Her Excellency: August 2011

It might have started with a tweet from Mo’Hits Records C.E.O Don Jazzy but now two record labels from two different continents have signed deals and are making power moves. Yes, if you have been sleeping for the last one week, let’s do you the favour by letting you know that US rapper Kanye West has signed the Mo’Hits crew to his G.O.O.D Music record label.
Some snorted at the news, calling it another cheap publicity shot, some faithfuls stuck with the Mo’Hits camp while some still remained sceptical because we all were yet to get confirmation. But things changed when group pictures of both camps surfaced online. The ‘doubting Thomas’’ crawled into their shells…
To buttress their point, the Mo’Hits crew organized a press conference which was held yesterday Thursday, June 16, 2011 at Koko Lounge 3rd Floor E-Centre 1-11 Commercial Avenue, Yaba, Lagos.
This is what went down:
The press conference was meant to commence at 11AM and by 10:30AM, banners and sound equipment were already being set up. By 11AM, the gentlemen of the press started trooping in but the Mo’Hits crew or management were nowhere to be found. I guess it’s safe to say they were observing the ‘African time’ rule. With nothing much to do, the journalist chatted with up old colleagues and made acquaintances with new ones while they got accredited.
By 1:05PM, D’Prince, Wande Coal and Dr. SID stepped into the building and got themselves seated at the makeshift conference table which had only five seats – meaning that D’banj and Don Jazzy where ones yet to arrive. By 1:13, D’banj walked into the lounge, followed by music video director Sesan Ogundairo. The Entertainer, who was dressed in a white t-shirt and blue jeans, immediately apologized to all who had been waiting and hurriedly took his seat. By 1:13 Don Jazzy dressed in a simple Navy blue shirt and light blue African print pants and black slippers strolled in with his other brother Jame. Mr. Ogbonnaya Amadi, entertainment editor at the Vanguard Newspaper gave an opening prayer and the ball was set rolling…
D’banj took everyone on a time travel; back to when his career kicked off in Nigeria; how he met his manager Sunday Are at the Beenie Man concert in 2004 and the next year released his debut album ‘No long thing’ under the newly floated record label Mo’Hits Records which he set up with his producer/business partner Don Jazzy. How they went on to sign, Dr. SID, Wande Coal, D’Prince and Kay Switch.
Moving on to more current things, he explained that he and Don Jazzy met Kanye West in November, 2010 at the Dubai International airport and played the remix to ‘Mr Endowed’ which featured fellow US rapper Snoop Dogg. Kanye who gave them 30 minutes chance to prove themselves was quite impressed with the music and asked them fly over to New York.
‘Now that we have bridged the gap, the likes of Wizkid, M.I and PSquare can make major move too. I would like to see 2face on Akon’s Konvict Records’, D’banj said.
D’banj announced that a video clip was going to be played, and soon enough the lights were dimmed and the video came on; 10 seconds into the video, D’banj who looked slightly irritated, instructed Sesan who was in charge of the visuals, to stop and replay the video, this time with a higher volume.
If anyone still had any strand of doubt about the G.O.O.D Music/Mo’Hits signing, it would totally vanish after one watched the video clip. It showed Kanye West, Jay Z, G.O.O.D Music’s Kid Cudi and Pusha T, D’Banj, Don Jazzy along with bunch of label execs in a room witnessing Kanye sign a document which he passed on to a lady to verify then D’banj signed. D’banj was particular about the camera picking up the document that he spread it right in front for everybody to see, a subtle Don jazzy stood beside emotionless as usual. After then, the video phased into the same scenario but with D’Banj’s ‘Scapegoat’ single playing in the background; Kanye was reciting the lyrics of the song, smiling to his signee and now D’banj’s label mate Pusha T while the latter nodded in agreement. Later on D’prince’s ‘Give it to me’ came on and that got Kanye really moving in his seat. It is official; all doubts have now been thrown out of the window.
Next was a question and answer session which was moderated by Ogbonnaya Amadi:
Would you be staying in Lagos or relocating to New York since you have been signed to a US based record label?
D’banj: Living in the US? It’s Lagos straight to JFK for me! I’ll be spending time properly in US. Don Jazzy will be producing for G.O.O.D music. I have two months more to complete the album. You are going to hear song with 2face and Wande Coal on it.
Where all Mo’hits signed to G.O.O.D Music or is it just D’banj and Don Jazzy?

Don Jazzy: For them to sign Don Jazzy and D’banj, they’ve signed the whole of Africa. G.O.O.D Music has an idea that there’s a Mo’hits crew, its Mo’Hits/ G.O.O.D Music deal. They won’t be touching our style or music. We have our own money, lawyers, Jewish lawyers. We are not hungry, Mo’Hits is sponsoring themselves. D’banj’s project is going to cost us 3 million Dollars.

