Ruggedman Says He Is Not Dating Maheeda

A few days ago, Ruggedman and model, Maheeda both posted the picture you are seeing above on their Instagram pages. People took on look at their poses in pic and concluded the two most be dating. Ruggedman has spoken on this, saying he and the model are just friends, and nothing more. He even went as far as letting the world know that he has known her long before she recently became famous. 





Below are Ruggedman's words according to lawrenciaudife.com

Top 5 Nigerian Rappers

In 2014, a couple of rappers that were hot in 2012/2013 have gone cold, so I want to list the top 5 rappers in Nigeria that are still on top of their game.






5.  Ice Prince
He may not be the most skilled rapper, but you got to give it to the dude for putting in the work. He was probably the hottest in 2012/2013. He did his thing with his Fire Of Zamani album last year, with all the hits and multiple international collaborations.





4.  Vector
Even though I still can't get over the fact that he sounds exactly like Jay Z, I can't dispute the fact that this dude is super talented. Listening to the two songs (Popular and Police) he dropped towards the tail end of last year, you know the dude's music will stand the test of time, and become the classics of the future.









3.  Phyno
After he and Olamide collaborated for Ghost Mode two years ago, Phyno hasn't looked back ever since. From Man Of The Year, to the numerous guest appearances he does, Phyno lets the world know that he is not just a fad, but the real deal.







2.  Reminisce
I was skeptical about dude at first. I heard his early party jams in 2012, and even though I heard some creative lines in them, I thought he was going to be a flash in the pan. Then 2013 came, and he started dropping real raw rap songs. He still does songs like Daddy (feat. Davido) to keep the show-money flowing, but this dude has got bars for days. The fact that he spits his rhymes in a mixture of Yoruba and English doesn't reduce his fan-base, but the mystique around that makes him more popular.








1.  Olamide
I tell people all the time that Olamide is the most hard working rapper in Nigerian music history, period! I think he had to work harder than ever to prove people he wasn't a Da'Grin wannabe, and that he had his own style too. This dude is killing everything right now...dancehall songs, rap songs, R&B songs, afrobeat songs...you name it. He is super versatile, and he doesn't seem to be slowing down with the creativity any time soon. I crown Olamide the King of Nigerian rap right now in 2014.

Jesse Jagz Speaks on Current State of Nigerian Music

The multi-talented rapper, and producer extraordinaire, Jesse Jagz kicked it with Hip TV a couple of days ago, and he had some enlightening words to share on the current state of music in Nigeria. He dropped his 2nd album (Jagz Nation, Vol. 1. Thy Nation Come) last year, and it was just as successful as his first. He has spent most of his career in the studio, cooking up beats for big stars like M.I (his blood brother), and Ice Prince, but still manages to have his own voice in the music world.

During the course of his interview with Hip TV, he got talking about the current state of music in Nigeria, and I couldn't agree more with his views on the subject.





"Musicians are coming up every time. I sit down here...musicians are coming up everyday. You know what I mean. I hear their music and I'm like, whoa! I need to sit up. You know what I mean. Like...Like we do need to understand that the world is literally a global village. When we like to give excuses like language is a barrier; language is never a barrier. Awilo was the biggest artiste here some time in my life. You know what I mean. We were dancing to Gangnam style here. Tupac and Biggie are probably still the biggest...If you could bring them back to life, they would literally have the biggest shows in Nigeria, or in Africa today. And I'm saying, for me, it's about getting back to the real. You know...where it IS really- the hearts of the people."



Hmm! Very true, don't you think? I heard T-Pain's new single(If I Got It) yesterday, and when Tuface's part came up, I was really happy he didn't try to conform or sound like what the American market are used to. He is different, and he gave them him- different. And sometimes, different might be what the people want to hear.

Wale Speaks on His Nigerian Roots & Working With Wizkid and Olamide

Although he had never been to Nigeria before last year, Wale (real name- Adebowale Victor Folarin) has his roots deep in the country. His parents left Nigeria for Austria in the late 70's; they stayed there for a short while before traveling to America in 1979. According to Wale, more than 60% of extended family members are still in Nigeria. So, it was really a big deal for him traveling to the Motherland last year. Wale is a commercially successful Nigerian-American rapper, who rose to prominence in the late 2000's. He is currently signed to Rick Ross's MMG record label.




In a recent interview on Hot 105.1 FM, with The Breakfast Club crew (DJ Envy, Angela Yee and Charlamagne Tha God), he spoke on his Nigerian roots, and what traveling home last year meant to him.







“So, I met my grandfather for the first time. So, it was really intense. And I don’t really show that side of myself. I like to keep my personal life away. Y’all get my emotional, but y’all don’t really get the—y’all don’t know who I’m dating…I use my real, Nigerian name. That’s the first red flag of embracing it. You know what I’m saying? My first album I sampled a famous African record. Did a video for it. I’ve worked with Wizkid. I’ve worked with [Olamide]. I’ve worked with a lot of these people. Just because they not on the U.S. radar—I don’t know if I need to go Lil Wayne on niggas and put the tattoo of a Nigerian scripture, Nigerian Yoruba scriptures on the side of my face so they can be like ‘Yeah.’ I don’t know if I gotta come in wearing an agbada or something like that. But I do my best…That’s like Drake walking around with a yamaka.”

