Pharrell Williams, Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z & Macklemore Dominate 2014 Grammy Nominations

Macklemore performing on friday night at the Grammy nomination concert

The list of nominees for the 2014 Grammy Awards  coming up on January 26th, 2014 is out and there is an air of inevitability on who the biggest winners will be. Jigga is leading the pack with (yawn!) nine nominations. Granted he's on top of his game and has been for years now but its getting boring (in my humble opinion at least). Now on to more exciting prospects like Seattle's finest, Macklemore who bagged seven nominations in three major categories outside of the Rap category - Song of the year, Album of the year and Best new artiste. Also bagging seven nominations a piece are Kendrick Lamar. Pharrell Williams and Justin Timberlake who all helped make 2013 a great creative year for us as well as the music industry.

Its been a busy year for Pharrell

Check out all the major nominees below, and visit Grammy.com for the full list:

Flashback: When Mandela Came To Town

Nelson & Winnie Mandela arrive in Lagos

On February 2nd, 1990, to the relief of the civilised world, The Honourable Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was released by former South African President FW De Klerk after 27 years of incarceration by the country's apartheid regime which crumbled shortly after. The inevitability of his release was due to among a cocktail of factors, the global deification of Mandela as the spiritual leader of South Africa's resistance in a rapidly changing world that had seen the Berlin wall come down months before then.

For decades Nigeria had been a heavy supporter of the Anti-Apartheid/Free Mandela campaign and our dream was about to come true. As a teenager in those days it was normal to have grown up amidst a culture of anti-apartheid protest. Besides the dangerous pens wielded by writers back, we also had songs by the likes of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti ("Beast of no nation"), Sonny Okosun ("Fire in Soweto"), Majek Fashek ("Free Mandela") and an army of khaki clad militant reggae artistes that were the rave back then. (Not to mention a special edition of defunct comic, "Ikebe Super" in which the protagonists Papa Ajasco and Pa James with the aid of juju, successfully lead an army into SA and overthrow President Botha) It was natural that weeks before his release, welcome rumours had been filtering in that the amiable and indeed noble FW De Klerk would let Mandela go home and the excitement ran thick until it came to pass.

The Return of Robocop

Soon to be given the remake treatment is classic action movie, Robocop. Its amazing how time flies and its also harder to accept that the original movie is actually 27 years old. A landmark in the science fiction/action genre.

For the uninitiated, Robocop is a 1987 movie that tells the story of Alex Murphy, a decent cop/family man who is shot in the line of duty and gets his life saved by a powerful corporation that uses what's left of him to make a crime-fighting cyborg, hence the title of the movie.

Original 1987 movie poster

The movie is due for release in 2014 and stars Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Keaton and it will be interesting to see if the remake can have the same impact as the original. The original was an iconic commercial and cultural success and still gets references despite being almost thirty years old. Even our own Burna Boy referred to it in his hit song, "Run my race", despite the film being released six years before he was born. 

Die hard fans of the original (including this writer) will be hoping it wont go the way of other tragic and ill fated attempts at remaking some of the most loved movies of the 1980s like Conan the barbarian and Arthur.

The movie is scheduled for release in February 2014.

MTN Loud In Naija Tour: The Abuja Edition

On friday night,Telecoms giant MTN staged the Abuja edition of its "Loud in Naija" concert tour at the humongous River Place Park, Wuse. Needless to say, security concerns in recent times have suppressed the general appetite for nightlife in Abuja. Especially for events that boast of traditionally high numbers of fun-seekers at once. Concerts being the hardest hit in that genre.

Kizaro's Blog caught up with MTN events ace, Joseph Ogbuka and got him to say a few words about the significance of the Abuja concert. He told Kizaro's Blog - "the event is part of the company's drive to leverage on our brand ambassadors to spark the re-invigoration of Abuja's nightlife and concert culture".

Smoking Pot On Duty!

This fine officer of the law was captured in this photograph about to light up a rolled up substance identifiable on first glance as Marijuana. What is a bit distressing about this image is that the cop about to get "high" is in on duty, in his uniform and is bearing a loaded AK-47!

While Nigerians have grown a thick skin and are almost "unshockable" its important to demand greater standards of our law enforcement agencies and their men. Corruption is one thing but a corrupt cop with a brain full of ogogoro and weed, armed to the teeth is the stuff of nightmares.

Food for thought.

Four Icons That Changed The Face Of Nigerian Entertainment In the Last 20 Years

Ali Baba – Comedian

Acknowledged as the ”Oga at the top” of Nigerian comedy, Atuyota Alleluya Akporobomeriere is the catalyst that brought respect and (ahem!) the big bucks into the humour industry, paving the way for the likes of Basketmouth, Julius Agwu, AY and many others making a decent living today off their jokes.

Ali Baba was among an amazing troupe of pioneer funny-men that took their jokes as serious business. His early contemporaries in the early nineties were the late Mohammed Danjuma, Yibo Koko, Alarm Blow and Basorge Tariah. He started telling jokes for a fee as a student of the then Bendel State Univerrsity, Ekpoma in 1987 and moved to Lagos for greener pastures in 1990.

D'Leads Break Out With Dance Track - "Nkaboleke"

Lagos based duo, D'leads made up of two self confessed dance addicts recently put finishing touches to the video of their high energy debut track titled Nkaboleke.

The first time we got a hold of the track, courtesy of D'Leads front-man, Eric Cool we were apprehensive of it being a rehash of reigning material in the clubs and radio but by the end of the track we all found ourselves humming unconsciously to the catchy chorus.

I immediately placed a Skype call to Eric Cool to ask him the message behind the track since large parts are in his native dialect and in a heartbeat and a big smile he replied - "its all about making the people dance".

With the sort of passion they radiate, expect more dance floor fillers from these guys.

Enjoy!