Osagie Alonge

<h1>Tuesday, November 23, 2010, was just like every other day in Lagos.&nbsp;</h1>

25-year-old me woke up in my parents home, located in Ipaja, Lagos, where I had lived for the past 16 years, sharing a bed with my young brother. He was at the University of Benin at the time, and I was happy to have the room to myself.

Osagie Alonge's breakdown: MI Abaga - MI2. [NHH/HHW/CC]

Just like any other morning, I freshened up and headed for the door, already planning my day - studio, cafe, studio, home, cafe for night browsing.&nbsp;

I worked at a small studio located in Abesan Estate, a walking distance from my house. The studio belonged to Edward Awani, known to everyone as Tycoon - a local rapper who had seen some popularity in the early days of Hip-Hop in Nigeria. The legendary Bayo Omisore at HipHopWorld Magazine, (Nigeria’s version of The Source Magazine) had even featured and reviewed his debut album NEW ERA back in 2005.

Tycoon’s studio was regularly booked by local artistes from the Ipaja/Merian/Egbeda axis. He had mixed my first and only mixtape Tales of a Hustla back in 2006. Four years later, our relationship had grown from OG-rookie to a more matured friendship.

I worked in his studio as a recording engineer and assisted with the burning of multiple CDs for music artistes and video producers.

On this day, we along with some other upcoming artistes had been talking about Nigerian Hip-Hop and how it had grown from its boom-bap era into a more appealing genre amongst the Nigerian music audience. MI, Naeto, Illbliss and Dagrin’s names came up the most.&nbsp;

ALSO READ: <a href="https://www.pulse.ng/entertainment/music/mi-abaga-and-aq-the-live-report-ep-review/ys93hpx">MI Abaga and AQ - The Live Report [EP Review]</a>

M.I Abaga’s second album was dropping that night, and it was a topic amongst the boys at the studio. What did M.I have in store for us this time around? Would the album be soft like his debut Talk About It? Would he respond to Iceberg Slim’s jab on the Bronx, NY native’s diss song “Am I better”?&nbsp;

Obinna Ifechi-Fred aka Fazillion was in East London at the time. It was strange for him to text me, he’d usually send me a Skype message. He had probably figured out why I wasn’t responding. I was broke and had run out of data.&nbsp;

“Bro, M.I just gave us the rights to sell the album on the website," his text read.&nbsp;

You see, Faz and M.I had recently settled their differences. Faz, best described as a real-life walking encyclopedia of Nigerian music and the Short Black Boy had issues from their past to straighten out, and they had recently chopped it up. But it was still a shock to me that M could allow us to sell his album on our website.

Our website was called NigerianHipHop.net. Now defunct, NHH was a one-stop platform that carefully curated Hip-Hop music, released by Nigerians from anywhere in the world. We also paid a lot of attention to what the average music listener will describe as 'the underground.'

It was founded by a Nigerian, Huey, based in Europe and run by himself alongside Faz, Shade (who stayed in the US) and myself.&nbsp;

I did a lot of groundwork for the website, being the only one in Nigeria at the time. We launched our store 9 months earlier, and it was my responsibility to get as many Hip-Hop artistes to sell their albums on the website.

I had closed deals with rappers Terry Tha Rapman, Overdose, Vector and producers Jamix as well as Tha Suspect.

Selling M.I Abaga’s highly anticipated second album would do a lot of good for NHH in terms of exposure and would also one-up NotjustOK.com, Nigeria’s biggest music blog at the time.&nbsp;

So we got the rights to sell the album, but there was one problem, M.I (who is notoriously known for ghosting conversations) was not responding to Faz’s messages after he confirmed NHH could sell the album - hey, I can’t blame him, he had an album dropping that night. But in other to sell an album, you need to have an actual copy of the album. NJO would have it available at midnight, and all the traffic would go their way.

At 4 PM, with no word from Mr Abaga, I told Faz I’d be heading to Alaba International Market to get the album. You see, back in 2010, physical sales of albums were still a thing, and Alaba, located in Ojo, Lagos was the mecca of commercialization music.

