Free Bella Shmurda, The Port-Harcourt Revolution & Igbo Drill
The hypocritical criticism of Bella Shmurda, why Igbo drill makes sense and the new gen of Port-Harcourt artists.
Free Bella Shmurda
Bella Shmurda has had an eventful couple of weeks. The prince of the streets seems to have the gift to grab people’s attention. His ‘Cash App’ video raised more than a few eyebrows and his interview on the red carpet at the Headies was the ‘bomb’.
It seems Shmurda (not Bobby, by the way welcome back) has riled up quite a few people on that great app for progressive topical discussion and growth, Twitter. Bella Shmurda shared clips from his next video ‘Rush’ and it features topless video vixens with taped nipples.
The controversy here is that some people think that Bella Shmurda is wrong for sexualizing women in his music video. However, some people are asking why is Bella being made a scapegoat while we praise female rappers in America for using nudity as a marketing gimmick?
The WAP coven (Cardi B, Saweetie, Megan The Stallion, City Girls and many new rappers in the new Hip-Hop fem-naissance) have used nudity to enhance their sex appeal. There is nothing wrong with that.
In 2021, we should know that about female agency. Women have the right to portray themselves however they please.
Hip-Hop culture has had a troubled past with the depiction of women in music videos. Nelly’s (x-rated) ‘Tip Drill’ is just one example of an infamous rap video that sexualizes women. The genre itself is notorious for creating the term ‘video vixen’, hyper sexualized glam dolls created to fulfill the sexual and egotistical fantasies of the male rapper.
We are in an era where this generation wants to right the wrongs of the past. And that’s cool but we shouldn’t be in a haste to crucify everyone so as to score ‘woke’ points.
Is Bella Shmurda being criticized because he is a man or because he has sexualized these video models who to the best of my knowledge were not forced to be in the video? I would like to believe they chose to appear topless. And isn’t this what the world is striving towards- where women can make their own decisions without being bullied or coerced?
Nigeria’s (faux) conservatism is another issue. Nudity is seen as a taboo. Porn Hub might be doing mad numbers in Nigeria but a small display of flesh can get the moral police after you.
Bella Shmurda has done nothing wrong. It’s art and art is relative. If you don’t like nudity, then don’t watch it.
Igbo Drill
If you have been living under a rock for the past few weeks, you would have still heard the viral drill hit ‘Looseguard’ by the upstart rapper Styles.
The song, which was uploaded to Audiomack in December last year, cracked through the algorithms of social media to become an Internet hit.
“It was one night around the end of January or early of February that two Instagram influencers used my song to dance in a clip. They posted everywhere including TikTok and people started asking who owned the song” reveals the Imo born rapper.
Styles (Onwusonye Samuel Ikokwu) admits to Naija Times that he knew little about the rap music sub-genre until he released the song.
“To be frank, I never knew anything about drill beats. I never had any idea that it was drill (music)” he tells Naija Times.
Drill isn’t new in Nigeria with new rappers such as Psycho YP, Tomi Obanure and others repping the sound that first came out of South-South Side Chicago and is now rocking cities like New York, London, Paris, Moscow, Sydney and Accra - which has the hottest drill scene (called Kumerica) in Africa.
‘Looseguard’ is most likely the first drill song to crack the mainstream scene in Nigeria. And while some might see it as a Tik-Tok engineered success, it’s popularity hinges on something deeper.
Former South Africa President, Nelson Mandela is known to have said “Because when you speak a language, English, well many people understand you, including Afrikaners, but when you speak Afrikaans, you know you go straight to their hearts.”
If you want to express an idea to a group of people, it is best you speak their language. This is the bedrock of the song ‘Looseguard’. And if you peep the drill scene in Ghana, most of the songs are delivered in native language.
This is just my theory.
Stand Up for the PH Revolution
The city of Port Harcourt has always been a hotbed for talent. Over the years, acts such as M-Trill, Burna Boy, Korkormikor, Mr. 2Kay, Duncan Mighty and others have emerged from the oil rich city.
The production line hasn’t stopped as Omah Lay and Ajebo Hustlers are the two latest acts out of the city.
In less than two years, Omah Lay has risen from obscurity to be one of the hottest new acts from Nigeria thanks to the runaway success of his ‘Get Layd’ EP which landed him a deal with Warner Music Group.
Ajebo Hustlers (made up of Knowledge and Piego) scored a hit with the street conscious ‘Barawo’ in 2020 and tapped Afrobeats superstar Davido for the remix. This year, Ajebo Hustlers and Omah Lay have teamed up for the single ‘Pronto’, a bonafide made in PH street jam.
The single highlights a deviation from the Lagos influenced style of Afrobeats. Their choice of words, lingo, rhythm and bounce on this record will make it one of the stand out tracks of the year.
Let’s see how far Ajebo Hustlers and Omah Lay will go in repping their city. I bet they will go far.
Speaking of regions, what happened to J-Town? Did it fall off?
Extra
It’s been a busy week for Burna Boy but let’s keep it focused on the music. The African Giant has been tapped to perform at the Grammys Premiere ceremony to be hosted by Jhene Aiko.
Niniola has released a new EP, ‘6th Heaven’ which focuses more on her R&B side.
Fireboy has unlocked the visuals to his hit single ‘Champion’ featuring American rapper D Smoke.
Plug
Listen to the project ‘Going Home’ by the Nigerian-American artist Kelechi. This guy has enough bars and melodies to go on for days.
Like most Nigerian-American acts he touches on his Nigerian heritage, American experience with exceptional skill. ‘Going Home’ is a project you should be playing this weekend. Shout out to Angry Mob for letting me know about this.
Wrap-Up
Rest in Peace Doctor Frabz. ‘Idi Nla’ is still knocking speakers.