The Up Next program is created by Apple to support rising artistes. Each month ‘Up Next’ selects a rising artist for which Apple Music uses all its resources to give their music visibility to new audiences. This will include an introductory documentary shot on the artiste, an audio EP from a live session which will include an interview and live performance on Beats 1 and an appearance on The Late Late Show With James Corden which Apple Music partnered with.

Speaking about the collaboration in his Beats 1 interview with Julie Adenuga, the ‘Ye’ singer who seems to be climbing new heights every now and then; from Coachella to BET, expressed his excitement to be a part of the Up Next campaign as he said;

“I’m super excited to be part of the Apple Music Up Next campaign, … Apple continuously comes up with new initiatives to support artists globally and push the African culture. It’s an honor to be a part of this and with my African Giant album coming out soon, the timing is perfect.”

From the snippet of the documentary, the singer was seen talking about the birth of his relationship with music;

“My granddad was a DJ in Lagos; all the records would come to him first … I would find myself being inspired by things that I’ve heard as a kid: Nigerian music or African music, some French music or some Jamaican music. When it’s time for music to be made, it’s almost like my ancestors just come into me and then it’s them.”

Speaking about Burna’s collaboration with Apple Music, Apple Music’s Global Editorial Head of Hip-Hop and R&B, Ebro Darden said

“Burna Boy has built his brand his way and has been on fire all over Africa and the UK … He does things his way and Apple Music is honored to be able to connect with Burna Boy on this moment and help make the name even more well known!”

The exclusive documentary with Apple Music will be dropping on the 16th of July after which his new album, African Giant, which is presently on Pre-order will drop on the 26th of July.

Bose Ogulu, the manager and mother of the Afro-fusion musician accepted the award on her son’s behalf. Ogulu, who has accepted trophies for her son in the past, also came with a quick word for African-Americans.

“Thank you very much BET, thank you, Africa. That is the constituency for which we got noticed. The message from Burna would be that every black person should please remember that you were Africans before you became anything else.”

See the full list of winners below:

Best Female R&B/Pop Artist

Beyoncé (WINNER)
Ella Mai​

H.E.R.

Solange

SZA

Teyana Taylor

Best Male R&B/Pop Artist

Bruno Mars (WINNER)

Chris Brown

John Legend

Anderson .Paak​
Childish Gambino​

Khalid

Best Group

Migos (WINNER)
Chloe x Halle​
City Girls
Lil Baby & Gunna​
The Carters

Best Collaboration

“Sicko Mode,” Travis Scott ft. Drake (WINNER)

“A Lot,” 21 Savage ft. J. Cole

“Please Me,” Cardi B & Bruno Mars

“I Like It,” Cardi B ft. Bad Bunny & J Balvin​

“Could’ve Been,” H.E.R. ft. Bryson Tiller

“Taste,” Tyga ft. Offset

Best Female Hip Hop Artist

Cardi B (WINNER)
Kash Doll
Lizzo
Megan Thee Stallion
Nicki Minaj​
Remy Ma

Best Male Hip Hop Artist

Nipsey Hussle (WINNER)
21 Savage
Drake
J. Cole
Meek Mill
Travis Scott

Video of the Year

“This Is America,” Childish Gambino (WINNER)
“A Lot,” 21 Savage ft. J. Cole
“Money,” Cardi B
“Please Me,” Cardi B & Bruno Mars
“Nice For What,” Drake
“APES**T,” The Carters

Video Director of the Year

Karena Evans (WINNER)
Benny Boom
Colin Tilley​
Dave Meyers
Hype Williams

Best New Artist

Lil Baby (WINNER)
Blueface
City Girls
Juice WRLD​
Queen Naija

Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational

“Blessing Me Again,” Snoop Dogg ft. Rance Allen (WINNER)
“All Of My Life,” Erica Campbell ft. Warryn Campbell
“Tell Me Where It Hurts,” Fred Hammon​
“Love Theory,” Kirk Franklin
“Never Alone,” Tori Kelly ft. Kirk Franklin

