WANDE COAL TO FLOAT OWN RECORD LABEL

WANDE COAL

The news coming from the camp of Mavin Records has it that their premier artist, Wande Coal, is about floating his own record label.

The label is to be called Black Diamond Records and will have its own artists but Wande will remain a Mavin Records artist.

The formation of the label is reportedly with the blessings of Don Jazzy and it will be a similar arrangement with M.I’s Loopy Records which runs independently even when M.I is still a Chocolate City Records artist.

Don Jazzy is fully in support and it will not in any way disturb Wande’s status as a Mavin Records artist.

Inside sources claim that Wande’s desire to form his own record label goes as far back as his Mo’ Hits days when a disagreement with D’banj almost led to him leaving the label but for Don Jazzy’s intervention and promise to support him.

The time for that support has come. Wande is currently working on his sophomore album and has released a number of singles as precursors to it.

Other artists on the Marvin Records imprint are D’ Prince, Dr Sid and Tiwa Savage who is the only non-Mo’Hits member.

K-Solo Denies Wife's Baby

K-SOLO AND WIFE KIKELOMO

K-SOLO AND WIFE BIMBO

Last Friday, Kikelomo, the wife of music producer, K-Solo was delivered of a beautiful baby boy and this would have been a congratulatory message to the couple.

But as we have recently come to expect from such quarters, nothing is as good or as bad as it seems as the case maybe. This is actually the beginning of the latest saga of the long-running family opera involving these two because K-Solo has immediately denied fathering the baby.

To welcome the new baby, he posted this statement on his Facebook page:

Lil' Wayne Chills At Mother's After Double Health Scare

Lil' Wayne

Rapper Lil Wayne is reportedly coming on fine at his mother’s house after his double health scare last week.

The rapper whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jnr. made two back-to-back trips to the hospital last week after suffering from "a severe migraine and dehydration," is currently resting at his mother's home in Louisiana, TMZ reports.

"Thanx for all the prayers! I am good," the rapper tweeted last Saturday.

According to the online gossip magazine, TMZ, Lil Wayne no longer needs to be hospitalized, but his doctors are still insisting that he shouldn’t fly. He's planning on staying with family and friends at his mother's house for the time being.

The 30-year-old worried fans Friday when he suffered a health scare while he was en route to Los Angeles from Texas, where he had been hospitalized just one day before.

The rapper's private jet was forced to take an emergency landing when it became apparent that he was unwell.

Just a day before, Lil Wayne had landed himself in a Texas hospital after suffering a collapse on the private jet.

"Lil Wayne was successfully released from the hospital after being treated for a severe migraine and dehydration," a rep for the rapper told the News following the Texas incident.

"He is at home on doctor-mandated rest and will return to work soon. He appreciates all of his fans for their support and love."

Due to his dual health emergencies, however, Lil Wayne missed his scheduled court date Friday in his case against Quincy Jones III.

According to Weezy, Jones' documentary about his life is a "scandalous portrayal" and producers for the film shouldn't have had the rights to use his music.

Because the delayed trial will likely disrupt the jurors' lives, however, his legal team may be forced to present the case without him or have it be declared a mistrial.

National Sports Festival: University of Lagos Ph. D. Students Reject Eviction from their Hostels

UNILAG GATE

Some Ph.D. students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) have rejected plans by the institution to evict them from campus during the National Sports Festival (NSF).

The institution has an arrangement with the organisers of the NSF to use the halls of residence to accommodate some of the athletes participating in the festival.

The festival tagged `Eko 2012’, would hold in Lagos from November 27 to December 9.

A letter by the affected students, sent to the acting vice-chancellor of the institution, expressed displeasure at the decision, saying it was, ``a clinical attempt to distract the Ph. D. students residing in the halls from attending to their research works”.

"The eviction will reduce the stability of Ph. D. students in various ramifications, especially in that many of them come from different parts of the country, far away from Lagos”.

