Charlez Blog

Last night one of the most highly anticipated concerts of the year took place courtesy of Cokobar.  Iyanya Mbuk, who rose to fame after his smash hit Kukere sent the dance floors around the world ablaze, proved that he is more than the etigi master.
Those that had seen the star in humble beginnings on Nigeria’s talent search “Project Fame” may have already known that the singer could sing his heart out. However, last night Iyanya showed London that he could sing with the best of them and R’n’B is the heart of who he is.
Iyanya set the show off right boasting powerful vocal ability singing “I Got It” from the album Desire. He then went into “Badman” which is also a song from the album that features M.I. The crowd got to rocking and it was only up from there.
From the moment Iyanya stepped on stage he commanded it, his energy never dipped and his band were on point, never missing a beat. From “Bust My Brain” to “Jombolo” (which he allowed the audience to see the exclusive music video to before he hit the stage) Iyanya performed as if every crowd member knew every word of every song.
It was clear that there were audience members were only there to see Iyanya perform their favourite dancing tracks like “Kukere”, “Ur Waist” and “Flavour”. It can be daunting performing tracks that everybody many not know especially with the concert being an album launch. Despite this, he gave the audience what they wanted and more
The concert had everything you would expect musically from one of your favourite American R’n’B musicians. With electrifying guitar rock riffs and a trip down 90’s R’n’B memory lane, a lot of whining and grinding, screaming ladies pulling on his clothes and he even brought 4 lucky ladies on stage to serenade and dance with him to “Some More”.
While Iyanya went to change half way through his set, he allowed Emma Nyra the stage to keep the party rocking and she didn’t disappoint. Regardless of the fact that many people didn’t know her songs she left the stage with everyone knowing exactly who she is and what she’s capable of.
For an artist who came to perform songs from an album backed with so many killer collabos, Iyanya held every song together on his own with the strength of his band and DJ Bayo on the wheels of steel. Iyanya danced his way around every corner of the stage, whining his waist with the D3 Dancers and even sharing the stage with the Kukere Queen Contest winners who came all the way from Sweden.
Some will say that show was just ok while others will say that the show was magnificent, people will always be hard to please. Maybe that’s why Iyanya goes so hard on stage and gives his all as if he is still trying to prove something to the world.