The Gospel according 2 R.A.P is a Nigerian based gospel hip hop music group that defines its style of music as hard hitting lyrics laced with the power of spoken word over head bumping beats. R.A.P music as defined by GA2R is an acronym for “rhythmically applied poetry” or “radically amplified praise” as the aim of the music is to spread the word of God across all borders regardless of age, sex, ethnic group, gender and race.

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The message is simple, “Jesus walks”, “God rules and is totally in charge”. The group is a twelve (12) man band whose members are Mr. Rah, Da Professer, Kudo, Kenny, Tiny, Chichi, G.Base, Choco, T.Toms, Tolu, Dr Slim and L37 – a group of young adults that range from undergraduates to working professionals in the information technology and financial services sector. GA2R has been in the music industry for over 5 years, having performed alongside other mainstream acts like Sammy Okposo, Mike Aremu, Roof Top Mcs, Cobhams Asuquo and Bouqui in such events as the “Cool FM’s Praise Jam1 & 2” and The “UNMASK” music concert in Lagos and Abuja with over 6,000 people in attendance.

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Their debut music video “Nu day” was a regular feature on Prime time televisions’ Naijizie while their first radio single “imela” was a frequent anthem on such pioneering radio stations as 96.9 Cool Fm and Rhythm 93.7 FM.

GA2R initially started out as a four (4) man band during their early days in the University of Lagos having performed in countless shows on and off campus. Their large fan base and popularity eventually spread across board which led to numerous performances in churches and youth programmes around the country.

The concept “Gospelling through Rap” (captioned in the July 23, 2004 article by the Daily Sun Newspaper); is a bold description of the genre of music canvassed by the group, as today’s rap artists may be stereotyped to portray the radical image of hip hop which primarily glorifies extreme wealth, lavish living and material possession.

Gospel according 2 Rap has been described as The Notorious B.I.G and Tupac Shakur reborn and reincarnated but doing things in a more positive way, a more productive way, a way that our Mum’s, Dad’s and even kids will be proud to listen to, to turn up the volume, fasten their head phones, recline their seats, bump their heads and say yeah! The message is clear, it edifies, it motivates it uplifts and inspires.

“We’re not saying that we are perfect; we’re saying that we have learned to embrace our imperfections, accept our differences and through the gift of music ,aspire to do things better than those before us so that the next generation will have a brighter and more positive future to look forward to.”



DJ Caise (pronounced Case) has been described as one of the most exciting and innovative young Nigerian entertainers to ever grace the turntables. He has performed at UK’s and Nigeria’s most prestigious nightclubs and entertained a variety of audiences from around the world.His unique and inventive style has enabled him to perform alongside several of the music industry’s leading artists. This extensive resume includes tours and video appearances with Dbanj, the Mo hits All stars, P-Square, Styl-Plus, Olu Maintain, Ikechukwu, Sasha, Sauce kid, Donaeo (UK artist) and more.This talent has earned him the well deserved name “Celebrity DJ”.

DJ Caise has been selected amongst many for great shows such as The Christian Audigier Wine and Champagne Launch (Lagos), Asa On The Green, The Beat FM Launch Party and more. He is also leading Lagos radio station; The Beat 99.9 FM’s resident DJ.His main influences are Funky House, Hip Hop, R’n'B, Bashment, Old school, Afro beats, and more. Regardless of your style, crowd, event or venue type, DJ Caise is able to take your revelry to that next level.Driven by his natural talent and great passion for music, fine-tuned with an intermediate Dj course from the world famous POINT BLANK LONDON PRODUCTION school, Dj Caise showcases his incredible skills and knowledge of the music every step of the way.

Whether that is featured in his performances, his latest mix-tape or his radio sets, his style and popularity is like no other, and this is very much apparent once you attend an event hosted by Dj Caise.

Keziah Jones (born Olufemi Sanyaolu on January 10, 1968 in Lagos, Nigeria) is a Nigerian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He describes his musical style as “Blufunk”, which is a fusion between raw blues elements and hard, edgy funk rhythms. Also his Nigerian roots and soul music can be considered a major influence on his sound.He is known for his distinctive style of guitarplaying, above all his percussive right-hand technique which is similar to bass player’s slapping technique. He’s also famous for playing most of his live shows with a bare torso.