One of the biggest music CD distributors, Mr Abhu, CEO of ABHU Ventures is rumoured to have slept over at M.I’s place in Palmgroove just to safeguard and secure the master copy of the album and take it to Alaba to cut copies that would go to every city in the country that night.

I got to Alaba by 6 PM and didn’t even need to get the ABHU Ventures store as the album had already hit the shelves in Alaba. It was selling fast! I bought a copy for N45 Naira (don’t even bother converting to Dollars) and headed back to Ipaja. I was super excited; first to listen to the album first then to upload to Faz who would set it up in the store for sale that night.

ALSO READ: <a href="https://www.pulse.ng/entertainment/music/mi-abaga-judah-the-ep-ep-review/t6hzwfs">MI Abaga - Judah EP [Review]</a>

I got home at 10 PM, quietly 'borrowed' my sister’s laptop at the time and headed to the cyber cafe. I ripped the CD with my iTunes player at the highest quality MP3 bitrate, 320 kbps and sent to Faz.

The time was 11 PM, we put out the album; Twitter Nigeria went nuts, insane. RTs went through the roof. There was pandemonium everywhere. The numbers at the backend were doubling in real-time. People were buying the album and literally tweeting the lyrics seconds later.

I was proud of Nigerian Hip-Hop that night and will always look at it as the first moment Nigerian music truly trended organically, worldwide through social media.

NotjustOK who had a huge countdown timer with one hour left had to scrap their plans and release the album almost immediately. I honestly relished the chaos we caused them that night (love you Demola and Ovie)!

MI2:The Movie is the best Hip-Hop album to released in 2010. You give it even more accolades when you realise the other Hip-Hop artistes that released albums that year include <a href="https://www.pulse.ng/entertainment/music/modenines-da-vinci-mode-clocks-10-legend-breaks-down-tracks-the-missing-davido/6m4p898">Modenine</a>, Jesse Jagz, Terry Tha Rapman, Overdose, Sauce Kid, Ikechukwu, 2Shotz, <a href="https://www.pulse.ng/entertainment/music/vector-state-of-surprise-10th-year-anniversary-conversation/7bljl8w">Vector</a>, Cartier, Pherowshuz, and A-Q.

10 years later, the album remains one of the most important bodies of work, not just for Jude Abaga but for Nigerian music and Afrobeats. The message, composition, production and effrontery to blend so many local sounds with Hip-Hop and still make it appeal to both ends of the genre’s spectrum should be studied in schools for decades.

On December 29, 2010, I published a review of 'MI2: The Movie' on NigerianHipHop.net, but it now resides on <a href="https://nigeriansounds.com/critical-album-breakdown-m-i-abaga-mi2-the-movie-review/">Nigeriansounds.com.</a> You can read it below;

ALBUM:&nbsp;MI2&nbsp;The Movie

RECORD LABEL: Chocolate City Records

DISTRIBUTED BY: AHBU Ventures

Jude Abaga appeared on the music scene a couple of years ago with a single called 'Crowd Mentality' which was filled with conscious but witty lyrics. A few years passed by then he released his debut album, <a href="https://www.pulse.ng/entertainment/music/top-10-best-nigerian-debut-hip-hop-albums-since-1999/n43b64m">Talk about It</a> which pretty much towed along with the style of his first single.

The success of the album paved way for a new style of Nigerian rap; easy on the words heavy on the style and delivery, a formula which M.I quickly found out to woo his audience to a fixed state.

So, after a successful album, numerous cameos, multiple awards and even a&nbsp;BET feature and nomination, why not stick to a winning formula? At best one could even increase the dose or better yet alter it to produce a more potent force since the public ear will take anything from the rising champ.

Hence,&nbsp;MI2 The Movie:&nbsp;A spin off of the popular Tom Cruise movie ‘Mission Impossible’ which perfectly fits into M.I’s musical context. And so, the album concept is that M.I plays a character of the protagonist and every artiste feature is a co-starring role. Let’s go in…..

