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The tour kicked off in Los Angeles, with further dates in Chicago, New York, Dallas, Boston, Maryland, North Carolina and Houston. He has already successfully toured in the UK, performing shows there last summer to promote his second album ‘Stories That Touch’. And he is returning to the country on the 13th of May this year for the ‘One Africa Music Fest’ at the SSE Arena, Wembley.
Falz’s particular brand of Afrobeats is heavily electronic. Hip hop & rap is infused strongly with dance/house and triphop. His capabilities in these genres mean he has been able to take advantage of the massive popularity of dance music in the US and UK, as well as that of traditional African music. In other words, there's something for everyone.
Falz dabbled with music in secondary school, forming a group called "The School Boys" in 2009. That year he released a compilation of his own recordings called ‘Shakara: The Mixtape’ which saw him rapping in his natural accent. (This is noteworthy because since then he has rapped almost entirely in a “faux Yoruba accent”.) According to the man himself he always enjoyed doing impressions for his friends at school and later while in university he decided to "apply the brand" to his music.
His first single ‘Wazup Guy’ was released in 2011, as well as 2 other singles. But his first album (also titled ‘Wazup Guy’) wasn't released until 2014. It was worth the wait - receiving glowing reviews from critics. The following year his career moved up a notch with the release of 'Marry Me' (featuring vocals from Poe and Yemi Alade). The song was a smash hit in Africa and won him a nomination in the 'Best Collaboration of The Year' category at the 2015 Nigeria Entertainment Awards. He was also nominated in the 'Best Rap Act of The Year' and 'Best New Act to Watch' categories at the same event. ‘Stories That Touch’ (the album which took him to the UK on tour) was also released that year.
In 2016, he and fellow Naija artist Simi collaborated on a superb 7-track EP called ‘Chemistry’ (produced by Sess). It was a big critical success and brought them both even more international fans. The pair had previously worked together on Simi’s single, 'Jamb Question' and his single, 'Soldier'.
Simi is just one of many huge names he has collaborated with. Others include Olamide, Davido, Reminisce, M.I and Reekado Banks and Phyno.
As well as being a musician, Falz has several other strings to his bow; He is an accomplished comedian with his own YouTube channel and a 9 track 2015 comedy album entitled 'Bantz'.
He has his own record label, ‘Bahd Guys Records’ (a reference to his nickname ‘Falz the Bahd Guy’). He has his own T-shirt line.
And he acts too. His role as ‘Segun’, on Funke Akindele’s series ‘Jenifa's Diary’ made him a household name in Nigeria and won him several awards.
This month, not only has he released his own single ‘Baby Boy’, but he is also a featured artist on 4 other kick-ass Afrobeat dance tracks:
PepeNazi (also featuring Reminisce) - ‘I Ain’t Gat No Time (Dance remix)’
Reekado Banks – ‘Biggy Man’
Zoro – ‘Buy the Bar’
Ycee - Bubbly
All tracks are superb and a big treat for both Afrobeats and EDM fans.
References:
http://thenet.ng/2017/03/falz-to-embark-on-1st-ever-u-s-tour-after-two-2017-music-videos/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falz
https://shoobs.com/events/18390/one-africa-music-fest-london
http://pulse.ng/celebrities/falz-rapper-says-hes-had-his-funny-accent-since-secondary-school-id5032452.html
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vXjzrGid89U&ebc=ANyPxKq0F8CT97_-GfYMOM-b12EG9mAaboV48UPQTcad06t9XacD4-UyOb4bDNMM-q5xDc7PyY_E
http://thenet.ng/2015/02/rapper-falz-unveils-clothing-line/
http://stargist.com/nigerian_celebrity/falz-wins-viewers-choice-best-international-act-2016-bet-awards/
http://falz.co.uk
Written by Jennifer Menzies for SwaGG News Africa
Posted by @pocarlee
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