TV SHOWS OF 2015

This year was jam-packed with shows, some that I even forgot came out this year, ‘cause of how ADD we’ve become, but here are the favourites I remembered from top to bottom. As a note all shows on this list must have ended a season this year and not necessarily have started in 2015, as such on-going seasons are excluded.

1. ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK (SEASON 3):

I honestly thought by Season 3, the novelty of OITNB would’ve worn off, but the show actually gets better with each season. It’s the best thing I’ve seen this year on TV, er, internet, whatever. The way the show’s expanded from White-girl-goes-to-prison storyline (season 1) to the story of the incarcerated life of various women is amazing.

2. JESSICA JONES (SEASON 1):

When you make a show a few notches better than Daredevil, hell you deserve to be in the top 3. More psychological thriller (yeah, everyone says it, but that’s because it is) than superhero flick, Jessica Jones isn’t scared to turn the dial higher than its predecessor and continue to shock all who dare to delve into the darker side of Marvel. The only off-putting thing about this series is perhaps the final episode where we are clearly reminded this is an everything-exist-together world of Marvel with its connectivity. It’s not a bad thing, especially as there are subtle reminders throughout the series, but just when you thought you were alone in Jessica’s world… they remind you, it’s a larger universe!

3. DAREDEVIL (SEASON 1):

The Marvel TV world HAD to exist to create a balance from the formulaic cinematic world of big brother Marvel movies. Here, the villains get to be developed and not everything is funny haha!

4. THE FLASH (SEASON 1):

The Flash is that rare comic-book TV series that actually manages to please both casual fans and die-hards fans. Most shows of its ilk tend to lean towards one group or the other, The Flash strikes a great balance, one that it holds up for 22 episodes. That’s not easy, so applaud it.

5. EMPIRE (SEASON 1):

At this point, Empire seems a little overhyped, but it’s not without cause. As much praise people throw on the show, there’s an equal amount of people who throw criticism… and shade, but we can all agree it’s hard to take your eyes off it once you set them on Cookie… at least based off season 1 here. So let’s try and be objective: yes, in terms of storyline the show really isn’t that original, but Dynasty or Dallas never had Cookie or Lucious Lyon. Also, let’s talk speed. I can’t remember the last time I saw a show that packed enough material for four episodes into one. ADD, people! We really have an attention problem, can we stop making everything compact?!

6. HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER (SEASON 1):

There was a point where I thought this show could’ve ended after the first 10 episodes. I mean were we going to spend the whole season wondering who the killer was while they were suppose to be solving other cases? Well apparently yes, because that cliffhanger of an ending just raises more questions! I mean I thought the killer was…

7. GAME OF THRONES (SEASON 5):

By now you’d think the novelty of Thrones (the violence, the nudity… the deaths) would’ve pretty much worn off, we all know what to expect… but it still surprises us! Valar Moghulis, all men must die… but some might return for season 6!

8. BALLERS (SEASON 1):

It’s nice to see a show that actually teaches you something about taking care of your finances, all the while entertaining you. This show about footballers starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson goes beyond the game and the boardroom to the locker rooms and private lives of the players. From finances to parties and oh, Denzel’s son is in it too, yeah THAT Denzel! 

P.S. Truthfully I find this show to be BETTER than a couple of the ones I've placed above, maybe because I've seen how their following seasons are doing, but just based off the seasons rated it doesn't stand a chance of a higher placing.

9. HOUSE OF CARDS (SEASON 3):

Cards could’ve ended last season. Matter of fact the last two seasons stood on their own, this season (a drop from the last two) left us hanging for the first time with no conclusion! It seems the Underwood aren’t that much fun when they don’t have a common goal… or enemy!

10. POWER (SEASON 2):

For a show about a mid-level drug dealer, Power sure upped the ante for its second season! Were there some unsettling clichés at the end? In my opinion, yes, but they were still surprising.

11. ORPHAN BLACK (SEASON 3):

At some point the clones were going to get tiring, so it’s a good thing that Tatiana Maslany is a damn good actress that you forget she’s the same person playing all those people, yes even after two seasons, she’s still believable as the individual sestras!

