, GRA, Ikeja… so all aspiring Dj’s get ready!!

The Rap battle and Dance Battle May is expected to kick off in may and june respectively.

Battle Field

“We do different competitions every month and a winner emerges to qualify for the grand finale at the end of the year. Anybody that wins in each month gets between N200, 000 and N400, 000. For the grand finale, we have for the winner one million naira, a brand new car and a state-of-the-art DJ equipment,” he says

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Lagbaja

All those wondering un-end if they’ll ever lay their hands on another Lagbaja album can now heave a sigh of relief, because the masked musician has confirmed that a new album – the first since his 2005 release Africano – is ready, and about to hit the streets.

According to a statement released by his publicist Ayeni Adekunle on Monday April 6, the new album, which comes in two CDs, will be officially released in Nigeria before the end of April.

‘‘I’m glad to tell you, brothers and sisters, that our new album is ready’’, Lagbaja said in Lagos this week. ‘‘The world is going through different challenges right now, but the journey continues. We’ll continue to make good music and preach the gospel of Africa to the rest of the world’’.

‘‘We have two CDs coming out this time. Our fans deserve it, especially having waited for this long’’, He said. A third, the long-anticipated Africano Party (now remixed) will follow later in the year.

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Hip Hop world Awards 09!!

The Hiphop World Awards 2008 was a blast!! Although many have praised the awards with one side of their mouths, others have openly questioned the organizer’s their criteria for and judge’s choice for nominees and winners. Of course we can’t quickly forget P-square’s manager and brother, Jude Okoye’s strong accusations against the organizers after last year’s event.

Headie - A prize to die for!!

A critic is as good as his last review, I heard someone say, sometimes professionals put their career on the line when they endorse a brand or product that in the end does not meet up to consumer’s expectations. Here’s my point exactly: was the Hiphopworld awards authentic in their ratings? Maybe!

The Award organizers tagged the “Next Rated” category as the “Most promising upcoming officially unreleased act in the year under review.” And by this we assume that Hiphopworld Awards 08 endorsed Wande Coal as the next big explosion in the music industry ahead of the other nominees like Banky W and MI. To add salt to injury, 9ice was not even on that list – a decision that makes you wanna say “hmmn!”

Wande Coal: HHWA 08 yellow carpet

Did Wande Coal deserve award? Of course he did, since the votes were in his favor. However, this is one category I strongly believe should be entirely left for judges to decide in order to boost the credibility of the Award category itself.

it came with the 'Next Rated' plaque!!

While Wande was still being ‘weaned’ by his Mo’ Hits Family, we witnessed and are still witnessing M.I, Banky W, and 9ice soar at higher heights!! as wande coal’s album is about to be launched, the brother’s already got 3 hot singles blowing up the airwaves all over the nation!!! i guess the judges can now heave a sigh of relief! Their credibility has been vindicated or has it?

HiphopWorld Awards: authentic?

Preparations for the HHWA 09 are in top gear and we hope the organizers would critically review all nominees “under the year of review” and produce a much more authentic Hiphopworld Awards.

Wande Coal: HHWA 09 nominee for Best Vocal Performance (male)

My eyes are fixed on this year’s Next Rated category where ‘overgrown’ acts like Djinee and MP get VIP passes, (lol.. sorry but I haven’t stopped laughing since I saw the nominee list).  Djinee and MP could be tagged as officially unreleased acts but definitely not upcoming  so how do they fall under the Next Rated category?

Hiphopworld Awards ’09… hmmn… change must change abi?

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Don Kolionny: African -Neyo?

Kola Olatunji, the London based, Nigerian born R’n'B artist popularly known as DK, aka Don Kolionny, recently released his debut video “Shake.” The single is a feel-good party song which, according to the new R’n’B artist, invites the ladies to dance and shake to his infectious flow and to party with DK.

He started his stint in music at age 10 and over the years, DK has developed a powerful, unique song-writing and singing style that enables him to deliver smooth R’n’B songs and hard-hitting party jams with ease – a quality that has caused many to hail him as the “African Ne-Yo” -although i think Ne-yo’s got more swag.

check out his video..

…is the tag “African – Neyo” ideal,  or just plain hype?

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