Muyiwa is one of the busiest men in the British Gospel industry. Yet this show wasn’t just any show. He pulled out all the stops to make it special.

The Eko Ile headline show is named after Muyiwa & Riversongz latest album. Eko Ile which literally translates to “Lagos My Home”, is a love letter to the two cities and cultures that helped shape Muyiwa’s identity, Lagos and London. After the previous album that took listeners All Around The World, Eko Ile is unashamedly African. It’s no surprise then that this whole motherland theme infused the entire show.

The concert was a very personal one for Muyiwa. It told his story and laid bare his identity for all to see. It didn’t have any long drawn out testimonies, instead spoken word and poetry pieces interspersed throughout the night and gave background. The songs on the Eko Ile album are so personal, there wasn’t much more needed.

On the night, the layout for the venue was strange. The front third was specified as standing stalls but because most people paid to be seated at the rear, there was a chasm as big as the Grand Canyon between the stage and most of the audience. It didn’t kill the vibe but it did force those on the stage to work a bit harder to connect with the crowd. That didn’t spoil our fun though. There was plenty of room to dance and the space didn’t stay empty for too long.

Muyiwa & Riversongz

They kicked things off with Gbalan Gbalan and Woza but it was Mama Africa that really drew us in. It allowed us to get sucked into the whole experience and almost made us forget that we had to take photos.

By the time we got to the biggest up-tempo songs from the evening, the dancers came out in full force. Only You Be God, Imela and Hey Ya got everyone out to fill the void in front of the stage. Finally, people started to forget they paid extra for seated tickets.

We took a quick stop off in the Caribbean for Raindrops before getting on the home straight with the title track Eko Ile. They played us out with an encore of God Of Miracles to send us home happy.

ANDREW BELLO

Earlier in the night Andrew Bello opened the show straight off the back of his night as a nominee at the Pre-MOBOs. He brought out Victizzle to accompany him on the hit track Never Be The Same. But even after his slot, he was visible throughout the show as a cheerleader on the front row. Andrew Bello is always bursting with energy.

However, the night ultimately belonged to Muyiwa. As an experienced performer, he was comfortable on stage. It’s not a mystery why he’s built such a following over the years. This time, he went back to his roots and was in fine form because of it.

Written by DJ FiremanUK

The Video, The Single and The Album all right here.

For the last couple of weeks we have given you an advanced opportunity to see the video behind the song, and the film behind the video and the response has been great:

Now you can get the song and the entire album.

Eko Ile, the single and album of the same name, are out now on iTunes!!!!

So please download it here: http://bit.ly/EkoIle.

ONCE YOU HAVE DOWNLOADED

Take a snap of yourself and the iTunes download on your phone and we will send you a special goodie bag!

Check out the official Eko Ile video: Click Here

See the Behind The Scenes film: Click Here

Download the Album: Click Here

Does the success of 100 Voices of Gospel point to a new wave of interest in gospel music?

As someone who is absolutely crazy about Gospel music it was great to see the success of 100 Voices of Gospel on Britain’s Got Talent.

12 million people tuned in to see them make it to 2016 live finals. Throughout the competition they drew massive praise from all of the judges. I think this was a major achievement.

For those of us from the Gospel community we are used to seeing big choirs on TV. In fact in the next couple of months we will begin shooting for the BBC Choir of the year where I have been a judge for 3 years and we are already in rehearsals for the BBC proms at the Royal Albert Hall which I am one of the headliners along with a huge mass choir, so we used to seeing choirs on TV.

What was new to the TV audience was the combination of traditional gospel standards combined with breakdancing and street dance and the sheer numbers of singers.

They have even managed to generate additional column inches, which is a further signs that you have made it, worth stories about them breaking Britain’s Got Talent rules because they have professional singers in their ranks. The Sunday people reported the following story:

“Unbeknown to the 12 million viewers who tuned we can reveal more than a third of the choir are professional and several already have their own recording contracts,

Some of the original members of the band were so tied-up with their commitments they were unable to take part in Simon Cowell’s show .