12. THE AMERICANS (SEASON 3):

There’s always that show you wish more people were watching, for me it’s The Americans. Brilliantly written and more importantly takes its time, so if you have ADD...

NOTABLE WEB SERIES:

 

SKINNY GIRL IN TRANSIT:

Ndani TV sure knows how to pick them. SGIT is the best episodic series they have. Unlike One Chance, which feels like a short movie cut into parts, each episode of SGIT stands on its own. Props to them.

ONE CHANCE:

This web series from Ndani TV is just awesome. The fact that it’s cut into five to eight minute episodes is a bit daunting. I’d like to see the whole thing in its entirety.

MY BEST ALBUMS OF 2015

DODGE AND BURN – THE DEAD WEATHER

I realize this isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, that’s okay, but sonically speaking this is the best album I’ve heard this year. If you’ve never heard it and just want to get to the good parts, start with track 4 and work you way down (the first 3 tracks are just glaringly Rock and if this isn’t your genre, might bore you)! The real surprise on this album, aside from Jack White delivering one of the most unexpected (and coolest) rap verses of the year on Three Dollar Hat (that’s the aforementioned track 4) is Alison Mosshart’s crooning on the album closer, Impossible Winner, I mean this is some epic movie soundtrack shit straight out of a Scorcese flick set in Vegas! I realize there are albums you feel one year, but as the years go by their novelty wears off, this might be one of them, but for now I love this shit, it’s their best work and the one where they sound like an actual group and not one of Jack White’s or each other’s side-projects. As a precaution to listening to this album, don’t concentrate too much on the lyrics. I don’t think most of them were written to make sense!

25 – ADELE

Some people worship at the altar of the Saint of all things bootylicious a.k.a Beyonce, I say to each his own. For me, there’s Queen I’ll-Show-Up-After-A-While-And-Slay-You-Bitches, Adele. 25 isn’t 21, it’s four years older and a few years late, but we waited and it’s here and we’re happy. Like every great artist who puts out that one body of work that defines their career, Adele will forever be chasing the ghost of 21, but honestly she isn’t doing a bad job if you ask me. We can’t continuously ask her to keep going through heartbreaks just so she can make music to comfort us when we’re heartbroken (remember how you guys did to that Mary J. Blige and abandoned her when she chose to be happy?! Flip-flop fans)! Fans have to grow up with their idols too and aging with Adele hasn’t been bad.

IF YOU’RE READING THIS IT’S TOO LATE – DRAKE FT. THE SERVICES OF QUENTIN MILLER

Drake had an awesome year. He defeated Meek Mill in Street Fighter 4: Twitter Beef Gone Wrong, released a joint mixtape with Future which for the life of me I don’t understand, except for maybe one or two songs (can we kill trap music now that isn’t T.I or Jeezy?!) and had everybody singing that damn hotline song that I say I dislike, only to start singing, “I know when that hotline bling…” as soon as it comes up and he got nominated for a Grammy for Back To Back. Can you say, “winning”?

BEAUTY BEHIND THE MADNESS – THE WEEKND

The Weeknd a.k.a every girl’s 2015 dream fantasy that isn’t me, dropped his best work since his debut mixtape, which is still a classic by the way and boy did he really blow up! There are reminisces of Michael Jackson on a couple of tracks, but Michael never did doped out music.

THE DOCUMENTARY 2 – THE GAME

The Game finally comes into his own on the first part of his double disc opus; too bad he does it on what he claims is his final album(s). That’s not to slight his previous albums (I really liked LAX), but he sounds so comfortable on this that you actually await another album from him. The only downside to this is this is just the first half of a double disc. The other half (The Documentary 2.5) is a bit of a letdown, even though ironically it features better story telling and more serious subjects, but therein lies the problem: The more serious side of the double disc is let down by its more serious subjects, though it does feature the most haunting track of the year, “Gang Bang Anyway”.

