THE DAY I BROKE MY CAR-GINITY

Yup I know you're thinking 'WTF is a Car-ginity?' well it's AJ talk for when you've never been to a full blown notting hill carnival before and BOI was I unprepared for the mayhem!

To be honest my bank holiday Monday started off on a sour note. I had planned to go carnival with my younger cousins as an experience and because I had never been before myself but as the time grew nearer and it hit 1pm and I hadn’t taken my shower, things were looking like it was going to be another boring Monday where I allowed my life to pass me by. I had wanted to go out the night before but didn’t so I was slightly annoyed about not getting enjoy my 3day weekend to the fullest until AT LAST at about a little past 3pm I and my entourage were finally ready to hit the streets of notting hill.

We got there about an hour later. Wide eyed and naive we all walked into the parade eagerly trying to catch some of the action...UNTIL THE ACTION CAUGHT US!

The mass of people was ridiculous. There were half naked girls (and to my surprise guys too) as far as the eye could see but trust me when I say I wasn’t complaining (see previous bracketed comment) and the music was on point. Shortly after we got there we discovered the Nigerian parade truck and tagged along besides dozens of other afro beat lovers. As a matter of fact I am pretty sure I was winding to some jmartins when my eye turned and fell upon tiffany (yes, that tiffany). Turns out missy is actually in the UK relatively often and decided to check out the carnival. We didn’t have the chance to small talk in the midst of the noise and massive mob of ravers so we moved on after exchanging pleasantries but not before snapping some pictures. Carnival wasn’t the day to be a groupie or a distributor for that matter. I went to enjoy myself even though I must say I could not resist doing some small advertisement by wearing my own MYHH tee. What better billboard than me eh, it’s not as if I’m not big enough.

We went on to boogie some more to an array of party tunes from both the Caribbean and Africa, displayed some small azonto and even some alanta whilst I was at it...after all you can take the Nigerians away from me but...No, actually I live in London, the Nigerians isn’t going nowhere.

Anyway although I was sexually harassed by several individuals, ground upon by a short Nigerian and ruff looking heat packing yardie and having to wrestle me and my family’s way through the crowds at the end I actually thought it was reasonable fun but I’ll let you be the judge by checking out the pics. Enjoy!

p.s. remember MYHH tees are now available in the UK from me ONLY! Grab yours now as I only have a few left. Check out the tumbler and the face book for more information or contact Joey (@joey_chase) or ask ‘Nas D’Mechanix’ on face book ;)

First thing i see when we enter the carnival route..a ghana flag!

Yours truely rocking my MYHH

Amazing painting of the london marathon...

...and it's artist, rocking Kwame Nkruma.

Parade decorations

Yaa Asantewaa Arts...coordiantors of the caribbean float -_-

'Y3 nyinaa ab) dam w) UK ha, na coat na ya hy3 3gu so'

Those that understand, will understand!

The masses!

Tiffany showing some love

some people too enjoying from the roof tops

talk about SEX appeal lol

ME YE HIP HOP!

NEW MUSIC AND VIDEOS

Quick update on whats been going on in the GH music industry.

Many of you may have heard R2bees tune 'odo' already. it's been making tidal waves all across the globe, as a matter of fact, i was walking to the shop the other day and this dude was blasting the tune out of his car.
i must say the car was a bit of a disgrace to the song but, oh well, we cant have it all can we now.
Anyway, i personally like the song. Even though i would be lying if i said it was my favourite tune to come from the west african super stars i can comfortably admit that it's a good song to listen to casually.
The lyrics of the song are quite sweet (for those who dont know 'odo' means love) which i found a bit weird as i'm not used to hearing the boys rap 'romantically', especially Paedae, but in their usual manner, they made it work.
My favourite aspect of this song is the fact that the beat is actually hi-life. it has a real old school vibe to it which i adore. Killbeatz being Killbeatz i think he did a good job on this one. everytime i listen to this i just want to whip out my white hankerchief and sway my hips, salsa style.
there isnt a video to the song yet but you can listen to it on youtube and download the mp3 on http://www.themonteoz.com/2012/08/11/r2bees-odo-mp3-download/.

Ok so that's that but today i've actually got something else up my sleeve too. Turns out Paedae and his clan have been real busy recently because, not long after they made our hearts melt with odo, they've also jsut dropped the video for 'life (walaahi)' and this, i must say, is DEFINITELY a banger. If this song doesn't get worn out on airplay i'll gladly consider myself deaf.
It's these kinda tunes that make the hot girls crush hard on Killbeatz even though you hardly ever get to see him in videos or hear his voice. Although a lot of his beats have similar elements he seems to have mastered the art of making a beat that will by all means necessary make it impossible for you not to want to move. There aren't many GH producersup to his caliber nowadays but i think he knows that.
The video to the song was directed by OJ (@bigojfilms) who's a big name in the industry and has worked with Sarkodie and Stay Jay. due to the passion for his work OJ usually comes out with videos of top quality and this one is no exception although i must say, if i should criticize anything, the concepts and the effects used in the excecution are a bit samey if you look at this video and the videos of the previously mentioned artistes which were directed by OJ but that does not in anyway deduct from the quality of the video in my opinion.
The video starrs the boys and friends, including ToGH entity Nana Yaw Boakye, in different settings, some that didn't look like they were staged. The video has a 'in the life of...' reality show/docu feel to it which i like.
In no way is the video pretentious and totally represents the song and it's title. it's defibitely a masterpiece so without furthe adue i present to you 'life (walaahi)' by R2bees. Don't hesitate to follow them on twitter @R2bees