The post-graduate students noted that vacating the halls in the middle of their research works would dislodge the psychological balance and focus needed for successful academic pursuits.

The eviction notice in question was entitled: ``Closure/Vacation of Halls of Residence’’ and dated Oct. 17. It was signed by the Dean of Students’ Affairs, Prof. O. O. Amund.

It said the request for an extended stay in the Erastus Akingbola and Henry Carr Halls by postgraduate students was discussed at a meeting with the hall executives in September.

``After a careful deliberation of the matter/request, it was decided that all students should vacate the halls of residence on or before Nov. 20, 2012 in preparation of the National Sports Festival as approved by the University Senate,” the notice said.

The Dean of School of Postgraduate Studies, Prof. L.O. Chukwu said he was not in a position to speak on the matter.

``It is the job of the dean of students’ affairs to comment on the matter,’’ he said.

However, Amund, said that the affected students were not bigger than the university and should not try to be confrontational by challenging a decision already taken by the institution.

``I have done Ph. D. before; so, there’s nothing new in it and they shouldn’t feel very big because they are doing it. People have done it before.

``They were given a notice of two weeks and that should be enough for them to prepare and leave the university premises. Thank you!’’ he said.

Dr Kweku Tandoh, the Secretary-General of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the festival said: `` Unilag is one of the Games’ villages of the festival.

``We requested to use the school and their Senate gave us approval to use it. They told us that they have amended their calendar to accommodate the festival.

``If we had been told that their facilities were not available, we could have made other arrangements”.

He added that it was the Lagos State Government that provided the venues for the festival, and that Unilag was one of these.

FULL REPORT OF HEADIES 2012

OMAWUMI AND M.I

The 2012 edition of Nigeria’s only remaining comprehensive music awards held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos on Saturday, October 20. It was hosted by Chocolate City rapper, M.I Abaga and past West African Idol runner-up, Omawumi Megbele.

A total of 20 awards were given out for songs and recordings by Nigerians within the period of March 2011 to February 2012. Except for one category, African Artist of the Year which went to Ghana’s Sarkodie for the song, “Azonto”.

“BRING ME BACK HOME!”- GEORGE BENSON PLEADS AND LAGBAJA’S MASK IS STILL ON

                                                     

“Bring me back home!” Those were the exact words of the legendary American musician, George Benson. In his very short stay in Nigeria, legendary American musician, George Benson has felt so much at home that he officially requested to be invited back to the country.

The ten-time Grammy Award winner was in the country to headline the third edition of Smooth 98.1 FM’s Luxury Concert which held at the Eko Hotel and Suites on Saturday, Oct. 13.

The show also featured the masked one, Lagbaja, who was also making a belated return to a Nigerian stage. He used the opportunity to remind the Nigerian audience of the good old times when Lagos enjoyed his shows at the Motherlan’ in Opebi, Ikeja.

Lagbaja had earlier dispelled rumours of him removing his mask to a select cast of journalists. “I have not removed my mask; you can see that I’m still wearing it,” he said.

He also thanked the organisers for finding him worthy of performing alongside the American legend.

George Benson had the packed hall rocking to his vast collection of evergreen songs and before bringing the show to an end he requested to be brought back again. We hope someone takes him up on that offer.

TONTO DIKEH SETS THE WEB ABLAZE WITH THE RELEASE OF HER NEW SINGLES “HI” AND “ITZ OVA”

TONTO DIKEH

Nollywood actress Tonto Dikeh alias Poko is the trending topic on the web at the moment. Reason, she just dropped two new singles and all hell has broken lose.

The songs are entitled “Hi” and “Itz Ova” which features dancehall act, Snypa.

We do not have any opinion on the songs yet but what we have gathered, it seems they are basically below current musical standards and all Nigerians have either through their twitter, facebook pages, Blackberry Statuses and so on, had their say.