90059 – JAY ROCK

Jay Rock may never get the accolades he deserves, especially for what I think is a well above average and well put together album. Then again, the best things don’t always get the most attention. As per fellow TDE artists, Rock eschews the mainstream sound for grittier beats and rhymes.

TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY (TPAB) – KENDRICK LAMAR

Am I the only one who thought Kendrick Lamar might have over-complexed this album?! It’s not hard to understand really, it’s just how so many things seem to happen all at once. For the record, here’s what I think: lyrically, TPAB… might be superior to Good Kid… in perhaps many ways, the problem is that while the songs on Good Kid, Maad City stand pretty much on their own and as part of a whole, some of the songs on TPAB are better appreciated in the context of the album and not so much on their own. Does that make sense? Good Kid: Great songs, great album. TPAB: Some great songs… greater, if you listen to the album as a whole! Hey he got 11 Grammy nods, so clearly a lot of people were listening and understood… but damn did it take a while!

PURPOSE – JUSTIN BIEBER

The Justin Bieber album no one is ashamed to admit they like. This would forever be remembered as the album that converted so many atheists to bielibers! (See what I did there, see?!)

WANTED – WANDE COAL

The day that I put a Wande Coal album over a Dr. Dre one has arrived. While everyone was quickly jumping on the bandwagon to proclaim this the best album they’ve heard in a while (kind of similar to how Kendrick’s TPAB was proclaimed a classic in less than 72 hours), I took my time to avoid that road and listen to it at my pace and it’s definitely worth it. I won’t even make comparisons to Mushin 2 Mo Hits, that album was what it is: a classic 10/10. This is Wande surviving the collapse of an empire and then leaving another one that was never fully built and still coming out on top. Though I will say I can’t help but think (as many people have speculated) that there’s a Wande Coal album produced mostly by Don Jazzy on a hard disk somewhere that we may never get to listen to. Another thing I admire about Wande here is that he took his time to bring out another great body of work. This wasn’t M.I stringing us along for four years (though Falz Tha Bad Guy might see that different as evident to that hilarious skit… and fuck anyone asking, “who makes skits in 2015?” Gerrarhia!), this was a guy who had many false starts to overcome, but still won the race. And while some people criticized Maleek Berry’s production, especially as he’s all over the album, remember this: Wande made a good Don Jazzy-less album, there’s some other guy out there who didn’t… I’m just saying!

COMPTON – A SOUNDTRACK BY DR. DRE – DR. DRE

Dre’s 3^rd best album as someone called it. That means so far Dre has never made a wack album (you can debate The Firm and Dr. Dre Presents The Aftermath, but those weren’t solo Dre albums, were they?) If there’s one major fault with this album (and there a few to mention) is that I’m not sure Dre put his best work into it. Sure some tracks bang, but I’m sure some could’ve been replaced by whatever he was hiding on the abandoned Detox. The new upstarts on the album (King Mez, Justus & even the really good Jon Connor) get outshined by most of the vets & accomplished artists (Kendrick Lamar, Ice Cube, Xzibit, Snoop, The Game) and not all of those vets put in extremely memorable rhymes (Eminem did kill it though!). This doesn’t usually happen on a Dre album. There’s usually a balance between the new cats and the old ones, the perfect example being my personal favourite Dre album, 2001 (You Chronic fans can go rant in the corner, but remember pretty much everyone on The Chronic was new at the time. THE CHRONIC IS STILL A DOPE ALBUM. Before you people chastise me like I work for Complex!)

MMM- PUFF DADDY & THE FAMILY

Am I the only one that wondered how this was just a mixtape? I mean sure, the man born Sean Combs doesn’t need the money, but damn it this could’ve been an album with a proper release date, some itunes things, but hey I guess when you’re constantly on Forbes top 5 rich rappers, you can afford to view this as a “throwaway”. Diddy sure as shit wouldn’t have done this in the 90s, that’s for sure! That “Working” song is an anthem!