From an intro which best befits the concept but is rather too long, M.I establishes his character which will go all the way throughout the album.

Starting with a very energetic tune with new R&amp;B kid&nbsp;Brymo&nbsp;'Action film'&nbsp;has got you swaying from side to side as M.I declares his accomplishments and grand return with lines like&nbsp;“back with a banger/for the hood for the streets for the zanga/the return of the microphone handler/came back to set a new standard," his delivery stays intact as Brymo laces the hook with laudable vocals.

M.I moves onto something more subtle with&nbsp;'Slow&nbsp;Down,' characterizing and beautifying a faceless female.

As the album goes on, M.I slows down the tempo with songs like&nbsp;'Number 1'&nbsp;where he brilliantly blends his hip-hop style with the highlife genre sung by&nbsp;Flavour. Also on&nbsp;'Anybody' M.I calls on&nbsp;Timaya&nbsp;and&nbsp;Loose kaynon&nbsp;to air out their views on the ‘hate’ the ‘fame’ acquires.

With lines like&nbsp;“some people love me, some people jealous me/some people wanna put poison in my Hennessey…./…I’m just spitting my flow, I’m just trying to grow/life is bi-sexual, anybody can blow”,&nbsp;coupled with excellent verse from Timaya and even Loose, it’s quite clear that the Short Black Boy isn’t entirely happy with the way he has been treated ever since his new found fame arrived.

This story continues with&nbsp;'Nobody' a duet with&nbsp;Tuface Idibia&nbsp;where M.I tows the same line of the previous track overemphasizing the subject but Tuface’s vocals make it a must listen.

They say if a goat is pushed to the wall and has nowhere to go, it’ll fight back. That’s what M.I does immediately as he goes in hard on&nbsp;'Beef' but instead of boisterously dropping lines, M.I playfully takes down any opponent that has been tearing scratches at him, dropping lines like&nbsp;“See them see them they wanna beef me/ now that they see BET on my CV/now that I’m frequently on the TV…”&nbsp;

ALSO READ: <a href="https://www.pulse.ng/entertainment/music/mi-abaga-vs-vector-how-both-rappers-have-performed-on-previous-beef/ec3e04s">How MI Abaga performed on beef prior to Vector</a>

Finally, he responds to his ‘frenemy’&nbsp;Iceberg Slim&nbsp;while ridiculing his ever present pest,&nbsp;Kelly Hansome&nbsp;when he spits&nbsp;“…they know using my name will help them sell some, so Iceberg it’s alright you’re welcome/but I’m not In their league help me tell them, the Super Eagles don’t play against the Falcons/ see wor-wor pikin (Ugly child) dey form handsome, Kelechukwu clap for yourself welldone”.

The album takes on another path as&nbsp;'Wild Wild West'&nbsp;portrays the ills and sudden unrest in Judo’s hometown Jos.&nbsp;'Craze' also depicts the current deforming situation of the country, as M.I&nbsp;relates his disgust for corruption. The song would have done better on a subtle beat and less incoherent chorus.

But M.I bounces back with the very melodious&nbsp;'My Head My Belle' still sticking to the everyday norms of the society, a high point of the album this is.

All through the album, M.I makes it clear that he’s sticking to his musical side with use of local drum loop patterns and congas mixed with melodious strings inviting other genres into the hip-hop theme. A song like 'Epic' perfectly describes this as the crescendo increases while the song moves steadily as&nbsp;Praise&nbsp;ups the tempo with blissful chants.

Moving on,&nbsp;'Undisputed'&nbsp;shows the Short Black Boy show off his self acclaimed title, describing his present reign as untouchable. “One Naira” without a doubt brings a softer side of M.I as he assures a companion with lines like&nbsp;“hey princess, I’m so into you/ ‘cause you see pass what my revenue is/ and love me for me, clever you/leave you that is something I’ll never do…”&nbsp;while&nbsp;Waje&nbsp;brilliantly croons out the chorus.

