Raw Report:- 2015 Notting Hill Carnival: How It Went Down At The Nigerian Corner
Words By Obinna Fred
Photo Credit:- Julitsa Photography
Event Review:- 2015 Notting Hill Carnival, Nigerian Corner
The 49th edition of the annual Caribbean street festival known as Notting Hill Carnival that is typically held on the last day of August which is always a Bank Holiday was held this year, and as expected it was a coulorful, fun filled event. Since it was first celebrated in 1966, it has grown from just a traditional West Indian/Caribbean road block party to one of the biggest street Carnivals in the whole of Europe and a boiling pot for not just West Indians, but people of African descent to celebrate their heritage along with other people from different walks of life, and over the years different countries have joined the fray, partaking every year and displaying their culture to the world at large.
As the most poplous black nation on Earth, it’s only right that Nigeria has had its own corner at the carnival since 1986 ( 29 years, that’s a long time ) and has always seized the day to display a wide array of Nigerian Music, Food, Culture, and most importantly music . This year was the 5th time in a row I attended the event and had made up my mind last year to write a yearly review henceforth, especially about the performing artistes whom I feel owe it to Nigerians and most importantly their career to give a good account of themselves.
The Nigerian Corner is always at Adela Close , which is about 15 minutes walk from Kensal Green Station, was started and has been helmed by DJ Abbas and Ayo Shonaiya who were the main comperes at this years event, along with Sope of Factory 78, Yaw The Comedian, MC Abbey, as well as Emma Oh My God and Princess The Comedienne who MC’d at intervals.I have seen quite a few good and exceptional performances at the Carnival ( Reminisce & Harrysong in 2013 , Wande Coal in 2012, Sir Shina Peters in 2013, and many more) and I can tell you straight away that this year was hands down the least exciting , least entertaining and most shabby event I have ever witnessed at the Nigerian Corner. The event which usually kicks off at about 12 noon started a bit later due to the mild drizzle and somewhat cold weather, I arrived at a quarter to 2PM before any performing acts graced the stage thereby giving me enough time to witness their performances ( which is usually the main event for me at the carnival ). As soon as I stepped into Adela Close , I immediately sighted Nikki Laoye, L.A.X Of Star Boy Entertainment, Artquake ( I only saw 1 of them though ) , JJC Skillz, Henri Soul , girl group Shiikane and a handful of new and old Nigerian Celebrities.
The comperes MC Abbey, Yaw Of Wazobia FM and Emma Oh Ma God as well as Wale Gates ( who was clowning all through ) , The first aforementioned three tried their best to carry the crowd along but didn’t do a good job in my opinion, as the sound system output was poor, the stage was somewhat disorganized and Emma Oh My God especially appeared slightly of-key,and at a point trying to get the crowd to sing along to old Nursery rhymes, a move which was not only cringe-worthy but was met with “Boos” and “Teeth Kisses” from over 500 people. The DJ ( whom I could not identify ) tried his best, but his set was boring, and apart from the more recent Hit songs Like Bobo By Olamide, Tesojue by Reminisce Gbese by Lil Kesh, My Woman, My Everything by Patoranking and Wande Coal, Soke by Burna Boy, etc which everybody knew and sang along too, the DJ simply lacked the required energy and Disc Jockey skills to please the crowd.
At about 4:30 DJ Abbas introduced the first performer whom he called Nimix, I had never heard of him before but I watched as he tried to carry the crowd along, to no avail and eventually stepped off stage after performing 2 songs.
Henrisoul
Henri Soul ( who also performed 2 years ago ) graced the stage next and he put on quite a show, While he performed only one song Onyeoma, he made sure he carried the crowd along and was able to have them do the “Onyeoma Dance” despite the fact that the crowd was clearly not familiar with his music ( I was ) Henri got my respect for being able to carry everyone along.
Grimmah
Grimmah, was the 3rd act to grace the stage, and while DJ Abbas declared that “He will be a superstar by this time next year” whilst introducing him, there was nothing in Grimmahs performance to indicate that. He seemed nervous, his song was below par and he was eventually booed/shooed off stage by the crowd who were clearly getting displeased and disinterested in his performance.
L.A.X
L.A.X aka Mr Ginjah came on stage next, The Starboy Entertainment recording act opened his set with Jeje, Continued with Morenike and Ginger and then closed off his set with Caro. His songs were quite popular and due to that fact,he was able to carry the crowd along, but his body language on stage and his performance were below Par, he sounded less confident than I expected and seemed to lack the required “Ginger” to rock a crowd of this capacity. Perhaps he wasn’t paid and couldn’t be bothered to give 100%
Tillaman
Tillaman who also performed in 2013, graced the stage next and as soon as his feet touched the stage , the crowd went wild although he performed just two songs Ori owo and Koma Roll , everybody seemed to know the words to his songs and sang along every step of the way. He did not share money like he did in 2013, but he put up a very good performance and won himself some new fans on that day surely.
JJC Skillz
JJC Skillz was the last act to grace the stage, sporting a T-Shirt emblazoned with the phrase “Let Me Teach You How To Roar”, he started by introducing himself as “The guy who started new school urban Afrobeats music in the UK” and performed songs like African Skank, We Are Africans, Save The Last Dance , and finished up his set with his latest single Motiwa which features Olamide. The only reason I will rate Tillmans performance over his is that Tilla was alone on stage with no-one, but JJC brought along a back up dancer who really captured the attention of the crowd and gave him the chance to deliver an energetic performance. He gave out some copies of his album ( which I was sad not to have collected a copy ) and closed the performance out in a strong fashion, Him and Tilla definitely stole the day.
This was the first time In 5 years which I didn’t see Kenny “Keke” Ogungbe , Dayo “D1” Adeneye or anybody from Kennis music at the event, and it was this singular factor that affected the output of the event and the calibre of acts that performed ( No disrespect to anybody ). It was the least exciting of all 5 I have been to. The sound system was significantly poor, The DJ was sloppy, The comperes were nothing to write home about ( except Shopsy Doo of Factory 78 who was on point through out ) and I feel it’s about time the event should be reviewed by stakeholders, especially Western Union who have literally attached their brand to it for as long as I’ve known and other people who love Nigerian Urban music & culture. The organizers of the show should be held to higher standards so as to give the world a well rounded and better “Nigerian Experience” every August 31st at Notting Hill Carnival, Nigerian corner