Boomshots

Category: Africa

  • WATCH THIS: Toyé ft. Jada Kingdom “Attitude” Remix Visualizer

    WATCH THIS: Toyé ft. Jada Kingdom “Attitude” Remix Visualizer

    “I’m Not The Type To Play With”

    Born in Atlanta and raised in Nigeria, Toyé jump-started his career in 2018 when he began freestyling with friends in a recording studio. Before he knew it he was working with Ace Harris, the Grammy-winning producer whose resume includes work on Koffee’s Rapture, Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter V, and Nicki Minaj’s The Pinkprint. Harris teamed with Atlanta’s underground producer DJ Tag to produce Toyé’s first official single, “Shayo.” The follow-up “Attitude,” now has a remix featuring Ms. Twinkle herself, rising dancehall star Jada Kingdom. Toyé describes his musical style as “Afrofusion, a blend of Afrobeats, R&B, dancehall and elements of traditional Nigerian Fuji music. He showed her versatility with a remix of Swae Lee and Drake’s “Won’t Be Late” titled “Don’t Be Late.” In the short space of two years Toyé has had the opportunity to tour with some of the biggest names in African music, including Burna Boy, Mr. Eazi, Davido, and Olamide. His first headlining show in Atlanta was sold out, building anticipation. The visuals for his “Attitude” remix just dropped today, another step on his climb to the stars. Video After The Jump…
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  • WATCH THIS: Stonebwoy “Blaze Dem Freestyle” Music Video

    WATCH THIS: Stonebwoy “Blaze Dem Freestyle” Music Video

    “Defend The Turf An’ Ting…”

    Stonebwoy had nothing much to prove when he and his entourage—known as the BHIM Nation—rolled up on a fleet of motorbikes this past weekend to a highly anticipated battle with Shatta Wale, his chief rival for the title of Africa’s Dancehall King. Stonebwoy has come a long way since his humble beginnings in Ashaiman, a seaside town on the outskirts of Accra, the capital city of Ghana. The internationally renowned West African artist developed his own distinctive musical style, which he describes as Afro-Dancehall, fusing Jamaican dancehall  and patois with Afrobeats, hip hop slang, and his native dialect Ewe. He established his own independent company, the Burniton Music Group, as well as a charitable organization, the Livingstone Foundation. He’s also earned numerous accolades over the course of his career. He was named Best International Act at the 2015 BET Awards. He has won several Ghana Music Awards, including Artist of the Year. He collaborated with Morgan Heritage on the group’s Grammy-nominated 2017 album Avrakedabra and recorded singles with many of Jamaica’s top dancehall artists, including Grammy-winners Sean Paul and Beenie Man. His latest album, Anloga Junction, features a hit collab with VIBE cover artist Keri Hilson as well as Nasty C, a South African rapper who signed to Def Jam in March. Stonebwoy entered the clash arena wearing a full-face gas mask, leaving no doubt that he was taking this competition very seriously. Video After The Jump…
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  • Patoranking Mesmerizes Fans with New Visual for “Available”

    Patoranking Mesmerizes Fans with New Visual for “Available”

    New Patoranking Video Creates A Frenzy On Social Media

    The song “Available,” by International artist, Patoranking, hit the airwaves in November 2017.  It contains an appealing conglomerate of musical sounds with a palpable Qgom rhythm.  Patoranking’s music encompasses multiple genres of music including reggae, dancehall, afrobeat, hip hop and pop.  His vocals resonate over the DJ Catzico and Vista production, as he sings the chorus,  “I’m available, I’m available,” with a stuttering reverberation. This use of his voice as an instrument fuses with the rhythm, creating an exhilarating sound.  More After The Jump…

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  • OkayAfrica Raises The Bar With D’banj, Sister Nancy, Rayvon and The Compozers in New York City

    OkayAfrica Raises The Bar With D’banj, Sister Nancy, Rayvon and The Compozers in New York City