Best International Act

Burna Boy (Nigeria) (WINNER)
AKA (South Africa)
Aya Nakamura (France)
Dave (UK)
Dosseh (France)
Giggs (UK)
Mr. Eazi (Nigeria)

Best New International Act

Sho Madjozi (South Africa) (WINNER)
Headie One (UK)
Jokair (France)
Nesly (France)
Octavian (UK)
Teni (Nigeria)

Best Actress

Regina King (WINNER)
Issa Rae
Regina Hall
Taraji P Henson​
Tiffany Haddish​
Viola Davis

Best Actor

Michael B. Jordan (WINNER)
Anthony Anderson
Chadwick Boseman
Denzel Washington
Mahershala Ali
Omari Hardwick​

Young Stars

Marsai Martin (WINNER)
Caleb McLaughlin
Lyrics Ross
Michael Rainey Jr.
Miles Brown

Best Movie

BlacKkKlansman (WINNER)
Creed 2
If Beale Street Could Talk
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
The Hate U Give

Sportswoman of the Year

Serena Williams (WINNER)
Allyson Felix
Candace Parker
Naomi Osaka
Simone Biles

Sportsman of the Year

Stephen Curry (WINNER)
Kevin Durant
LeBron James
Odell Beckham Jr
Tiger Woods

Album of the Year
Invasion of Privacy, Cardi B (WINNER)
Astroworld, Travis Scott
Championships, Meek Mill
Ella Mai, Ella Mai​
Everything Is Love, The Carters

Coca-Cola Viewers’ Choice

“Trip,” Ella Mai (WINNER)
“I Like It,” Cardi B ft Bad Bunny & J Balvin​
“This Is America,” Childish Gambino​
“In My Feelings,” Drake
“Middle Child,” J. Col
“Sicko Mode,” Travis Scott ft. Drake

Nigerian rapper Falz created This Is Nigeria, a parody of This Is America that switched out lyrics and imagery for social ills in his country: machete-wielding gangs, codeine use, internet scammers, and much more.

Last week, a Nigerian rapper released his own version of Childish Gambino’s hit song and music video “This Is America.”

It’s called “This Is Nigeria” and was written and performed by lawyer-turned-musician Falz The Bahd Guy. Like the hugely popular Donald Glover song and video (Gambino is his stage name), the Nigerian version looks at harsh everyday realities.

Donald Glover’s ‘This Is America’ Holds Ugly Truths To Be Self-Evident
In “This Is America,” the issues include gun violence, racism and the distraction of viral entertainment and social media. Falz’s lyrics and visuals touch on some of Nigeria’s major problems: poor electricity supply, drug addiction and government corruption. The video even features veiled Muslim girls to allude to Boko Haram’s abductions of schoolgirls in the northeast.

Falz performs in pidgin English, a blend of English and local languages that is widely spoken in West Africa. The chorus says:

This is Nigeria
Never-ending recession-o
Where looters are killers and stealers are still contesting election-o.
Politician wey steals some billion and billion e no dey go prison-o.”

Released on May 25, just four days before the 19th anniversary of democracy in the West African nation, the three-minute video has been viewed on YouTube 2.9 million times. The hashtag #ThisIsNigeria has generated tens of thousands of tweets. And the song has captured the attention of the American rapper Diddy, who reposted “This Is Nigeria” on his Instagram account, where it currently has an additional 2.2 million views.

Falz, whose real name is Folarin Falana, is not new to social commentary. His music often reflects the views of his father, Femi Falana, a popular Nigerian lawyer and human rights activist. Falz’s previous songs “Child of the World,” “Confirm” and “Wehdone Sir” tackle sexual harassment, Internet fraud and the rise of wealthy megachurch pastors.

