Entertainment
K1 De Ultimate Endorses Imprxx, a Live Streaming Application
King of Fuji Music, Olasunkanmi Ayinde Marshal, popularly known as K1 De Ultimate, has endorsed a live-streaming application developed by a Nigerian startup, Imprxx, created by Ayo Ileesemi.
The music maestro, in a press briefing at his Mayegum Royal Resort in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, said Imprxx will open a lot of eyes to what most people probably believe will be too hard and impossible to get done.
His words: “I volunteer myself, and I know that within a short period of time, a lot of people will follow suit. We have the grace of having a transition, and when we witness the benefit of it plus what we have done together with imprxx, we want to showcase the whole thing to the world, to let the world know you have the word next to you right in your sitting room, wherever you are in Australia, China or America, wherever you are. You can have the feeling like everything is happening next to you. That’s the essence of it—to be able to beam the May 29 presidential inauguration in Abuja live, and let everybody know that all these things they’ve been keeping away from us from afar can be truly brought nearer to us.
“Imprxx will define how we will receive live shows in music or live theatre. It makes us understand that we should be thankful for the innovations that are available to us now. When they used to say the world ‘global village,’ one might not quickly recognise what we’re trying to talk about. I can be here in my office, passing music to the rest of the world, and everybody will enjoy it. You don’t necessarily need to be at every venue before you get things done.
“This innovative idea is to tell us that the world is moving. The world is not static; it’s moving, and we should move. If you don’t move, then you’ve lost it. I don’t want to be one of the losers. I want to be in the moment and enjoy the benefits.”
In appreciation of the partnership to be the brand ambassador for Imprxx, K1 enthused: “I give glory to God Almighty. I’ve always been a supporter of every good initiative that comes the way of entertainment so that every entertainer and the people will see the very best of what everybody expected. I am also grateful to Imprxx for considering me worthy of such a partnership. And it will help others take a cue from me to better their lives too. It is not going to be only me; before you know it, within the first month, I believe the whole world will be feeling good about the initiative we’re talking about.”
In his remarks, the soft-spoken creator of Imprxx, Mr Ayo Ileesemi, explained that Imprxx is a digital platform that’s going to handle content from a very broad angle, and one of those angles is keeping a playlist of whatever content we have.
“Be rest assured that K1’s content, the old schools, and the new ones —everything — will be accessible on Imprxx. In content creation, there’s something they call reel on Facebook, and I think in Tik Tok, we are disrupting that by adding a broad thing to reel in Imprxx. So new things are coming to the field of the reel in Imprxx, and every content of K1.
“Imprxx is going to serve all content creators. So once you create your content, the rest comes from live streaming. From wherever you live stream on Imprxx, it will automatically be on Imprxx. So it opens you up to anybody in the world to have that on Imprxx, which is also a platform where once you live stream from there, you have your content, and you can still bring old content, put it on a waitlist. And that content is what they used to do on the reel. Reel means that if I want to do a live video, I have a playlist of songs that I can put in an interface with the live video, and two of them come out together as live content.
On generation of employment by Imprxx, which is going to interest so many people, Ayo noted: “What we are bringing to the entertainment industry is the creation of almost 500,000 jobs from the angle. Content creators should be ready. Videographers should be ready. Musicians should be ready; the Central Bank of Nigeria should be ready, Nigeria and the world should be ready for this disruption and new innovations that are going to create so many opportunities for the world.”
Talking of live streaming, how possible will it be for K1 to interact with people who are not physically at an event? Ileseeni said:
“It’s possible because Imprxx is creating a dedicated interface in the space of live streaming. If he’s onstage doing his music, what we’ve seen before is people consuming what he’s doing from any part of the world that has existed. But he has not created a chance for an engrossing entertainer to also interact with people in the digital space. Imprxx is bridging that space right now.
“We are bringing a dedicated interface whereby no matter how engrossed he is on the stage he can still briskly interact with people in the space. What that means is that if you are having a birthday elsewhere in Nigeria and KI is here in Ijebu-Ode, he will be playing from the studio. We are interfacing you with him because there’s going to be a dedicated interface in your house and his studio. As you’re in your house, you will interface with him, and he will sing for you, and everyone will see it.
“Then you also have the chance to live-spray K1. Because, normally, these are the things we know as our own lifestyle in this part of the world. So we are turning that into another means of monetization; so that comes in as digital monetisation for entertainers. This is one of the unique factors of Imprxx to the world. Every spray is digital, which means we are helping the Central Bank of Nigeria solve the problem of abuse of the naira, because they’ve been looking for a solution.
The Imprxx founder thanked K1 for his support for the innovation given his fatherly figure and inspiration, even as he promised that in a short while, “we are going to approach CBN in solving a problem. In a short while, we’re also going to approach job creation that’s going to come in the next two weeks, because we are planning collaborations with the National Institute of Film Technology in Abuja.
“We’re also partnering with PEFTI, another film institute and a leading brand in the production of LED screens, Excel LED. And in the next two weeks, we should be talking about creating 120 jobs for anchors; we call them Imprxx Anchors. These are the guys that will bring the dedicated interface to your house to interface you with K1. From June, people can book for K1, bringing affordability to his services. You can have the best of K1 for five minutes or 30 minutes in the comfort of your home.”
Shakira has announced the official song for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, featuring Nigerian Grammy-winning star, Burna Boy.