    Okayafrica’s “Riddim and Beats” Fused Several Musical Genres 

    On Thursday, August 10, 2017,  Okayafrica, a company which fuses music, fashion and culture, presented “Riddim and Beats” at Lincoln Center. The diverse crowd awaited the excited line up, which included D’banj, Sister Nancy,and The Compozer.  More After The Jump…

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  • WATCH THIS: Jojo Abot “To Li” Offical Music Video

    WATCH THIS: Jojo Abot “To Li” Offical Music Video

    Reasoning With Ghana’s Next To Bust

    As the new year begins, so does the quest for which new artist will make an impact on the scene. One of those artist could be ghanaian singer/songwriter Jojo Abot who seamlessly blends electronica, indie-soul, reggae, house, and acoustic instrumentation on top of vocals sung in either English or Ewe, a language spoken in southern Ghana. Abot spends her time between three different locations, her native Ghana, Copenhagen, and New York City. The first part of 2017 already saw her performing at Global Fest on Jan.8th at Webster Hall in NYC, three days later at the JFK Center for the Performing Arts, and the MLH (Ms. Lauryn Hill) Caravan at Radio City Music Hall on Feb. 25th. For the latter performance, Abot will be opening for Ms. Lauryn Hill along with Little Simz, and Kehlani. Video And Interview After The Jump… (more…)

  • Busy Signal Helicopters In For Malawi Show With Custom Chopper

    Busy Signal Helicopters In For Malawi Show With Custom Chopper

    Turf Prez Flying High In Africa

    Busy Signal always gets made love in Africa, but yesterday’s concert in Malawi took the Turf Prez to another level—in his own personalized helicopter. The Jamaican reggae/dancehall star arrived in style for his Saturday night show at Civo stadium in Lilongwe thanks to Impact Events boss Lucius Banda, who called in a few favors with the Malawi Defense Force. The southeast African nation’s military forces kindly provided a personalized chopper for Busy—now that’s how you make an entrance!—and an extremely secure ride home after the show. “Safely escorted to hotel by the Army, no one can Harm Mi,” Busy posted on his IG, adding: “Oh, and and tell @reggaesumfest seh mi performed for 3 hours and 37 minutes with my personal Band. Thank you so much! GOD BLESS.” So the thing set. Check out the crowd reaction whenever Busy steps out the chopper or steps to the stage. Hot-head!  Videos After The Jump… (more…)

  • HEAR THIS: Fadda Fox ft. Runtown “All Day All Night”

    HEAR THIS: Fadda Fox ft. Runtown “All Day All Night”

    From Lagos to Bridgetown Comes A Cross-Cultural Collab For Cropover

    These are exciting times for open-minded music lovers, as genre distinctions break down and the unifying forces of tempo and technology work their magic around the globe. No matter what name you choose to call them, certain songs have the power to move the crowd. Whether you’re in Africa, the Caribbean, or someplace else, the elements of a big tune remain consistent: combine a lively drumbeat, a supple bass line, spicy lyrics and a sweet melody and watch the people react. “My team and I are on a musical mission,” says soca artist Nicholas “Fadda Fox” Sealy. “It is our aim to showcase Bajan talent internationally, collaborating with other artists being one of many strategies to execute our goals.” During a recent tour of Canada, the man known for running the streets of Bridgetown, Barbados with tunes like “Ducking” was sharing breakfast with Nigerian-born Afrobeat star Douglas “Runtown” Jack Agu. The conversation turned to collaboration, and within days they’d come up with a soca-meets-Afrobeat anthem for Crop Over 2016. With writing by Jovan James, Runtown and Fadda Fox, and production by Darien Bailey and Hector Cesar for Decibel Productions. You may call it what you wish, we simply call it a Certified Boomshot. Audio After The Jump… (more…)

  • WATCH THIS: Kelissa “Best Kept Secret” Official Music Video

    WATCH THIS: Kelissa “Best Kept Secret” Official Music Video

    Kelissa McDonald “Best Kept Secret” Video Celebrates Her Earthstrong and Women’s History Month

