The Trio of Pipi, Bobo, & Dede announce their presence on the naija music scene with a 13 track offering that somehow exceeds all expectations. With seasoned beatmakers like K-solo, OJB, Puffy T, Rhymzo, Sars, ID cabasa, Phyno & Sunny smile on board, Plus one set sail through the uncharted waters of naija reggae/dancehall genre. With guest appearances limited to 4 tracks, only Benjamin, Nigga raw, Rhymzo, the late da grin, Reminisce, Ugo, Seriki & jahbless get invitations to the voyage.

The album opens up with the Sunny smile produced “yaa ya” featuring Benjamin which sets the tone while Nigga raw spreads some eastern love on the K solo produced “afurum gi nanya”. Rhymzo does double duty on “plus one love” which is unsurprisingly the best song on the album. What makes the song exceptional is the way they metaphorically shine a torch on the ills pervading our beloved nation. With simple lines in pidgin translated as “some have enough to eat, while some are starving, some are killing children while some are yet to give birth, some are sharing money, spraying money while some are jobless”, they successfully send out their conscious message. They declare the party open with the groovy and rhythmic “eye me (touch something)” over K solo’s silky piano keys and on another lush sunny smile production “na you ee” they extol the virtues of the apple of their eyes and openly reveal their inner emotions.

With Sars and Puffy T on the beat, it was simply impossible to go wrong and the result was their smash hit “tinkonko” which has enough energy to keep the crowd moving and the dance floors packed. The OJB produced “because of ur love” is another gem on the album where they successfully hit timely and satisfying notes at unexpected moments and with lyrics like “because of ur love, I dey float for water, sweet thing, I know you dey make my head dey scatter, sun mo mi, I will love you better, you too much eeee”, it is clear to see that three heads are definitely better than one.

Plus one show just how vocally talented they are as they rarely stray off key, which is quite evident on the phyno produced “one kiss”. The album gets a huge dose of hip hop on “tinkonko (remix)” featuring the late da grin, Reminisce, Seriki, Ugo, & jahbless but it is Reminisce who shines with his highly commendable & show stealing verse. The phyno produced “oh lord” where they plead with the almighty to turn their water to wine and their red sea to dry land brings the album to a perfect conclusion.

Plus one’s debut album “commercial class” is undeniably a solid effort and even though they might still be viewed as underdogs, it is just a matter of time before they are mentioned in the same breath as the legendary but defunct boy group Plantashun Boiz.

RATING – 9/10

PLAY – Yaa ya, Plus one love, Na you ee, One kiss, Because of ur love, Tnkonko, Tinkonko (remix), Oh lord

SKIP – My belle

With new artists like Kel, Illbliss, MI, Wande Coal, Bracket, Omawunmi, Sleek, Deebee having the charts all to themselves last year & consequently outshining the already established acts like P square, Styl plus, 9ice etc. One is inclined to think that this year might be no different as there are a lot of upcoming acts waiting on the sidelines to have the torch passed on to them. 9jahiphop will be taking a look at 10 of the most promising ones that might come out on top in 2010.

PLUS ONE - COMMERCIAL CLASS

Chances are high that the naija music scene might get bracket-ed again, not by the yori yori boys but by these talented brothers. When you are confronted by the talent of the boy group plus one, two thoughts come readily to your mind, 1. P square was probably thinking of them when they recorded “danger” and 2. This is surely the end of Styl Plus.With the SARS & Puffy T produced “tinkonko” (supported by a Clarence peters video) already taking them places they never imagined and the follow up single “yaa ya” bubbling beneath the surface, 2010 might just be their year.

MO CHEDDAH - THE FRANCHISE CELEBRITY

The first lady of knighthouse and undoubtedly the brightest female talent in the naija music industry successfully crafted one of the biggest hooks of 2009 on knighthouse’s first single “the finest” and didn’t stop there as she kept the fire burning with her singles “shampoo” & “if you want me”. Not one to rest on her laurels she released a free Christmas mixtape “true Christmas” for her growing fan base and her hard work didn’t go unnoticed as she graced the cover of the December edition of true love magazine. What sets her apart from the crowd is her versatility as she can croon with the best of them and at the same time deliver mind blowing rap lines. All eyes are on her as she prepares to release her eclectic debut.

