Boogey Shows Off His Mastery As A Top-Tier Wordsmith On ‘Huntn Szn’ Freestyle

By Victor Aderibigbe — 6 months ago

One of Nigeria’s most gifted rappers, Boogey, has kicked the year off with a sizzling freestyle, reminding us why he is one of the best to do it in these parts. Titled ‘Huntn Szn‘, the four-minute-long freestyle is Boogey’s first drop since his joint project with Paybac, “Alternate Ending” — a stellar album many would swear was the best rap project out of Nigeria in 2019.

‘Huntn Szn’ finds Boogey doing what he knows how to do best over a medley of beats produced by Illgod and CHx that interludes with the famous hum loop on Kayne West’s ‘Jesus Walks’. Its video is handled singularly by Triky Pictures.

In this freestyle which he teased a couple of days ago on Twitter, Boogey shows off his unmatchable pen game and impeccable bullish delivery. He also has a word for rappers who in the name of “for the culture” use beef to push their agenda – or someone else’s as the case may be. Towards the end, he gives props to some of his colleagues he feels are worthy of praise recognising the quality of materials they’ve released over the past year.

Enjoy the freestyle below.

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Watch Paybac and Boogey (The Lost & Found)’s Video For ‘Uwaka’

By Victor Aderibigbe — 9 months ago

Earlier this year, a duo of Paybac and Boogey, known as the Lost & Found released their sophomore album “Alternate Ending” to rave reviews. Many have even dubbed it the best Nigerian rap album of 2019 and they won’t be wrong. And now, just over a day after their Lyricist On The Roll nominations in the 2019 Headies for their electric verses on ‘Implode‘, the duo has unveiled the much-teased visuals for ‘Uwaka‘ with Danladi, one of the fan favourites off the album.

Directed by XYZ, the playful video finds Boogey and Paybac having the best of times as they deliver their verses. The video opens with Paybac sporting a white agbada and a hooded scarf, rapping amidst friends in a dimly lit room. The 4-minute video is interluded with a short skit from Pastor Paybac dishing his two cents on what being a yahoo boy entails. Boogey, on the other hand, delievers most of his bars from a lectern with a white backdrop.

Although Danlandi was a no-show, the hook finds the rappers and their friends vibing and flashing fives in several styles. Enjoy the video below and tell us what you think.

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Paybac Is Living Life On His Own Terms In ‘Boy Band’

By Victor Aderibigbe — 10 months ago

After months of teasing, pulling a Wizkid, making us literally beg for the single, and then suspending the initial release date, Paybac‘s ‘Boy Band‘ is finally here. This is the much-anticipated lead single off Paybac’s upcoming solo album, “Cult,” and also his first post-“Alternate Ending” release.

Paybac rapped his ass off on the joint album with Boogey -an album-of-the-year contender by the way- such that he is taking a break off that with ‘Boy Band’ and perhaps “Cult” as a whole. He confidently sings with his raspy voice in his ‘if Fela, the Beatles and Kanye had a baby’ style about his carefree life over soft percussions and organ keys. The song samples ‘Acid Rock‘ by the 70s Afro-Rock Band, The Funkees and is produced by LearnTheCreator.

Opening with the disclaimer “I no dey for gang, this na Boy Band,” the record finds Paybac a rebel, living the life of a rockstar. He might not have all the money in the world, but he makes the best use of what is at his disposal to live solely on his terms, not giving a hoot about anyone’s approval. He wants no troubles either.

The hook is an infectious one that’d have you humming, singing or even shouting along in no time. Enjoy ‘Cult‘ above.

P.S: Paybac, don’t make us choke to death as we hold our breaths for ‘Uwaka‘s video. Thank you. You’re welcome.

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Best Rapper In Africa Or Nah: What’s Next For Nigerian Hip-hop?

By Victor Aderibigbe — 11 months ago

Immediately Blaqbonez crowned himself the best rapper in Africa, all hell broke loose on Nigerian hip-hop. The 100 Crowns rapper first made this audacious claim in the maiden edition of the AKtivated Sessions titled ‘Best Rapper In Africa‘ and the reaction was volcanic. The hip-hop community quickly spiralled into long polarising debates over the validity of Blaq’s claims. While some admired his confidence and assertiveness, others dismissed him as a nuisance and an attention seeker who had nothing to back such daring claim.

