REVit UP ! 06/07 2015 N2,000 THE RISE AND RISE OF NEO-SOUL MUSIC IN NIGERIA THISNAYOSOUL SISTA’S GOT SOUL!!! NO ROOM FOR ECCENTRICS SADE ADU NNEKA KEZIAH JONES ATTA ‘LENELL’ OTIGBA LINDSEY ABUDEI CEFREV it UP ! 06/07 2015 1 SUBSCRIBE REVit UP ! Enjoy and have access to unlimited music: interviews, news, history and lots more! [email protected] T. (+234) 818 455 3331, 818 515 3111 EDITORIAL REV it UP ! At Revilo, it has been our job for several years to promote the best of PUBLISHER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF African culture through our various platforms of music, film, design, and OLIVER ENWONWU publishing. Naturally, as lovers of the visual arts in all its forms, the move [email protected] towards promoting other artistic media has been a long time coming. That being said, we are proud to announce the birth of RevitUp!, the first DEPUTY EDITOR magazine focused on the promotion of alternative, contemporary African LUCIANO UZUEGBU music. [email protected] As the continent’s music industry CONTRIBUTING EDITOR continues to grow, we at Revilo OMOLADUN OGIDAN believe it has never been more [email protected] important to highlight the works of outstanding musicians taking creative risks and producing quality sound. ASSOCIATE EDITOR In an industry where radio play and WILLIAM IFEANYI MOORE television time is reserved for artists [email protected] sticking to set industry standards, we believe as champions of quality work, ART DIRECTOR we have a responsibility to stand up YUSUF ARIYO for the many talented African acts around the globe doing so much DESIGN AND LAYOUT to push the musical envelope. On ABDULRAZAK BOMBATA behalf of Revilo, I would like to thank all those including our contributors, readers, sponsors and media ADVERTISING partners, who have all played huge REVILO COMPANY LTD roles in making this dream a reality. With a focus on the rise of neo-soul music in Nigeria, our introductory Cover issue centers on what we perceive to be a loss of variety in the African REVit UP ! music industry, which may have been hijacked by the monotonous sound of 06 2015 N2,000 Afro-pop. We have carefully put together a group of African artists from around the world, who are creating new possibilities for music from the continent. This includes already established names like singer and songwriter Nneka, who has just dropped her third studio album and Keziah Jones, King of Blufunk. THE RISE AND RISE OF NEO-SOUL MUSIC IN NIGERIA THISNAYOSOUL SISTA’S GOT SOUL!!! NO ROOM FOR ECCENTRICS In Sound Check, we review some of the latest and most exciting albums SADE ADU NNEKA KEZIAH JONES ATTA ‘LENELL’ OTIGBA LINDSEY ABUDEI CEF Image: Nayosoul. Photo: Aham Ibeleme today, from Nneka, Diana Bada and Sierra-Leonean homeboy, Patrice. To keep you glued, there are also in-depth interviews with promising acts Nayosoul, Lindsey Abudei, Cef and multi-talented producer Atta ‘Lenell’ Rev it Up! is published bi-monthly by Revilo Company Ltd. Otigba, while crooner Nonso defines what style means to him. Feel free to leave your comments for our contributors and editors on our website. R E V I L O We hope you enjoy reading RevitUp as much as we have enjoyed putting it Revilo Company Ltd 24, Modupe Alakija Crescent, Ikoyi, Lagos together. T: + 234 818 455 3331, 809 802 7583 [email protected] www.reviloco.com Rev it Up! does not assume responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, Thank you! photographs or illustrations. Copyright worldwide of all editorial content is held by the publishers Revilo Company Ltd. All rights reserved. The opinions Oliver Enwonwu expressed in Rev it Up! are not neccessarily those of Revilo Company Ltd and are published without responsiblity for errors or omissions. Revilo Company Ltd accepts advertisements from advertisers believed to be of good repute, but cannot guarantee the authenticity or quality of objects or services advertised in its pages. REV it UP ! 06/07 2015 3 Revilo operates its own music label and is a content owner and artist man- agement company focused on providing audio and visual entertainment for alternative music lovers all over the world. We represent artists whose music is also socially conscious while providing platforms for them to share their ideas and background about their works. REVILO MUSIC www.revilocomusic.com REV it UP ! 4 06/07 2015 REV it UP ! 06/07 2015 7 News Features 14 The Rise and Rise of Neo-Soul Music in Nigeria 20 No Room for Eccentrics 10 Nayosoul: This Sista’s Got Soul! Interviews 24 Nneka: Living Her Fairy Tale! 28 Keziah Jones: King of the Blufunk 34 Atta ‘Lenell’ Otigba: A Man for All Seasons 40 Up Close with Lindsay Abudei In Every Issue 44 Style File 46 Oldies but Goodies Photo: Aham Ibeleme 51 Next Big Act 52 Sound Check REV it UP ! 