And to wrap it up 'Represent' with Choc Comrades; <a href="https://www.pulse.ng/entertainment/music/jesse-jagz-garba-ep-review-anchorman-and-murph-feature/fd28vtf">Jesse Jagz</a> and Iceprince and newbie&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pulse.ng/entertainment/music/brymo-yellow-album-review/8h4zkm9">Brymo</a>&nbsp;has M.I easily taking out the first two with energetic vibes as Jesse and Iceprince fail to deliver.

Conclusively, M.I might not be the most lyrically dexterous Nigerian rapper out there; the words might not always come strong (with lines like “…cause I’m Championship like Inter”, “i’ll follow you like three blind mices”) but the strong attitude and musical concept of MI2 stays intact from start to finish.

Originality:&nbsp;5/5

ALBUM RATING: 4/5

Osagie Alonge on at platforms @osagz

MI Abaga on all platforms @MI_Abaga

Osagie Alonge's podcast on all platforms @amusicintime

The most memorable night in Nigerian Hip-Hop: When MI Abaga Dropped 'MI2: The Movie.' (Pulse Nigeria/Chocolate City)

10 years later, the album remains one of the most important bodies of work, not just for Jude Abaga but for Nigerian music and Afrobeats.

The most memorable night in Nigerian Hip-Hop: When MI Abaga Dropped 'MI2: The Movie'

<h1>A Cameraman with the Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS), Mr Ikechukwu Onubogu, has been found dead four days after he was declared missing by members of his family.</h1>

Although the cause of his death remained sketchy, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the late Onubogu, who was at home with his wife, was said to have received a phone call in the afternoon on Nov. 12.

Sources said the deceased, thereafter, took his camera and left his home, located near the popular Aroma Junction in Awka but never returned.

His remains, now deposited at the Amaku Teaching Hospital, Awka, were reportedly discovered on Thursday by men of the Nigerian Police Force at Obosi, near Onitsha.

In a statement on Friday, Mr Uche Nworah, the Managing Director of ABS, described late Onubogu as a “peace loving man that you would never expect that anybody would want to harm him’’.

“The horrific death of our beloved and hardworking staff, Onubogu, has thrown the entire ABS family into mourning.

“He was dedicated to his job and would do anything to capture images that will help viewers to make meaning of every developing story.

“We will surely miss him. We cannot speculate at this time the circumstances leading to his death as the police is already working hard to unravel what happened.

“Our thoughts remain with his family, particularly his wife, who recently gave birth,” the statement said.

He said Onubogu’s death was a reminder of the dangers journalists face in Africa, in the course of discharging their professional responsibilities.

The managing director urged friends, colleagues and associates of late Onubogu to remember the family in their prayers, in their difficult time.

Confirming the incident, the state Police/Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Nkeiru Nwode, while commiserating with the family, assured the public that the police would uncover Onobogu’s killers.

“The police has commenced investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death; we assure the public that no stone would be left unturned, until the perpetrators are brought to justice,” Nwode said.a

Although the cause of his death remained sketchy, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the late Onubogu...

Missing journalist found dead in Anambra

After 3 months’ successful partnership between the East African entertainment leader Ghafla and African new media publisher Ringier Kenya/Ringier Africa Digital Publishing (RADP), the two parties have agreed for the collaboration to end as of end of November 2016.

This partnership specifically saw tech support and digital native content development as the core to the joint work to develop the sector further: It saw the successful extension and relaunch of Ghafla to an East African vision - with an additionally broader view added to the entertainment core of the Ghafla brand.

RADP’s pan-African Pulse general content and news brand supported this as the leader in a broader field and technology and collaborated with the East African expertise of Ghafla.

Samuel Majani, Founder &amp; CEO Ghafla, and Tim Kollmann, MD Ringier Africa Digital Publishing today highlighted the joint goodwill and gratitude towards this partnership and wish the respective pan-African / East African ventures all the best for the future. While future content collaboration is in the cards, the different core strategies made both partners conclude the partnership in good spirits.

"We have learnt a lot from working with Ringier. We shall be taking these lessons going forward to improve the Ghafla platform and we look forward to working with Ringier again in the near future," Samuel Majani says.

