What a year it has been for Oxlade. The 2023 Vevo artist to watch owns one of 2022’s biggest hits with “Ku Lo Sa” and its remix featuring Camila Cabello, with more than 300M+ global streams and 5B+ TikTok views across the world.

Almost one year since the release of the now most viewed COLORS session in the past 4 years, the prince of afropop Oxlade is finally back with “Ovami” feat. Flavour, second piece of his much-awaited album “Oxlade From Africa”, coming soon in 2023.

“Assembled real brothers, all from the eastern part of my beautiful country Nigeria. Tribalism is a major tool used by politicians to divide and cause chaos between the beautiful people of my country. I love and respect each and every tribe the same way as mine.

“Oxlade From Africa” (the album) is not just a body of work, it’s meant to be a meditation for Africans at large and lovers of this special continent.” -Oxlade

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Born Ikuforiji Abdulrahman Olaitan and raised in Lagos, Oxlade started his musical journey in the choir, then releasing his first songs on Soundcloud back in 2017. He caught the attention of Nigerian fans the following year with the release of his debut single “Shugar”. Oxlade’s international glow started in 2020 with his single “Away”, making it to Rolling Stone’s “Top 50 songs of the year 2020” and getting praised by Drake.

Oxlade owned the summer 2022 after unveiling “Ku Lo Sa” with a remarkable COLORS SESSION that counts 60M YouTube views today, making it the most viewed video of the platform in the past 4 years. Thanks to a now iconic performance from the artist and a massive worldwide phenomenon on TikTok with 5B+ views, the track is among 2022’s biggest global hits, with 300M+ global streams and 8 certifications ranging from gold to 2x platinum (France, UK, Canada, Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, and more recently Brazil).

This success did not go unnoticed to GRAMMY award-nominated, multi-platinum, and chart-topping singer/songwriter, Camila Cabello who hopped into the now famous “KU LO SA” Remix, adding a breath of fresh air to the track.

Following this massive worldwide momentum, Oxlade is now ready to unveil his much-awaited album “Oxlade From Africa”, coming soon in 2023!

Flavour — sometimes known as Flavour N’abania — is a Nigerian singer/songwriterwho rose to international fame in 2010 thanks to breakout singles like “Nwa Baby (Ashawo Remix)” and “Oyi (Remix)” from his second album, Uplifted. Over subsequent releases like 2014’s “Thankful” and 2017’s “Ijele the Traveler”, his mix of highlife and Afrobeat, usually sung in his native Igbo tongue, continued to yield hits, making him a major music icon all over Africa, and local pride in his native Nigeria.

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Renowned culinary star Sweet Adjeley has recently fired back at fellow YouTuber Magrahab TV, addressing his remarks in a recent video that highlighted alleged slacking among Ghanaian food content creators. Magrahab’s challenge to Ghanaian food content creators to break Hilda Baci’s 100-hour Guinness World Record served as the catalyst for Sweet Adjeley’s spirited response.

In a compelling video shared on her channel, Sweet Adjeley took the opportunity to remind Magrahab of her remarkable achievement of reaching one million subscribers within a year. Expressing her disappointment, she emphasized the overwhelming support and celebration she received from her dedicated Sweet Team, contrasting it with the absence of visibility from Magrahab’s channel and page.

Sweet Adjeley boldly confronted Magrahab, asking, “Where were you when I hit one million subscribers? I didn’t see you on my channel or page. Where was the support?” Her words echoed a sense of longing for unity and solidarity within the Ghanaian content creation community.

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As the first Ghanaian Food Vlogger from both Ghana and Nigeria to achieve such a significant milestone, Sweet Adjeley showcased her willingness to consider Magrahab’s challenge to break the Longest Food Cooking Marathon World Record. However, she emphasized that she would only embark on the endeavor if Magrahab could generate a similar level of enthusiasm and support that Nigerians exhibited for Hilda Baci during her record-breaking journey.

The reverberation of Sweet Adjeley’s empowering message throughout the social media sphere has sparked discussions about recognition and unity among content creators. Viewers eagerly anticipate the unfolding of this captivating conversation, curious to witness the next chapter in this compelling saga.

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Watch the full video: https://fb.watch/kEBK0cO2IO/?mibextid=NnVzG8

Written by: Keira-Terra Baaba Nhyira-Mensah

Apple Music’s Ebro Darden sits down with Jidenna in New York for a discussion about his third studio album Me You & God. Jidenna gets personal about his new relationship, detailing how they fell in love and how they are navigating the gray space between monogamy and polyamory. He also discusses being a role model for unconventional masculinity, and how this new album encompasses all of these topics.

Key quotes below — feel free to use and credit Ebro Darden on Apple Music 1.

Jidenna clarifies that his current relationship started polyamorous but is always evolving: 

We both came from non-monogamous situations. I met her, she had basically had two boyfriends and she was in love with them both. And she told me the second day, after we was dancing to Marvin Gaye at sunset, I was like, “Damn! I might love her.” Second day, swear. And she’s like, “I want to let you know something. I want to let you know that I’m with a partner.” I was like, “Okay. That’s okay. Are you married?” She’s like, “Nah.” I’m like, “Okay, cool.” She’s like, “Well, I’m in love with him.” I’m like, “Oh, okay.” She’s like, “I also got another boyfriend who’s in town or somebody I’m seeing in town.” I’m like, “Okay, cool. You in love with him too?” She’s like, “Yeah.” I was like, “Okay, all right. Okay.” You know what? I’m with it because I’ve met my match. Usually I’m used to saying, “Hey, I’m coming off a relationship. I had two girlfriends.” And a lot of women were very terrified by that. “Oh, you think you a pimp. You just a sophisticated pimp. That’s this polyamorous word.” But meeting her, I knew that she had already had a similar experience. And man, we built long enough, those relationships kind of went their way. The women I was dating, I stopped. I closed all those doors. So now it’s just us. Is it monogamy or is it monogamous? Maybe you can call it that. But I just know we are in this stage…We in a foundation building stage. That’s all I care about. People think polyamory is automatically open off rip. Nah, man. Like build with one person. People be trying to add on too quick. They be thirsty. I ain’t thirsty. I want to build for, it could be years, who knows. And we may not open up ever. I reserve that right. Or it may be in 10 years, or it may be in a year.