DR SID - TURNING POINT

Compared to every other artist on this list, Dr Sid is a veteran. The dentist turned rapper started his career with Trybe records and cut his teeth under Eldee, Freestyle & Kaboom, While his fellow label mates Del & Timi fell off along the road to stardom, Sid remained focused, stayed true to the game & kept on grinding until he finally succeeded in finagling a record deal out of Don jazzy and ever since has been playing a major part in the rise & rise of mohits records. Sid’s major strength lies in his ability to identify his weakness hence opting for the singing route on his debut LP after the lukewarm response to his singles “something about you”, “when this song comes on” & “pops something”. Knowing that this might be his last chance will definitely make him pull out all the stops to make his debut hot.

MAYE HUNTA - MAYEFESTATION

Maye Hunta burst on the scene late last year with the housegirl/master relationship dilemma song "ekaete" which has since found a home on the charts. As if that is not enough, the follow up single “owo faaji” is steadily gaining momentum after been released to radio stations nationwide and is getting major spins in clubs. If things go according to plan then Maye Hunta might have the number one album spot all to himself in the coming months.

TIMI DAKOLO – TIMI

Timi wouldn’t have been on this list if the organizers of idols West Africa had kept their promises. After winning the maiden edition in 2007, Timi sat back thinking his dreams were about to come true until 2009 when he finally realized that he had been a victim of corporate maga & then decided to take matters into his own hands. Hooking up with Cobhams was a fruitful venture that resulted in the release of two singles “heaven please” featuring MI & “I love you” featuring Jesse Jagz which has been receiving massive airplay & has set the stage for the release of his self titled debut album.

GENERAL PYPE – TBD

It is one thing to sound like Sean Paul, it’s another thing to release an album like “dutty rock” & be as successful as he is. The self proclaimed 7 star general started his steady climb up the naija music ladder by notching up guest appearances on songs such as Sasha’s “strong thing”, MI’s “teaser”, Illbliss’s “blessing”, Sheyman’s “showa”, Jahbless’s “street rules (remix)” & Bigiano’s “its over” just to mention a few and has further more solidified his hold on the music scene with the release of two blazing singles “keep it cool” & “champion”. With the latter already topping radio & video charts nationwide, General Pype’s debut is already shaping up to be one of the biggest debuts of the year.

VECTOR - THE STATE OF SURPRISE

In Nigeria we have the state of harmony, the state of the living spring and 34 other states, so it is understandable when people are shocked at the mention of the state of surprise. Maybe it is the 37th state where vector hails from or the hip hop mindstate where he currently resides, we will find out soon enough as the young cat prepares to unleash his debut album on the unsuspecting public. The MC who has kept his buzz strong by appearing on Bigiano’s shayo (remix), Paul play’s smoking and J.martins’s good & bad (remix) has also leaked some songs from his upcoming album like “Kilode” (ft Emmsong), “warm n close” (ft Ade piper) & “I love Nigeria”. In addition, his freestyle on jimmy’s jumpoff & his DJ mighty mike exclusive certainly boosted his street credibility.

JESSE JAGZ – TBD

After successfully producing the album that propelled his brother (MI) to the pinnacle of the crowded naija rap game, Jesse Jagz swung into action immediately by jumping on tracks off MI’s “illegal music” mixtape and guest appearing on Djinee’s “overkilling (remix)”, Darey’s “style na style (remix)”, Timi dakolo’s “I love you” & Rooftop MC’s “sitting on the roof top”. Not one to let an opportunity pass him by, the J-town MC took full advantage of the chocolate city movement to drop “pump it up” & “jagga swagga” off his upcoming untitled debut project. When his album finally drops we will see just how far his brother’s fame and the vocoder have taken him.

YQ – TBD

When you think of YQ, think of Wande Coal before M2M (raw talent). YQ hit the mainstream in 09 courtesy of his cameos on songs like Knighthouse’s “ijinle pam pam”, Kel’s “turn by turn” Naeto C’s “duro” & 2 shotz’s “oyoyo”. The man renowned for crafting ingenious hooks also released 2 singles “I like girls”, "money can't buy me love" & “efimile” featuring Da grin off his upcoming debut album and the latter even got him a nomination in the last edition of hip hop world awards. With a solid foundation already laid for his career & with the right direction, YQ might just be naija’s next superstar.

