Ember Creek in Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria, hosted One Mic Naija’s fourth anniversary on Sunday. This event was tagged #ShutDownEdition and featured artists, such as Charass, Muna, Triple MG, and Iyanya. The show started with the One Mic Band playing hit tracks of the moment to entertain the audience, who were mostly made up of the young, trendy set. The temperature was just right, and the breeze coming in from the sea at the Jetty end of Ember Creek was good enough to have fun and be entertained.
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The One Mic Band ended their first session (one of many still to come) and gave the floor to superhosts Kel (pictured top left) and KB (pictured top) who thanked every one for coming out, talked a bit about the previous edition, and engaged the audience on the event breakdown for the #ShutdownEdition.
Charass (pictured below right) was the first performer of the night, and his style of weaving an Ibo-accented voice with the live band 
was a good way to prepare the audience for a wonderful evening of live music. Charass is signed to MMM records, which is owned by Nigerian footballer John Mikel Obi. His single “Cocoa Butter” is a hit and widely enjoyed. His performance had the audience saying, “Cocoa Butter,” to love ones.
Watch Charass’ “Cocoa Butter” here:
The second performer for the night was Muna, one of Nigeria’s female rappers and a former beauty queen. Muna hails from Owerri. She brought out a good mix of her style of music and paired it with a live band; the ability to perform and entertain with the One Mic Naija live band is an indicator of a good performance. Muna later invited Lamborghini onstage, which was enough to get the audience dancing. One fan actually ran on stage to dance with the beautiful, entertaining rapper.
#ShutDown!!!
Watch Muna’s “No Tomorrow” here:
When Muna finished, the hosts came on again to remind the audience of the other people yet to perform. Members of the Triple MG had already been sighted and people were excited. The Open Mic session was next, which is their way of getting anyone in the audience who had been inspired by the performances (some from seeing what the winners got from the last edition) to come onstage.
During Open Mic, contestants (pictured) are given 30 seconds to sing, rap, dance, and display any talent for the chance to go home with a prize. Former winners of the Open Mic contest have gone home with new phones, gadgets, coupons, and more. The three winners for this edition each won FREE Easy Taxi rides.
Me (pictured second from left) with One Mic Naija attendees.
The Open Mic session is usually judged by the audience who are encouraged to make the most noise for the contestant they want to win.
Congratulations to the three winners!!!
Next onstage was Triple MG’s lady, Emma Nyra ,who is a Nigerian from Delta. Her hit singles “Everything I Do“ ft. Iyanya and “Ori Mi Wu” have been well-received in both Nigeria and throughout Africa.
Watch Emma Nyra’s “Everything I Do” here:
Emma Nyra’s fans were present and ready to support her, so she wasted no time in delivering what the crowd wanted and soon had the audience grooving along with her and dancing — with two fans even getting the chance to dance with her.
At One Mic Naija, an attendee can get to perform with an artist. Just let a performing artist see you dancing and moving to his/her music, and you can be certain that you will be allowed to partake in the lights and camera of the moment.
TIP: Make sure you sit near the front or make your way there so no one gets picked before you!
It was almost sad to see Emma Nyra come to the end of her performance, but we still had Selebobo, Baci, Tekno, and Iyanya to go as hosts KB and Kel reminded us.
Selebobo and Baci were up next to thrill the audience. Baci had already came up to join label mate Emma Nyra during her performance. Selebobo was energetic, and he and Baci made a good combo by increasing the tempo and vibe at Ember Creek.
Selebobo is a producer too. He was born in to a family of music, and you could see the stage wasn’t a new thing to him. He is also a break dancer, although he didn’t go all out with his dance moves onstage.
Tekno, the fine Hausa-speaking boy, also graced the stage, displaying his talents with guitar and then dropping that for a keyboard and eventually picking up the microphone. Besides being a multi-instrumentalist, Tekno can also dance, sing, and produce; he eventually showcased almost all of this talents. Greeting everyone in Hausa, Tekno got the audience to admire his language — or it could have been his charismatic demeanor as a funny and entertaining performer that the audience found charming.
Tekno went on to render his version of “Oleku,” a hit track in Nigeria known by most Nigerians. The song discusses how one has to have no limits in order to be a great person. Tekno also went on to thrill and entertain the crowd with some of his own songs. His performance was a personal highlight as he not only sang but he also did some dance moves. He is one of the rising stars to come out from Nigeria. Remember his name.
#Shutdown!!!
Iyanya, the Kukere master, was next.
When the hosts came to announce Iyanya onstage, they let the audience know that we would be treated to an amazing performance, and we sure were! From start to finish, Iyanya had the audience on #shutdown. As he moved to dance with one female member of the audience to the other, you could see why the “Kukere” master was an audience favorite. Iyanya sang a happy birthday song to a girl, and she blushed all the way to her seat. (That doesn’t happen every other day. Thanks to One Mic Naija, it did).
Later, an Iyanya fan confessed she came to see him remove his cloths. As if hearing her all the way from the stage, Iyanya removed his shirt to the delight of his female fans, making some guys in the crowd envious.
When he started with “…omoge, whats your flavour…” a popular hit, attendees, including the guys, joined him to sing the song. It was amazing seeing his fans respond by dancing and performing the song with Iyanya leading from the stage.
Watch Iyanya’s “Flavour” here:
Iyanya was later joined by other members of Triple MG, and together they did a group performance of their songs and blew the night away with their stage energy and harmony with the One Mic Naija band.
After Triple MG finished, the hosts ended the show with a promise to be back again the last Sunday in June, the 29th.
One Mic Naija holds their events every two months.
You can follow One Mic Naija on Twitter and Instagram to get more updates/pictures from not just this event but from other past editions.
Till the next edition, stay happy, smile, and #PromoteNigeria.
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