2010 UNDERGROUND MUSIC AWARDS: YESI NOMINATED FOR “MOST PROMISING RAPPER”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Manhattan, New York, Aug. 24, 2010 - The 8th Annual Underground Music Awards (UMAs) was held on August 22, 2010 at the B.B King Blues Club located here in Manhattan, New York. The award show aims to recognize and honor the achievements/contributions of both unsigned and independent artists, producers and songwriters in the United States. Representing Nigeria was our very own Yesi who was one of the four artists nominated in the Most Promising Male Rapper category.

The award for Most Promising Male Rapper went to D-Dave; a fellow up and coming rapper from New York. After the award ceremony Yesi released a statement to his fans saying, “Congratulations to D-Dave on his win. I feel really grateful and humbled to have been recognized so early in my journey as an artist. I sincerely thank you all for your votes and support. We’ll bring the next one home. Please continue to spread the word about Yesi Music to your friends and family so we can keep the movement going. My team is going to use this as a stepping stone for the future. One thing is for sure, we’re going HARD. Watch this space. Let’s get it!”

The UMAs were truly a spectacle to behold. Hip-hop legends like Naughty By Nature, Ice-T, EPMD, Redman, Keith Murray etc were all in attendance, and the show was broadcast live around the world online.  Pictures and videos will be uploaded soon on www.yesimusic.com

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For Press/ Media Inquiries:
Yvonne Unubun
Tel: 914 357 0699
Twitter: @MissUnubun
E-mail: Yvonne_unubun@yahoo.com

The lyrics are an equal blend of yoruba, english and pidgin and it makes for very interesting listen. Check it out!

Listen Here to PonPonPon

Intro

Oh boy
Da Grin Rest in Peace my dude
Yesi-Nammai
And the boy no dey shy
Kabiyesi in the building
Ibadan in the building
You know we gonna kill dem
men you know i’m gonna kill dem

Verse 1
omo ibadan, ibadan lo bi mi si   
ibadan mo ti bere si ka a-b-d     
no be small thing, men to ba ja si bi
they be damn like awon boys yen won alagidi
wasibi/ you see dat kosowos
but still we dey shine like ororo
whip game hurt dem koboko
so i roll thru like jaja of opobo
ki lo wa fe/ mo gbono mo lapepe
yea the boy’s on point… abere
won’ won setting/ won wa fe be/
so they wan’ beef, ife modakeke/
ogbeni kilowade,
over J, fronting like u dangote
that’s ok, i’m real they are apoche
when i show up, they be like nagode…. hey

Chorus
Mo le nu bi
Pon Pon Pon Pon Pon Pon 4 times
And you cant see me
Even when you can see me, you still can’t see me
(Oh boy), let the things go… (Pon Pon Pon Pon)

ede x ede, remi ko inya
segun elere ballu/ na nigga its all you/
me i dey school dem/exercise book em/
now they hate on me men, why d thing dey chuk dem/
but who dem/ you think i did something to em/
but me i’m so hungry, i bet i’m going chew dem
so you better get your pastor
yoruba boy killing dem with h factor/
h-i h-am h-iller than h-every h-emcee you know/
so h-excuse me if i’m cocky/
but i’ve overlooked so much in my life
that all i got left is my balls and my pride
so i’ll be gaddammed if i let another man
come and try to tell me the value of my brand
i tell a nigga whot/ i’m all setup
like semi lastcard, last card, and checkup POW!!!

Chorus

 
2 gun salute for that nigga da grin
i got you baby
Naija boy, yoruba boy, its nothing

Verse 3

when i first started music all i heard was laughter
mr man face ur book, turn another chapter
but after/ i show dem i rapper.. how far
soon they say i’m gifted/ told em ima hamper/
stayed on the grind/and i  drop another banger
now they say scary/ like ayamantanga
but when i pass dem just dey nod like agama
won beri fun mi but i no be obama/
tell me whats the mattter/ i just dey off their pata
this is hot shit so my flow na shalanga
picture all the rhymes that i wrote with eleganza/
thinking one day ima buy me a mazda/
almost gave up on looking for the peso
lojokan mo wa  gbo dagrin lori radio
ori mi wa gbono/ mi o fe wa gbomo
motivation ni yen ewa gbo naa/

Read the interview here

First-up, is “U Got It” . Enjoy

U GOT IT   —> Listen Here

lemme get sexy with it, sexy with it/ lemme get sexy with it, naija boy get sexy with it

omoge jeka soro/ ikebe meta lowon
the way you move d shege make me want to enter koro
no dulling, no bolo
o’ da mo, better bobo
straight dollar, never kobo
and my style is jowo jowo
i know you like it when i switch vernacular
either which way swag is spectacular
other brothers they approach is amateur
i walk in like coach or manager
far from the average/ makes no sense
my aroma strong, moneyman stench
tryna call my bluff, never did I flinch
so take em other dudes and put em d bench