For a non-Nigerian, the scenes in the video may be a bit hard to figure out at times. Here’s a guide to some of the references and meanings:

Colonialism [0:10]

FalzVEVO via YouTube/Screen grab by NPR

The video begins with Falz clutching a boombox to his ear. The radio plays a clip from a speech delivered by his father, Falana, who is criticizing the Nigerian government: “… The medical facilities are poor. We operate a predatory neo-colonial capitalist system.” Falana speaks often on these issues on the radio.

Herders vs. farmers [00:30]
A machete-wielding man, dressed as a herdsman, simulates an attack on a blindfolded man. “Fulani herdsmen still dey slaughter, carry people dey massacre,” Falz says.

The scene refers to the country’s simmering conflict between herders, many from the Fulani ethnic group, and farming communities. Since 2011, both sides have been embroiled in clashes that have claimed more than 2,000 lives, according to Brussels-based think tank the International Crisis Group.

Money-eating snake [1:09]

FalzVEVO via YouTube/Screen grab by NPR

A woman picks up wads of colorful notes on the ground as a snake emerges from a half calabash melon to eat up the money. It’s a reference to a story from February: Philomena Chieshe, a sales clerk of Nigeria’s exam board, the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, claimed that a snake ate 36 million naira ($100,000) from her office. Falz makes a joke about this story: “Where that Madam Philomena?” he asks, “money vanish for your office, 36 mily, you say na animal.”

Drug addiction [1:10]
In the video, Falz shows a young Nigerian disembarking from a bus with a bottle of cough syrup in one hand. Last month, Nigeria’s health ministry banned cough syrup with codeine after a BBC investigation revealed the role of the syrup in Nigeria’s addiction epidemic.

Corruption [1:17]
Falz makes several references to corruption, calling out politicians who have been accused of stealing from the government. By many accounts, corruption is one of Nigeria’s biggest problems. According to a U.N. report, roughly $4.6 billion is spent on bribes in Nigeria each year. This part of the video struck a chord with Kingsley Moghalu, former deputy governor of Nigeria’s central bank and presidential aspirant, who, after quoting the lyrics, called for a “new kind of leadership.”

Boko Haram [1:22]

Falz with Boko Haram kidnapped students

Falz is joined by four veiled Muslim schoolgirls, who depict the young women in Nigeria’s northeastern region where the radical group Boko Haram operates. Boko Haram militants came into the limelight in April 2014 when they kidnapped more than 270 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok.

In February, a splinter group of Boko Haram abducted 110 girls from an all-girls boarding school in the town of Dapchi in northeastern Nigeria’s Yobe state.

The girls are performing the shaku shaku dance, a street dance that became popular in Nigeria this year. A similar scene is represented in Glover’s “This Is America”: amid violence and chaos, students perform dances that have gone viral on the Internet. In Glover’s video, critics say the scene illustrates people’s tendency to get distracted by viral entertainment instead of focusing on social issues.

Unethical preachers [1:47]

FalzVEVO via YouTube/Screen grab by NPR

A young woman in a white garment is surrounded by a small group of people praying for her. In previous songs, Falz has criticized religious figures for money-making schemes. In “This is Nigeria,” Falz gets angrier: “Pastor put his hand in the breast of his member, he is pulling the demon out,” he raps. In April 2017, a Nigerian televangelist named Tim Omotoso was arrested and charged with trafficking more than 30 girls and women from various branches of his church and allegedly sexually exploiting them.

Erratic electricity [1:51]
Falz worries that there is “no electricity daily o.” Nigerians often complain about this problem.

Lazy youth [1:54]
When President Muhammadu Buhari got a chance to speak at a Commonwealth Business Forum in Westminster on April, he said “a lot of” young Nigerians “sit and do nothing” and expect everything for free, including housing, health care and education. This attracted a backlash on social media, with young Nigerians using the hashtag #LazyNigerianYouth to fire back at the president. Falz’s rap defies the president’s assessment: “people working multiple jobs and dem talk sey we lazy o.”