FOKN BOIS @ HOOTANANNY

So this little review is totally overdue as I saw the event on Friday night but in all honesty, I just had to let the excitement wear off before I wrote anything. After all we want to keep it objective don’t we :P so I start off with saying I am still utterly in infatuation with the Kubolor and gladly accept the groupie title any day any time (the thing about being objective was said out of the depth of a sarcastic mind...it’s my blog so I say what I like *shrugs*). Any man that makes me laugh that much, is that weird, and (oddly) such a gentleman deserves a ride or die groupie lol.

I went to see the boys on Friday the 10^th of august as an impromptu night out after realising they were performing at a place called Hootenanny in Brixton. The event was called ‘wormfood’ and the line up consisted of about 4 acts I believe, including a German group that played some REAL controversial stuff, talking about they wish they end up in hell...ok, but you're on your own, mate! I wasn’t surprised that Wanlov and Mensa would perform there as I know hootenanny to embrace any and everything weird and wonderful. The crowd that goes there might not be particularly extensive but they appreciate good music even if it is different and lets me honest there is nothing ‘normal’ about Wanlov and Mensa's most recent, FOKN with ewe, album from which they performed several songs.

The stage set up was minimal, no fancy drapes or lighting, just the average stuff really but the thing I love about hootenanny is the fact that the people make the atmosphere. The last time I was there (to watch a friend perform at an open mic night) the ambiance was very calm, collected and soothing. The audience tends to reflect the acts on display for each night. Considering that the FOKN BOIS and a lot of the other acts relate to a younger (slightly wilder) group of people, this was reflected in the audience a little. Mind you I’m not saying there weren’t some mature guests enjoying the music too and I tell no lie when I say some seemed to enjoy the performance even more than the young folk. In terms of the boys’ get up... just the usual. Mensa was in a casual African-like printed top and shorts whilst Wanlov sported an international outfit that hailed from Nigeria to Senegal to Ghana and a ‘skirt’ that hailed from Kenya I believe. I was slightly tempted but knew better than to lift it up too high whilst I studied the patterns. It was very eye catching and I guess I don’t need to mention the fact that he wasn’t wearing shoes. I actually kept flinching for him as people stepped inches away from his foot with their hard soled shoes but I guess the man is used to it.

Anyway, the performance.  Much to my amusement (they really make you feel like they’re performing just for you, for your individual entertainment) they started off the show with sets of press ups and I must say from what I saw they both don’t seem to be in the worst of shapes. As the excitement grew with their little stunt people that had dissipated away from the stage after the previous act gradually started crowding around again and that’s when the Kubolor introduced them as being most famous in china. You got three guesses for what song they performed after that intro. As a matter of fact they did well to kind of introduce each song they performed and even translated the chorus to sextra terrestrial sex so that the people in the audience that weren’t Ghanaian or didn’t understand twi would not feel left out.

I think my favourite moments from the performance was firstly when they sang ‘we want to be white’ not only do I love that song because of the obvious sarcastic nature which I relate to so well but also because they switched it up a bit by having the band play a hi life style beat. Oh I didn’t mention the live band before did I? I apologize, especially because I think it brought a whole new vibe to the performance. The guy on the guitar who I found out to be Ryan Ansah is actually amazing. I also noticed that the band was very multi cultural as Ansah is part Ghanaian part English, I believe, the drummer looked far eastern and the guy on the key board looked European. It portrayed one of the reasons I love the FOKN BOIS so much ...they want to make good music regardless of where the influences come from and they’ve got messages to put out there that is relevant to everyone. They don’t care if you're white black or yellow, they’re just here to address and confront the bull crap in this world in a way that either makes you love em or hate em, either way you’re bound to listen and laugh at some point. Sextra terrestrial sex was also great simply because of the soulful mellow nature of the song. Only Wanlov and Mensa can talk about acid sweating aliens and make you want to rush home to your man and make babies. It’s actually crazy! I think the highlight for me though was when they performed pinch and had Tawiah (protégé of Mark Ronson) come on stage to put a little vim into it and trust me she did. You can check Tawiah out on YouTube or on twitter (@tawiahmusic).

All in all I had a really great night socialising with these amazing artistes and getting to watch them live for the first time. Below are a few videos and pics of the show and make sure you follow them on twitter if you like them (@foknbois)

Also don’t forget MYHH tees are coming soon and I’ve already got pre-orders so don’t miss out ;) 

Wanlov and Mensa doing press ups

Famous in china

Wanlov and I

FOKN with Mensa 

His feet are bare! its not a lie!

The dynamic duo just before action