Taking a Break from Work

*DeepBreath*

YES! I know I have work to do, and this is quite an odd hour to be talking about music, but I'm too tired to do anything else, so I may as well be a bit constructive…abi???

So I've been listening to music. Yep…quite a few Nigerian artistes have caught my eye recently… Kas, Ms. Con.tra.Diction (I hope I spelt that right), Show Dem Camp, Airis….and quite a few other people. But, I'm gonna talk about Airis, Show Dem Camp, & Con.tra.Diction. Cos they've really impressed me recently.


Ladies first, so lemme start with Airis.

First off, lemme state that Airis is a very hot, half Nigerian, half Egyptian woman, so my judgment may be thrown off a bit by that fact that she's so hot, but I doubt it. When I first heard about her, I thought she was gonna be another good looking woman who imagined that her fine face would make everyone partially deaf so we wouldn't realize that her voice was a waste of time (especially with the way her debut single "Without You" kicked off).

Was I ever wrong.

She has a voice that reminds me of a person that spent a lot of time listening to Sade Adu, Madonna, and other legendary pop divas, but somehow or the other found time to listen to Yoruba songs when she was younger; producing this really sexily blended voice that is obviously international, but still manages to be Nigerian. Kinda like a girl who you can take to a big dinner with international guests and all, and then the next day you take her to see your grandma in your village, and she blends into both situations very well. Kinda like that.

Her debut single, "Without You" is really cool. Her voice comes off really well over the instrumental, accentuated quite well by the tambourines and drums. The tambourines gave the song a little Arabian/Egyptian feel to it, which is just as well since she's half Egyptian anyways. A part of the chorus is in Yoruba, which just made me fall in love with her singing even more. I also heard another of her songs called "Sick in Love" featuring Ice Prince, and "Fly Away" which I liked as well, but in all honesty, not as much as I like Without You… I hear her album "The AiRis Project" is scheduled for release in November. That isn't too far off, so I won't die waiting.


Onto some people that are a little more recent in terms of emergence, let's talk about Show Dem Camp (SDC).

Now, the first song I heard from these guys, was this crazy song featuring Lynxx called "You Dey Crase". I heard that, & I thought to myself "we may have something good here"…really cool, mixtape kinda jam. Punchlines flying left & right…& Lynxx killed his verse. I was happy. Then I heard "Farabale". Lemme be honest, I didn't really dig the first dude's rap, but I LOVE THE SONG!!!! I really don't know how to analyze it…the chorus reflected the way a lot of naija boys feel about chics who are just gold-diggers, and MayD has quite a good voice. I really think these guys are definitely gonna go places.

By the way, the tees they're wearing in this picture are from my cousin Tenne Fatona's clothing line DNA Genes, so big ups to him! Whoop whoop!!! (I digressed abi???)

If you haven't heard "Farabale" by Show Dem Camp feat MayD, here's a link for it. http://www.4shared.com/audio/nO3AWXyw/Farabale_-_SDC_ft_MayD.html


Let's go with Con.tra.Diction now…

First off, I've met her quite a few times, with those crazy ass socks she always wears, & I have to say, she's a darling psycho. I heard her song "Superstar", & my faith in the hope for alternative music in Nigeria was renewed. The instruments were on point, and her voice gives off that rock chic thing that rock lovers (such as me) really like. Throwing in a bit of Yoruba into the song (Oju l'oro wa) was a fantastic way of making sure we didn't forget that it was a Nigerian tune. All in all, a fabulous song! Con.tra.Diction seems like someone we're gonna be hearing quite a lot from in the future… In the intro to the song, if you listen to the voice in the background, you can hear her say "this is the diary, of a mad black woman." I hope that's gonna be the title of the album…seems quite befitting…

I hear she even has a band!!! That's just really cool. If I ever decided to sing publicly (yes, your Panda has a good voice) I'd definitely love to jam up with her…

Of course, here's a link for Con.tra.Diction's "Superstar" if you don't already have it… http://www.4shared.com/audio/YNlqY89g/SuperStar_CONtradiction.html



So, these are the artistes I'm loving right now…hope their albums are as banging as the singles they have out… Fingers crossed!

Gotta go now! I'm a bit swamped with work so…. I'll blog later okay???

BYE!!!

A Wack Weekend

Reader, hope you're having a good weekend so far...I'm not.

Wow...

I'm...swamped with work. So much work that I don't even understand where I'm supposed to start. I've been scared to even write about it cos...I don't know...maybe writing is one of the things that matters the most to me. And so writing about it would only make this problem even more real...so I've been putting it off. Trying to work on poetry/spoken word...but the blocks in my head don't seem willing to go down, or to let me jump over them to write any thing worthy of being called poetry....-although, I started writing something that I really like, and I have ideas for it...but I just seem to be stuck somewhere.- So lemme write what my brain will allow me to...

