One of the truly unforgettable effect of the #EndSARS protests, and the ongoing movement for a safer and saner Nigeria, is the emphasis on decentralisation. The common rhetoric of the past few weeks it that every concerned Nigerian youth is a leader of the demonstrations, and that includes celebrity figures who would have somehow become arrowheads in these sort of moments, due to their influence.

During these trying times, many celebrities have opted to use their platforms in amplifying the agitations against police brutality, rightly joining in the fight for change, rather than leading. Although conspicuously radio silent for the first few days of protests, Burna Boy has been one of several prominent Nigerian artists playing their part in the fight for change which the Nigerian youth populace have been so passionately pushing for.

Towards the end of the first week of agitations, the first couple of #EndSARS billboards were spotted in Lagos and other parts of the country, which were apparently sponsored by the Nigerian singer. During that period, Burna Boy also put out a statement showing his solidarity with the protests and announcing that he had set up Project Protect, an initiative to help in providing financial, medical and legal resources during and after the demonstrations. He’s also remained vocal on Twitter, sharing reactions to real time happenings, even briefly sharing an extended snippet of a tribute song to peaceful protesters killed by Nigerian soldiers on October 20, 2020.

Continuing to use his voice of activism, yesterday, at the 15th edition of the BET hip-hop awards, Burna Boy dedicated his performance to all victims of police brutality. Aired during the ceremony last night, Burna performed the raging socio-political cut, “Monsters You Made”, a standout track off his last studio album, ‘Twice As Tall’. The Chris Martin-assisted song received a symbolic music video soon after the album release, and Burna heavily interpolates the rebel universe of the video into the set of his performance.

Backed by his band, the Outsiders, with Chris Martin singing his parts remotely, Burna delivers his impassioned set while a montage of real life clippings showing police brutality on peaceful protesters – from Selma in 1965 to Lagos in 2020 – is projected unto a large screen. The set also includes extras dressed in the same vein as the music video of “Monsters You Made”. As is customary during his live shows, Burna’s vocals are crisp and clear, painfully so this time around, due to the poignant nature of his lyrics and how much they relate to current happenings.

As the #EndSARS protests have been sustained, the Nigerian government are resorting to gas-lighting the Nigerian youth, from demanding an end to protests, even though we’ve not seen concrete steps towards implementation; to deploying thugs against peaceful protesters; to pinning the destruction of properties on demonstrators who have always ensured to clean up after themselves. Instead of actually paying attention to the demands of protesters, the list of counter-responses has been long, painting us out to be unreasonable – or, in other words, monsters.

On the first verse of “Monsters You Made”, Burna mirrors the attitude of government towards citizens who dare ask for change, after long years of enduring unideal conditions. You could say the song is prescient, considering what is going on, but it fits quite easily, mainly because Nigeria’s governmental challenges haven’t really evolved in our 60 year, and a lot of activism-driven songs remain relevant till date. By honouring victims of police brutality in Nigeria – Tiamiyu Kazeem, Kolade Johnson, amongst others – Burna’s BET hip-hop awards performance is a resounding reminder of the urgency with which change needs to happen.

Watch the performance here:

Curled from Nativemag

Germany champion and Uefa Champions League winner, Bayern Munich have surprised Nigerians after they used Fireboy’s song for an advertisement.

Fireboy signed under YBNL and Empire Music dropped his sophomore album, “Apollo” few months ago and the lead single, “Champion” with D.Smoke has become an advert song for the German club.

The video featured highlights of Bayern Munich performances in the UEFA Champions League ahead of their Super Cup showdown versus Sevilla.

Posting the video with Fireboy’s song, the club captioned, “Let’s make it four trophies this year 🏆🔥”, then tagged the singer. Watch below;Video Player

Kanye West has defended Jay Z after it was alleged that the latter sold Kanye’s Masters to get his own back.

Kanye, who had been temporarily banned from Twitter for sharing a journalist’s phone number on his timeline, returned to the platform today to react the claims Jay Z sold him out.

Kanye, 43, tweeted screenshots of a post by blogger Akademiks, featuring the headline, “Jay Z Allegedly Sold Kanye’s Masters to Get Own Masters Back.”

Reacting Kanye said Jay is his brother and the media shouldn’t come between them.

Kanye wrote: “Don’t let the system pit us against each other. JAY IS MY BROTHER … I have eternal love for all artist that have been through and are still trapped this crooked system. Jay still doesn’t get his own masters back for ten years. I will see to it that we all get our masters.”

He added: “we will change the paradigm.”

Kanye, who is battling Universal Music Group for ownership of his masters, posted his entire contract on Twitter earlier this week.

Several music industry executives who read through the contracts concluded that Jay Z sold Kanye’s first six albums in order to get his own masters back.

@lavidaNOTA, a South African label owner, wrote: “Kanye contracts SUMMARY: Apart from the inducement which Kanye had to sign to get his advances. This shows that Jay Z sold the masters to first 6 @kanyewest’s albums just so he could get his own back. He did so knowing Def Jam won’t sell them back to Kanye in future. That’s BEEF!

“[Kanye] owns album[s] 7-10 but the most lucrative and most critically acclaimed albums are owned by Roc-A-Fella which is wholly owned by Def Jam… The majors will never sell you your masters because that’s what gives them market share and drives profits and Jay Z knew that.”

However, Kanye’s recent tweet disputes this claim.