    Big up to Kelissa, one of the Caribbean’s favorite rising talents of the reggae revival. You may remember this lovely young empress from her Vogue feature on Jamaica’s resurgence of conscious music. Lately, this African queen has taken a break from touring to record more classic music and create engaging visuals for fans. In the latest video for her single “Best Kept Secret” Kelissa demonstrates her outstanding vocal ability, youthful appearance, and queenly character for the ladies seeking love in the Spring. Video After The Jump… (more…)

  • HEAR THIS: Chronixx x Federation Sound “Roots & Chalice”

    HEAR THIS: Chronixx x Federation Sound “Roots & Chalice”

    Steam Ministah Links Federation Fam To Give Us The Fullness

    Chronixx and the Federation family had a musical meeting of the minds to create this amalgamation of wicked instrumentals past & present. The 60-minute mix includes well known tracks “Like A Whistle,” “Alpha & Omega,” and “Tenement Yard” to warm up your ears to a familiar beat.  The heavy drum and bass breakdown stampedes in on “Spanish Town Rocking” (inspired by Mr. Levy’s crucial Channel One selection) as Chronixx executes a sound inna dancehall stylee. “Queen Majesty” is a top selection with a smooth melody that the ladies will be sure to love. Chronixx dominates the microphone as an emcee and singjay with special features from Eesah on “Perfect Tree”, Dre Island on “Puppy Nose”, Kelissa on “Best Love”, and Kabaka Pyramid on the title track Chalice & Roots. “Dem haffi wait likkle while for mi first album…” Chronixx ends the mix with a proclamation that leaves us wanting more. Behind the steam, the music disappears from whence it came, deep into the tallest peaks of Jamaica’s lush green dreams. Audio After The Jump… (more…)

  • WATCH THIS: Allinor “Fun” Official Music Video

    WATCH THIS: Allinor “Fun” Official Music Video

    Straight Outta Ghana to St. Andrew Park

    What’s fun to you? Kicking a soccer ball? Playing with kids in the park? Listening to some tunes? Fulfilling your lifetime dream of traveling from Africa to Jamaica and recording a full album with some of the greatest reggae musicians who ever lived? All those things converge with Allinor, a young singer from Ghana who took a leap of faith and caught a flight to Kingston in hopes of working with the legendary guitarist Chinna Smith, who played with everybody from Amy Winehouse to Ras Michael & The Sons of Negus to Robert Nesta Marley. His is the yard in St. Andrew Park mentioned in Jah9’s “Steamers a Bubble”—a place where serious reggae jam sessions go down on the regular. Allinor made the link with Chinna, sang him some songs, one thing lead to another, and before he knew it, the young African vocalist was standing in Harry J Studios laying down his debut album. The first video from said album dropped yesterday, and it’s filled with words of wisdom about how you can enjoy your life a whole lot more. How fun is that? Video After The Jump… (more…)

  • Rastaman Refix: Ily Culcha featuring Isaac Faith

    Rastaman Refix: Ily Culcha featuring Isaac Faith

     The 2014 hit “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea featuring CharlieXCX was an instant  number 1 on the Billboard Top 100 chart. One of the main reasons for this was the jumpy beat which caused palpitations in reggae and hip hop. The beat was coproduced by The Invisible Men (Jason Pebworth, George Astasio, and Job Shave) and The Arcade (Kurtis Mckenzie and Jon Mills).

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  • WATCH THIS: AKA ft. Burna Boy, JR & Da LES “All Eyes on Me” Official Music Video

    WATCH THIS: AKA ft. Burna Boy, JR & Da LES “All Eyes on Me” Official Music Video

    Check out some fiyah from South African spitta AKA featuring the original “Nigerian Don Gorgon” hitmaker Burna Boy. Along with Patoranking, Burna is bringing the ’80s dancehall aesthetics back to the Afrobeat scene, regularly tapping the Shabba-Ninja-Cat trinity for inspiration. Wheel it! Video After the Jump…

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