SUPERBASSNAIJA BLOG

In its travel advisory, the Goethe Institute had warned: ‘Pack an umbrella and a sweater.’ For no particular reason I had ignored the warning and I was about to learn the hard way. As soon as we touched down at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, for the 10 Cities project, sponsored by Goethe Institute, Nairobi and designed to capture the evolution of club culture and music in 10 cities across the world, I knew I was in a different environment. For one, the air smelt clean but the weather was cold, so cold I could feel it in my marrows. We had spent two brainstorming days that included power point presentations, in-depth discussions and debates. Now the organisers felt we should take a retreat and visit one of Kenya’s treasured resorts, Lake Naivisha, located in Nairobi’s countryside and elevated at 6000 feet above sea level. It promised to be an exciting experience as we had been informed that the journey would take us through the rift valley, which I had read about in the ...

It was a shattering climax last week Saturday for RAS KIMONO  & MAJEK FASHEK COSON Week 2013 during the COSON Awards, which held at the New Ballroom of Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos. The event, which was graced by both the old and young generation of showbiz stars, was indeed a celebration of Nigerian music. Celebrities who lit the red carpet included Tuface Idibia and wife, Annie Macaulay, Sunny Neji, Ras Kimono, Victor Uwaifo, Sir Shina Peters and wife, Sammie, Kenny Saint Best, Ras Sparkle, King Wadada, Dayo Adeneye (DI), Obiwon and wife, Nkechi, Mr. Kool, Delight, Ify Chukwu, Blossom Gabriel, Azeezat and husband, Seyi Allen, and Alariwo of Africa among a host of others. It was a night that the flag of Nigerian music was hoisted aloft as Nico Mbaga’s Sweet Mother clinched the award for The Song of the ‘70s while Majek Fashek got the award for the Song of the ‘80s with his classic, Send Down The Rain . Femi Kuti’s Bang Bang Bang ran away with the award for Song of the ‘90s w...

  Recently, he made headlines after dumping Etisalat, which he had fronted for many years, and then in a primetime TV ad campaign surprisingly sang ‘I don port’ to MTN, another telecoms company. However, with the multi-million-naira move regarded as a brand coup of the year, Hafiz Oyetoro popularly known as Saka, boasted that he has finally slaughtered poverty! Indeed, poverty was like a second skin to the popular comedian, who grew up on a farm where his parents laboured day and night to give him and his siblings the best life had to offer. This much the comic revealed to TS Weekend in an exclusive chat during the launch of MeetOrbit.com, a social networking platform, in Victoria Island, Lagos last weekend. “I was not born with a silver spoon and I am not from a rich family,” Saka confesses while recounting his early years, “I am from a very poor background. My parents are farmers and I grew up on a farm at Adegbola, a settlement in Iseyin, Oyo State. Though, they were poor in fi...