Now we can reveal all is not what it seems with Voices of Gospel.

Triplets in the group, called The Clement Brothers, had a music career in Indonesia and were believed to have been signed to Sony.

They now produce and sing professionally as a trio.

Group spokeswoman and former Wall Street lawyer Margeaux Lampley was previously signed to Warner and released a single.

Margeaux said: “We’ve had a number of people who have done musical comedies in France and worked with famous French singers.

“The group also regularly accompanies artists on The Voice show in France. There are some people who have recording contracts. I have one.

“As a result some of them will not be coming to the show because there’s a bit of a conflict with their other singing, which is unfortunate. They all have their own solo projects.”

Margeaux insisted more of the group were amateurs than professional, while X Factor insider say it’s not flouting show rules unless the whole act has a recording contract.”

Some say, “All publicity is good publicity”, so lets see if 100 Voices of Gospel are around long enough to build on the exposure given to them by Britain’s Got Talent.

Do you think the mainstream media and people in general are more open and receptive to Gospel music?

Do shows like Gospel Proms and BBC Choir of the Year prove that Gospel is growing in popularity?

Or are they as one DJ describe them “one-off tokens”?

I would love to get your take on this.

We are working on getting an interview with 100 Voices of Gospel, that you will be able to see, read and hear at WWW.MUYIWA.CO.UK.

In the meantime leave me a comment below.

He’s got his arm around President Obama, Pastors a church of 8,000 members and he is an anointed worship leader.

To some he is a mega church pastor, to others he is a community leader in Chicago, Many know him for his successes some for other reasons, I simply know him as a brother from another mother.

Who got a chance to see the amazing Pastor Charles Jenkins at his first ever UK concert when he was recently in the country? Where you there?

Well, I did and it was truly a blessing. It was especially special for me as I put the trip together. It is a blessing to know that the fellowship and brotherhood extend far and wide.

Well things went so well that we have decided to team up and work together!

Charles has invited me to record an international version of the world-wide smash AWESOME. We are going to bring a little bit of Africa via the UK flavour to the party. As well as recording Awesome we will be writing some songs together in the US so please watch this space!.

Charles and I have got some very exciting things planned for us here in the UK. We will be working together to bring our two communities together. So to make sure that you don’t miss subscribe to The LOW DOWN and follow us on social so that you don’t miss out!

CAN YOU PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS BELOW IN THE COMMENT SECTION!

For the first time we are sharing with you the official Eko iLe music video.
You are seeing it here first before it is officially released. Enjoy!

Muyiwa takes on the music business

Music is supposed to be the purist form of expression, but I wonder. My years working in a record company may have taught me different. I remember working on a big campaign for arguably the biggest female artists in the world, then I remember being told by my boss not to get taken in by the artists complements or advances.

My then boss, made it clear in no uncertain terms that if I got too excited, her husband who was easily one of the most powerful men in the music industry, would end my career, which had only but started. Then it got me thinking, was this woman really the success she was because of her great talent, or was it the muscle of her insecure partner who would at a stroke of a pen or one dial of a button, crush the career of anyone who looked at his prized assets funny.

Then I thought, I wonder if any have ever tried to find out what would happen, suffice to say, I never found out, and their relationship never lasted.

The industry is so fickle and human beings so fragile, so easy to reel off lines like, “if music be the food of love play on” but the reality is, years after the music has stopped, the business must go on. So I’ve learnt to make music, do business and keep your integrity. Music, romance, unrequited love, it could be about that, but let’s keep it about the music keep it pure.

As we journey further I’ll be sharing my experiences in the industry and be your personal resource on how to make a success of your music business.

So here are 3 things to do.

(1) On your marks:
Check out the artist I’m recommending
(2) Get set:
Tell me what you think of their music
(3) Go!:
If you feel that strongly, tell someone