PICTURES OF KOMLA DUMOR

REALLY? Komla Dumor in “10 Most Powerful Men In Africa” LIST

In memoriam. The highly-respected presenter of “Focus on Africa”, BBC’s flagship and first-ever dedicated daily TV news show on BBC World News  died of cardiac arrest on January 18 earlier this year at his home in London.
Dumor, who was named one of “100 Most Influential Africans” in 2013 by New African Magazine” had “established himself as one of the emerging African faces of global broadcasting.”As a lead presenter for BBC World, Dumor had considerable influence on how the continent is covered.
He leaves behind a powerful and enduring legacy; how the continent is reported. “There’s so much more to tell about Africa than the usual stories about war, famine and disease.”
“Our list is distinctive in that it identifies African men who are innovative, courageous, daring and often disruptive in their fields. The list highlights African entrepreneurs, corporate executives, social entrepreneurs, political and civil leaders who are changing the continent and the world around them, often times without much fanfare,” Forbes says.
Others
Januray Makamba, Tanzania, Deputy Minister of Communication, Science & Technology and Member of Parliament
Chinedu Echeruo, Nigeria, Tech Entrepreneur & Founder of Hopstop.com and Tripology.com
Mohammed Dewji, Tanzania, Group Chief Executive Officer of Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited
Kola Karim, Nigeria, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Shoreline Energy International
Ashish Thakkar, Uganda, Founder and Managing Director of Mara Group, Mara Foundation and Mara Online
Mamadou Toure, Cameroon, Founder and Executive Director of Africa 2.0
Amadou Mahtar Ba, Senegal, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the African Media Initiative
Simdul Shagaya, Nigeria – Tech Entrepreneur and Founder of Konga.com and DealDey.com 
Ben Magara, Zimbabwe,  Chief Executive Officer and Director of Lonmin

Eazzy determined to hit the international stage

It is just the beginning of a New Year and female rapper and singer, Eazzy is already warming herself up for great shows to last the period. Her first call of duty was the shoot of her new single, ‘Back to the bone’ which featured Edem.

The video which was shot yesterday at various locations in Accra brought out Eazzy’s versatility in languages as she rapped in Ga, Ewe and patois.

In an interaction with Showbiz earlier this week, the Wengeze singer who declared the year 2014 as her “Year of goodies” said, production of music videos have become another avenue for artistes to impress the public with their looks and moves apart from their vocal abilities.

She said the shoot of Bad to the bone is just one of the many activities that her management has put in place as part of the package expected to see her brand soar high to the international level.

“Every artiste has an ambition and a dream to reach the international stage and that is what my team and I will be working on for the year. This year will see me collaborating with many artistes and I am hopeful our efforts will yield fruits” she stated.

She said that even though last year was quite an eventful year considering the number of shows she participated in and the success that her single, Scream, chalked she was hopeful for an exposure on the international platform.

“I am looking forward to a Channel O Awards and that means that I would need to put in extra effort on my works. Back home, I am also expecting some nominations and probably awards at this year’s Ghana Music Awards” she said.

After her debut album, Twinkle, launched in 2010, which contained songs like Wengeze and Bo Wo Nsem Ma Me, Eazzy has had over 15 nominations in a variety of awards schemes.

Sarkodie’s Sarkology - An album review

Sarkodie has asserted himself again. Much like Rapperholic, Sarkology was crafted by a number of name producers (Magnum, Hammer, Killbeatz and more), and this album also serves a showcase for Sarkodie’s signature rapid-fire rhymes and memorable lines.

 Sarkodie shows that he is very aware of his prominence in GH Rap and GH music history as a whole throughout the album in songs like Preach and Y’all already Know. His delivery has gotten better with each album and with his multiple pop culture references it is evident that he is still a student of the game.

 He does very well on this album to further blur the lines between GH Rap/Hip-life and Hip-hop not necessarily being boxed in or defined by either genre and managing to dip in and out of each one whenever he wants to. Sarkodie also continues to show that his speed and ability to “twist” isn’t just a gimmick but just one of his many abilities as an MC.

