Ghana took the world by storm with their crazy dance moves and the uptempo song they called Azonto. The latter was not a genre but became one among the local people of Ghana. 

So for many Ghanaians, a song that could help them move their feet in a certain particular way was called the Azonto song. To give an example will be how Nigerians call some songs Zanku music because it helps you to do the leg work easily. 

Even though Zanku is not a music genre on its own, among the populace it’s an easier way for them to identify that kind of music when and where ever they hear it. 

Ghana’s Azonto grew so huge, international RNB superstar Chris Brown caught the vibes and during his concert in Ghana, he did choreography with Wizkid on stage. 

A certain school of thought believes that Azonto – the music and dance put Ghana on the map more than our indigenous Hi-life music, so much that all over the world people were learning how to dance Azonto. 

Even though the success of that music and dance were short-lived, a lot of people still believe it never died but rather the attention shifted to other types of music.

In recent times, a lot of conversations have come up regarding the kingship and pioneer of music and dance-Azonto. The conversation heated up when Sarkodie from Ghana, Africa’s most decorated rapper made a post that azonto should be brought back. 

Despite the back and forth, some artists released songs to champion the comeback of Azonto but for some strange reasons it did not pick up as expected. 

But recently all the new hit songs in Ghana are songs that actually allow you to do the Azonto dance so easily, so we are predicting that these new songs will bring back the dance and song. 

Kuami Eugene – Open Gate 

Keche – No Dulling 

EL – Still Papping 

Eazzy – DUNA ft Quamina MP 

R2bees – YAWA ft Sarkodie 

Bisa Kdei ft Medikal – Netwerk 

Kurl Songx – Snapchat ft. Medikal

Kidi – Enjoyment

Stonebwoy – Putuu

Mr. Drew – Let me know

Star boy Wizkid known in real life as Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun has over the years churned out many hits such as Caro, Show you the money, Fever, Ojuelegbe, and many others so it was a big deal to his fans when he announced his made in Lagos album this year. 

Made in Lagos was originally scheduled for release on October 15, but WizKid delayed the project to show respect to for activists protesting police brutality in his native Nigeria. 

The idea for October 15 was to celebrate the birthday of Fela Kuti the late Afrobeat Legend but the whole end SARS protests killed the joy and excitement the album would have had if it had dropped on Fela Kuti’s birthday. 

Wizkid FC as his fans are called could not wait for October 30, the new date announced by Wizkid for the Made in Lagos album to be officially out. 

Fans anticipation for the album went up two times than it previously did simply because they have been waiting for a long time and if you waiting for an album from Africa’s Star boy you know the hype will meet the body of work. 

On October 15, Wizkid’s Made in Lagos album was finally out on 11:11pm. The myth behind the time is that when ever it is 11: 11 and you make a wish it will come true. The latter is a world superstition that works for those who believe and use that myth. 

So obviously Wizkid was answering the wish of his fans with the album. After so the long wait, the much waited for Made in Lagos album was out and fans got what they deserve. 

The new Wizkid album received mixed feeling as many on social media tagged the album as Normal. Some Nigerian pundits also called it a great body of work and friends of Wizkid, the likes of Davido, Burna Boy, and others also congratulated him for his beautiful work. 

How ever the majority of fans think that the album is an average one and Wizkid could have done better. 

For all the reasons why you will not like this new album – Made in Lagos by Wizkid, here are five (5) reasons to consider before listening to the album by Wizkid. 

This is OneplayAfrica review of the new Wizkid – Made in Lagos album. 