Here is a cross section of what we saw people tweet at Tonto’s twitter handle, @Tontolet, some of which she, displaying a very expansive sense of humour, retweeted herself:

FEMI KUTI REPLACES CHARLY BOY ON NIGERIAN IDOL

YINKA DAVIES, FEMI KUTI & JEFFREY DANIELS

The announcement was made last Sunday, Afro Beat icon, Femi Kuti, is now a judge on Nigerian Idol and everyone was excited. But no mention was made of the other judges or how many judges there will be on the judging panel for the Season 3 of Nigerian Idol.

We got in touch with the organisers and they simply had this to say: “There are three judges – Yinka Davies, Jeffrey Daniels and Femi Anikulapo-Kuti.”

They didn’t reveal the situation or arrangement that led to the omission of Charly Boy but there has been a lot of issues surrounding his participation as judge in the show lately.

First was the issue of his demands. He was rumoured to have demanded for N30 million as his remuneration for this season which would have been his second season as a judge on the show but the organisers weren’t willing to match it.

Afterwards, everything seemed to have been settled and it was announced that the Area Fada would still be on the show. But there was still a twist to it. He was going to be on it not as Charly Boy but as his alter ego, a lady named Linda.

Then last Sunday was the announcement of Femi as a judge of the show. Many wondered if Charly Boy and Femi Kuti needed to be on the show at the same time.

The idol franchise seem to thrive on having a bogey character on its judging panel and Charly Boy and Femi both seem to fit into that category albeit in their own specially different ways.

At the just concluded Abuja auditions, it was just Femi, Yinka and Jeffrey that participated.

We contacted Charly Boy’s camp to ascertain the situation of things and one of his trusted aides assured us that Charly was still on the judging panel. He said that they were still in contact with the producers and that they have resolved all issues.

 “They sent us a Memorandum Of Understanding and we have signed and sent back to them,” he said. But he also admitted that anything could still have happened but that was the situation at that time.

DR SID ADDRESSES HIS LEAKED CONVERSATION WITH DAVIDO

DR SID

Last week an audio clip of a conversation between former Mo’ Hits now Mavin Records artist, Dr Sid and HKN’s Davido leaked. In the conversation, Dr Sid is heard arguing with a number of people (Kamal, Dbanj’s associate known as Evil, Godfather, Davido and B-Red) but in the audible parts of the obviously edited tape, he complains bitterly about D’banj and blames him for the lull in his career.

“Why don’t they know my name? Because your brand (D’banj) and star is too much it is overshadowing,” Sid says heatedly.

“Guy, it’s not that, D’banj can help anybody…If not for D’banj nobody would have looked at Wande, guy I dey lie? Men, I don’t know,” Davido counters.

“Batman and Robin, who dem dey call? Na D’banj nah. D’banj did more negative than positive for my career,” Dr Sid says at the end of the audio.

It immediately prompted a lot of debate and mixed reactions from the entertainment industry and, of course, a backlash from the fans of D’banj and Dr Sid felt the need to straighten up issues. He manned up to having said the things attributed to him in the audio and defiantly addresses them.

Using his twitter handle, @IamDrSID, he said:

 Hi tweeps hope everyone is having a good day? Please permit me to address the issue of the recording that was released this weekend.

I had a PRIVATE conversation with people I trusted (Kamal, Dbanjs' associate Evil, Godfather, Davido, B-Red)......

I'm entitled to my opinion and its unfortunate that this happened…

Sadly, someone chose to record this private conversation and release it to the public......

However, this has taught me a valuable lesson on who to and not to speak with, but life must goes on...

We hope has really learnt his lessons and also, everyone please mind who you hold a private conversation with because it might not be that private. We await the next part of this saga ‘cos this doesn’t sound like the end yet.

50 CENT SET TO LEAVE TWITTER AFTER ONLINE 'ATTACKS' AND PUBLIC FEUDS

50 CENT

US rapper Curtis Jackson, aka, 50 Cent is threatening to leave social networking site, Twitter, because of aggressive tweets from fans.