 Great music bring together dope beats and good lyrics and often times many MCs struggle with this. Sometimes, they either go too hard in one area and compromise in another but Sarkology succeeds in bringing both together.

 Sarkology should’ve been called Rapperholic II in my opinion. It follows pretty much the same formula as Rapperholic. With no overall theme for the whole project, the same topics of overcoming haters, winning a Grammy, faith (Halleluyah, War) and being the best MC are all addressed throughout Sarkology, as much as they were on Rapperholic.

 We actually learn even more about his ego throughout the record, and it takes only 39 seconds for Sarkodie to mention material possessions in this album ahead of hip hop artistes such as Kanye West and even Jay-z of Yeezus and MCHG respectively.

 Sarkodie’s use of foul language has also increased substantially on this album and although I do respect that he’s a grown man and can do/say whatever he wants, I genuinely winced a bit at every F-word uttered. But this is hip-hop right?

 Similar to Rapperholic, this album is feature-heavy but he wasn’t out-shone by any of his featured artistes and quite frankly on a few records, I would much rather have heard him alone.

 One disappointment on Sarkology was XXL. After creating two incredible tracks such as Old School Love and Give It to Me on Rapperholic, I had really high expectations from the pair on this album. Also coming after tough record like Original, on the album, XXL ended up sounding like a less impactful sequel to that song. I could have also done without Marry Me (although Sian is an incredible singer) and Gunshot.

 Gunshot sounded way too easy. Two big musicians, top producer, a good-enough beat, and a very simple catchy chorus, this collaboration sounded much well in theory. Pon D Ting (ft Banky W) was one of the better collaborations on Sarkology with both artistes equally sounding like they were excited to be on the track.

 I grew to appreciate Ordinary Love with Tiwa Savage once I decided to look past how bad the line “rolling like a rolling stone” was. Where Down on One with Fuse ODG goes without saying, 2 Paddies (ft Joey B) was another great collaboration. Joey B brought his signature sense of humour and style and the duo provided a very entertaining and skillful record.

 I appreciated Sarkodie’s ability to own every beat he is on, and depending on how hard the beat is his flow and lyricism varies to match. This can be heard on stand out records such as Dear Rap Original, Rap Attack and Elijah. Additionally, on Sizeless (skit), Sarkodie is at his absolute best when he enters into full, rappity-rap mode and showing off his skill and technical ability as an MC.

 However, while I hugely appreciate the rap bravado it is great to hear Sarkodie embrace his duty as a role model and give us songs like Halleluyah (ft Vivian Chidid) and Small Small (ft. Lil Shaker). Can I just say that both Magnum and Lil Shaker did some incredible work on the tracks they produced on Sarkology.

 Sarkology has music for different moods, and tracks for the barbershop, club,(as Sarkodie mentions himself ) the car and even the gym. The diversity of Sarkodie’s flow and his ability to rap over just about anything carries the listener through the album very easily. He even provides love songs from every angle; playing the role of guy begging for his girl to stay (Hold On), guy who gets cheated on (Lies), guy in a long distance relationship (Whatever You Do) and even guy proposing to his girl (Marry Me).

 In the future it would be good to see Sarkodie blur the lines between his real life and the music even more. If the title is anything to go by, Sarkology literally should’ve been the Study of Sarkodie but we find out less about him as a person or where he is now in his personal life compared to how much we learn about his come-up and struggle on previous projects.

 With another album under his belt, Sarkodie is one of the only Ghanaians MCs that people can actually go and see in concert without any supporting acts besides an opening act. Honestly, it is difficult for anyone to hate on him, he is now three albums in and he clearly has many more albums and so much more great music in him.

 One thing no one can deny is Sarkodie’s work ethic, this guy just gave us thirty songs….THIRTY! And has already shot seven music videos. Sarkodie continues to show us that he is at the top of the game and is the undisputed leader of the new school in this Golden Era of GH Music.

Did TV3 breed to disappoint these budding talents?

Touted as Ghana’s television station that is first in news and best in entertainment, TV3, after happenings in the last week–should be aptly tagged as the ‘first in news, first to mess you up.’