1. The album is set in an Afrobeat tune. What we mean is, if the Album had dropped on October 15, a lot of people would have understood the direction for the album. The date does not affect the music, we know that but the direction for the album Is afrobeat one that we know Wizkid is great at. A song like Fever, tells us that Wizkid is staying in his own Afrobeats niche, and with this album, he did the same. 
2. The Mood for the Album was SLOW JAM. This second point is proved from the first song on the album – Reckless down to Grace the last song of the album. The songs are 80% slow jam sounds, meaning if you not a fan of slow jam or what some call Laid back music you will not appreciate this great body of work. 
3. Made in Lagos can pass for an alternative Afrobeat album without a doubt. Wizkid is known for commercial success such as ‘Socco’, ‘Nowo’, Azonto, and the lists are endless so for him to toll the line of a slow jam afrobeat takes most of the songs away from the mainstream to the alternative. The album has a niche and it is only people in that circle who can relate 💯 to the songs on the album. 
4. The Collaborations: All the artists’ features on the album have some slow jam rhythm vibe in them. Names like Damian Marley, HER, Burna Boy, and Ella Mai should tell you that he was from the word go looking at staying in the slow jam, alternative afrobeat kinda album. Burna Boy who just released his album – Twice as Tall also stayed in the lane of slow jam for most of the songs on the album. Ella Mai an RNB award-winning singer, sings mostly slow jam RNB songs. Her hit song Booed up, is a typical RNB slow jam. 
5. The Productions: Many Fans of wizkid were looking forward to commercial production at a point but they were Swerved. Wizkid stayed in the same BPM range throughout all the songs – meaning if you not a true lover of music the productions might not appeal to you. 

The new Wizkid album is not one that will give your feet something to move to quickly but if you love music and appreciates the arts, you will enjoy this new tape. 

For song arrangement, Wizkid got it right because the songs are arranged to tell you a certain story-musically.

Did the songs on the album tell us why the tape is called made in Lagos – No, but it passes as giving the album originality and giving the artist a trace as an African from Lagos. 

Were we impressed with the album – Yes. Is it something that we can play over and over again – Yes and will it grow to become a mainstream album – No.

We believe that the album will stay as it is – Alternative sound and might not get more than three-four songs standing out giving wizkid the commercial success he had in the past with so many songs. 

In all, this is a great body of work and one that needs attention. Enjoy the brand new album from Wizkid – Made in Lagos Album. 

https://audiomack.com/wizkid/album/made-in-lagos

 Themes for an album is very important because it tells listeners what to expect from the body of work. However, it is very difficult for some artists because once you set a theme you have to stick to it the majority of the time on the album. 

As an artist your ability to stick to the set theme and mood for an album makes you stand out and also gets fans appreciating your growth stage in your artistic life. 

For some artists they compile their hit songs put it together for fans and call it an album but that is not what Songstress ADINA did on her debut album – ‘ARABA’. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CG96auiJ7qt/

The meaning of the album title ‘ARABA’  is a Ghanaian name for girls Born on Tuesdays. For those who don’t know our culture in Ghana, Adina uses her new album title to teach them that. 

Aside from Adina getting the title of her album right, She also did well in the collection of songs. The records arrangement and titles matched the album theme. 

On the ten (10) track album produced mostly by Richie Mensah of Lynx entertainment, Adina carefully blends her two diverse cultures- the Ghanaian and South African.  

The intro song of the album – ‘Senyiwa’ takes us through her rich Fante culture. Adina samples the old storytelling song Senwa Dedende.

The latter is a mood of joyful coming together.  We also know that the words are for calling a loved one home to eat – meaning Adina was calling us with a joyful heart to not just eat but have a good meal. 

Daddy’s little girl song and Forever young brings her South African culture to full effect and the blend is beautiful.

Even though she had the spelling of Senwa Dedende wrong, she follows it up with Hyedzin which means be strong in English. Both songs will quickly tell you where she is coming from – Ghana, West Africa. 

Adina brings her two sides on one project –  her commercial and alternative sound. Adina has for some years now been delivering on commercial records but is also known for her soul RNB type of sound. 

On the album songs like Daddy’s little girl, Hear Me, and Runaway featuring KIDI brings out her true RNB soul type of music while songs like Game over, Why, Jeje, Medofo, and forever young brings her commercial side into full play on this album. 

The runWay song is a sample of Irene Logan and ASEM’s Runaway hit released in 2009 and produced by Richie Mensah. Kidi and Adina both do a great job on the song.