Son of a chief Osodolamu Sanyaolu in a Yoruba tribe and successful industrialist, Keziah (Olufemi) spent his early childhood in a large family in the semi-Muslim part of Nigeria, close to the city of Lagos. From a young age he was being prepared to follow his father’s footsteps and was expected to have an academic career. Therefore his father enrolled him in a Public School in London and Keziah left Nigeria at 8 years old to be educated in England.
“I had to find a way out of all that bullshit, and music was it!” By the age of 13 he discovered the old school piano and taught himself how to play and write songs. Three years later he switched to the guitar, neglecting his studies more and more. After scraping through exams he went against his father’s wishes and family tradition even more by skipping school and trying out his songs in the streets, clubs and London Underground, constantly avoiding the police, the Immigration Department – and his own relatives.
Keziah led a bohemian life for several years instead of the one envisaged for him. “Lose all time, love your mind, free your soul!” (from his song Free Your Soul). Moving from London to Paris, accompanied by his guitar, he acquired an excellent reputation as a musician and performer with a unique style. In 1991, while playing in the Paris Metro, Keziah is discovered by the French music label “Delabel” manager. In 1992, Delabel signed Keziah for his first album to record it in Paris, “Blufunk is a fact,” including the worldwide success of Keziah’s first single “Rhythm is Love.” Obviously, Keziah’ Parisian subway experience was instrumental to his skyrocketing career, as clearly stated in his official biography.

Keziah often cites Fela Kuti and Jimi Hendrix as important influences. Also Keziahs major influences were Michael Jackson. Keziah is not in support of DRM ,he thinks music should be shared no matter the cost and people in third world countries should listen to music to help them.

Sources:
Keziah Jones Official Website

Wikipedia

Sean Tye is West Africa’s next great gift to the music industry. With his sweet and distinct voice, microphone presence and lyrics that tell the tale of young love and street life as well as life’s hopes and aspirations, Sean Tye is Africa’s latest artist whose songs take you on a journey of passion, intimacy, and sustaining lifelong love.  His micro cosmic depiction of the ups and downs involved in relationships combined with macrocosmic/grandiose view of life, in general, allow his listeners to cope with the day to day struggles of life and love.

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His name “Sean Tye,” derived from his actual name “Seun,” gives the audience a spin on a western version of native traditions, much like his music. Sean Tye was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeri a.  His neighborhood, known as “Ikorodu ”, gave him his foundation as an artist and has created the music that you hear today.

Sean Tye honed his skills over the years into a unique combination of melody, word play, and fierce vocals. His confidence is exemplified in tracks like “Oh, oh, oh” and “” just to name a few. His inspiration is derived from artists – both old and young – such as Luther Vandross, the Dream, R. Kelly, and Trey Song.  Sean Tye has held musical performances throughout various venues in Nigeria.

His music captures a new style that you have yet to experience.  Sean Tye is without a doubt what West Africa has come to expect.  He is, in fact, the FUTURE.

Zuby’s captivating flow, thought-provoking social commentary and powerful stage presence quickly cast aside any doubts about his ability. With musical influences ranging from Jay-Z and LL Cool J, to Gangstarr and Talib Kweli, he has the rare ability to craft catchy and memorable songs without sacrificing lyrical depth.

Born in England, to Nigerian parents, Zuby grew up in Saudi Arabia where he attended an American school. He developed his enthusiasm for hip hop during his secondary school years in the UK before attending Oxford University, where he began writing and recording his raps as a hobby. Since then, he has performed live in the UK, USA, Germany and Saudi Arabia and received radio and club airplay locally and internationally.

In June 2006, whilst still in full-time education, Zuby independently released his first EP, aptly titled ‘Commercial Underground’. Armed with nothing more than a backpack full of CDs, an mp3 player and plenty of charm, he has personally sold over 3,000 copies on the streets of Oxford and London. In a relatively short time, Zuby made a profound impact on Oxford with his exciting live performances, amusing online videos and his infamous ‘I’m Down With Zuby. Are You?’ T-shirts. His sizeable following and penchant for self-promotion led to Zuby being ranked as the #1 musician in the Oxford Student newspaper’s ‘50 Most Influential People in Oxford’.

In January 2008, Zuby released a follow up album ‘The Unknown Celebrity’ on his own label C.O.M. Entertainment. The album received an overwhelmingly positive response from Zuby’s fans and was accompanied by two music videos, ‘The Same Ones’ and ‘Too Many’, the latter receiving airplay on Channel U.

