Ice Prince, 2Face, Darey, Dr. SID Lead The Headies Nominees List

The nominees for the annual urban music awards The Headies awards (formerly known as HipHopWorld Awards) have been announced and Chocolate City rapper Ice Prince tops the list with an amazing nine nominations. The Chocolate City act is closely followed by pop star 2face Idibia who is up for seven nominations.

Ice Prince was nominated for ‘Song of the year’, ‘Producer of the year‘, ‘Best Rap Single‘ for ‘Oleku‘ and ‘She and my Swagga‘, ‘Lyricist on the roll‘, ‘Best Collabo‘ for ‘Oleku‘ and ‘Joor Oh Remix‘, ‘Next Rated‘ and ‘Best street hop‘ for ‘Joor Oh Remix‘. He shares three of his nominations with rapper Ruggedman and pop singer Jah Bless.

Other artistes with multiple nominations include rapper turned singer Dr. SID and R&B singer Darey with six nods each; rapper M.I (5); D’banj and new kids on the block Wizkid and oLamide score four (4) nominations each.

Also this year, a ’Best Conscious Music category‘ has been added while the ‘Best Reggae Artiste’ category has been pulled off.

The nominations were announced via the official website www.theheadies.com, and on the Beat 99.9 FM today, Tuesday, August 2, 2011.

Check the full list below…

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Best album (solo or group) in year under review, that meets judges’ requirements of excellence (in realms as: songwriting, production, rendition and promotion) and acceptability (sales, popularity)

MI2 – M.I

Back From The Future – Sound Sultan

Turning Point – Dr Sid

Beautiful Imperfection – Asa

Unstoppable Int’l Edition – 2Face

ARTISTE OF THE YEAR

Most critically and commercially adjudged artiste in the year under review. Overall most successful artiste for the year under review.

Darey

M.I

D’banj

2face

Duncan Mighty

SONG OF THE YEAR

Most popular song from an album in the year under review. Decided by voting

Oleku – Ice Prince Ft. BrymO

Only Me – 2Face

Give It To Me – D’Prince ft. D’banj

Pop Something – Dr Sid ft. D’banj

Fimile – Kas

RECORDING OF THE YEAR

Best single recording (On-air only or released) by artiste or group in year under review. Originality and production very essential

The Way You Are – Darey

God Hand – Eva

Rain Drops – 2face

Be My Man – Asa

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

The individual responsible for producing the most acclaimed songs/album in the year under review. His CV for the year includes top-notch tracks and production credits no one can fault.

Don Jazzy – ‘Over the Moon’ by Dr Sid, Mr Endowed, Pop Something

Samklef – Don’t Dull, Kilode, Jonzing World, Noni

J Sleek – Only Me, 2010

Jesse Jagz – Oleku, Jargo

Cobhams – The Way you Are, There Is A Cry

BEST MUSIC VIDEO (AWARD GOES TO DIRECTOR)

Best conceptualised, best edited, best picture, best directed and most exciting video in year under review as voted by fans and decided by the jury.

Patrick Elis – Holla At Your Boy

Clarence Peters – You Know It (Goldie)

Gini – Ko Ma Roll (Mo’Cheddah)

Mex – Pop Off Selecta (Dipp)

DJ Tee – Eni Duro (Olamide)

BEST R ‘N’ B SINGLE

Best R&B single in year under review (by single individual or group)

Only Me – 2Face

The Way You Are – Darey

I Gat Money – Femi Ft. Eedris

For A Minute – Waje

Oyi – Flavour

BEST POP SINGLE

Best pop single in year under review (by single individual or group)

Give It To Me – D’Prince

Pop Something – Dr. Sid

Holler At Ur Boy – Wizkid

Endowed – D’banj

Fimile – Kas

BEST R ‘N’ B/ POP ALBUM

Best R&B or pop album in year under review (by single individual or group)