Chorus

she’s so hynpnotic/ i swear her booty wired on hydraulics/
her body talking and I guess i’m hooked up on her phonics/
u got it baby/ (heeey) …… 3 times

how u go from classy, to sexy, to freaky, to wifey in one breath
tell me how manage?
play ms independent and diva and leader in one breath
tell me how manage?
total package/ i understand that
you the shit u deserve ur high standards
stand out ooops i meant outstanding/
but all the lames tryna say too demanding/
their head no correct
tell em say i talk say they better come correct
better yet/ baby girl you set
leave all dem dogs come fuck with a vet
no i dont stop… but i pause for effect
i can show you all about cause and effect
cause you to smile/ affecting your mood
put in you bed teach u a lesson or two

 ”Simply put, when aesthetic purpose precedes exposure and sales, art plays the upper hand. When reversed, it’s about entertainment (…) I’ve often said in casual conversation that entertainment is for the folks who, when they get home from work, need to lie down and get their minds off of things. Art is for the folks who, at the end of the day, want to get their eyes and mind more fully engaged and stimulated.”

 
I don’t think it is as cut and dry as Bill puts it. I believe what the audience wants is somewhere in the middle… a thoroughly entertaining experience that is also artistically engaging. In hip-hop, this means make-them-dance-and-make-them-think. The mastery and delivery of this concept is what makes a timeless Hip-hop artist. Needless to say, it is not as easy as it seems.
In this era of Hip-hop, few venture to create records that can make you dance (or nod your head) and think. Songs have become Niche. You have the club-banger, the song for the ladies, the street joint, and the mellow-cruising-in-my-ride track. On a larger scale, some rappers veer towards commercial success and produce a more pop sound, whereas others opt for more conscious rap. For the former, get people’s attention, but are inevitably soon forgotten. The latter rarely ever getting any critical acclaim because frankly, few are paying attention to their craft.
Examples are unfortunately rare. In my opinion, no single hip-hop record had done it more thoroughly than Lauryn Hill’s “Mis-education of Lauryn Hill”… with numerous chart topping singles that exemplify this concept; “(Doo Woop) That Thing”, “Ex Factor” , “Everything is Everything” etc. Kanye West “College Dropout” is also a good example with singles like “Jesus Walks” and “All Falls Down.”

Art, and enjoyment of it, is subjective. As artists, we must remember that in order to make fully memorable work, we need to present our craft in a context that will engage the audience;  Artistic and entertaining.

Yesi

The below is an excerpt from his book, “The Flowing River” that was posted on his blog. http://paulocoelhoblog.com . Enjoy.

Yesi

THE STORY OF THE PENCIL

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point he asked:

‘Are you writing a story about what we’ve done? Is it a story about me?’
His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson:
I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I’m using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.’

Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn’t seem very special.
‘But it’s just like any other pencil I’ve ever seen!’

‘That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.’

‘First quality: you are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and He always guides us according to His will.’
‘Second quality: now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpner. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he’s much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.
‘Third quality: the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.’
‘Fourth quality: what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.’
‘Finally, the pencil’s fifth quality: it always leaves a mark. in just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action’

Yesi having a hard time staying focused and getting frustrated… comical bit.  A.O. Frantz (Amy) on the camera.

Behind the Scenes – Freestyle Outtakes from Yesi Music on Vimeo.

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly, so he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in the summer and the youngest in the fall. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first  son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second said no, it was covered with buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with bloossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and dropping with fruit,  full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one seaoson in the tree’s life. He told them that you canno judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that comes from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall…

This message just happened to coincide with me reading about Dustin Brown , Jamaican Tennis player who overcame numerous challenges to make Wimbledon, and further reinforced the message.

I fuel myself in a similar way… so many times I have pondered why I do this. I guess I  sense that the harshest winter chill is past, and I eagerly await the spring…

-Yesi

So there’s that one thing that has always interested you.You might occasionally browse or inform yourself about it, or perhaps you avidly follow it. In fact, you might admire those who are currently doing that thing, but secretly feel you can do it better than them, if you applied yourself. You want to make it your thing. But It will require a commitment of time, effort and resources not to mention the million and one other “buts” that remind you how crazy of an idea this thing is.

Don’t over-think it, just do it.

Sure, there will be self-doubt and uncertainty. You will constantly be tortured by the imminent fear of failure and looking foolish after you put yourself out there. You might hit a couple I’m-way-over-my-head moments, and ever so often, the why-am-I-even-doing-this brick wall. But understand that the fear is expected because leaping-in is counter-intuitive to human nature. Since birth, we’ve internalized the prudence of caution and “looking before you leap.” Even the education system punishes mistakes and rewards precision.
I have found that there’s a certain emptiness when you live in the precision of your comfort zone. I think the real reason is because life is not an exact science, it is more like art… and art is the exact opposite of precision. The real reason to leap into the dark is because you cannot understand the meaning of light without experiencing darkness. You cannot gain anything if you risk nothing.
Of course, It is easier said that done. It takes guts and conviction. People will question your intentions. Obstacles will push you to the brink, and you will make mistakes. Ultimately, you have to embrace these tests because they reveal how bad you want that thing to become your thing.

-Yesi