My Musical Mother, Angelique Kidjo told me everything I needed To Know About The Grammy- Burma Boy

By Samson Nnamka

Burna Boy has explained why he won’t be settling down or having a child with UK-born Jamaican artist, Stefflon Don soon. In a recent chat with fans on Twitter, Burna Boy revealed some untold details on his career as well as his girlfriend of 15 months.

 

  On hardwork

I feel like working 1000000000000 times harder

 

·       First performance

 

Calabar carnival 2010

 

·       Growing up

 

It was beautiful and it was hell at the same time but it showed me all the lessons I needed to learn to face the world.

 

 

 

·       Maintaining focus

 

I stay militant. They turned me into this rebel militant I am today. And I’m glad they did.

 

·       Music, Fela, and motivation

 

I started in 2010; I was motivated by my talent, passion, family, Africa, and Fela. Twitter does not have enough space for me to talk about the challenges. Just know that the challenges don’t stop when you are on top, they get worse.

 

·       Made money off social media

 

Lol. No. I’ve never gotten a dime from social media o. If there was money in social media for me, I’ll live and die on social media. But no money for here.

 

·       Talent doubt

Yes. A few times actually but my mindset has always been “I’d Rather Die than ever bend or Fold”

 

·       Fame and freebies

 

I believe that free things always come back to bite you in the ass. So I don’t like free stuff

 

·       Stylist

 

My Sister Ronami Ogulu she’s the best stylist in the world.

 

·       Mum as manager

 

My mum is my manager because she is the only person qualified to talk to me and she is the only living human being that I truly 100% trust.

 

·       Most challenging collaboration so far?

 

Most challenging was Angelique Kidjo because I looked for her since 2011 and only got to work with her in 2019.

 

·       On Sampling other musicians songs

 

All the greatest in the world have sampled things they love. And realistically I do it the least compared to them. I challenge you or anyone to prove I’m not who I say I am.

 

·       Losing Grammys

 

Sick. Totally Sick. But my musical mother, Angelique Kidjo told me everything I needed to understand about the Grammys. So now I’m “Twice as Tall” (that’s the name of my next album by the way dropping in July by the grace of the Most High)

 

·       Grammy loss reaction

 

If you do not speak your truth, the lies will become your truth

 

·       On marrying Stefflon Don, who was described as being beautiful inside out

 

She really and truly is. People have no idea what a queen I got.

 

·       Favourite thing about being Burna Boy

 

My Family, my girlfriend, and Gang.

 

·       On raising a family

 

I just want to be as good a parent to my children as my parents were and still are to me and my sisters. Until I’m confident that I can be stable and settle with the mother of my kids I can’t have no kids

 

·       Have you gotten the Artist for #Odogwu remix

 

I want Phyno, Zoro, Illbliss and Nigga RAW.

Source: The Nation

Happy Easter From Yemi Olakitan

Celebrate Easter in Love, Peace and Brotherliness!

Google and Apple team up to develop tracing app for virus cases

Apple and Google are jointly developing technology to alert people if they have recently come into contact with others found to be infected with coronavirus.

They hope to initially help third-party contact-tracing apps run efficiently.

But ultimately, they aim to do away with the need to download dedicated apps, to encourage the practice.

The two companies believe their approach - designed to keep users, whose participation would be voluntary, anonymous - addresses privacy concerns.

Their contact-tracing method would work by using a smartphone's Bluetooth signals to determine to whom the owner had recently been in proximity for long enough to have established contagion a risk.

If one of those people later tested positive for the Covid-19 virus, a warning would be sent to the original handset owner.

No GPS location data or personal information would be recorded.

"Privacy, transparency and consent are of utmost importance in this effort and we look forward to building this functionality in consultation with interested stakeholders," Apple and Google said in a joint statement.

"We will openly publish information about our work for others to analyse."

President Trump said his administration needed time to consider the development.

"It's very interesting, but a lot of people worry about it in terms of a person's freedom," he said during a White House press conference.

"We're going to take... a very strong look at it, and we'll let you know pretty soon."

The European Union's Data Protection Supervisor sounded more positive, saying: "The initiative will require further assessment, however, after a quick look it seems to tick the right boxes as regards user choice, data protection by design and pan-European interoperability."

But others have noted that the success of the venture may depend on getting enough people tested.

Apple is the developer of iOS. Google is the company behind Android. The two operating systems power the vast majority of smartphones in use.

Some countries - including Singapore, Israel, South Korea and Poland - are already using people's handsets to issue coronavirus contagion alerts.