Turning Point – Dr Sid

Beautiful Perfection – Asa

Back To The Future – Sound Sultan

Double Dare – Darey

Unstoppable Int’l Edition – 2Face

BEST RAP SINGLE

Best single released on-air recording of a rap song

Oleku – Ic Prince

Ten Over Ten – Naeto C

Boys Are Not Smiling – Terry Tha Rapman

Eni Duro – Olamide

She and My Swagga – Ruggedman feat Ice Prince

BEST RAP ALBUM

Best album by a rap artiste or group in year under review

Untouchable – Ruggedman

MI2 – M.I

I Am William – 2Shotz

African American – Sauce Kid

Boys Are Not Smiling – Terry Tha Rapman

LYRICIST ON THE ROLL

Rap Artiste with best lyrical depth and performance on a single song or album

Modenine – Rhyme Tight

Ice Prince – Oleku

MI – Undisputed

Terry Tha Rapman – Boys Are Not Smiling

Vector – Get Down

BEST COLLABO

Best R&B, Pop or hip hop collaborative track (including cameos) in year under review

You Know it – Goldie ft Eldee

Facebook Love – Essence ft Jaywon

Joor Oh (Remix) – Jahbless ft. Ruggedman, Ice Prince, Durella, Reminisce & Eldee

Number One – M.I ft. Flavour

Oleku – Ice Prince ft. Brymo

BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCE (MALE)

Single male artiste with most outstanding vocal performance on a single song or album

Darey – The Way You Are

Bez – More You

Femi – Money Money Money

Timi Dakolo – There Is A Cry

BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCE (FEMALE)

Single female act with most outstanding vocal performance on a single song or album

Waje – For A Minute

Tiwa Savage – Kele Kele Love

Eva – God Hand

Ego – Fall In Love

AFRICAN ARTIST OF THE YEAR

None Nigerian category

Cabo Snoop (Angola) – Windeck

R2Bees (Ghana) – Kiss Your Hand

Liquid Deep (South Africa) – Fairytale

Freshly Ground (South Africa) – Waka Waka

V.I.P (Ghana) – Away

BEST STREET HOP

The most popular street-hop single in year under review

Noni – Samklef

Joor Oh (Remix) – Jahbless ft. Ruggedman, Ice Prince, Durella, Reminisce & Eldee

Eni Duro – Olamide

Kabakaba – Konga

Owusagi – Wizboyy

NEXT RATED

Most promising upcoming officially unreleased act in the year under review

Ice Prince – Oleku

Wizkid – Holler At Your Boy

Olamide – Eni Duro

Tiwa Savage – Kele Kele Love

HIPHOP WORLD REVELATION OF THE YEAR

Best New artiste in the year under review

Dr. Sid

Mo’Cheddah

Jesse Jagz

YQ

Lynxxx

BEST CONSCIOUS SONG OF THE YEAR

Best positive message oriented and social corrective songs that meet judges requirements in areas of composition, production, concept and acceptability.

If You Ask Me – Omawumi

Wild Wild West – M.I

Only Me – 2Face

There Is A Cry – Timi Dakolo

One Day – eLDee Tha Don

HEADIES HALL OF FAME

Special recognition for excellence and outstanding impact to the entertainment industry.

Kelly Rowland Goes Topless On Vibe Cover

US pop star Kelly Rowland has covered the August/September issue of the popular urban journal Vibe Magazine. This is by far her most revealing appearance in print as Kelly down the years had been an almost direct opposite of her former band mate Beyonce.

In this ‘Juice’ edition of Vibe, Kelly speaks about everything from the Knowles in her life to sextoy shopping…

Rowland’s career has blossomed this past few months especially with her ‘Motivation‘ single which features Lil’ Wayne – with pundits saying her long-deserved international success may finally be around the corner.

The edition which will also run an alternate cover with the late singer Amy Winehouse will be released in August 2011.

Gulder Ultimate Search Season 8 To Feature 30 Contestants

The eighth edition of the popular Nigerian TV reality show Gulder Ultimate Search is set to kick off as organizers of the yearly show Nigerian Breweries Plc, makers of Gulder Beer announced on Tuesday, July 26, 2011.