If attention was the goal, Blaqbonez definitely got it.

The debates further diffused into claims and counterclaims, diss tracks flying around with not-so-subliminal shots, directed at the rapper and his associates. After a couple of weeks, the pink-haired rapper reaffirmed his claim in his latest release ‘Best Rapper In Africa’ where he took aim at rappers like TenTik, Holyfield and also called out some of his colleagues for being craven. This, in turn, generated swift responses from Payper Corleone, Vader, David Meli and many others. Even the OGs aren’t left out of the frenzy as a video surfaced of AQ, Loose Kaynon and SDC’s Ghost in a heated debate on who was a better rapper.

And all this just mean one thing to the fans, excitement.

The last time Nigerian hip-hop got its fans this elated was in February when the scorching LAMB-Martell Cypher dropped. The culture has always thrived on competition and with projector missiles flying all around, fans are ravishing in euphoria right now. It’s a common saying that when two elephants fight it is the grass that suffers. But in hip hop, when rappers square against each other, the only true winners are the fans. But sadly, the euphoria is going to wear off soon. People are bound to move on. And when they do, what is left?

Nigerian hip-hop has been in a sorry state for years now and despite the several efforts being made for its rejuvenation, the future isn’t looking too bright yet. And this is not for a lack of talent – after all, we can boast of some of the best rappers on the continent – or creativity. Regardless, it seems Nigerians have just moved on to drown their pain and realities in afrobeats. Enough has been said on what hip-hop needs to get itself on its feet again. Multiple articles have been written, plans drafted, discussions had and more.

If not optimized, this excitement and attention Nigerian rap and rappers are getting at the moment will fizzle out back to where we started. But some things can be done to sustain some of the eyes and ears that have been captured in this whole episode for the good of the culture.

To start with, Nigerian rappers simply need to put out good music. That’s where it all starts from, the music. The problem is that many are still stuck in the ‘golden days’ and as such have refused to evolve with the times. Each age has its demands. Some are stuck on 90s-type boom-bap beats all in the name of keeping it real, and then turn around to guilt-trip the fans and media for lack of support when the record simply doesn’t pop. This was what Blaq had in mind when he rapped “If the music ain’t good it ain’t moving/ Your aesthetics will not replace the music.”

Snap out of your obsession with the past. Listen, research and understand the sonic demands of the times and let that influence how you make music. The music world today is big on bending and fusing/melding genres. The lines between genres are so blurry today that they might as well be nonexistent. Experiment with other sounds that appeals to new audiences. Approach other genres from a rap perspective.

Show Dem Camp did this with Palm Wine Music to positive results. The move has been commercially rewarding as they have registered new fans who might have not even heard of their Clone Wars series. They’ve also held two Palmwine music festivals -which recorded impressive numbers – and are even about to take the festival to the UK. Other rappers like Blaqbonez, Ladipoe, as well as the Lost And Found on their last tape have been fusing rap with other genres and it has been rewarding. Falz’s seminal album, “Moral Instruction” was heavily inspired sonically and thematically by Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

This is also one of the major reasons why the so-called indigenous or local rappers are more commercially successful. These guys can make music in a way that resonates with a wide scope of audience. They rap in their local dialects laced with street lingo thereby making their lyrics more relatable and easy to understand, as well as meddling rap with dance music and even introducing dance steps to go along with it. Zlatan is the poster boy for the wide-ranging Zanku dance and its accompanying sound and he is undeniably Naija’s hottest rapper at the moment.

Rappers also have to learn to step out of their shell and work with others. While friendly competition is healthy, there is so much more that can be gained from working together.

Nigerian rappers should be always ready to join forces with one another and synergize over records, projects and even concerts. Collaborations shouldn’t also be limited within the hip-hop circle. Rappers can reach out to acts from other genres like the alte community, soul singers and afrobeat and even Afropop. Step into their space and see their world. This would help to create much more dynamic sounds and also help to share the fanbase with their collaborators.

Over the years, there has been a downturn of collaborations between Nigerian rappers and their pop counterparts. In fact, these pop stars tend to feature foreign rappers on their tapes much more often these days. There should also be much more joint efforts between the English rappers and the indigenous ones.