The station has over the years been able to make its base the home of reality television shows, taking advantage of the craze in audience affinity to reality TV to cash in and making most of its reality-based shows ‘cash cows’ at the expense of the unsuspecting viewing public and the hapless contestants.

It has rolled out a deluge of reality shows, some successful, some ridiculous – ‘Mentor, Dance Fever, Bands Alive, Talented Kids, Ghana’s Most Beautiful, The Pulpit, Celebrations, and Looking For Love have all attained airtime on the station.

Unfortunately, TV3 leaves most winners of its numerous reality shows disgruntled, dejected and desperate. Here, afrovibez presents a list of winners of some TV3 reality shows who were given raw deals with respect to their well-deserved awards.

Prince (Mentor 1): The first winner of the successful Mentor 1 show, as part of his cash prize and a record deal, was also promised a UK trip together with his fellow finalists. His record deal with Family Tree ended as swiftly as it started with the release of a forgettable single and the UK trip never materialized. TV3 cited poor communication and sponsors reneging on promise as excuse for not taking the winner and finalists to UK.

Kesse (Mentor 4): Before he wowed audience at the ‘Project Fame’ music reality show in Nigeria where he placed an impressive 2nd position and before he stepped up to receive the Best Male vocalist for Ghana Music Awards 2012, the chap via his mother chided the TV station severely in the media for not living up to all the mouth-watering promises made to her lad.Touted as Ghana’s television station that is first in news and best in entertainment, TV3, after happenings in the last week–should be aptly tagged as the ‘first in news, first to mess you up.’

The station has over the years been able to make its base the home of reality television shows, taking advantage of the craze in audience affinity to reality TV to cash in and making most of its reality-based shows ‘cash cows’ at the expense of the unsuspecting viewing public and the hapless contestants.

It has rolled out a deluge of reality shows, some successful, some ridiculous – ‘Mentor, Dance Fever, Bands Alive, Talented Kids, Ghana’s Most Beautiful, The Pulpit, Celebrations, and Looking For Love have all attained airtime on the station.

Unfortunately, TV3 leaves most winners of its numerous reality shows disgruntled, dejected and desperate. Here, afrovibez presents a list of winners of some TV3 reality shows who were given raw deals with respect to their well-deserved awards.

Lee Stone (Mentor 6): Lee Stone, affectionately called Stone, was so flustered and livid about the TV Station’s ill-treatment meted out to him; he is on record as the only winner to openly lambast the station for its failed promises. “It was painful to anticipate something and you end up being disappointed,” he blurted. Stone went to discourage others from getting entangled in the fake promises of TV3. He bellowed, “To the people who are interested in Mentor, if it’s the record deal you want please do not bother your head, but if it’s something else, then you may participate.”

Lamisi Sam Awinongya (GMB 2009): There was media uproar when Mariam Abdul Rauf aka Nasara was stripped off her Ghana’s Most Beautiful Crown for allegedly stealing a mobile phone in UK. The crown was supposedly handed over to the runner-up Lamisi Sam, who took over the reign as queen. Shockingly, after 5 years of being crowned winner of the pageant, Lamisi dropped a bombshell – “TV3 used me because when the issue of Nasara came up, TV3 never informed me personally,” she muttered. She lamented that she did not receive any prize or crown from TV3 to confirm her as queen and all her efforts to get them to support her Road Safety project which she started as queen proved futile.

Emmanuel Owusu Asiedu (Talented Kidz 2): As the ultimate winner of the competition in April 2010, Emmanuel, then a primary 5 pupil of Ann’s Preparatory School, North Kaneshie was promised a two-week educational trip to UK courtesy Travelite Travel and Tour, one of the sponsors of Talented Kids. After two years of no show, the father had to take the ‘fight’ to the media until the station made some effort in ensuring the kid made the trip.

Kosmos Boako, Tutulapato (Talented Kidz 4): Arguably the most popular kid in the series, Tutulapato turned out to be the winner alright but he seems to be the most unlucky and the most poorly-treated winner. His promised UK trip went down the gutters after some flippant excuses came from TV3 and his prize money has been ‘confiscated’ for 10 years. The young talented rapper with such promise seemed to be moving from grass to grace and back to the withering grass.