Speaking at the Lagos Brewery Bar, Yusuf Ayeni, Corporate Affairs Adviser, stated that the GUS concept was created to promote the brand’s values of confidence, discernment, focus, courage, determination and success.

Ayeni revealed that this year’s edition which is designed to ‘stretch man to the very limit of his endurance’ will be held at the Egbetua Quarter, Ososo Mountains in Akoko Edo in Edo State.

He also stated that GUS8 will feature 30 contestants battling for the ultimate prize as opposed to the previous editions that had 10 and 12 contestants. Participants as usual will be selected through rigorous physical screening exercises which will be held in four different locations – Lagos, Owerri, Benin and Abuja. The increase in the number of contestants is to make this year’s edition more exciting and engaging both to the audience and the participants.

The winner of the competition, according to him, would smile home with the sum of N7 million, a brand new jeep worth N10 million as well as N500,000 wardrobe allowance; while the first runner up will go home with N2.5 million.

The second runner up gets N1 million, followed by the third runner up who gets N800,000. The fourth, fifth and sixth finalists get N750,000, 700,000 and N650,000 respectively. The seventh, eight, ninth and 10thfinalists will also get N650, 000 N600,000, N550,000 and N500,000 respectively.

The other 20 participants will get N150,000 each. Furthermore, a special prize of N1 million would be awarded to the last woman standing in the competition.

According to him, the success of GUS has led to other mass market brands in the country to adopt the reality TV programmes as a marketing platform to communicate their brand essence and values especially to the youth market segment.

Wizkid, Mo’Cheddah, Fally Ipupa To Perform At Big Brother Amplified Finale

The popular TV reality show Big Brother Amplified comes to an end this weekend as the much awaited grand finale takes place on July 31, 2011. M-Net, organizers of BBA have announced that African acts Wizkid, Mo’Cheddah, Fally Ipupa will grace the stage to perform some of their hit songs. Other acts on the list are South Africa’s Professor, Speedy and Tanzania’s Cpwaa.

Joining them on stage at the Big Brother house will be all the previously evicted housemates from this seasons show including the Brother Amplified dance crew. The finale which will last for just two hours will see only two winners emerge.

‘We’re going all out to amplify the finale. In addition to these great performers, there’s going to be one really magic moment when it becomes clear to the final housemates that this year, there are two prizes. We know, our audiences know but the housemates competing for the big prize don’t know this as yet – and I can only imagine their shock and delight when they find out that there are TWO prizes of USD 200 000’, M-Net Africa Managing Director Biola Alabi tells us.

The top seven housemates competing for this year’s big prize are – Hanni (Ethiopia), Karen (Nigeria), Lomwe (Malawi), Luclay (South Africa), Sharon O (Uganda), Vina (Nigeria) and Wendall (Zimbabwe).

2face Opens Up On Use Of Marijuana To Relax

When it comes to drugs, I can say I drink Panadol sometimes when I have headache. Or I can take Vitamin C.
Marijuana? Yes, I have tried it before. I tried it and I felt ire.


I don’t want to even start encouraging anybody or talking about that. But I am just being truthful. I have done it before.
Cocaine, heroin? I have never taken tried those ones.Never, ever, ever.


I have never taken marijuana to go onstage. It was just for relaxation purpose. But like I said, I don’t even want to go there.
So, let’s leave that. I just knew marijuana wasn’t for me. So I stopped. Because it makes me feel I am in another world.
I stopped using it a couple of years ago. I wouldn’t say it was difficult stopping it. It wasn’t too difficult.
It was just craziness that introduced me to marijuana. You know how youthful energy used to push one into things like that. In those days; I listened to songs like Rolling down the Street Smoking.
All those songs can influence, if you want to be influenced. It is not for me to advise musicians not to write or sing about drugs.
One thing about art is that you cannot hide reality from it. You cannot hide the truth from it. It is just like movies as well. You are depicting reality the way you see it from your perspective.
So if you say they should not show guns in movies, they should not show the bad guys, you are distorting reality. You must present things the way they are. It’s the same thing with music.
Sometimes you want to paint a picture of reality. You can’t run away from that. So you say some of these things. It’s basically left for kids to hear it, for them to feel it and then resist it and they get stronger.
Because, sometimes the kid you are hiding something from, the day he would discover that thing, it would be worse than the one who has seeing it since.
The thing is just to bring up your kids the right way. Not letting them fear, but let them see the truth, the reality and make their choices by themselves.