The Colombian superstar revealed on social media that the song, titled “Dai Dai,” will be released on May 14.
“From Maracaná Stadium, here is ‘Dai Dai,’ the FIFA World Cup Official Song 2026. Coming 5/14. We’re ready!” Shakira posted on X alongside a teaser for the track.
The announcement has sparked excitement among football and music fans, especially with Burna Boy becoming one of the African artists to feature prominently on a World Cup anthem.
Shakira is no stranger to World Cup songs. Her 2010 hit Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) became one of the most iconic football anthems in history during the tournament in South Africa.
Recent World Cup theme songs have also featured global stars. In 2014, Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte performed We Are One (Ole Ola) for the tournament in Brazil.
For the 2018 tournament in Russia, Nicky Jam, Will Smith and Era Istrefi released Live It Up.
At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, FIFA rolled out multiple soundtrack songs, including Hayya Hayya (Better Together) by Trinidad Cardona, Davido and Aisha.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
This week, African Voices, the Globacom-sponsored magazine programme on CNN International, turns its searchlight on Ejatu Shaw the London-based photographer and multidisciplinary artist whose work continues to refract heritage into striking visual poetry.
Born in 1996, Shaw is a graduate of University of Westminster, where she earned a Master’s degree in Photography Arts in 2020. Yet the true genesis of her craft predates the academy. It was during a 2013 family sojourn to Sierra Leone that her creative awakening first flickered—like light finding its way through a narrow aperture—setting her on a path of introspective exploration.
Her oeuvre is a delicate tapestry, interweaving strands of Islamic faith with the vibrant textures of African heritage. Echoes of the great studio photographers of the 1960s and 1970s—such as Malick Sidibé, Sory Sanlé, and Omar Yahia Barram—resonate subtly within her compositions, like ancestral voices carried on a visual wind.
From these influences, Shaw has cultivated a practice rooted in memory and self-inquiry. Through self-portraiture and conceptually layered projects, she transforms personal recollections into images that speak with both intimacy and universality—mirrors in which the past and present quietly converge.
Her ascent has been both swift and assured. In 2025, the British Fashion Council named her a New Wave Creative, affirming her place among a new generation of cultural vanguards. In the same year, her lens captured figures of global renown, including Angela Bassett for EBONY, Cynthia Erivo for The Guardian, Sunday Times and Vogue, and Usain Bolt for Puma.
She also conceived and shot the album cover for Craig David—each frame a testament to her evolving visual language.
African Voices airs on Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., with further broadcasts on Sunday at 3:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., and repeat transmissions on Monday at 3:00 a.m. and 5:45 p.m.—an invitation to witness, through Shaw’s eyes, a world where identity is not fixed, but fluid, luminous, and ever unfolding.
Nigeria-born Afro-pop star, Joeboy, whose melodies now ripple across continents, takes centre stage this week on the Easter edition of African Voices, the Globacom-sponsored CNN magazine programme.
In a captivating session from Lagos, show anchor Larry Madowo drew out the rhythm of Joeboy’s journey, tracing the arc from a starry-eyed university dreamer to a maestro whose songs now traverse the globe like whispered secrets carried on the wind.
Born Joseph Akinwale Akinfenwa-Donus in 1997, Joeboy—affectionately dubbed Afrobeats’ “lover boy”—embarked on his musical odyssey in 2017 with a viral reinterpretation of Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You.
This pivot from rap to melodious crooning caught the discerning eye of Nigerian artiste and entrepreneur Mr Eazi, who, upon discovering him on Instagram, extended an invitation to join the emPawa Africa Talent Incubation initiative—a sanctuary for budding African talents where raw potential is nurtured into brilliance.
The partnership bore fruit in 2018 with the release of Fààjí, featuring Mr Eazi, and soon after, Joeboy was signed to Warner Music Africa. From there, his ascent became a symphony of milestones: the intoxicating single Baby in 2019, followed by Beginning, which amassed over 23 million views on YouTube, and Love & Light the same year.
Collaborations with Mayorkun yielded the spirited tracks Don’t Call Me and All for You, further cementing his place in the Afrobeats constellation.
Joeboy’s debut album, Somewhere Between Beauty & Magic, unfurled in February 2021, a melodic tapestry of youth, hope, and desire. By 19 May 2023, he unveiled his sophomore studio effort, Body & Soul, preceded by the evocative singles Sip (Alcohol), Contour, Body & Soul, and Duffel Bag. In 2023, he teased the world with Only God Save Me and the extended EP Body, Soul and Spirit, offering listeners a window into the essence of his artistic spirit.
February 2024 marked another milestone as he launched his own imprint, Young Legend, soon releasing Osadebe, a track that resonated nationwide with the familiar warmth of homegrown brilliance.
Joeboy’s dedication has been richly rewarded. He clinched Best Artiste in African Pop at the 2019 All Africa Music Awards and Best Pop at the 2020 Soundcity MVP Awards Festival. His music has earned numerous nominations, including at the City People Entertainment Awards and The Headies, affirming his status as a luminary of contemporary African sound.
The Easter edition of African Voices featuring Joeboy will air on DSTV Channel 401 at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, with repeats at 11 a.m.; Sunday at 3:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Monday at 3 a.m. and 5:45 p.m.; and Tuesday at 5:45 p.m. The schedule will be mirrored the following week, culminating in Monday at 3 a.m., giving audiences multiple opportunities to bask in the artistry of a musician whose voice carries the pulse of a continent.