Other health authorities - including the UK, France and Germany - are working on initiatives of their own. And some municipal governments in the US are reportedly about to adopt a third-party app.

The two technology giants aim to bring coherence to all this by allowing existing third-party apps to be retrofitted to include their solution.

This would make the apps interoperable, so contact tracing would continue to work as people travelled overseas and came into contact with people using a different tool.

Apple and Google have been working on the effort for about two weeks but have not externally revealed their plans until Friday.

If successful, the scheme could help countries relax lockdowns and border restrictions.

Source: BBC news

How Funke Akindele Got into Trouble During Lockdown

On Saturday, April 2, Nollywood star actress and producer, Funke Akindele landed herself in trouble with the authorities after what many have described as a deliberate attempt to flaunt her influence against government regulations on the ravaging novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Funke who is the face of a national campaign on social distancing during the coronavirus lockdown was arrested — for throwing a wild party packed with revelers. She had hosted a group of friends to mark her husband, Abdulrasheed Bello, popularly known as JJC Skillz’s 43rd birthday in the confines of her home in Amen Estate, Lagos. That soiree was packed with guests including Lagos politician Babatunde Gbadamosi, controversial singer Naira Marley, and fleshy actress Eniola Badmus, among others, dancing and drinking in close proximity.

Funke, 42, however sparked outrage when the video of the wild party surfaced online and went viral. The apparent hypocrisy sparked numerous online memes, with videos of her PSA splashed together with the packed party. The groundswell of calls for their arrest was overwhelming to the extent that Funke’s goodwill paled into insignificance. The couple was arrested on Sunday and the following day, Monday, arraigned at the Chief Magistrate Court in Ogba, Lagos on a one-count charge of holding a party at their residence with over 20 persons in attendance contrary to the social distancing directives made in pursuant to Regulation 8(1)(a) and (b) & 17(1)(i) of the Lagos State Infectious Disease (Emergency Prevention) Regulations 2020 and therefore committed an offence under Section 58 of the Public Health Law Cap P16 Vol. 9, Laws of Lagos State 2015. Both the actress and her husband pleaded guilty to hosting the party despite the coronavirus lockdown an act, which could lead to the spread of Covid-19. They were sentenced to 14 days of community service and fined N100,000 each by the magistrate court. They were also both ordered to make a tour to educate the public on the consequences of non-compliance of the restriction order.

Spotlight gathered that Funke’s ordeal might have a root in her recent refusal to honour her late father even in death. Some of those close to her believe her present crisis might be a spin-off of dishonouring her late father, Very Revd. Godwin Olusoji Akindele, whose funeral she allegedly shunned. Funke had announced the death of her father back in December 2019. But many were stunned when during the final rites on Friday, January 17, 2020 in Ikorodu, Lagos, Funke and her siblings were conspicuously absent to pay their dad the deserved last respect. They were also absent at the Service of Songs the previous day. Their non-attendance was said to have angered the Presiding Bishop, Rt. Rev. S.O Osundina, the Bishop of Ikorodu Diocese, Methodist Church Nigeria, and aborted the rest of the burial programme until Funke and her siblings do the needful.

It was learnt that Funke deliberately left Nigeria few days to the funeral of her dad for Dubai, UAE and returned only a week later. Why Funke and her siblings chose to dishonour their father remains unclear but this action, some claim, could have triggered the present punishment and likely chain reactions from the attendant curse that could follow later for disrespecting one’s parents, especially their funerals. Of course, some could dismiss this as a mere myth but not a few believe the coincidence in Funke’s error is too real to be ignored.

Source: The Sun newsonline

POPE FRANCIS PROSTRATED IN PRAYER

Pope Francis prostrated on the floor of an empty St. Peter’s Basilica on Friday (April 10) to pray at a scaled-down “Passion of the Lord” service commemorating Jesus’ last hours of life and his crucifixion.

The service is one of the rare times when the pope does not deliver a homily, leaving it to Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the preacher of the papal household.

“The pandemic of Coronavirus has abruptly roused us from the greatest danger individuals and humanity have always been susceptible to: the delusion of omnipotence,” Cantalamessa said.

“It took merely the smallest and most formless element of nature, a virus, to remind us that we are mortal, that military power and technology are not sufficient to save us,” he said.

The service is usually attended by cardinals, bishops and some 10,000 faithful.

But it was scaled back because of the coronavirus restrictions and attended by only about two dozen people, including papal aides reading from scriptures and a smaller than usual choir.