BEAZY - TBD

If you thought MI was good, wait till you listen to beazy. If the naija music scene was the NBA, then be would have been the draft pick of the year. With 2 critically acclaimed mixtapes under his belt, “the affidavit” & “get money, stay fly”, beazy's debut album is definitely something to look forward to. The London based MC makes your favorite MCs sound like amateurs. Armed with witty punch lines, sharp wordplay & fierce delivery, I guess it is safe to say beazy’s music is hip hop at its finest and he will be right up there with the best when his untitled debut album drops.

Incase you have not noticed,actors and actresses are also guilty of switching lanes.what amuses me is that,they never cross over to music at the peak of their careers.they only decide to sing at the twilight of their careers when the chips are down.it is at this point in time when they start expressing their love for music with words like "i always wanted to be a singer" or "music has always been my first love".do not believe them cos it is always an attempt to regain lost glory.

Lets look at actors/actresses who have tried and failed.

OMOTOLA-Her debut album "gba" was so unsuccessful that she decided not to drop a follow up and spends most of her time nowadays endorsing chivita products.

GENEVIEVE-When the chips were down,nollywood's top actress made her foray into the music world but flopped so badly that none of the songs in her album made it onto any radio station's playlist.

JIM IYKE-Nobody really knows what is happening with jim iyke's debut album "who am I",but after watching & listening to the lead single on which he featured tuface,i wouldn't advise people to buy his album even if they are paid to.

ERNEST ASUZU-Most people don't actually remember,but this dude once tried his hands at music making.one minute he is an hardcore rap artiste,the next minute he is a gospel artiste.a very unstable individual.can't remember if he eventually dropped an album but the few songs i heard were really awful.

OGD ALLSTARS-When things stopped popping off for them,some actors and actresses gathered together under tade ogidan's umbrella and made fools of themselves trying to do that which they didn't know how to do.all in all,it was a great experiment but with poor results.none of them have moved on from that point to have even the semblance of a musical career.

Here we go again.actors/actresses who might jump into the vocal booth anytime from now.

1.Funke akindele-once she releases her unanticipated jenifa 3 and the jenifa hype train starts to lose steam,you can be rest assured that she would jump on the naija hip hop train to make herself hot again by releasing an album,which i hope & pray she won't call "get jenified".guest appearances will probably include 9ice,pasuma,da grin ,lord of ajasa e.t.c and the music will revolve around those jenifa slangs nobody wants to hear again.

2.Desmond elliot-all is quiet on desmond's front and nollywood is in coma.this will be the perfect time for him to declare his undying love for music.he looks to me like the type of guy who will release a gospel album.

3.Mercy johnson-Very soon there will be nothing left for her to sell on screen again as we have seen all there is to be seen about her.with pornography not being a viable option in Nigeria,expect to see mercy grabbing a mic and making some saucy videos to accompany her songs.that girl will do anything to stay in the limelight.even if she sings the national anthem 12 times in a row on her album,people will buy it as long as she strips in the videos or she shoots them half naked.