"African digital and social publishing is still in its early stage. Therefore partnerships are crucial to develop it further. We are happy to have concluded a partnership with the entertainment brand Ghafla and its team in East Africa and wish them all the best in their field," Tim Kollmann says.

Samuel Manjani - Founder and CEO of Ghafla

After 3 months’ successful partnership between Ghafla and Ringier Africa Digital Publishing (RADP), the two parties have agreed for the collaboration to end as of end of November 2016.

Partnership to strengthen African digital media & publishing concludes today

Fourteen people remained trapped on Friday under the wreckage of a packed passenger train that derailed en route between Cameroon's two largest cities, killing at least 55 and injuring 575, the government said in a communique read on state television.

The Camrail inter-city train was travelling from the capital, Yaounde, to the port city of Douala when the accident occurred around 11 a.m. local time (1000 GMT) near the train station in the town of Eseka, around 120 km (75 miles) west of the capital.

"There was a loud noise. I looked back and the wagons behind us left the rails and started rolling over and over. There was a lot of smoke," said a Reuters journalist travelling in a wagon near the front of the train.

Before its departure from Yaounde, he said that a railway employee said additional wagons had been added to the train to accommodate extra passengers, though it was unclear if that played a role in the accident.

The collapse of a section of the main highway between the capital and Douala had prompted increased numbers of passengers to undertake the journey by rail. The two incidents, which occurred on the same day, have now effectively cut the main transportation axis in the Central African country of over 22 million.

"There are the bodies of women, children. There are many," said one employee of Camrail, which is operated by France's Bollore, speaking from the scene of the accident. He said three of his colleagues were among the victims.

Joel Bineli, a passenger on the derailed train, told Reuters he saw dismembered bodies on the tracks at the accident site.

Social media users posted photos taken at the scene of the accident which showed several wagons overturned on a slope beside the rail line.

"Rescue workers arrived and they are pulling bodies from the wagon. I've already counted around 40 bodies they've removed," said Rachelle Paden, another passenger.

Camrail said it had sent teams to the site and the injured were being transported to a local hospital. Others were driven to Douala. It expressed its condolences to victims' families in a post on its official Facebook page.

A Bollore spokesman confirmed that an accident had occurred, but offered no further details.

Many rail lines in West and Central Africa have a reputation for poor maintenance and failing to respect safety norms. Derailments are relatively common.

Though Bollore is generally viewed as a reliable operator, it experienced another major incident last month when part of a bridge along a line it controls in Ivory Coast collapsed under the weight of a freight train.

Crowded passenger train goes off the tracks along the route that links capital Yaounde with economic hub Douala.

Train derails; at least 55 dead, hundreds injured

As Nigeria commemorates its 56th anniversary as a nation state today, there is the temptation to dwell on the negatives. And they abound:

An economy in crisis, millions of job losses, infrastructure woes, spiraling inflation, a crippling exchange rate and a Muhammadu Buhari presidency that is yet to get its act together.

However, President Buhari’s own words this time last year should provide a ray of sunshine in what looks like a dim tunnel:

“No temporary problems or passing challenges should stop us from honoring this day. Let us remind ourselves of the gifts God has given us. Our Creator has bequeathed to us Numbers – Nigeria is the ninth most populated country on the planet. We have in addition: Arable land, Water, Forests, Oil and gas, Coastline, Solid minerals”, the President said.

He added that: “We have all the attributes of a great nation. We are not there yet because the one commodity we have been unable to exploit to the fullest is unity of purpose. This would have enabled us to achieve not only more orderly political evolution and integration but also continuity and economic progress”.

The Buhari administration swept into power on the back of a mantra and erected for itself a mountain of promises.

These days, it is not uncommon to hear government officials labour to walk back some of the promises or lower expectations.

It was always going to be tough for anyone who had become Nigeria’s President at a time of plunging global oil prices. And therein lies the problem with Nigeria:

Since the country first struck oil in commercial quantity in the ‘60s, subsequent leaders of this potentially great nation simply failed to diversify as the years went by.

