Tu Face: MTV Best African Artist, 2005
Tu Face, a Nigerian won the Best MTV African Artist for the year 2005.
I love my country, particularly the eclectic mix of musical artists, I just returned from Nigeria, and I must say that it can be quite “rugged” and frustrating in that part of the world. One thing, just one thing, that I found soothing and helped ease the pain during my stay was the music, “the Naija music”, has I’ve dubbed them. From the mediocre, Hip-hop rapper wannabes that always get me going on laughing spasms, to the serious, articulate and legits that would make even Quincy Jones, Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis, or Dr Dre pause in their tracks.
Yes, Nigeria has them in abundance: gifted lyrists dropping myriad of renditions in all Nigerian dialects. From Mike Aremu- a quite refreshing gospel Saxophonist, to Fela Kuti- the late enigmatic Afro-beat exponent, and from the very vintage Osita Osadebe, to the neophyte Tu Face Idibia, (well, that is no longer accurate, he has cut a niche and solid reputation for himself now!) I just love them all, and have been loading them up in my Nanopod as quickly as I can get them.
Back to Tu Face; he has been prominently featured on MTV Base - the African version of the network, since its debut. According to the Nigerian news daily, The Guardian:
"Tu Face cemented his solo popularity with his catchy, lyrically inspired, heartfelt songs, sung in a mixture of English, local dialect and Pidgin English. A truly iconic status was conferred by the massive success of his hit song, African Queen, a soulful anthem to the beauty of African women, which won fans across the African continent, and was subsequently chosen as the first ever song played on pan-African music channel and MTV's 100th channel, MTV base".The co-contenders for the Best African Artist were; Zamajobe (South Africa), Kaysha from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kleptomaniax (Kenya) and 02 (Angola).
I say that if Nigerian bureaucrats and politicians are half as smart and gifted as the artists and artisans in the country; Nigeria would be far better and advanced than it is at present.
Congratulations Tu Face!
PS: Now that the accolades and dough are pouring in, would you get yourself a well-designed website, please?
Tags: Nigeria Tu Face MTV Base
Imnakoya @ 11/05/2005
PermaLink |
|
<< Home