Adina’s Araba album is fit for all kinds of music markets. Her choice of titles and songs both in  English and twi makes the album open for everyone. If you a fan of commercial Adina you will enjoy the album and if you are also a fan of her RNB soul singing songs you will be satisfied. 

‘ARABA’ by Adina is a great collection of songs one that we are sure will get alot of commercial success. 

Take a listen to the Album – ARABA by Adina 

https://www.boomplaymusic.com/share/album/17554038?srModel=COPYLINK&srList=IOS

Our new music weekly highlight this week features new music from Ghanaian stars EL, the VO Nation, and Afroboss drops another certified banger, the Natural girl MzVee enlists Medikal on her new jam Hallelujah off her new album ‘inVeencible’, Worlasi and, Drvmroll takes us through the yet to be released EP- “Did it ourselves” (DIOS) with the first single called Kilode. 

R2bees certifies the come back of Azonto with their new jam Yawa featuring Sarkodie while Wizkid finally releases his Made in Lagos tape for fans with Ginger featuring Burna Boy.

EL – Still Papping 

Let’s start with rapper EL. The Afroboss stamps his feet on the come back of Azonto with another monster certified December hit song called: ’Still Papping”. 

The song takes you back to the days of ‘Obuumo’, ‘Kaalu’, and ‘shelele’. Still, Papping is groovy and uptempo. Looks like EL has the antidote to his fans asking for danceable songs because this is a sure banger. 

Mzvee ft Medikal – Hallelujah 

The natural girl now turned Sheriff is set to drop a new album on us called: inVeecinble. The album will show us Mzvee’s growth in the music industry.  To kick off the album, the “Baby” hitmaker just released one track off the tape called: “Hallelujah” featuring Medikal. 

MzVee uses her experience and growth in the music space to thank her God for how far she has come. Hallelujah is not a beautiful song but it is an afrobeat song to look out for in the future. 

Watch the The Boldz directed video by Mzvee here: 

Worlasi & DrvmRoll – Kilode 

Kilode (Why, in Yoruba), is the first single and second track off the collaborative #DIOSEP by young Ghanaian artists, @worlasigh & @drvmroll

Worlasi and @wes7ar22 express their frustration in what seems to be an “On & Off situation-ship” between them and their ladies.

R2bees ft Sarkodie – Yawa 

The new R2bees song featuring Sarkodie is uptempo which is quite different from their previous collaborations with Sarkodie. The duo, Mugeez, and Pae Dae AKA Omar Sterling have always delivered on any music genre that has tried so far including Hi-life music. 

Yawa by r2bees is one for Christmas. The new song is in line with Ghana’s Azonto and it got us believing that Azonto is really coming back.

Wizkid ft Burna Boy – Ginger 

Starboy Wizkid drops the “Made In Lagos” album after postponing it due to the then #EndSars protests happening in Nigeria. The new album titled Made in Lagos has some amazing features from the likes of Damian Marley to Burna Boy, HER, and more. 

Ginger off the Made In Lagos album is an afrobeat jam that brings out the soft side of Wizkid. 

Music collaborations are very important especially when there is a good gel between two artists. Artists come together to create music to entertain two different fan bases and also tap into each other’s numbers. 

In Ghana, every time music duo, R2bees collaborates with Africa’s most decorated rapper Sarkodie the songs are always fire. 

So it not surprising that in 2020 the Tema base musicians are back on a song called Yawa. 

The new R2bees song featuring Sarkodie is uptempo which is quite different from their previous collaborations with Sarkodie. The duo, Mugeez, and Pae Dae AKA Omar Sterling have always delivered on any music genre that has tried so far including Hi-life music. 

Yawa by r2bees is one for Christmas. The new song is in line with Ghana’s Azonto and it got us thinking may Azonto is really coming back.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CG9ylqVFoTP/

In the past, Sarkodie had revealed that it was time to bring Azonto back and to start the campaign he dropped a song to get his fans ready for the new Azonto season.