It's been a crazy semester so far...being in final year is so much more work than I imagined that it would be. I just finished the first  page of my proposal for my final project, so you can see that I've gotten basically nowhere on it. But I know that it has to be ready to mail to my supervisor before Monday...only God knows how I'm going to do that, all I know is that I will. I've got assignments left, right & hitting me on the head...I've barely even started studying... I was supposed to have a test on Thursday. Thankfully it was cancelled cos of some seminar thingy my department was organising. I have no idea if I'd have been able to do well on it. & when I don't do well on a test, it throws a lot of pressure on me for the exam cos I know I'll have to really put my back into it to knock out an A...I really hate putting pressure on myself.  So...I'm glad the test was cancelled sha. At least I know a little bit more on the course than I did last week, & when I start preparing for it, the concept of projects, programs, plans, project cycles, & all that other horse shit won't seem so foreign to me.

Damn.

But...I know it'll be aight. I'll manage. I always do. No matter  how much bitching I may be doing right now, no matter how difficult things may seem, I always find a way to make it above the line. Whether it's 70 or 89, I've learned that an A is an A. So all I need to do is shoot for it.

Sometimes I wonder to myself when academic excellence started to matter so much to me...cos...I failed my way through secondary school...like I was a total failure. My old man threatened me when I was about to write WAEC, that if I failed, he was gonna carry me to some vulcanizer or tailor or something so I could start learning a trade or something...lol...those were scary times. I think, the day things started to fall into perspective for me, was the day Le Beau spoke to me. He told me that he understood me. Probably better than anyone else did. And he knew that all I had to do, was to really want something, & then work towards getting it. & nothing could hold me back. I believed him...I didn't fail WAEC...& when I got into Uni, I put the same theory into practice...the rest is history. That's why, I know I can do what I want. As long as I really wanna do it, I can.

So I'll be fine.

I'm actually happy I wrote this blog. It's sorta like a pep talk for myself....lol.

Anyways....there's work to be done. Last weekend was just trips...parties, drinks, home-made water bongs, chics...I had, the craziest margaritta ever...damn! That drink packed one heck of a punch!

But this weekend is gonna be serious...and so is my week.

Next weekend though....!

Better be a good one... Sundays At The Bay! : "Bikini's & Water Guns." I'll definitely be there...

But for now, back to work..

Posted via Blogaway on my Android Device.

Been a minute.

It's been quite a bit since I put  up  a blog about anything sensible....I still don't  have much to say right now. I just thought I should at least write something to remind y'all of my chubby  existence.

One reason I haven't been writing much, is  that I'm trying to work on spoken word. Yes, this Panda is trying to delve into poetry. I've been really inspired by poets  like Black Ice, Shihan, J.Ivy, Rives, Sage Hasson...you can find them all on YouTube.

So, I've been  trying my hands out at that...it's somewhat difficult, but I'll get the hang of it. Right now, I've got this very........"ashewo"ish poem I'm writing...inspired by recent activities &...that's besides the point...anyways, I've got this  really long piece I'm writing...hope I'll be able to memorise it.

School's really stressful...that's all the bitching I'll be doing about it. Cos if I go on, I may not be able to stop. But I know I'll get through it...don't have a  choice

Wow...I'm falling asleep. I'll put up something sensible soon...I promise. In fact, I'm gonna put up a post on 3 artistes I'm feeling at the moment! Can't wait to finish it.

Okay bye!!!!

October 13.

Today, as we spoke over the phone, I could almost see you staring at me with those big brown eyes that I always felt I could dive into without even having to try.

You promised you would try. You said today was the last time you'd do anything to bring a tear to this grown man's eye.

Today as we spoke, I could hear the sound of your voice so sincere. You promised me you'd always be there

The way you felt was deeper than simply saying that you cared.

You loved me as big as the sky; you loved me to the moon.

Today was a year ago. You left me two months before the end of June.

But this poem isn't meant to point fingers, or say you broke my heart.

This poem is an ode to a relationship we thought would never fall apart.

This poem is a testament to the fact that we couldn't test what wasn't meant to be.

You see, when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, it's bound to end in catastrophe.

We may have been an unlikely pair, but we loved each other, you and I.

You loved my big belly; I loved your nappy hair.

I loved the taste of your lips, like the taste of sugar sprinkled all over a juicy pear.

Together we were always meant to be, and the idea of you without me was something we couldn't bear to see, let alone handle.

Our love was impossible to hide, like putting under a bed a lit candle.

We were meant to be forever, but forever moved faster than we expected. Fast forwarding us to a point where we could love no more,

And the hope for a future had been turned to us glancing at the past, reminiscing on those days…

Forever fast forwarded us……into today.