Amayo was the only actual Nigerian in the Brooklyn afrobeat juggernaut Antibalas, reigning from 1999 to 2021 in colored face paint and elaborate headdress over pulsing Fela-obsessed grooves. A devotee of martial arts, he is a practitioner of Kung Fu’s Chinese Lion Dance, as well as Nigerian Edo traditional arts. Lion Awakes celebrates all these elements of the Amayo creative package, unfurling frantic blasts of brassy syncopation around intricate narratives of supernatural kicking, punching might. This is not a long album, but it has epic scope that’s well beyond the limitations of the usual five-song EP.
It begins with Amayo’s tribute to his grandmother, a black magic shaman woman in touch with supernatural energies. The song, “Black Magic Sister” stutters on skittering, bunching syncopation, threading wheedling keyboards and off-beat cowbells through a sinuous call and response. Amayo holds court, letting the spirit move him as he sings, swaying with the back-slanted rhythms of reggae-adjacent afrobeat as he rides the current.
“Lion Awakes” runs steamier and funkier, guitars insinuated into a smolder of percussion, the beat rambling on, purposeful but not too fast. It’s too hot to run. The lion is the main character in three out of five of these tracks, strutting militantly in the snare-shot “Happy Lion,” triumphing over all comers in the final “Ascending Lion.” The Lion, I should mention, is Amayo, and of course he’s the hero of his own story.
Amayo brings the kung-fu-fighting samurai motif out into the foreground in “Shadowless,” a track whose bristling horns and burbling organ smoke but never erupt in flames. The menace is implied, never thrust forward, as Amayo whispers “Shadowless” against a slithery cadence of funk.
Amayo surrounds himself with an able collection of afro funk musicians from Africa and Los Angeles and Brooklyn. The backing is tight, in the sense of everything landing where it should, but also loose, with a give in the joints that makes you want to move. You probably didn’t know you needed an Afro funk concept album about a mighty kung fu warrior, but you did. You can thank me later.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
The king is dead - and with him, the last thread holding the kingdom together.
Deep cracks are forming throughout the kingdom of Nri with whispers of deadly successors lurking beneath the shadows. Despite having the same face, it seems the deepest crack is forming between Naala and Sinai, the reunited twin goddesses, who must put their differences aside as they travel through a broken Nri.
Unbeknownst to the girls, their use of the mystical Ṇdu crystal has awakened mythical beasts and the lost gods, each returning to Nri one by one. One thing is clear, the twins will have to face enemies at every corner of the kingdom... one of whom lies hidden amongst those they hold dearest.
As ongoing turmoil spreads throughout the kingdom, the daughters of Nri must unmask the true face of their enemy, as they discover that their unique blood has marked them with magic strong enough to restore true peace to the world - a task only they can complete.
But with beasts lurking far and wide, will they be able to do so before the kingdom succumbs to its looming curse?
Descendants of the First is the thundering sequel to Reni K Amayo’s epic feminist young adult fantasy, Daughters of Nri, lauded as “literary magic” by Buzzfeed and a piece of “Excellent writing, brilliant book.” by best-selling author, Dorothy Koomson.