What’s the duration of your contract?

Don jazzy: It has no duration
Will G.O.O.D Music be handling other Mo’Hits’ franchises like Koko Mobile?
D’Banj: No, G.O.O.D Music will only be handling music; it’s not a 360 deal. They will not be touching my Kokomobile or taking over Koko Lounge. By the way, we will be opening Koko Lounge 2 on the Island very soon.
Will Mo’Hits be signing any artiste in the nearest future?
Don Jazzy: If there is time, we would like to sign a first lady of Mo’Hits, we are looking at this year or early next year.
D’Banj: We will be staging Koko Mansion season 2 but this time will not be to find the ideal woman but to search for the First Lady of the Mo’Hits crew.
There is a forthcoming collaborative album ‘Watch The Throne’ by Jay Z and Kanye West, will D’banj be featuring on it and/or Don Jazzy producing?
Don Jazzy: Over 50 songs have been recorded for the project and I won’t want to say what we have done will make the final cut so let’s just wait the album is out.
D’banj, now that you have broken into the international market, will your clothing style or brand change?
I’ll still be sticking with my very good designer friends, the Okunoren twins. I will also go with the flow, anything that looks good, I’ll be wearing.

Hnmmmmmmmmmmm i too dey gbadun u koko master

For 91 days, the whole of Africa had its eyes on the Big Brother Amplified TV reality show: the fights, the kisses, the shower scenes, the gossips which all tallied up to give a creative and power packed show made up of 26 contestants from around the continent.
Reports from the Big Brother Amplified website suggest that this year’s edition was the most viewed from cable television; also recording the most follower ship online. But most will agree that one of the Nigerian contestants, the notorious Karen Igho was the most prominent as she stood out right from the beginning of the show to the very end. And oh yea, she also won and walked away with N32M!
Let’s do a quick survey: Facebook suggests that Karen has about 9500 ‘Likes’ on her fan page. The closest to that is Weza with 7000 plus. Karen managed to summon all the controversies around her into one big punch and convincingly knocked out any other contestants who stood in her way.
Karen’s strategy was simple – she says ‘I was just myself’.
We might have seen Karen’s down to earth mannerisms and her sometimes over-the-top tantrums in the house but we knew little about her personal life. Most viewers who had either praised or chastised her didn’t know Karen’s story.
She claims that her 45-year-old mother was a gangster and she (Karen) worked as a stripper in Europe before coming back to Nigeria to participate in the Next Movie Star reality show. It’s been a rough one for the light skinned lady, little wonder why she wears a tough skin.
And on her father, she says ‘I don’t really know my father. He married my mother at a very young age but now he is dead. He died of HIV AIDS. I am not ashamed to say it. I wish I saw him to ask him questions, to ask him why he blamed me for things I didn’t do. I didn’t get the chance to tell him I loved him.’
Speaking at a press conference organized by MNET Nigeria at Planet One, Lagos on her return last week, Karen poured out her heart out in an interactive ‘Question and Answer’ session.
‘The journey wasn’t an easy one. Whatever anyone said about me, good or bad, I thank you and I say one love. I had no strategy unlike what most people think. I was just myself.’
As per being a role model, Karen says we shouldn’t expect her to change from the character she portrayed in the house. ‘It’s real life in there and out here, so I won’t stop anything’.
Who would agree that most men watched the BBA show because of Karen’s boob job? A lot of guys won’t deny too, they outrightly sat in front of their TV sets waiting for her to gesticulate just to grab a glimpse of her ‘endowment’. Others have criticised and frowned at her ‘enhancement’, but Karen says there’s a reason behind it. ‘My boobs were never a strategy, when I discovered I had lumps in my breasts, I had removed them and had the boob job done to prevent any further occurrence. It’s funny how my mother got to hear on the show. My 17-year-old sister recently discovered lumps in her breasts too’.
Now, she ‘wants to create awareness. I want people to know that the disease is real. I am going to use part of my winnings to do a massive campaign about this disease.’
Talking about her winning BBA6, Karen said ‘I didn’t know I was going to win even though I didn’t see anybody as my competitor. My head was straight. I saw everybody as potential winner. That is why we were in the house in the first place. Anyways, we are all stars.’
And when asked if she would ever go back to the house (maybe for a BBA all winners edition), she responded ‘Of course I will, so Africa will vote for me again!’ She also added ‘As per the money, I will think of what to do with it later on. But I will keep to my words. I will give some to my friends in the house like I said I would.’