Hmm! Interesting. I know he has done two songs with Wizkid, but I haven't heard the song he did with Olamide. I gotta check for that one...I know it will be dope. For those that don't know who the two people he mentioned are, they are among the biggest stars in Nigeria at the moment. Wizkid is more of a pop star, and Olamide is a rapper, who delivers his verses in a mix of English, broken English, and Yoruba (a local Nigerian dialect).

Ebony "Wondagurl" Oshunrinde Talks About Producing On Jay-Z's Magna Carta Holy Grail

16 year old Nigerian-Canadian, Ebony "Wondagurl" Oshunrinde probably never thought she would be producing for Jay-Z this early in her career. In a recent interview with CBC, she spoke about how her inspiration for music production came from watching a video of Jay-Z and Timbaland working in the studio...she was just 9 at the time. How the Universe works; it is not a coincidence that she ended up producing for Jay-Z.

Read up how her beat ended up on Jay-Z's Magna Carta Holy Grail-

“I was at home one day and I was looking for reggae samples for a while and I finally found this one that was like crazy, it was Sizzla's ‘Solid as a Rock. I took it and I cut it up and I put it in the software FL Studio and I started building around it, just adding 808s and the more I built, I knew what I wanted.”




She had Pusha T in mind while making the beat, and sent it to her friend (Travi$ Scott- Producer/Rapper) to help get it to Pusha T. But things took an unexpected turn. Travi$ Scott had been working with Jay-Z on Magna Carta Holy Grail at the time, and played the beat for Jay. Jay-Z liked it, and it ended up being the 8th track ("Crown") on Jay's latest album. 

Read on...
A few days after, [DJ Travi$ Scott] messaged me and said I’m about to change your life. He called me actually and then said you’re on Jay-Z’s album and like congratulations […] I felt like crying.


Wondagurl adds some of inspirational words-
You can do anything that you want. Not even in music, in anything that is male dominated, you can do it. Just try.





Seriously, you really can do anything...you can do, be, or have anything you want. It's just that half the people don't know exactly what they want. They let society dictate their lives, so their wants and desires keep changing. This girl's story is not magic; she had a goal since she was 9, and she stuck with it. And 7 years later, at 16, she achieved it. It is nothing but up for her from here on. This is really an inspirational story.

Weird MC Comments On Marital Status

Weird MC is one of the oldest FemCee's in the Nigerian music industry. I remember her big hit, Allen Avenue from when I was in primary school, some 20 or so years ago. You can't think of Nigerian Hip Hop and not think about her, cos she was the first doing it, regardless of gender. Weird MC really is weird, and her androgynous looks make people question her sexuality. Not much is known about that. She recently dropped two new tracks, Ijoya (Remix) and Fiesta, and HipHop World Magazine caught up with her while she was promoting the singles. When she was asked whether they were any plans of marriage in the near future, she said...

“No, I don’t have time for that. It’s not even in my plans. Right now I’ve got an album coming out, so that’s not in my plans.”

Niyola Realses 2 New Singles- 'Crazy' and 'Toh Bad'

E.M.E Records first lady, Niyola just released two new singles- 'Crazy' and 'Toh Bad.' When she signed with Banky W's label last year, I knew great things would come out of the marriage. Niyola has been around for a while, but was off the scene for a while before she got with her new label. Eniola Akinbo (Niyola) has only gotten better, and is right now one of the best female R&B singers in Nigeria

Download Crazy- Here.   And Toh Bad- Here


There are so many musicians out there now, and so many songs are released every week. So, if any song catches my attention, trust me when I say the song has to be extraordinary. The two songs above from Niyola are heavenly...great voice, great singing.

Wale's 'The Gifted' Album Tracklist And Cover Art

Wale's third album, The Gifted is set for a next month release...June 25th to be precise. The lead single of the album, Bad, which features Tiara Thomas has been at the number one position on the Billboard Chart's "R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay" category for several weeks. This will definitely be a big release for Rick Ross's MMG Label when it drops in June. Wale's last album, Ambition (2011) did good commercially, selling over 500,000 copies in the U.S.

Check out the tracklist and album cover-art below...

1. The Curse of the Gifted
2. LoveHate Thing (Feat. Sam Dew)
3. Sunshine
4. Heavin In the Afternoon
5. Golden Salvation (Jesus Piece)
6. Vanity
7. Gullible
8. Bricks
9. Clappers
10. Bad (Remix)
11. Tired of Dreaming
12. Rotation
13. Simple Man
14. 88
15. Black Heroes
16. Bad (Feat. Tiara Thomas)

D Banj Signs With Mercury Records

I guess things are looking really good for D Banj, even with all the brouhaha going on with the Mo Hits crew. It became official in Feb that he was parting ways with his long time friend and partner in business, Don Jazzy. Since that happened, people concluded that D Banj couldn't go far without Don Jazzy. I guess this news, that he has singed with Mercury Records should give his haters a reverse of thought. He also released the video to his hit song, Oliver Twist, which had Kanye West and some other G.O.O.D Music artist making cameos a couple of weeks ago.









Mercury Records is a Standalone company in the U.K and part of the Island Def Jam Group in the U.S: both are subsidiaries of The Universal Music Group. What this means is that D Banj is global. Mercury would distribute his music in the U.K and all over Europe, G.O.O.D Music/Island Def Jam would handle the U.S angle, and you already know he has Africa covered. I wish him all the best in his BIG DREAMS!