With his upcoming release entitled ‘How I Feel: The EP’, Zuby aims to solidify his existing fanbase and expand his audience, with hopes that one day the entire world will be ‘down with Zuby.’

In a strategic attempt to expand his brand awareness in the UK, Nigeria and beyond, he has teamed up with the Roll-A-Dice Entertainment team, whose head honcho’s watched him perform in Southampton and drew an immediate admiration to his brand and music.

Born Obinna Eze – Ajoku in Yaba Town of Lagos State, Objazz grew up in Festac Town listening to a lot of Hip-hop acts such as Nas, The Fugees, Redman, T-Bone and others while also listening to Jazz recordings of Kirk Whalum, George Benson and Victor Wooten. A combination of the effects of these extremes is responsible for all the sound in-between that has become Objazz’s trademark.

Multi-instrumentally talented Objazz plays the keyboards, the guitars, the saxophone along with percussions which makes it only natural that he be a very versatile producer. He also writes all his songs and songs for other artists. Started doing music as early as age 7 learning the guitar and the piano. After a while he began to write and perform in school with the choir as well as doing solo performances. This was the beginning of his recording journey that will take him many years later to record a full-length album.

Objazz started producing for other artist while at the Federal University of Technology Owerri studying Electrical Engineering. Apparently not so moved to pursue his course of study as a major career, he sometimes travelled to Abuja and Lagos also for the same purposes and continued to develop his skill up to the point where he decided to do a mix-tape project. The initial idea of the mix-tape was to do beats and then feature individual well-known local acts. He also planned to feature in each track perhaps doing a verse or two or the hook. From the beginning this plan faced a lot of challenges and a lot of acts were not too excited about featuring on the project since Objazz was relatively unknown on the music scene at that time. He then decided to pull out all his scraps of ideas and writings and combine them with his unique-sounding beats and his debut album was formed.

The self titled album features different sides to the artist which in some respects features different sides of the individual. His unusual style of releasing more than one single a time allows audience feel two sides of one person at the same time. His first two singles “Mass Hysteria” and “Keep Running” did just that. The former features a voice sample of the late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti over a nice hip-hop sounding beat laced on with heavy, strong and hard rap verses. The latter features Objazz singing in English and his native tongue ‘igbo’ and rapping over a pacing instrumental to connote the feel of someone running. His second two set of singles are “Gbasibe” and “Carry Go”. “Gbasibe” is a happy-feeling groove meant to make you groove with fresh easy flowing rhymes while “Carry Go” is a very soulful track which features Objazz singing and scatting. This track has been defined by many as being in a world of its own because of its feel, the mood it sets you into and the unique sounding scat at the end that really climaxes the track. It also has a fun element to it and leaves an impression on everyone that hears it.

‘One More Chance’ a new single released August 2009 getting heavy rotation both locally and internationally and on online radio stations.  It’s another motivational track that features Objazz delivery the rap with such great flow that gets the attention of even non-rap listeners.  Fresh, unique and featuring vocal samples from Sly n Robbie, Bob Marley and some patua chants.

Objazz has performed on stages with the likes of D’banj, P Square, Timaya, 9ice, Styl Plus and many other  popular major Nigerian acts also having played years back as keyboardist and bass guitarist for live performances of various artists.  His solo performances indeed are a site to behold with his mannerisms, carriage and unique dance steps he chips into each song. Objazz works under his own label ‘WAVEHOUSE RECORDINGS’ and with all his ‘stuff’ and potential, being a singer, rapper, writer audio engineer  and producer, he is sure to break bounds that have never been broken by any of his predecessors.

They are intent on showing Nigeria, Africa and eventually the world that something exceptional can arise from Nigeria a nation desperate to improve its image by showcasing its talents and musical capabilities.

SDC Links:
You tube: www.youtube.com/showdemcamp

Twitter: www.twitter.com/showdemcamp

MySpace: www.myspace.com/showdemcamp

Facebook: SDC- Show Dem Camp

Photo Credit: Aisha Augie-Kuta

Eighteen months of hard work and determination resulted in Alexander’s business evolving from a one-man operation to a business based in Islington employing over a dozen staff, and generating an annual turnover in excess of £1 million. RnB World, now the parent company of RnB Ringtones, was founded in June 2000, although Alexander’s business experience significantly predates this.