06/07 2015 5 GALLERY Ndidi Emefiele, Untiled, 2015, acrylics, mixed pen,compact disc and fabric on paper, 80 x 70cm 24, Modupe Alakija Crescent, Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria T: +234 8184 55331 | www.omenkagallery.com Opening Hours: Monday - Friday 9am - 6pm, Saturday 10am - 4pm NEWS NNEKA: TONY HARMONY: NEW ALBUM OUT THE DEATH OF A STAR It is with a solemn heart that we mourn the loss of Tony Harmony, born An- thony Akpovowovwo. With a career in entertainment spanning from the 80s till his passing in May 2015, his death is truly a loss to the industry and the world at large. Outside of entertainment, he was a well-known humanitarian with the African Unity project aimed at promot- ing peace across the continent. He will be truly missed. Photo: http://thenet.ng/ BEZ: A TRANSGENDER ASA: A FEAST FOR PARODY YOUR EYES Nigeria’s musical golden girl Asa, work- ing in collaboration with JM Films has dropped two visuals to further promote her already critically successful album Bed of Stone. Satan be Gone sees Asa exude her class dancing in a church, while Eyo takes it to the streets with brilliant direct- ing to produce visuals so seamlessly put together, it feels like one take. Photo: http://www.nairaland.com/797475/top-7-queens-nigerian-music After two years of silence, Nneka Photo: http://thenet.ng/ releases her third studio album My Fairy Tales. A mixture of reggae, jazz, and Following the transformation of Bruce Afro-pop, with a splash of Motown. Jenner to Cathylin Jenner, a couple of Fans will be pleased to know the singer Nigerian artists, including Bez took the has retained her signature sound, and satirical route to expressing how they hasn’t compromised her lyrical content. felt about the situation. While there A more detailed review of the album is were a few to choose from, the photo- available in this issue. The visuals for her graph of Bez captioned “Call me Hajiya two lead singles My Love, My Love and Bezlinna Buhari Jenner” had to make it Book of Job are also out. Check them out. here because…well you can see it for yourself. Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org ABRAHAM MUINDA: A SPRING OF HOPE As the story of struggles surrounding refugees dominate the news, the LIRS Migrant and Refugee 2015 Leadership Academy have decided to do something positive to show refugees that there is hope and life for them away from home. Abraham Muinda, a singer/song writer from Congo who migrated from Kenya, brings a message with his mu- sic— “Love is a verb”. http://blog.lirs.org/ REV it UP ! 06/07 2015 7 Omenka is Africa’s premium art, business and luxury-lifestyle brand, published by Revilo Company Ltd., as a quarterly print magazine, an online digital platform and an iPad application. Through its well-tailored content, Omenka aims to position Africa as the hub of an increasingly globalized world by stimulating interest in art from the continent as an asset class, while cultivating taste and defining emerging trends in contemporary visual culture and living, among a new genera- tion of urban thinkers, collectors and enthusiasts. Iké Udé, Sartorial Anarchy #31, 2013, pigment on satin paper, 116.1 x 92.71cm, edition of 5, 3 AP. Courtesy: Leila Heller Gallery, New York NEWS AYO: CATCH HER IN EUROPE If your appetite demands something less festival-like and more inner room, Ayo will also be touring France Sat, Jul 11 – Wed, Jul 22, and Belgium Fri, 31 Jul – Mon, 03 Aug. See www.ayomusic.com for more. Photo: rench-music.org PATRICE: CATCH HIM IN EUROPE If you do find yourself in Europe next month and in need of some good live music, don’t miss Patrice and his guitar in Neuchatel, Photo: Aham Ibeleme Switzerland Sun, Jun 14, Worms, Germany Sun, Jun 21, Laupheim, REVILO MUSIC Germany Sat, Jun 17, and Arras, SIGNS NAYOSOUL France Fri, Jul 3. More dates avail- able on www.patrice.net. Revilo Music signs Nayosoul. Nayosoul is a soul/jazz singer, whose interest in Photo: http://www.reggaeville.com/ music was inspired by listening to her grandmother and sisters sing in the choir. TRUTH AND ART: FILM BY SUNARA BEGUM She has since become an accomplished songwriter, with her music becoming a On Thu, 11 Jun, The Centre of Contemporary fusion of the sounds of today and her Art (CCA), Lagos staged a screening Truth & primary love for jazz and soul. With Art, a film by visual artist Sunara Begum, at its instantly recognizable hits like Destiny premises in Yaba. Held in collaboration with the Train, Ole and Veronica, Nayosoul is pres- MUSON Centre and Goethe-Institut, the evening ently working on her next album.