The bounty harvests from Groundnuts, Cocoa, Oil Palm and Cotton, have since been replaced by the sweet taste and easy money of oil. With gravitation toward a rentier state, Nigeria was always one shock wave in the price of oil away from an economic crisis.

Two quarters of consecutive negative growth under Buhari has led the country into an economic recession. All of this because the global price of a commodity plummeted. This could all have been avoided if past leadership had acted differently and paid more than lip service to diversification.

The Buhari administration also dithered and plodded where it should have hit the ground running. It took a President facing an economic crisis six months to name his Ministers. It took him more than a year to name an Economic Adviser. It took the administration several months to put together an economic team, the administration took forever to deregulate the downstream oil sector and devalue a currency that had been hit by falling oil prices.

It has been painful to watch, on occasion, as Buhari and his team took an eternity to confront the economic challenges headlong.

But it hasn’t been all bad news from Aso Villa. At last, there is what appears to be a spirited and sincere effort at diversification of the economy, insecurity has been tackled headlong and the administration has confronted the monster that is corruption with bags of nerves and sincerity of purpose. The Treasury Single Account (TSA) has restored sanity to government coffers and ghost workers are finding it increasingly difficult to operate under stricter financial controls.

The next twelve months will be decisive for the Buhari administration as some of its policies hopefully begin to yield visible results or falter.

In any case, with a population of over 180 million, Nigeria will continue to play a significant role in the global economy. Portfolio Investors who have fled the country’s shores, will always return, for the simple reason that the market is here.

Young Nigerians continue to break new grounds in technology and innovation—tapping into the global knowledge economy, one smartphone swipe at a time.

The good days will return as surely as they left, if efforts at diversification from leadership translate to action and if corruption becomes a thing of the past.

So, yes, celebrations are in order today.

An illustrative photo of a Nigerian football fan cheering the Super Eagles

It was always going to be bad before it gets better and at Pulse, we’ll rather see the glass as half full rather than half empty. It’s just the way we are wired.

For Nigeria, things will look up again

Four people have been shot dead at a mall in northwest Washington state and the gunman has fled the scene, police said on social media on Friday.

The shooting occurred at about 7:30 p.m. local time Friday at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington, about 65 miles (105 km) north of Seattle, Washington State Patrol spokesman Mark Francis said in a Twitter post.

A local hospital told a CBS affiliate that it has received one casualty from the shooting. The station reported that a nearby high school football game was evacuated as a precaution.

Francis said police were actively searching for the shooter, who was described as a "Hispanic male wearing gray" and last seen walking toward a nearby highway away from the mall.

Rescue workers were entering the mall to attend to the injured, Francis said in a Twitter post.

The shooting comes less than a week after a man stabbed nine people at a mall in central Minnesota before being shot dead. The FBI is investigating that attack as a potential act of terrorism.

NBC News reported that Washington State Patrol have said that there is no indication of terrorism in the shooting in Burlington.

Four people are dead following a shooting Friday, Sept. 23, 2016, at Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington, authorities said

A local hospital told a CBS affiliate that it has received one causality from the shooting.

Four shot dead in shooting at mall

Kinabuti Fashion Initiative, alongside Pulse Nigeria is set to kickstart the third season of Dare2Dream!

Every single young lady who joins Dare2Dream will be given the opportunity to turn their swag up, develop their confidence, talents, values and principles while opening doors for them to build a career in fashion.

The Dare2Dream team will visit 3 selected federal universities in the western and southern part of Nigeria, searching for the country’s next best thing.

If you have what it takes as a fashion designer, and you believe you can make it, don't miss this great opportunity as this year castings will take place in:

UNILAG on 22nd to 24th August, Afe Babalola Hall.

UNIPORT from 25th to 27th August, New Crab Hall, Abuja Campus.

UNICAL from the 29th to the 31st August, New Art Theatre, Main Campus.

If you are interested in participating as a fashion designer, please fill the form below.

Registration ends on August 20, 2016.

If you have what it takes, and you believe you can make it, don't miss this great opportunity!

Designer agreement

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