Visuals also have to be taken seriously too. Yes, hip-hop is a word-oriented genre but videos are very much especially in the visually-driven world we live in today. And maybe as a result of a shortage in funding or whatever reason, hip-hop acts don’t seem to place much emphasis on their releasing music videos. You don’t believe me? Take some of the best hip-hop projects in the past year as examples. “Crown”, “Yung Denzl”, “Bad Boy Blaq”, “These Buhari Times” and the Lost and Found’s “Alternate Ending” have only about two videos released at the moment. Projects with over 50 songs and only three videos out.

Even if proper music videos can’t be done due to financial constraints, rappers and their teams can take advantage of lyric videos and visualizers which can be promoted on social media.

Now the spotlight is on Nigerian hip-hop and no one knows how long the excitement is going to last. Mere buzz or an abundance of talent isn’t enough to sustain the genre. The best that can be done is to ensure that this rare opportunity should be optimized as much as it can. The community has to come together to create and promote premium quality content that can restore hip-hop and rap to the mainstream.

For all the dust rappers have raised in the past few weeks, it would be beautiful to see it all transcend to something bigger and not just fade out to another false start.

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Blaqbonez Backs His Recent Claims With ‘Best Rapper In Africa’

By Victor Aderibigbe — 12 months ago

Ever since Blaqbonez declared himself the best rapper in Africa in a scorching freestyle a few weeks back, many have gone back and forth over the worthiness of his claim. But one thing was clear, Blaqbonez had guts. Right now, in fact, bold isn’t a word strong enough to describe his artistic drive. The 100 Crowns-rapper even put out several calls to rappers to challenge his claim since many felt he was undeserving of the self-ascribed title. Tentik, Payper Corleone and other lesser-known rappers put diss tracks to that effect and now, Blaq, as promised, has replied them all in his latest release appropriately titled, ‘Best Rapper In Africa‘.

On this new record, Blaq is blunt and brutal as he launches ballistic missiles at rappers like Tentik and Holyfield while dragging Naira Marley, Fela Durotoye, Jimi Agbaje and Blackfacae into the mix. He also had a few choice words for colleagues like Fresh L, Ladipoe, Boogey and more. Coming a day after it was initially promised, BRIA is no doubt a bop that finds Blaq showcasing his mastery as a lyricist over a dazzling Alpha production.

Hip-hop as a genre thrives on competition and a war-ready Blaqbonez is giving us a full dose. Although many would not agree with his BRIA claim, it can’t be denied that he is a strong contender. And perhaps, the most exciting rapper out there at the moment.

Listen to Blaqbonez dishing out Ls to your favourite rappers above.

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Boogey And PayBac Team Up Again Under Their Moniker, The Lost & Found To Release Sophomore Album “Alternate Ending”

By Victor Aderibigbe — 1 year ago

The hip-hop duo, The Lost & Found, made up of two of Nigeria’s finest wordsmiths, Boogey and PayBac, has released its sophomore album titled “Alternative Ending“. This album comes just three years after the release of their acclaimed 2016 debut album “Face Off” which got almost everyone in the hip-hop world talking and left them in awe of their amazing talent.

These two acts have proven themselves to be among the most prolific and hardest working rappers around, churning out project after project, while working alongside other skilled producers and industry colleagues.

Just last year, Boogey released his solo debut album “Nouveau Niveau” and “Never Enough” EP with producer Charlie X. Paybac on the other hand also released his debut album “Biggest Tree” as well as “Autopilot“, his collaborative EP with Charlie X to favourable reviews.

This album. “Alternate Ending” contains 13 tracks and features a wide range of artists. For this project, they recruit the efforts of Danladi, Mon Lee, Lyn, Aramide, Jazzz, Maka and Monki Bznzz. The pair appeared together on all but two records on the album. As Paybac delievers a solo performance on the ninth track “The Boogeyman”, while Boogey finds himself as a lone soldier on the tenth track “Paybac Time”. Both tracks are produced and engineered by SizzlePRO.

Just like their debut “Face Off”, the pair finds themselves in the able hands of Chalie X, Sizzle Pro and Black Intelligence as they maintain a steady production team in their second effort.

Enjoy.

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CHx Is Back Again – With Paybac This Time

By Eseosa BeloOsagie — 2 years ago

After releasing the heated collab with Boogey Never Enough, ace producer Charlie x – stylized CHx – is back again with another project, this time in collaboration with rapper Paybac: AUTOPILOT.

