Music Review by Toun Aderele

Though fairly new on the scene, Lineo is a new generation musician whose genre is African hip hop. Afro hip hop, as it is better known, is the in-genre in Nigeria at the moment.

Lineo’s Lets Get It Started is a pulsating mixture of raw vibes and nifty instrumental and it is already enjoying a great deal of airplay on Nigerian radio stations. It is rhythmic, danceable and sure to get you twisting, even on a chair.

In real terms, this is Lineo’s second attempt but his debut, I Dey Ring, was not released formally. Rather, it was circulated as a ring tone. Although the ring tone turned out to be a hit, Lineo never formally launched the album. This might explain why he has titled this new album Let’s Get It Started; a way of telling his fans that the first attempt was not the real thing and the real thing is only just starting.

Just like the idiom rich hit of Nigeria’s rave of the moment 9ice, Gongo Aso, Lineo's lyrics are tight and full of messages. Rendered in a combination of perfect Queens English, raw pidgin English (the peculiarly Nigerian form of English spoken by the majority of Nigerians) and antediluvian Yoruba (his mother tongue), Let's Get It Started sounds like a dish cooked for as varied an audience as possible.

Lineo’s voice is his biggest asset and he has done well to combine this with the right mix of back-up singers. This debut also has an accapella and instrumental versions.

Born in Nigeria in the late 80’s to a royal family, Lineo, real name Prince Adekoya Adegboyega Yusuf, is a last child. He has a diploma in Mass Communication from the University of  Abuja; but decided to pursue music as a career in 2004. Ever since, he has not looked back.

One good thing about this debut is that though it is targeted at youths, it can very easily get the older generation off their chairs and on to the dance floor. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s Get Started.

As usual please feel free to leave comments, views as well as your own review of this album. Let's also know if you found this review useful.

It is not often that songs come so rich in virtually every thing that a good music should be. Unlike a good number of local singers that have no voice depth, that could not be said of 9ice (Abolore Akande) in his latest album Gongo Aso. For the first time, 9ice's voice was ever so obvious and could not help being noticed when he featured in Ruggedman's album  titled Ruggedy Baba.

 In Gongo Aso, the title track,  9ice not only showed this quality, but displayed an endless flow of music skills which only a person who is naturally gifted can possess.  His rich sonorous voice is backed by good instrumentation with heavy percussion that only a dead man could afford not to nod and sway to. And then what many have seen as the most distinctive asset of 9ice, the deep grasp of his native tongue comes to the fore. His deep and rich command of Yoruba  would make anyone think it was back to 'old school' but with the infusion of the street slang showed where he is coming from.. All put together the result is a monster hit that no one seems to get tired of. It has relegated top songs like Olu Maintain's Yahoozee and and X-Project's Lori Le to the background.

The album opens with Kinda Life, which is a display of 9ice's language dexterity and unique sonorous voice. It was an admixture of pidgin English and Yoruba language. The song has a predilection towards R and B. It puts one in mood good enough to want to have more from the same stable. Then what followed is an Afro hip-hop remix of King Sunny Ade's Pamurogo.

Street Credibility, a duet with Tuface Idibia is a another good track to listen to. Bachelor's Life featured Reminisce, XP and Six O. There is also Ati jelo  which featured Pasuma Wonder. In a rather ironic twist, Pasuma was not singing in Yoruba, but rapping. Wonders shall never end one may say.

Other tracks such as Wedding Day, Photocopy, Jule, Party Rider are all tracks that lovers of music especially dance hall music would be at home with.

Born January 17th, 1980 as Abolore Akande, 9ice, who many close friends described as really nice, is currently riding on the crest of musical popularity.  At  the age of fourteen, the artiste whose father wanted him to read law in the university, started music, writing and composing songs. He later formed boy bands/groups and released a demo. In 2000 he embarked on a solo career and released his freshman album The Certificate. While his freshman's album made people take notice of his, his latest album, Gongo Aso has made a name for him as top African artiste. No wonder the awards are rolling in.

As usual please feel free to leave comments, views as well as your own review of this album. Let's also know if you found this review useful.