The controversial star made his announcement after one of his own fans quizzed him on why he was 'so rude' on the site.

The “In Da Club” star, responded to the fan by claiming "I get attacked all day on here".

Another post quickly followed, with the G-Unit founder using the site as a platform to reveal "I'm leaving Twitter soon you guys are going to have to find another way to get followers".

The news comes just a week after 50 engaged in a public Twitter feud with fellow rapper French Montana.

The 37-year-old has, however, hinted he may still have a presence on the site, despite his threats to quit.

He has since posted that he will read and retweet some messages, but only those that endorse his headphone brand 'SMS Audio' or his forthcoming 'Street King Immortal' album.

The album was set for its original release in summer 2011, but disputes with record label Interscope Records mean the revised release date is now 13 November.

Despite the hitches, 50 Cent has promised 'Street King Immortal' will be a "star-studded" release, featuring cameos from the likes of Eminem, Alicia Keys, Dr Dre, and Ne-Yo.

50 Cent's Twitter activity also grabbed the headlines in September when his fans were treated to a bizarre list of pointers on how to give up masturbation.

Followers were reliably informed that "God is watching".

And With tips including 'stop going to porn sites', and 'do not look at lust filled magazines' high on the agenda, one has to wonder whether some of Jackson's fans will be left in dire straits if he does follow through with his plan to quit Twitter.

50 Cent has over eight million followers on Twitter but follows only two people: @SKEnergyShots and @smsaudio.

D'BANJ WINS BEST AFRICAN ACT OF THE 2012 MTV EUROPE MUSIC AWARDS

D'BANJ

After a tough competition across all sub-Saharan Africa, MTV has announced that Nigerian superstar D'Banj has been named Best African Act of the 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards, having received the most votes from fans across sub-Saharan Africa.

D’banj has previously won Best African Act at the 2007 MTV EMA, Artist of the Year at both the 2008 and 2009 MTV Africa Music Awards, and Best International Act: Africa at the 2011 BET Awards.

By winning this, D'Banj will now contest with Indian artis Alobo Naga and his band and Ahmed Soultan from the Middle East for the chance to represent the Africa, India and Middle East region in the Worldwide Act category.

Fans will be able to vote for their favourite regional act on the website: www.mtvema.com from now until October 30 when the winner would be announced.

There are a total of five regions and the winner of the Africa, India and Middle East which has been grouped as a single region will go head to head with the winners of the other four regions. Those regions are Europe, Latin America, North America and Asia Pacific.

 They will battle for votes for the “Worldwide Act” distinction, and the winner will be named at the show in Frankfurt.

As previously announced, Rihanna and Taylor Swift top the list of the “2012 MTV EMA” nominees with six and five nods, respectively, with Justin Bieber and Katy Perry following closely behind with four nominations each. Lady Gaga, Lana Del Rey, Nicki Minaj, Carly Rae Jepsen, fun., Jay Z and Kanye West each received three EMA nominations, while Green Day, Gotye, Pitbull, Flo Rida, Rita Ora, Muse, Arctic Monkeys, Jack White and One Direction are up for two awards.

Fans can vote for the Europe Music Award categories on www.mtvbase.com. Voting is open until Friday, November 9 2012.

PATIENCE JONATHAN RETURNS FROM SICK LEAVE

PATIENCE JONATHAN

Nigerians and fans of the first lady of Nigeria, Dame Patience Jonathan, are happy to welcome her back home after a long absence due to ill health.
During her absence a lot of rumours had circulated. None was worse than that of her death, but here she is at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport smiling and happy to be back home.
Welcome home our Lady!

THE PRICE OF AN EAGLE’S DAUGHTER

Tina Okpara

The 6-1 thrashing of the Lone Stars of Liberia by the Super Eagles at the weekend would have raised hopes of their resurgence and re-emergence as African giants once more. But in another part of the world, specifically, in a French prison, there is no hope of glory for a lone Super Eagle.