Project Fame Season 4 Set To Roll

It’s the season of music talent hunts again, guys!

Glo Naija Sings has already kicked off auditions in South-West Nigeria, as the Idols-type competition enters year three.

Nigerian Idol, running into it’s second year, is also warming up to roll tape again.

And we can now confirm, authoritatively, that the fourth edition of MTN Project Fame West Africa, is around the corner. Sources close to the producers Ultima Studios tell us ‘all is set’ for the show’s fourth season.

Auditions will begin in a few weeks, an insider tells us. And this year, when the Academy opens, the location will be around Lekki-Ajah, on the outskirts of Lagos – where the new Ultima Studios is being built. The Omole studio was gulped by fire last year, during season 3.

No details yet on what shape this year’s shape will take. But as usual, it is expected that auditions will hold pan West Africa.

Who’s hosting this year? Any addition/subtraction to the Judges line up or Academy? Find out here, soon…

Singer Slam Quits Music

He’s been a member of the rested pop group Oxygen. He’s been signed to Kennis music, where he scored minor hits and delivered chart-topping videos. He’s lived and schooled and performed in England, where he lived for many years, before finally returning home.

But, since moving back home few years back to pick up his music career where he left it, things have not exactly been rosy for singer-songwriter Slam. And, after a failed album, and a couple of unsuccessful single releases, the soft-spoken singer has taken up employment in a Lagos-based PR firm.

Looks like the singer would like to keep this on the low, but our investigations reveal the singer works at the company, Synthesis Communications as a Business Development/Market Strategy executive. His name and office are listed on their official website. We could not immediately confirm for how long he’s been working there.

On the website, the company says of Slam: ‘Ensures 360 marketing strategy and innovations Co-ordinates brand management activations co-ordinates business trend analysis and market survey. Brief CV: B.Eng. Petrochemical Engineering, MBA (Marketing–Stratford, UK) CCNA (Computer Certification). Over 4 Years experience.’ There’s no mention of his music history.

Other members of the defunct Oxygen include Paul IK Dairo, B-Swave and the deceased Tony Tonero.

2Face Idibia And Kanu Nwankwo Launch Football Talent Search

2face Idibia, Deepak Srivastava and Kanu Nwankwo at the Launch of Airtel Rising Stars

Telecommunication company Airtel has joined hands with Nigerian football star Kanu Nwankwo and African music icon 2face Idibia to launch a talent program called ‘Airtel Rising Stars’. The event which was held in Lagos, was attended by sport practitioners, students, youths from football academy, and journalists.

The program will focus on identifying the upcoming football talents who are under the age of seventeen in the grassroots and will unveil them on the national stage by providing a platform for them to show their skills.

The talent hunt is open to both boys and girls and will be carried out in format of regional and national tournaments and will take place in South Africa under the supervision of the Sport Science Institute of South Africa.

‘The Airtel rising stars program is designed to provide a structured platform for scouts, coaches, football authorities and other partners to tap into a vast pool of upcoming talent, courtesy of the program and build strong soccer talent feeder systems for our league and national teams’, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Deepak Srivastava says.

Some of the dignitaries at the event included the Director General of the National Sports Commission, Dr. Patrick Ekeji, Chief Operating Officer, Airtel Nigeria,

Deepak Srivastava, Presidents of the Youth Sports Federation (YSFON), Alhaji Babatunde Ojulari, President of Nigerian School Sports Federation (NSSF), Umar Ibrahim, and Secretary General of All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), Alhaji Laheem Saheed Olusegun.

