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managing editor @nativemag | words @dazed @thefacemagazine @applemusic @thefader @billboard

[Dami Ajayi @JollyPaps1]

One of my accomplishments this month is writing a 3,000-word essay on Paul Play Dairo, son of juju legend IK Dairo and one of the early architects of Afrobeats. Written after more than 7 years of turning the idea over. Had to write about his father first. Paying tribute to Paul Play is what I needed to do to get into writing about Wande Coal. Now ready for The Black Diamond of Africa.

Things that I do for you, folks out here. Go and read my newsletter.

[w @walenchism]

as it was in the 2010s. lil kesh’s ‘young and getting it’ was everywhere, from the bukas to banwill.

[Dami Ajayi @JollyPaps1]

In the 2000s, the equivalent of a music album going platinum on the OAU campus is that every stall in New Buka plays it at the same time @walenchism

[w @walenchism]

“If nativist thinking is what’s prevalent in the west, and is affecting genres like hip-hop and R&B, then obviously it’s going to trickle down to Afrobeats”.

contributed some thoughts on financing in afropop to this Guardian report by @chibuzocartz

https://t.co/MI1VZd7o1K

[w @walenchism]

brazil are so washed

[w @walenchism]

“‘Superstar’ isn't a concept album, but it does a good job of capturing the life of a 20-year-old in the thick of his visible and excitable upward mobility.”

happy 15 years to Wizkid’s foundational document of hedonism, relentless drive, and ambition.

https://t.co/r8lC1kkgKx

[w @walenchism]

There’s been a lot of talk about where Afropop/Afrobeats is at rn, and I contributed some thoughts to this Guardian report that tracks where the genre is right now, the factors behind that position, and what could
come next.

Great work by @chibuzocartz

https://t.co/vVu6Lu2qOg

[w @walenchism]

28. was having a conversation with my guy @theleviadewunmi like two months ago and he was like, “you should enjoy the spoils of the war.”

it’s been a long trudge from where i came from and i don’t know where im going on some days but its onward forever and some cheer.

[w @walenchism]

26. still in the game and rocking with the people i love.

avril says we’ll always see sunny days—we’re yet to be proven wrong.

[Motolani Alake @OneMotolani]

“There are no more classic songs…”

No, you’re just too old and you have real adult problems now. There are kids for whom ‘Money Constant’ will be referenced like ‘Pana’ or ‘Fall’ in 5-10 years.

Be humble, accept it.

[w @walenchism]

is port harcourt first son a classic?

[w @walenchism]

they should just make a fictionalised account of olamide’s rise. the unilag and akoka street cyphers, leaving university, and stop after the acclaim of a successful sophomore that sealed his legend.

[Ayomide Tayo @AOT2]

Still waiting for that great street-hop Nollywood movie. The way Hustle & Flow, 8 Mile, Menace II Society and Juice made you feel that world, that's what pushes a culture forward and makes outsiders finally get it. We deserve that film.

[w @walenchism]

@yaseerr___ i swear i’ll do away with the coca-cola 😂😂

[The NATIVE @NativeMag]

‘What is happening with Wizkid is on another level. It’s not even comparable” - Karam Gill, on directing ‘Wizkid: Long Live Lagos’ documentary. 

Full story🔗 https://t.co/A8lgVYrDGf

[The NATIVE @NativeMag]

As raves become mainstream, the battle for safe spaces in pioneer communities intensifies. https://t.co/bCv5ZUKULX

[w @walenchism]

pep has gotten his lick back on slot exceedingly this season man

[w @walenchism]

@haywenzo brother

[w @walenchism]

it’s like he’s trying to perform feelings that dont feel genuine to him and he just clothes it in cutting edge production.

[w @walenchism]

omah lay sounds like he’s undecided on if he wants to be happy or sad and that indecision just makes this a tiresome listen man.

[Dami Ajayi @JollyPaps1]

Overhyped albums are subjected to unprecedented levels of scrutiny, granted, but engaging in self-mythologising is irresponsible if your material is not flammable. Better to play demure rather than bluster, because the sophomore album is a very tricky enterprise.

[w @walenchism]

omah lay sounds like he’s undecided on if he wants to be happy or sad and that indecision just makes this a tiresome listen man.

[w @walenchism]

baba rere 🤣🤣🤣

[News Central TV @NewsCentralTV]

"You have no light at the airport, and I have to fly back within the next 10 minutes... To the victims, there's nothing I can give you but promise you this experience will not repeat itself."

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu says that his government will do its best to support the victims.

[w @walenchism]

na who una wan pay tax give be this? oya nau 😭😂

[Elliot @elliot_solution]

An American bank partnered with a Nigerian man to launder $308 million of Nigerian government money.

The money left Nigeria through American banks. It then sat quietly in a shell company for years while the man lived comfortably in Texas.

In 2003 American authorities arrested him. He spent six months in federal detention in the United States waiting to be tried.

Before the trial happened he offered to return $163 million.

America accepted. He flew back to Nigeria.

Nobody questioned him. Nobody charged him. Nobody prosecuted him.

He ran for Senate and won. He ran for Governor and won. He ran for Governor again and won.

America returned the $308 million his operation had laundered.

The new president then put him in cabinet.

America did not trust Nigeria with the $308 million.

They tied every dollar to three specific roads. Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Abuja-Kano Road. Second Niger Bridge.

They even included a clawback clause. Misuse one dollar, pay it all back.

Why the conditions? Because previous loot returned to Nigeria had already disappeared.

Nigeria's own government told the court they had no record of how the earlier billions were spent.

A man who laundered billions is currently Nigeria's Minister of Budget and Economic Planning.

He decides how Nigeria spends its money.

💀🇳🇬🇺🇸