Last week, a new French novel entitled Ma Vie A Un Prix or My Life Has A Price in the English translation came out. It was written by Miss Tina Okpara the adopted daughter of Godwin Okpara.

Does then name ring a bell? If it doesn’t, then think back to the glory days of the various national soccer teams and you will remember 1989 Under-17 World Cup (That’s if you are old enough to think that back).

At that tournament was a little lanky young Godwin Okpara shone so bright that he impressed the great Pele of Brazil who proclaimed him a star of the future. (None of Pele’s predictions come true though. They all belong to the museum like Maradona said).

He never lived up to that billing but he wasn’t a bad player, yet he never became a phenomenon like Pele predicted. He played in Belgium for Standard Liege and France for Strasbourg and Paris Saint German (PSG) and never became a prominent player for the Super Eagles.

But that wasn’t his major misfortune. His biggest bad luck was either that he married a devilish wife or that he had an evil streak in him that led him into the abomination he committed.

Tina Okpara was his adopted daughter but he serially raped her with the connivance of his wife, Linda. She was less than 13 when all this happened.

When the French authorities found out in August 2005, Okpara was arrested. He was found guilty and imprisoned in June 2007 for 10 years. His wife was also found guilty of torturing Tina and was condemned to 15 years in jail

Tina, who is now a young lady, has written about her experience in Ma Vie A Un Prix (My Life Has a Price).

The 192-page novel details Tina’s travails at the hands of Godwin and his wife. She kept secret notebooks where she wrote down the things they did to her. “These notebooks were used to dump all my sorrow, all my hatred for Linda. It was my lifeline and my friend,” she said.

She narrates how she was adopted at the age of 13 by the Okparas and taken to France. Linda, then enslaved her for five years and turned a blind eye while Godwin sexually abused her, she says in the book.

Tina says her decision to write the book seven years after she regained freedom is aimed at raising awareness and helping other girls who might be going through the same horrendous experience.

“One day, I told myself that if I refused testifying, other girls will continue to experience modern slavery,” she said.

The book which was written in collaboration with acclaimed French journalist, Cyril Guinet, is published by Amalion Publishing Senegal.

FEMI KUTI JOINS NIGERIAN IDOL

Femi Kuti

The organisers of the music talent hunt show, Nigerian Idol, have just made a major catch. On Sunday, Oct. 14, the Afro Beat icon, Femi Anikulapo-Kuti, was announced as a judge on the show for the recently launched season 3 of the show.

Femi joins the panel formerly only made up of ex-Shalamar dancer, Jeffrey Daniels, singer, Yinka Davies and the Area fada, Charly Boy.

In a release made available to the press, the organisers quoted Femi as being very delighted to join the Nigerian Idol family.

“I am honoured to be part of Nigerian Idol, a show that discovers talents across the country in music. Saying I love music is like saying snow is white. I am beyond passionate about music which is why I single-handedly taught myself to play four instruments. I play the Sax twelve hours in a day training myself to get better. So an opportunity to be able to impact on the lives of the future of Nigerian music is one I will never say no to,” he said.

"I was very proud when I watched Mercy Chinwo the last winner give a remarkable performance of Felas Zombie when I was a guest judge on the show last season. Many times you see people murder the songs or over act with the moves and make the man look like a caricature but she got it just right with guidance from the coach and judges. I'd like to be part of moulding many more talents with Nigerian Idol, this year,” he added.

Femi Kuti is one of Africa’s biggest recording artists and he brings to the show wealth of experience that spans well over three decades of performing across the world, playing six musical instruments, and has receiving several international awards.

The three-time Grammy Awards nominee has crossed continents to work with international stars like Common, Mos Def, Jaguar Wright, D'Angelo, Macy Gray, The Soultronics, Nile Rodgers, amongst others.  Femi Kuti's voice is featured in the videogame Grand Theft Auto IV, where he is the host of radio station IF 99.