ALBUM PEOPLE SWEAR BY THAT I DIDN’T LISTEN TO:-

BABA HAFUSA- REMINISCE

Everyone I know who’s heard this album swears by it. That’s some good testament. Aside from the killer lead single Tesojue (just knowing it involved sex and lines loosely translated as, “you’ll die tonight” was fun for me!), there was the almost rap anthem, Local Rappers featuring Olamide & Phyno which caused a minor stir with it’s “no punchlines” line, throwing fans and the industry into a frenzy wondering if the line was directed at one or more rappers (I know for a fact some people caught feelings over that). Add to a number one position on itunes worldwide chart and an inclusion on TIME’s 10 rappers around the world to listen to, Baba Hafusa had a good year.

MY BEST SONGS OF 2015

1. Shut Up And Dance - Walk The Moon

A lot of people probably don’t know of this song on this side of the ocean, but it’s an infectious diseases; the type that you catch onto later than sooner, just like its rise to the charts (and yeah, this song technically came out late last year, but fuck it, it makes the list).

2. Hello - Adele

I can count the number of times I’ve heard this song, that’s a 1000 times a day since it came out! Despite catching some hit for his statements, I would like to make a case on behalf of Sean Tizzle and say that Omawumi’s cover of Adele’s Hello is THE BEST COVER I've heard, I however will not risk my life (largely because I DO NOT AGREE) by calling Adele’s version weak, I. AM. NOT. HIGH!!!

3. Uptown Funk ft. Bruno Mars- Mark Ronson

Almost the song of the year, even before 2015 began. Almost!

4. See You Again ft. Charlie Puth- Wiz Khalifa

5. Bitches N Marijuana ft. Schoolboy Q- Tyga & Chris Brown

My brother hates this song just off the title… I fucking love it, title and all!

6. My Woman, My Everything ft. Wande Coal - Patoranking

I’ve never liked nor disliked Patoranking, he was just there for me. He had a few songs that I could stand and he definitely wasn’t an imitation of the usual Naija top 10, which made him more than bearable. With My Woman, Patoranking has solidified his place as a true hitmaker! Albarka was a classic that almost seemed as a one-off, his guest feature on Seyi Shay’s Murder was welcomed and while his dancehall tinged music helps him stand out- Your Wedding Day showed his versatility -My Woman is just the icing on a cake of hits!

7. Be Real ft. Dej Loaf - Kid Ink

8. Effejoku ft. Victor - Lil’ Kesh

9. Finna Get Loose ft. Pharrell – Diddy

Diddy charts his return to the charts with this dance mix featuring Pharrell and it’s funky!

10. Truffle Butter ft. Drake & Lil’ Wayne- Nicki Minaj

11. Working ft. Travis Scott & Big Sean - Puff Daddy & The Family

This song is an anthem. I listen to this practically every morning as a motivator even if I’m not working… which is pretty much the rest of the day!

12. Izzue ft. Davido - Dammy Krane

13. Nobody - Kranium

14. Telegram ft. Lance Skywalker - Jay Rock

15. Nelly - Isaiah Rashad

16. The Ways ft. Sir - Jay Rock

17. You Work For Me - Laura Mvula

Excellent soundtrack to this year’s Man From U.N.C.L.E. If the producers of Spectre had heard this first they would’ve asked for it for James Bond or just picked that Radiohead song that is equally a killer. No slight on poor old Sam Smith!

18. Music To My Soul - CeeLo Green

Having the wrong definition of rape can ruin a career, ask Cee Lo Green whose almost got derailed after popping a pill in a lady’s drink. Nonetheless after corporate America decided not to fuck with him no more, it seemed pretty much over for the former Goodie Mob member, but he’s back and there’s no denying he still has that touch. Let’s just hope there are no more pills in drinks.

19. Maze - Distrikt Matters

Arguably the best song on the debut EP from one of Abuja’s finest.

20. Spectre - Radiohead 

As a late addition I have to put the song that could've been this year's Bond theme song. I've never really been into Radiohead aside from hearing for a long time how good and influential there were/are (people mention their album Kid A, never heard it), but this song is crazy!