Listening to the Yawa song by R2bees, it is not surprising that they chose Sarkodie for this song. The “Gimme way” hit make always knows how to carefully weave his lyrics on beats like this to get people dancing and excited. 

The new R2bees collaborations with Sarkodie come after songs such as the Bayla trap and Ajei, even though Sarkodie and Omar Sterling have jumped on a song called Oluwa is Involved before. 

The Jay directed music video takes viewers back to a time we have to make sure our TV antennas are properly fixed just to watch a black star football match. 

Yawa video is not just hilarious but it has elements of our Ghanaian culture in there with the setting of a typical ghetto neighborhood. 

Enjoy the new R2bees jam featuring Sarkodie called Yawa. 

Our weekly new music video highlight this week features the brand new single from Ghanaian stars Sista Afia, Eno Barony, and Shaker. The list also includes Grammy award-winning artist Koffee and girl group Little Mix. 

Sista Afia features the king of Melodies and Money hitmaker Kweku Flick on her new Hip hop Jam SIKA.  The Song inspires every young to go out there to do their best and make some money. 

Kweku Flick who is currently topping charts with his Money jam, delivered yet another melodic lines on this new song. 

Eno Barony goes 100% singing on new single – Had I known. The song that talks about abuse on women in relationships were the first song the rapper did complete singing without a line or two of rap. Eno Barony’s new song is already trending on youtube as fans could not believe that their superstar could sing very well. 

The video was directed by actress Yvonne Nelson and DC Media Director Hafiz. Had I known is already doing well in the music stores. 

Shaker formerly called Lil Shaker goes into a dilemma with his new song “Sometimes” featuring Award-winning Faye. Shaker who is signed to BBNZ talks about some of the things he wishes he could do just to please his fans and Ghanaians as a whole. The Akada Nyame directed video takes you on an emotional journey as the shaker tries to find out what he can do to get his fans excited. 

Jamaican young star and Grammy award-winning artist Koffee remixes her pressure song with the legend, Buju Banton. Now that is a big one. The song released less than a week ago is already a million views and over on Youtube. 

Little Mix drops a new video for the song Sweet Melody. The video released 6 days ago already has over 13 million views on youtube 

A lot of music fans call music that distinct from the mainstream as an Alternative. Since the 1970s, alternative music has been linked to rock music but there is a lot of alternative music of all genres. 

A lot of artists find themselves in non-commercial or what we call mainstream music because they mostly want to do music that suits their personalities and style. 

Alternative music also means challenging the most popular music such as conventional rock, pop, or country and it is often distributed by independent record labels. 

With respect to the above definition of alternative music, two of Ghana’s best in terms of artistry and production have a joint tape coming called DIOS (Did It Ourselves). 

The EP will be out on November 6th but according to the two, the first single of the tape drops on 30th October. 

Worlasi who is known for some amazing spiritual alternative music such as Nuketa, Comot, and the album “the Man and the god” has wowed Ghanaians with some beautiful music. 

Known in real life as Worlasi Langani, Worlasi has also delivered when it comes to featuring other projects so this collaboration tape with Drvm roll gives his fans a lot to look up to. 

Drvm Roll Born Derek Amoah Asare used to be a duo until the other member fell off and he decided to carry on the dream of a production.

He has produced hits for artists such as M.anifest, jay town, Jayso, just to list a few.  

In talking about the yet to be released tape, Drvm Roll posted that he went out of his comfort zone in all angels on this tape with Worlasi. He even disclosed that the first single titled: Kilode ft Wes7ar. 

These two gave props to rapper Manifest for making the link up happen.

Big love to @manifestive the godfadaMC for knockin sense through @worlasigh ein dreadlocks make we finally linkop for this😂

Anyways, Some people might be disappointed cuz they’re expecting a hip hop project but that’s for another time chale😁. This one is 95% frontally groovy. A little out of my comfort zone but turned out great & can’t wait for y’all to hear it. First singles dropping soon & we ask you to support us anyhow you can.”

These two coming together just makes us wonder how the new DIOS EP will sound, so this is a playlist to suggest how the new Drvm roll and Worlasi EP will sound. 