Internet fraud [2:14]
Falz throws a jab at Nigerian fraudsters who try to con people into sending them money via the Internet. Known as Yahoo Boys, some pretend to be beautiful women online and get into romantic relationships in order to con people into sending money; others use malware to control systems and compromise emails. The stereotypical Yahoo Boy drives a fast car and flaunts his wealth.

The Nigerian pop star has been vocal about his dislike for society’s acceptance of ill-gotten wealth. In the song, he criticizes society for acting like these fraudulent schemes are “so cool.”

Police brutality [2:30]

FalzVEVO via YouTube/Screen grab by NPR

In this scene, officers from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit of the Nigerian police, arrest three university students only to free one of them upon receiving a bribe from his wealthy father. Two SARS officers hit and kick one of the students.

According to a report from Amnesty International in 2016, SARS has been cited for accepting bribes as well as engaging in extortion, torture and degrading treatment of detainees in their custody. In December 2017, using the hashtag #EndSARS on social media, Nigerians strongly called for an end to the brutality meted out by SARS. In response, the Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Idris ordered an investigation of the anti-robbery squad.

“I mean transmission” [3:00]

FalzVEVO via YouTube Screen grab by NPR

This scene is a parody of a popular video from mid-May in which police chief Idris delivered a speech but ended up saying the word “transmission” over and over, rendering his talk nonsensical.

-Linus Unah I NPR

Jaywon

The singer then moved to Lagos in 2005 and under a year after, secured collaborations with Ray G, Sound Sultan, W4, Slizzy E and 2face.

In 2009, Jaywon bagged a chance to perform at the packed Kennis Music Easter Fiesta, he made a huge impact and Organisers of the event immediately stroke an interest in him. Later that same year, Jaywon signed a record deal with Kennis Music Record Label. He went one to be described as ‘Jaywon has one of the most recognizable voices in the industry.’ [2] In December 2012, He released the ‘Odun Yi (This Year)’ single to critical and commercial acclaim in 2013. He later signed an endorsement deal with PZ Cusson which enabled the company to use his hit song, ‘This Year’ for promotional purposes.

Next World Music and ‘Oba Orin’ album
After going indie, He released his anticipated and third album titled ‘Oba Orin’ after four singles featuring Vector, Reminisce and Reekado Banks. This is the follow up to the two albums he released on Kennis Music.

360nobs reviewed the album writing: ‘Oba Orin is a fine collection of sounds that reflects Jaywon’s superior talent and the state of pop music. It is rich, live, refreshing, timely and timeless all at once. Jaywon may make a bold claim but none can say he doesn’t work for it every step of the way. Only time will tell if he has indeed earned the title.

Jaywon ft. Olamide – Ayinde Wasiu (Official Video)

while PulseNG rates it 3/5 and wrote: ‘By the end of the album, you get a feeling that Jaywon has poured out his soul, connecting his influences and having his very creative essence flowing through you. It’s like Jaywon performed personally for you, in a crowded local venue.

‘Oba Orin’ which translates to ‘King of Songs’ from Yoruba language is an album with 21 tracks which production credits from Mr Ejor, Benjossy, Blaq Jerzey and Young Jonn. Jaywon gave first two weeks return of his ‘Oba Orin’ album to an Orphanage.The singer attended the 2016 ACIA Awards in Atlanta, United States and bagged the “Best Indigenous Act” award.

2014–present: Singles recorded under Next World Music
Jaywon premiered the remix for “Madantin” in 2014 featuring Phyno, Olamide and May D under the Next World Music imprint then following up with ‘Tanawole’ featuring Reminisce[6] weeks after. He also worked with rapper Vector tha Viper on ‘Back to Sender.

He explained that the inspiration for the song came while he was on a flight and looked down from the window and around and saw how everything looked good and he was thinking