We see CHx try something different in terms of production on this project; the simpler beats and movements are easy to appreciate and enjoy. Paybac isn’t hesitant to hurl fire on this project either, the storyteller comes uncensored for this compilation of emotion. The album keeps one oscillating between YOLO and a reminisce, and honestly it’s a mix you cannot help but enjoy. More talent comes from artist JazzZ, ODC, Djaji and Gigi.

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CHx & Boogey Present “Never Enough”

By The PGM Club — 2 years ago

“Never Enough” is a six-song collaboration project from Boogey, arguably one of Nigeria’s best storytelling rapper, and the masked producer, CHx.

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A Chat with Jazzz.

By The PGM Club — 3 years ago

I don’t know why Jesse Jagz went back to Chocolate City; he already left the home and formed a new one, one crafting incredible art through Jagz Nation. He created something thoroughly brilliant, an anomaly on a realm of its own. Still, he gave it up to be normal once again. That’s my train of thought as I transcribe my interview with Atta.

The scene is different now, and we’re not going to let the gems in our society down this time. This is a new age; we are evolving to recognize talent and skill when we see it, and there is never going to be a moment we ignore brilliance in the art. We appreciate the heroes who came before, ventured into different sounds and experimented with the Nigerian sound.

It’s a new age for celebrating the unique, to unbundle our drive for what is different; one can say our curiosity is glaring now. The world is aware of us and we’re connected to it through our phones, the information being created by Africans entirely from our own understanding of what’s happening around us.

We bring a different perspective to the existing plane.

The culture is connected, we’re all one. The music has no barriers; it’s free to ride on our impulse. That’s what I feel while conversing with Atta, the atmosphere that allows her mind breath an air of greatness, a mind filled with conscious thoughts about her craft, her sound, her vision, and brand as an artist in this new Africa.

Jazzz Atta, a neo-soul/jazz singer, and songwriter, decided to push forward with the music in 2014. A time she was with a bunch of other musicians inspired by their vibes to make music her thing, and she’s not looked back since. ‘Somebody’ in 2014 was her first single followed by another titled ‘Aboki’ in 2015 and her third single ‘Body and soul’ in 2016 before releasing her first EP ‘Practice’ in 2017, about a week ago.

A regular performer at Bogobiri & the 90s baby sound off, she’s an indie artist. An indie artist, she explains, means “Well, to independently work & publish your projects without any influence from a major label, or any label. This was the process I went through whilst working on the Practice EP. So you are basically running the whole show by yourself. Thank goodness the internet and social media has made things a bit easier. As an indie artist in the Nigeria scene, my first true fans got to know about me through the Internet, Soundcloud, Twitter, etc. So yeah, I depend heavily on the internet to push my projects. Through the internet & social media, I have been able to get information on shows I’d like to be part of and watch the culture grow. We don’t have the resources of a major label but I am constantly working, practicing, you know, just basically staying ready. I’m also trying to collaborate more, working harder on content, really good content to push on social media.”

This had me intrigued and curious to find out more about her, we had a little back and forth:

The PGM Club: The culture, it’s exciting. Everything feels possible now, right here in Africa. How does that affect the music you create, being in such a creative and vibrant African culture that is pushing boundaries?

Jazzz Atta: This affects me & my music positively. When I started pushing forward with my music, a lot of people tried to exert the negative influence. They went on about Nigerians not having the ability to appreciate good music. I’m happy I stuck with the dream of the culture changing. And now, that I’m seeing and even gaining so much from just the possibility. I am so humbled and inspired to do even more.

The PGM Club: Tell us about your music. Why do you create? What do you create?

Jazzz Atta: I am a really awkward and shy person, which makes it a tangible challenge to speak what I feel. Singing, songwriting, and music are power tools that I use to express myself, to reflect and heal. I am very aware that there are a lot of people who feel the same way I do, who go through pain or pleasure but don’t how to express it all. So I constantly do this for them, and I do this for me too.

The PGM Club: Jazz? Afro-Jazz? Let’s talk about that and your new EP ‘Practice’?

Jazzz Atta: Okay so Jazz… I fell in love with jazz as a child, I had listened to Ella Fitzgerald’s Someone to Watch Over Me… I just couldn’t get her voice outta my head; it was the most beautiful thing I had heard. In any kind of music, I am most interested in the style of the vocalist, then the sound. So Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday and Nancy Wilson became my go-to source for jazz music. I also listened to Luis Armstrong, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra.

