OOTV: Cyrus Tha Virus
If the tale of music in the “south south” region of Nigeria is to be told, if the fable of artistic originality is to be spread, one name of worthy mention is Cyrus tha Virus. Born Damon Joseph Momoh, in Edo state, he attended Edo college before graduating with a degree in microbiology from Ambrose Alli university.
Cyrus started honing his lyrical skills in the streets of benin and later aligned himself with Maccabeez and Knighthood. His first single and video: “we dey come”, topped the MBI Top 10 countdown and stayed at the top for 4 weeks, a feat that was hitherto achieved by any Edo state artiste before him and to this day. Subsequently, he released another single titled “Shelenge”. Following this success, he signed on to Hex records and dropped his first solo album titled “The Infection” in 2008. The lead single: “1000 naira” got him a nomination in next-rated category at the HipHop World awards. Likewise, he got nominated for MTV Base – Zain advance warning in 2009. He’s now set to release his sophomore and highly anticipated album “Rebellion” which drops October 10, 2010. Here are some tracks from the upcoming album. The video for “Busy body” is already in the works as well. Listen, download and enjoy!
Listen to “Busy body”
Listen to “Earthquaker”
Listen to “I am”
Download all tracks
OOTV: AT
Here’s another upcoming Nigerian female rapper that I am impressed with. I am glad the females are stepping it up in the rap game. All I can say for now is remember her name!
Born Atuora Erokoro, AT hails from Cross River state and got into music at an early age. She graduated from Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja in 2006 and is currently attending college in Baltimore, Maryland. She’s set to drop her first mixtape: “The Climb” this year. Below are some of the tracks from the mixtape on which she worked with DJ Babus. She’s an artist to watch out for now and in the upcoming years. What do you think?
Listen to “Gravity”
Listen to “When the money goes”
Listen to “Roger that”
Download tracks above and more
OOTV: Zee Zee
Born David Wabara in Parma, Italy to Nigerian parents, Zee Zee played soccer for his home town team PARMA A.C. for 2 seasons. He also developed a passion for music at this time. Growing up, techno music was his music of preference, and the influence of this genre can be heard on his tracks.
Zee Zee can fluently rap in three languages: Italian, English and Pidgin English. Although he adopts pidgin English in most of his tracks, which he picked up quite quickly in a year’s stay in Nigeria. He works alongside El Flaco, Samuel SDG and O’shakes (MirrorMan).
Listen to “Up Nepa”
Listen to “Number 1 Stunna” ft. El Flaco
Download All Tracks
Twitter : @Ze3zeE
FaceBook: Zee Zee., MirrorMan
Myspace: zeezee360-365
DJ 3K Presents Green White Green
DJ 3K, a member of the hottest coalition of Nigerian DJs worldwide with the help of producer Kid Konnect gathered some of the top Nigerian artists in the Chicago area to create a brand new anthem repping the country.
The track features the following artists: Blink, Titi Lokei and Ya B.
Listen to “Green White Green”
Download
OOTV: Oni
Born Oni Oyinade Dada, Oni is a talented singer, songwriter and good dancer raised in Mushin. Could this be another Mushin originating talent? A student of Lagos State University (LASU), he studied Insurance. He released his first single in 2009 titled ‘Ganiya’ produced by Young D and since then has been working on making good music.
Now with his eyes set for the big league of the entertainment industry, he’s putting finishing touches to his much anticipated album which is almost completed. His track Kolo features the spiritual mad man: Terry G and quite frankly it’s also my favorite of all his tracks. Across all his tracks, he showcases his well naturally tuned vocal abilities. Listen! What do you think?!
Listen to “Kolo” ft. Terry G
Listen to “Big Mama”
Listen to “Come Closer”
Listen to “Ganiya”
Listen to “Mo Shagba”
Download All Tracks
OOTV: Le’mmon
Impressive, impressive! With a voice like his, there’s no doubt that he’ll make his mark in the Naija music scene. He’s one artist to watch out for now and in the upcoming years!
Born Osagwu Vincent, Le’mmon (name coined from an 11th century word for ‘My Beloved’) is a multi talented vocalist/songwriter who began singing in his church choir at the early age of 8. His passion for music gradually drew him into mainstream performance at talent shows around the city of Lagos thus bringing him into the spotlight and making him a popular demand in recording studios and in the upcoming artiste scene. Armed with the zeal to revolutionize R&B in Nigeria and to be the best R&B act in country, he is gearing himself towards the release of his debut album titled “Lemmon’aid”.
For the first time, we have had a resurfacing of a true R&B star in the making and a force to be reckoned with.
Listen to “Have U Seen Her”
Listen to “Luvin That All”
Download “Have you seen her”Download “Luvin that all”
OOTV: The G.A.N.G
Now here is a little something different from the mainstream Nigerian music you’re all used to. We’d like to introduce you to The G.A.N.G, which stands for Growth And Not Glory. The Nigerian/British group is based in Hull, and made up of three guys, Tony Iluobe (Blakk/Nero), Chima Etekochay (Kizzle), and Trea Barber (Heatrock), released the video for their single Shadow of the Night and it sure is an ear-pleaser. Their music is a tasteful blend of hip hop, R&B, indie, soul and alternative rock, influenced by artists like Kool and the Gang, Notorious B.I.G, Fela Kuti, The Fugees and Phil Collins, and refined by the members’ very own talents and styles.
As you may already know the song is currently being played on BBC radio 1. It has achieved the position of DJ’s record of the week on BBC Radio 1. The video itself claimed the number one position on Flava TV’s (Sky’s music channel) UK Raw Talent Show.
Here is what Katy Noon of BBC had to say about The G.A.N.G, “Infectious, delightful Hip Hop, delivered with joyous swagger that hooks the audience in. This band are a pleasure to watch”
I definitely have my eyes on them. A different sound that we definitely need now. This is one group of talent to watch out for!
Watch the video for Shadow of the Night below