Jidenna says he’s trying to be a role model for alternative forms of masculinity: 

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You talk about legacy. I believe that part of my legacy is to show specifically cis heterosexual men that there are other ways to be a man. There are other ways to be masculine. And those other ways are not all new. They’re ancient. Look at other pictures or history books of how men presented themselves, what they were able to talk about. It was different over time. And it’s not like we are the first generation to have fluid gender people. We’re not the first generation to have men wearing skirts at the Met Gala. You know what I mean? Actually, skirts are all over the world, bro. The pants, the trousers most of us wear as men was a small sector of society. Most people had the long tunics, different Polynesians, even all the way up to Scotland. My mother’s side is the UK. So I just want to share with people, especially young boys out there, that there’s different ways to be different archetypes that you could follow to be a “man”.

Jidenna talks about reinventing himself on this album, and how it might be a “terrible move”:

I don’t want to roll around with a mask no more. I didn’t want to just offer music that people expected. I’m a little bit of a rebel like that, for better or worse. It’s maybe a terrible move, you know what I’m saying? Musically, it’s amazing. And I’m hard on myself, but I know this project is fantastic…we’ll see how people receive it. Every artist’s dream is to be received. We all want to be appreciated. Every human, but most of all, I think that I wanted to—I always want to show different sides myself. Some artists sell the same side, and that’s it. I remember Chappelle a long time ago said, “You can’t sell every part of you, so pick the sides that you want to sell.” For me, I’ve always been the type of person to switch my hair every album, switch the outfits. It’s always a change because I think it’s my father in me, to be honest. My name Jidenna, Jide means to embrace. Enna means father. My dad was very much an inventor. He invented the first Black PC, the first commercially produced African computer in the early eighties. He was racing in his mind against Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. He created a dual processing system that could run as an IBM. It could also run as a Macintosh. He was just a rebel, always. Look, he brought caller IDs to Nigeria earlier than I saw it in the US. So he’s always thinking. I feel like I have that in my blood to switch, to move, to invent, to reinvent. And this album, Me, You and God is a reinvention of me.

Jidenna explains why he opened the album with the sound of a 56K modem connecting:

I made the project mostly during the pandemic. So I was dolo and I was looking for connection. The first track’s called “I’m Looking For Connection.” When I came up, millennials came up and millennials know that modem and some of the late Gen Z people still remember it too. That 56K modem, bro. I know. I remember Windows 98, I remember my first porn that I saw, and me and the homies would crowd around as the was titty downloading. That was what sex was for us. That’s how we learned about it. I remember HBO Real Sex and Taxi Cab Confessions. But that’s all in that 2000s, early 2000s pocket. That modem reminds me of that time. So I wanted to start the album with the connection I was looking for. Mostly I was looking for a companionship.

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Jidenna describes falling in love during the making of the album: 

In the pandemic, I moved to a ranch. It basically fell in my lap…Animals were my friends. All I was chilling with. So I was looking for somebody, something, some reinvention, some purpose, some passion. And thank God, man, I found her on a beach in LA and once we met, it was a wrap, bro. We held hands the first time we met like little kids, bro, when you walking and then your hands kind of brush up? You’re like, “Oh, am I about to hold?” Ooh. I had that feeling. There was a bonfire. Luckily, like man, some people don’t ever have that feeling, but I’ve had that a few times. My brother told me, “You fall in love three times and that’s it. So make sure the third time’s a charm.” And this is my third time. So yeah, man, she helped me finish the album. I started the album with a certain intention, but I came out on the other side. So the album takes me and I hope the listener, through a journey of starting in that fuck boy adjacent stage.

Jidenna talks about Roman Gian Arthur, the executive producer of Me You & God: 

Man, Roman GianArthur is one of the greatest artists and producers in the world. First of all, he’s on “Classic Man.” So I started my professional career with him. But I say this to say, when he went to Prince’s house with Janelle Monet, Nate Wonder, Chuck Lightning, the whole fam, Roman starts playing guitar because Prince always made the musicians jam with him. And Prince literally said to Nate Wonder and Janelle Monet, “Roman is one of the best guitarists I’ve ever heard.” That’s just his guitar playing. He kind of has that mysterious D’Angelo, Frank Ocean where he’s a hermit somewhat in that he’ll incubate, go away and then come up with some amazing, and has a bunch of unreleased music. But he’s putting out an album this year. I feel like the world will see him as a artist. He’s an amazing composer. But I’ve been making music with him from jump. Every album he’s on, he produced on the last album as well.

Jidenna says he has another album and a half of material ready to go:

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Roman and I made two and a half albums. That half is the most experimental one. I don’t know if I’ll put that out next. But the second one is an evolution from this album. And I don’t want to give too much away, but there’s a psychedelic element to this project. A little dreamy element that I brought into the Afro space. So the second project is more dance heavy. It’s going to be for the dancers, DJs. It combines Afro house and psychedelic sounds like that. I’m kind of mad I just said that. I hate when I give away my formulas, bro. Goddamn.

Naana Blu’s latest single, “Cartoon,” has been the talk of the town since its release two weeks ago. The song’s catchy lyrics and upbeat melody have made it an instant hit, with many music lovers praising the young artist for her talent and creativity. (more…)

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