Baba Fryo speaks about his absence from the music scene.

Friday Igweh, aka Baba Fryo, struggled for about five years to find his feet on the music scene. Fortunately he got the much desired break in 1996 when his debut album titled, Denge Pose, hit the scene with a loud bang.

At the time, it was reported that the album sold over a million copies nationwide.
After Denge Pose he released two other albums, including Notice Me.

But a few years later, the ghetto singer, who once described his kind of music as Afro Reggae Beat, suddenly faded off the scene.

Baba Fryo looked different without the trade-mark star patch on one eye. He had started nursing a pot belly, evidence that he was no longer performing regularly on stage.

The ghetto singer admitted that he had been off the music scene for a while. “I haven’t recorded an album in the last four years. But then, it is not as if I have left music entirely. I just want to cool off and re-organise myself. I will come back to music very soon and revive my career,” he told a punch correspondent.

He said piracy was one of the factors that frustrated him out of music.

“You probably have heard that I made a lot of money from my first album, Denge Pose. I can tell you that it was not true. The success of the album only brought me fame, not riches. I didn’t make even enough money to pay my bills from the sale of the album. To make ends meet, what I did was go on playing tours and perform at music shows. Pirates were the ones that benefitted from my sweat,” he said.

Fryo also blamed his former records labels for his woes.

“I was informed by reliable sources that royalties valued at $10,000 had been paid to me from London. But the collecting society that should have remitted the money to me connived with the records company and they shared it among themselves. I did my own investigation and found out that it was true I had been cheated out of the fruits of my labour.

“I felt so bad that I had to quit my relationship with the company. As I talk to you, I don’t belong to any collecting society and I am not interested in joining any. What they did to me shows how much corruption has eaten into the Nigerian society and the music industry. Everybody wants to get rich quickly at the expense of their neighbour. So they indulge in all kinds of criminal activity,” Fryo said.

Nowadays, Fryo manages to survive by doing business. Although he did not say exactly what he does for a living.

To those who imagined that he would not be able to cope with the competition from younger music artistes, he says, “I am not afraid of competition. Why should I be? I am going to come back in a different way. What I need to do is make a little adjustment and hope that my music will be accepted by the public.”

List of emerging young fashion designers that rocked 2013.

OMG Nigeria have recently compiled a list of some emerging (young) fashion designers that made 2013 an unforgettable one.

Okubanjo Ayotunde Omotola is a graduate of Lead City University in Ibadan. She has a degree in Fashion Designing from the prestigious Tabitha Fashion School in England. She was the best designer at the Nigerian Student Fashion and Design Week 2013. Her brand YRC NIG speaks simplicity, class and sophistication.

Oluwaseun Orire is the brain behind the SeanDodo Brand an urban lifestyle label that stocks the best of Shirt, Polo, Hoodies, Varsity Jackets, Sweatshirt, Tank Tops etc. SeanDodo is a fashion brand with international quality established in 2012.

 Lawal Akintayo Anthony is the CEO of Prynt Clothing co. He graduated from Crawford University in Ogun state. He was amongst the designers that showcased at Nigeria television fashion show and Asaba fashion show in 2013.

Oladeji Oluwaseun: A Biochemistry student of the University of Ibadan. He established Elegant Clothiers in his third year in school. His brand is dedicated to bringing out the elegance in his clients through its mind blowing, well-tailored coutures. 2013 was a year of breakthrough for his brand.

Davids Kalu is the CEO of D.M.G by DAVIDS. DMG is all about creativity and fashion inspired by the beauty of art. In 2013, he showed his amazing designs at Lagos Fashion Maniac, beats of life and runway to stardom.

Olugbemiga Gbemisola Esther is a banker and a fashion designer. Her brand Egostar Fashion World is all about haute couture, accessories and fashion training. She started sewing in 2005 and it’s been non-stop ever since. She also showcased her designs at some notable fashion shows this year.

Oreofe Adebowale is another designer with amazing creative skills. His designs are hardly on the runway but his customer base keeps growing. He recently secured a big contract with a multinational company in Lagos, and he participated at some exhibitions across the country in 2013.

Oyindamola Keru graduated from the University of East Anglia, Norwich in the UK. She decided to come back to Nigeria in 2012. Her brand CAREW is a young fashion line which styles young and middle aged women, and creating comfortable and yet elegant designs. She sees fashion as a way of life. Her 2013 spring/summer collection was published in some national and international magazines.


 If you know a young fashion designer who should be on this list, please send picture and short profile to: lookbooknaija@gmail.com

Jennifer Hudson now very skinny.

                          

Jennifer Hudson dropped major pounds as the spokesperson for Weight Watchers, and judging from a few new photos, she’s at her smallest size ever.

This week, photos emerged of the actress in a bra and jeans combo and reactions from her fans varied, with some expressing thoughts that she’s too thin. Earlier in her career, she was told she was too big, so it seems as though she can’t catch a break!It’s true that Jennifer looks even slimmer than usual, but it’s because she had to lose weight for a new movie titled ”The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete”, where she plays a heroin addict.

What do you think about this?

Court orders 12 strokes of cane on 16 year old convict.

A Senior Magistrate, Aliyu Shafa, ordered the police to cane the convict in public after he pleaded guilty to stealing 17 pieces of scaffold clips valued at N150,000.

Shafa directed that the police should hand him over to the traditional ruler of Abaji, where he came from because he was still a minor.

The police prosecutor, Mr. Abdullahi Alhassan, had told the court that Mr Kunle Adebayo, of suite B 19, AdemolaAdetokunbo Valley Mall, Wuse II, Abuja, reported the case to the Mabushi police Station.

Alhassan said the convict went to Adebayo’s building’s site at Jabi II, Abuja, and stole 17 pieces of scaffold clips valued N150,000.

He said during investigation, the scaffold clips were recovered from the convict’s at Mpape area.

The offence contravenes Section 287 which stipulates that “whoever commits theft shall be punished with imprisonment for a term, which may extend to five years or with fine or with both.”

The convict pleaded guilty saying, “My lord, forgive me. I will not do that again and I am ready to go back home.’’

The 16–year-old boy was then publicly given 12 strokes of the cane on Tuesday on the orders of the Court which found him guilty of theft, News Agency of Nigeria reports.