Eldee - Bosi Gbangba

Sheyman/Dr pat - Hotter Than Fire

Bigiano - Shayo

Artquake - Alanta

Deebee - Collabo

Dj zeez - Fokasibe

So i finally met with the kennis music bosses and this is what they told me,

9JAHIPHOP-what is the state of kennis music right now?your fans and the general public wants to know.
KEKE/D1-its all good,we are still doing our thing and we give thanks to God for where we are today.
9JAHIPHOP-it doesn't look like you guys are doing good right now,if you were i won't be here.so why did you really send for me?
KEKE/D1-we would just like to send out a message to everyone out there,so that they will know we are still here and we would like to discuss our plans for the future with you,maybe you can add 1 or 2 things.
9JAHIPHOP-what plans are we talking about here,expansion,management,new artistes or deals?
KEKE/D1-no,just new additions to the kennis music family.we have got a lot of artistes coming on board soon,we are doing it big for the 09,a kennis music takeover is in the works.
9JAHIPHOP-great.who have you signed?
KEKE/D1-we have not signed anybody yet,but these are our plans.we want to sign bigiano,sheyman & deebee.
9JAHIPHOP-what is it with you guys and mediocre artistes,with all due respect,you can't sign these guys at this point in time.
KEKE-what of dj zeez?
9JAHIPHOP-NO!!that will make you guys look desperate and will cost you too much money that can't be recouped.
KEKE/D1-what about psquare?they will definitely be a good addition to our roster.
9JAHIPHOP-i know what you are thinking,psquare is not plantashun boiz,peter won't leave paul & vice versa.they are twins for God's sake.
D1-no,i meant signing them both as psquare.
9JAHIPHOP-frankly speaking,i don't think that is possible,there is really nothing you can do for them that they can't do themselves but in life anything is possible.if you can pull it off,that will be the coup de grace.those boys are the lionel messi & christian ronaldo of the naija music industry.
KEKE-so what do we do?
9JAHIPHOP-i can see that you guys are confused,so i will help you out here.first of all,we have to sack your A&R's,cos i don't know what they were doing when 9ice was there for the taking.before 9ice blew up,you could have had him for 2 mil.wait,do you have A&R's
KEKE/D1-what do you mean by A&R's
9JAHIPHOP-never mind we will discuss that later.right now we have to do some downsizing on your label.everyone else has to go except kelly hansome & KSB. in football terms,these are your summer transfer targets-yemi sax,durella,kaha,lord of ajasa,faze,eldee,cyrus da virus,M.I,M.P,oluwe,id cabasa,terry g & jeremiah gyang.
KEKE/D1-what about timaya?he is quite talented.
9JAHIPHOP-not really necessary except just to secure our movements in the niger delta region.
KEKE-i want us to sign 2shotz
9JAHIPHOP-2shotz can't be signed,he has been independent for so long and will be difficult to control.he looks real smart to me.
KEKE-if we can't get ajasa,should we go for da grin
9JAHIPHOP-NO!!!da grin still has a long way to go,you don't want to be stuck with another slam,do you?
KEKE-absolutely not.
9JAHIPHOP-will i be asking for too much if i asked for asa?
KEKE-no,but can it be done?
9JAHIPHOP-why ask me?i should be asking you,i don't know how deep your pockets are.
D1-what about omawunmi?
9JAHIPHOP-that will be risky business,what you need to do after signing all those artistes i talked about is damage control,you reach out to tony tetuila,marvellous benjy,tuface & eedris.you invite them for your shows & act like you like them even if you don't.so that they will have good things to say about you guys wherever they go.take care of your online presence(website,myspace,facebook e.t.c).get in touch with soundcity & nigezie to make sure your videos are in full rotation and everything is a go.
KEKE/D1-we forgot to ask you about wahu?won't it be nice to have her with us or at least handle the Nigerian aspect of her business?
9JAHIPHOP-Wahu is quite good but you guys need to forget about ghana,west africa,east africa & south africa for now.you can't be winning outside & taking heavy losses at home.one more thing you need to do is give your artistes freedom,for example if eldee wants to start trybe records again,you allow him but you make sure he keeps it under the kennis music umbrella(trybe records/kennis music) and for id cabasa(coded tunes/kennis music).so any new artistes dropping on his label will also be contracted to you.

your roster will look like this:
M.I/ELDEE/KELLY HANSOME/CYRUS DA VIRUS/LORD OF AJASA/ID CABASA/OLUWE/M.P/TERRY G/FAZE/DURELLA/JEREMIAH GYANG/YEMI SAX/KAHA

Eldee/Id cabasa/Terry g/Jeremiah gyang(producers cum artistes)-they will act as your in house producers and will also be dropping albums of their own.

Yemi sax-very important and very easy to maintain.with a full roster,all he has to do is make jazz versions of hits from your artistes & his album is ready.did i forget to mention that he is capable of doing this yearly.

M.I/Lord of ajasa/Cyrus da virus-apart from dropping great rap albums,they will be protecting your artistes from ruggedman like attacks(ehen palaver).

Kelly hansome/Durella/Kaha/M.P/Faze-they will take care of your popular demand needs.with people like this,you can compete with the likes of dbanj,wande coal,tuface,bigiano e.t.c

Oluwe-for something new & refreshing.

FOOTBALL WISE(4-3-3)
M.i(centre forward)
lord of ajasa/eldee(left/right wing)
durella/faze(attacking midfielders)
m.p(defensive midfielder)
kelly hansome/jeremiah gyang(left/right backs)
terry g/id cabasa(centre backs)
yemi sax(goalkeeper)

SUBSTITUTES-oluwe/kaha/cyrus da virus

KEKE/D1-wow!!!!that looks good,thank you for your time and we hope ,
9JAHIPHOP-what is that noise in the background,must be my alarm,it's 6 a.m,gotta go to work.
sorry folks,it was all a dream.