This week's episode features a conversation with Nigerian rapper Blaqbonez, as he talks about his collaboration with Tiwa Savage on his track "BBC Remix", why he calls himself "Best Rapper in Africa" and the making of his jam "Bling".
Blaqbonez on “BBC Remix” with Tiwa Savage
The remix of “BBC” was exciting for me because I wanted Tiwa on it, but I did not think I could get access to her. Then we reached out to her and we found out that she loved me and my music.
Blaqbonez on being the 'Best Rapper In Africa'
Cuppy: Let's talk about how you have self-titled yourself as the best rapper in Africa. I mean, you stand by it, you own it, and now you're dropping an album. Is the album going to prove that?
Blaqbonez: Yeah. Yeah. You know, the thing, what I realized about being best rapper in Africa, at the end of the day, people are not going to judge you of how good of a rapper you are. People are going to judge you based on success. Right? And this album for me is that moment where I become a successful artist. Right? So then, I can now actually be the best rapper in Africa.
Blaqbonez on making of “Bling”
Blaqbonez: You know when they say life gives you lemons-
Cuppy: ...then you make lemonade.
Blaqbonez: Yeah. So the night I made “Bling” was the night I lost my first big award. So that was Soundcity Award. And I left the show in anger, right. So I left and I just left immediately after I lost the award. But somehow I feel like in that moment, I connected to something deeper inside me. And when I got to the studio, everybody else slept off, but I recorded “Bling.” As far back as January when I recorded “Bling” last year, I knew that this song was special. People felt like, “Uh, we don't know, we don't know, blah, blah, blah.” Then Omah Lay came along, Wizkid came along, and it seemed like the tempo changed. This calm music can be accepted by Nigerians. And then everybody started saying, “Okay, let's go back to 'Bling', let's drop 'Bling.’ ” And I was like, “Oh, you guys finally see my vision, right.” Seeing it come out and doing this crazy numbers and doing so amazing, it's just me saying, "Yeah. I told you so."
Tune in and listen to the full episode this Sunday, May 2nd at 2p Lagos/London / 3p Johannesburg/Paris / 6a LA / 9a NYC on Apple Music 1 at apple.co/_AfricaNow