Others included the Chief Marketing Officer of Airtel Nigeria, George Andah, Chief Sales Officer, Airtel, Inusa Bello, Director, Public Relations & Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the Education Secretary of Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government, Ajegunle, Lagos.

The registration forms will be available from Airtel offices in the several cities and towns.

Amber Rose Exclusive: ‘I’m From West Africa’

So the controversial Amber Rose had a nice chat with Beat FM 99.9‘s Olisa Adibua this morning, during the station’s Morning Rush belt. No she’s not in town; not coming for the Music Meets Runway event (which STILL HOLDS TOMORROW July 9), and she speaks on this and more, over the phone….

Hello Amber, what’s up with you?

Hey what’s up?! I’m so excited that everyone got in contact with my actual team. I’m really excited; I’m on radio in Nigeria right now.

So let’s know what going on in your life right now, we know there was lack of communication between your people and the organizers. There were a lot of people looking forward to seeing you in Lagos, Nigeria on Saturday, how do you feel and what do you have to say to them?

It is very unfortunate; it happens a lot in all different cities where people try to get an entertainer. Basically, the people that tried to get me to come to Nigeria just got in touch with the wrong people. It was just a big mistake but no one’s fault and I’m just happy that everyone is in touch with my actual team now. So I won’t be able to make it this weekend because I didn’t know about it but I will be coming to Nigeria pretty soon, we are working it all out right now and hopefully I’ll be there in the next two months.

Even though you aren’t going to be there, do you have anything to say about the show?

I really wish I could be there, but I hope everyone one has a wonderful time and everything goes well. Men, it’s just really sad because I know if I was there, I would enjoy it but maybe you know next time, maybe next year.

What are you up to? What projects are you involved in?

I have done one movie right now; I just finished another movie like two months ago. I also have my own reality show coming out, my own makeup line, I have another job with BET. So I’m a very very busy girl and I’ve been doing a lot of fun things. I’ve been through a lot of unfortunate events and right now I just want to be a role model for a lot of young girls.

What’s the thing with you and Wiz Khalifa? Is it true; are you guys seeing each other or is it something that has been made up? Give us the low down and if it’s true, how did you guys hook up?

Oh yea, Wiz and I are so very much in love. He’s a very positive person, he’s a great guy. We actually met on Twitter; we would send each other direct messages and we became friends. After being friends for two months we started dating.

A little birdie tells me that you are from Cape Verde which is not too far from Nigeria so it means you are West African aren’t you?

Well, I’m American, I was born in Philadelphia. I’m an American girl but my family is from Cape Verde, and yes I am West African and I can’t wait to visit the continent and show you guys you make me feel I’m really home.

Thanks very much Amber, we wish you luck with all your endeavours and look forward to seeing you very soon in your homecoming to Nigeria and West Africa.

Yes, I’ll be there soon, definitely. Thanks so much for the support out there, I really appreciate it.

Dr. SID Releases Video To ‘Bamijo’ Ft M.I, Ikechukwu and eLDee da Don

Mo’Hits rapper turned singer Dr. SID is really having it good. A successful switch from from the hiphop genre to pop found him winning over more fans than he ever thought he would have as a rapper. Coupled with being on the Mo’Hits ‘ team, the dentist has really got it going.

‘Bamijo’, the newest single off his album ‘Turning point‘ LP is yet another pop feel. No doubt it’s a syrupy tune and with Nigerian favourites like M.I, Ikechukwu (who I am surprised to see here considering the failed relationship with the Mo’Hits camp) and seasoned musician eLDee da Don.

Directed by noon other than Sesan Ogundairo (the man behind virtually all the Mo’Hits’ videos), ‘Bamijo’ comes alive with every verse. Colourful and catchy, the dance routines are well carried out, each performer brings his own persona out. The branded wears and after effects are also on point. This is well above average.