Check out the Playlist 

M.anifest – B.E.A.R produced by Drvm Roll

Worlasi – Nukata

M.anifest – Tomorrow ft. Burna Boy produced by Drvm Roll

WORLASI – COMOT OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

 During the period of March where the world was hit with a deadly virus pandemic called COVID-19, people found ways of entertaining themselves because the world was on lockdown. 

Many sorted to creating their own stay home joy so much that one video-sharing app TikTok became the go-to place for relaxation. 

The music and entertainment world was hit so badly. The cinemas were closed, music streams reduced during the first weeks of the pandemic and a lot of concerts and festivals were either canceled or postponed to 2021. 

COVID-19 also gave entertainment companies new ideas on how to keep their business running and how to reach their audience. One such way was getting people to use social media more and through that, they get to use music to either act, dance, or sing along. 

After a period, the world began to heal. Musicians came together to host online events such as live IG music streaming, twerking competition, and so forth. 

Through that company called verzuzTV created the versus show online on Instagram to entertain fans while they are home. These versus shows are not a competition base but a means to entertain those fighting this deadly virus, COVID-19. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGkyfs8DR01/

 The ideas were simple two artists meet, play 20 hits songs back to back and the world decides who has the most hit songs. We witnessed a lot of versus. 

Out of the versus came Ghana’s version of it called: “behind the Hits” led by Sarkodie. The latter brought a lot of excitement and hope to people as they looked forward to it every evening on Instagram live. 

So it was not new when radio station Asaase radio announced their own versus called “SOUNDCLASH”. Now the name they chose brought the problem. 

The station also chose to start with two of the biggest dancehall artists in Ghana and the dancehall culture has a different understanding when it comes to clash. 

So Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy clash on Asaase Radio meant more than a versus, so for Shatta Wale to say that they wanted to just kick away Covid, could be true but the clash meant more than just kicking Covid away.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CG42T7xJlg0/

Three points to note as to why Stonebwoy expected more than just a versus. 

1. Shatta Wale agreed to the name of the show by Asaase radio as “SOUNDCLASH”. If he wanted to kick COVID away, he could have insisted that the name of the show be changed to something that does not have “war” musically attached to it. 
2. In Dancehall, SOUNDCLASH means – lyrical war. On one stage, two of the best dancehall artists Beenie Man and Bounty Killer have shown lyrical prowess in a Clash before hence when dancehall fans hear a clash, they expected the same thing. Stonebwoy expected the same thing. A lyrical power shows off. The two artists should have come on stage to not just play hit songs but also prove that they are lyrical kings in Dancehall. 
3. Shatta Wale said that he did not know what Stonebwoy wanted from the clash is wrong because for what it is worth, they both agreed to be on the same show hence he could have waited for the show to end but he left after his last song. If indeed he wanted to kick COVID 19 way, he could have stayed for the organizers to properly end the show but he left with his army before organizers could push their final message across. 

https://youtu.be/JA-HKLquT8w

 We all have heard that there is more than one revenue flow for artists in the music space. A lot of people have shared a lot of ways artists can make money from music. 

Most of the time the list shared includes Appearance Fees, Endorsement deals, sales from Streams, Royalties from music usage, sync licensing fees, and performance fees. 

Most of the time, the people that preach that music is not a strong venture to invest in because it has less return on investment forget that when artists feature on another artist’s song they also charge hence that should be counted as a revenue flow as well. 

If an A-list artist does 10 features a year and charges say $2000 per feature that is $20000 tax-free revenue for the artist. This featuring fee can also help build the artist in so many ways and also keep his business growing. 

All over the world, featuring is not free. As a matter of fact, there is A list artist in the world who specifically charges other A-list artists before they jump on the song with them. This is the business side of the show we always talk about but for some reason the moment an artist puts across a charging fee for a feature, the artiste is seen as in-human. 

Haven said that there is also the featuring for the free aspect of the music. That is where two artists connect, vibe, and decide to create beautiful music depending on the vibe they have both created. 