The jazz vocal form is heavily infused with my singing. When I decided to push my music I began researching on jazz and discovered that it had influenced a lot of music all over the world. It was one the reasons I chose the name, or rather, the name chose me because with jazz you are always improvising and creating beautiful music. My music is all about emotions and feelings, it is real; it comes from a very vulnerable part, so I really don’t follow rules like ‘this is how this should be or a bridge or a chorus should be this way’. I improvise and allow it become what it can, especially when the sound is good.

So, I don’t think music has to fit in a box. If it sounds good and it feels good, then so what? To me, that’s how I understood jazz. It had so many parts that came together to make it beautiful. Afro-jazz I feel is basically afrobeat. And I really think that the exemplification of Fela and how great he is. We still do not fully appreciate what he did. He gave us jazz in a form that anyone from anywhere would enjoy and appreciate. To simplify something so vast is pure genius, and that is so amazing. The EP ‘Practice’ has been the project I had always dreamed about, but whenever I got close to success it all fell apart. Now I think that, yeah, this time was actually the right time. Why? Because I have grown into my sound and will only evolve from here. So yeah, practice, I have been practicing, still practicing and I’m enjoying the journey. There’s so much freedom in discovering yourself and loving what you discover.

The PGM Club:: What did you discover about yourself and your art while making Practice?

Jazzz Atta: Strength and a will to keep pushing. I also discovered an ability to accept the bad times with the good times, without resentment.

The PGM Club: You’ve been creating more with your performance at the 90’s baby Soundoff, a song with Idris and Boogey off your ‘Practice’ EP, a photography series with TSE… what do you think of the new creative scene and how it’s helping reshape Africa?

Jazzz Atta: I think it’s really amazing and exciting. It’s like being a part of history in the making and I am really hoping we keep pushing the culture. I believe in all these visionaries… TSE, Boogey, Idris etc. and I believe that this is a process that will create a new age in Africa. We need this; we really need this to survive. Our people and land are abundantly blessed with natural and human resources. There is so much raw talent here that deserves to be discovered and to shine. Africa is on a path of discovery and everyone is needed to make this discovery successful, most especially our youth.

The PGM Club: The new age really is amazing.

I want to talk about the two features on your album as they’re both minds we love here at the PGM Club, Boogey, and Idris. How did they land on your tape? What’s the vibe like working on music with them?

Jazzz Atta: Yeah, so I got through to Boogey through my manager, they had worked together previously. So I had heard some of his music and I really loved his style and penmanship. I love that he’s really intelligent and has so much soul in his artistry. So when I had finished writing and voicing ‘Pill’, that’s the name of the song Boogey and I did together, I knew I just had to have him on that song because he would get it and put in the extra bit the song needed. When he came into the studio and recorded his part, I just knew that yeah, finally ‘Pill’ was done.

I got to know Idris King through 90’s baby, and yeah, we had invited TSE to listen to the songs on the EP, so he suggested Idris King for ‘Ice.’ And it clicked. Idris King really came through and gave the song “Ice” that very classy and polished feel. I really learned a lot from Boogey and Idris king, hoping we do more music together because it’s just simply amazing what they do.

The PGM Club: Your music is very personal to you and you’ve also created a visual element to it, what’s the approach you have for your video. I’m curious.

Jazzz Atta: The approach we are working with, is to be as real and as creative with that reality as mind and machinery would allow. Like I said, I am very awkward till maybe, I get comfortable and safe. Though even with that awkwardness, I’m still a very sensual person who isn’t ashamed of that but just needs her own space and way to express that. So, we are really trying to make something out of that… It wouldn’t be like in your face sexy or whatever, just subtle enough to express what it needs to.

This was a unique conversation; I felt something emanate from her mind; a purity of some sort as I listen to her EP ‘Practice’, it’s something I can’t judge alone.

This is what we drive at the PGM Club, the minds creating good music. Sounds created genuinely for the love of music, deserving of that center-stage and how it transcends to both listener and creator alike.

Interviewed by Adedayo Laketu for THE PGM Club

Edited by Jeffery Kalu / Douglas Jekan

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The PGM Radio Show with Ruby, Boj, Boogey (Part.1)