Africa’s hip-hop industry is saturated with the voices of men weaving and delivering poetic and diverse stories of Africa and their personal struggles. There remains, however, a deafening silence and huge vacancy when it comes to the voices of African female rappers (femcees) that are available to tell the stories of the African female , especially youths. Stories that cover the gamete from personal to socio-economic issues delivered with great conviction, strong vocals, seamless flow and powerful content (imagery, wordplay, punchlines etc). Here at Ladybrillemag.com we have introduced you to a couple of femcees who have stood up to the challenge. We introduce you to yet another one out of Africa who goes by the name BLAISE. Blaise, arguably, the strongest “Femcee” from Nigeria, is yet to launch an album, but the few tracks she has released has us VERY excited. We are even more excited about the news of her return to Nigeria/Africa’s hip-hop scene, after a hiatus to obtain her Masters degree.
Read the press release we received from her camp, watch her perform in DJ Jimmy Jatt’s ‘Too Much’ video below, listen to one of her tracks titled ‘Stay’ and stay tuned for ALL things Blaise on our site.
“Blaise, an ex member of popular group, Da trybe and a former contestant in the Hennessy Artistry who took a leave from the musical scene after churning out singles and doing collaborations with MI, Mode-Nine, Cobhams, Sasha, Bouqui, Kemistry, Freestyle, Nikki Laoye and Keffi is back!
Blaise came into the music industry in 2002 and took a leave in 2003 to pursue a masters degree in the UK. She returned to the country in 2005 and has concluded plans to release an album, tentatively titled Love and Power. The multi talented rapper who plays the guitar, has also revealed that her forthcoming album will be a ten tracked album that will have doses of singing, rapping and poetry.
Speaking as to what should be expected from the new album that features Amaka of the Thoroughbreeds, Blaise disclosed that, “Yes there will be more of poetry there will also be more of the musical Blaise, I am a composer and a producer, I thank God for the gift, I also play guitar, I just felt like it is very unfair of me to have all of these gifts and not have a place to express them; and I felt very boxed in the whole rap thing, I just needed to expand my horizon so I’m going to be doing more musical things and more poetic things.”
Giving an hint as to what has been happening with her in recent times, Blaise said, “I have been working on my album, I have been trying to define my sound, also trying to define the direction I want to take my music its taking a while, it’s been a very painstaking process but I have finally arrived at a place of some kind of comfort where I am comfortable with what I am doing and my identity as an artist which is being a poet, people know me as a rapper but there is a whole lot more to me musically than that and that is what I have been trying to put out , I have been working on songs that will show case that more in greater light.”
Blaise however disclosed that she is not planning to go into commercial music, “I have been considering the commercial side for years up till now and it didn’t lead me anywhere. It’s all a gamble for everybody. Not everybody who is doing music commercially has hit it big time. So, it’s a gamble for everybody. If you are doing something one way and it’s not working, then you need to change your tactics. But lucky enough for me, I have more than just rap to offer. So, there is no saying that it’s not going to be commercially successful. It’s an experiment and I really have faith that it’s going to be successful.” She revealed.
Born Obafunke Martins, Blaise is a rapper, lyricist, composer, spoken word poet , she cut her lyrical teeth as a member of the once popular group, Da Trybe and since after that romance with music, the graduate of Architectural Technology has not looked back writing her name in gold on the mind of rap lovers with singles like “The Definition” and “Bragging Rights”. Blaise has composed and produced music for television and theatre productions, and also featured in MTV Base’s Advance Warning in 2008. She has gotten nominated for the Hip Hop awards several times.”
DJ Jimmy Jatt ft. Blaise, Sasha, Kemistry and Bouqui
CLICK LINK TO LISTEN TOSTAY BY BLAISE
~Uduak Oduok
~Courtesy photo
Founded in 2007, Ladybrille® Magazine is a California based pioneer digital publication demystifying the image of Africans in the west through contemporary African fashion and celebrating the brilliant woman in business and leadership, with an emphasis on the African woman in the diaspora. Our coverage includes stories on capital, access to markets, expertise, hiring and retention, sales, marketing, and promotions.