Whilst studying, Alexander worked part time in retailers such as the electrical store Tandy and the fast food chain Pizza Hut. It soon became apparent that selling and in particular developing a rapport with customers came naturally to him.  Having undertaken a business start-up course at the college of North East London, at the age of 19, Alexander wrote a business plan which was reviewed by the Prince’s Trust. The Trust didn’t delay in awarding him a grant to start his new business venture for a cleaning company that he oversaw and ran for three years whilst continuing his studies.

Whilst studying Aeronautics at first St. Alban’s College, and then Queen Mary of Westfield University, Alexander promoted basketball tournaments, five-a-side football, Table Tennis and club nights in his spare time. Alexander promoted and managed over 25 club nights, widening his experience and strengthening his business acumen.
This success has not gone unnoticed by his peers or the media. Alexander was awarded Young Entrepreneur Of The Year at the Institute of Directors by Black Enterprise Awards 2002, Africa’s Best Award at the GAB Awards 2003, also receiving London African Carribean Entrepreneurs Award 2004. Alexander have also been featured in the Sun, News of the World, Sunday Express and the Guardian newspaper as well as appearing on MTV, Bravo, Nickelodeon and Ben TV .

Alexander was the first person to created Free Ringtones Day, where company had over 75,000 orders in one day, he donated all the revenue for Free Ringtones Day to Teenage Cancer Trust which amounted to thousands of pounds.

This Sunday October 4, he will host select guests at the Ultima Studio, in Omole, Lagos- the same place he was announced winner at Project Fame 2008. His album will feature contributions from DJ Zeez, Faze, MI and Bokwilla and production contributions from TY Mix and K Solo.
The album title and full track listing will be revealed at the Sunday event. Fresh from performing at the New York Fashion festival on September 13 2009, Iyanya dished out a fantastic performance at the MTN Project Fame season 2 finals on Saturday September 26, 2009.  Already, two new singles of the album titled ‘Shaye’ (featuring Zeez), and ‘Love Truly’ are enjoying rare newspaper reviews and heavy rotation on radio stations across the continent.

The Sunday event tagged ‘Symphony of Iyanya’ will not only serve as an album and video premiere, but also a concert with performances from Iyanya and a few of his friends. Iyanya Onoyom Mbuk discovered his talents for singing during his childhood while singing in the church. He later started singing at weddings and then got an offer to perform regularly at Channel view Hotel Calabar.  He is a graduate of Business Management from the University of Calabar.

My name is ”DRAE” Dare Daniels, I’m a Nigerian and I’m twenty-five years old. The genre of music I sing is R&B, which is perhaps the genre of music that gives the freest reign to the human emotions. My debut album “Heart on My Sleeve” will be coming out soon on the label of Nero Records.

I’m aware of the ability of music to alter and evoke emotional states, its power to gladden hearts, lighten moods, and inspire that lovey dubby romantic state that’s launched thousands of love songs onto the world charts. My purpose is to distill and heighten the evocative quotient in my music to enable my listeners access healthy, positive and higher emotional states through my songs. My dream, my vision, is the creation of an album that will be a potpourri of intense and beautiful emotions, woven into timeless songs. An album that’ll make you proud to be African, eager to fall in love again, yearn for a higher and nobler state of being.

I’m aware that the Nigerian music industry is poised on the threshold of incredible growth and evolution. I intend to be a part of that growth by creating songs that capture the essence of the African soul, sound unmistakably Nigerian, and are also world class.

I believe deeply in Nigeria’s future and I’m presently involved in the running of an NGO whose goal is to feed, clothe and pay the tuition of every child in a preselected motherless baby’s home for a year. I believe that the Nigeria of our dreams must be built by us, by positively impacting and lifting up as many people as we come across.

I’m an intensely ambitious dreamer, and I’m not ashamed of the fact. I believe in the substantiality of dreams, and the power of the human spirit to exert itself and rise above unbelievable odds to achieve monumental goals.

Right now I have so many songs, I have OMOGE, SAY MY NAME, MORE THAN A WOMAN e.t.c. I have done collaborations with different music producers and artistes…likes of OJB, Blaise, Spellz, Buckwylla e.t.c. My Video OMOGE was shot in Erin Ijesha Water falls, Osun state, in Nigeria by an American Video Producer ROCK JACOBS, who had shot videos for different international artistes like Ciara, Bow Wow, Ice Cube and so on. Right now my song OMOGE is making heavy waves in Abuja, Ibadan and most especially in South Africa. As a matter of fact it topped the chat for almost three months on a Radio Station in Johannesburg.

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