Also, two artists can agree to tap into each other’s fanbase and numbers by collaborating on a song. This type of feature normally happens when there is a genuine desire to reach a certain audience and market so the two artists meet, vibe, and record a song to push each other in their specific market. 

So for features in music, it comes in so many ways but the most common one is two artists having a connection to create music without any monetary charges but all copyrights and royalties conversations are sorted out on paper before the song is released. 

Now, during the week, Ghanaian star Sarkodie replied to a new artist who asked for a feature on his song that it is either he pays or he waits upon the Lord. 

Wo tua aa wobenya no nt3m but s3 free de3 aa tw3n nyame anim ob3 hy3 ne ho animonyam https://t.co/Q8bFjZmsnq

— Sarkodie (@sarkodie) October 27, 2020

The answer got social media to platform Twitter buzzing. While others praised him (Sarkodie) others also bashed him for been bluntly rude. 

Was Sarkodie wrong in his reply? We think, he was not wrong but sounded rude. Sarkodie just did what many A-list artists don’t do on social media, charge new artist for featuring. 

Trust the process. ✊🏿✊🏿🥰🥰 @sarkodie pic.twitter.com/XB6jBK9STx

— #AmenAmenProtectUsAll (@ArthurKwabz) October 14, 2020

This is why Michael Owusu Addo as he is known in real life response came out the wrong way. He could have simply said, call management, and discuss the next steps but rather he openly made it sound like he was looking down on the young artist. 

If it was another A-list artist who had tweeted and asked for a feature, Sarkodie’s approach would have been different hence that is why his right answer feels like it is wrong. 

We cannot count the number of features pending on Sarkodie’s desk right now but there could have a business response to a young artist asking for a verse. What if he had the money to pay- Would Sarkodie do the feature? 

Let’s uplift our spirits with some new music 😊 #HappyDay … could drop any moment from now till Sunday 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/sEiU5E65R8

— Sarkodie (@sarkodie) October 28, 2020

We all know rappers do try to sing sometimes and from time immemorial, a lot of rappers we know have tried singing in songs just to show their versatility. 

Well, we are yet to find a Jay Z or a NAS song that has them singing but at least over here in Africa specifically Ghana, a lot of rappers have tried singing and are very much good at it. 

If we are to name drop, we will surely go with names like Sarkodie, Kofi Mole, Kinaata, Ayesem, Freda Rhymz, just to list a few, and now Eno Barony. 

The song – Had I known sounds like a story we have heard before. The late Ebony’s Maame Hw3 comes to mind when you listen to the song but does not mean that the rapper now trying to sing Eno Barony duplicated the story. 

She was able to stay in her lane of bad marriage and abuse of women. The rapper depicts in her video reasons why some women still stay in abusive relationships and marriages. 

Things like “oh the sex is good” are keeping a lot of women in a bad relationship and the rapper highlights it in her song. 

In the video directed by Yvonne Nelson and Salifu Abdul Hafiz, the male character is seen manhandling Eno Barony in so many different ways just because she shows him, unconditional love. 

The story told in the video is a sad truth and reality. At least this song and video will go back to raise awareness of abuse in relationships and marriages. 

In the video, we get to see Eno Barony’s acting skills. Well delivered, she fits into the character so well and gets you to connect with her story of not listening to her parents when choosing a man to settle down with.

 For some time now Eno Barony has also been showing fans her feminine side in some amazing new photos. The “Heavy Weight” hitmaker while blessing our timeline with beautiful girly pictures sometimes reminds us of her hardcore side. 

In this new single, Eno shows us she is not just versatile in music but also she can diversify in her image and branding too.

Had I known is a beautiful song? Did we love Eno Barony singing? – YES, we did but like most rappers, once the singing pays off, going back to hardcore rap becomes a problem, so we hoping Eno Barony will be able to find a suitable balance for her hardcore -die-hard rap fans and her newfound singing fans. 

Had I known by Eno Barony is out now- Listen and watch the video below.