Cobhams Asuquo - Empty (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

Cobhams Asuquo is a visually impaired Nigerian musician, producer, and songwriter. In 2005, Asuquo was signed on with Sony ATV London as a songwriter.  After working as Head of Audio Productions at a local label, Questionmark Entertainment, he set up his own recording facility in 2006. He is CEO/ Head of Productions of CAMP (Cobhams Asuquo Music Productions) which is currently representing himself, Bez Idakula and Stan Iyke. He was responsible for Aşa's highly acclaimed international album ASA and has been mentioned on many artists' sleeve credits as producer and writer.

Cobhams Asuquo likes to say that his music career started when as a child he used to puff his cheeks to play the 12-bar blues. Today, he is known for producing some of the finest artistes in Nigeria. Noteworthy among these artistes is the Nigerian soul-singing sensation, Asa, whose 2007 debut album became an international hit. In addition to producing the album, Cobhams wrote and co-wrote several of its hits songs. Cobhams has won multiple local and international awards for his creative and entrepreneurial contributions to the Nigerian music industry.

WIPO had the pleasure of hosting on July 13, 2009 a performance by Nigerian musician, songwriter and producer Cobhams Emmanuel Asuquo. He was recently featured on CNN's African Voices for his contribution and impact on the African music industry. Rising alternative soul artiste, Bez is the first of three artistes signed by Cobhams to the C.A.M.P record label, and Bez's debut album 'Super Sun' was highlighted on The Boston Globe's top ten list of best 'world music' albums of 2011. He has won several awards in the music and film scene in Africa and beyond. Cobhams talked about the advantages of being blind in an interview he had with the BBCNews Cobhams Also spoke at the TEDxEuston in 2012 where he talked about the gift of blindness.

Cobham's released his first official single Ordinary People on 1 January 2014 and released the video 1st of jan 2015. Star of Wonder released in December 2014 is his second officially released single. His third single Stronger Than Before was released in 2015 and was sung by Morayo. He released his fourth single Boos it featuring Falz in April 2016^.

Cobhams shot to international acclaim with his musical production of the debut album by the Nigerian soul sensation Aṣa. He also wrote and co-wrote several songs on the award-winning album including the hit singles, "Fire on the Mountain", and "Jailer".

Cobhams has likewise produced numerous award-winning songs for Nigerian recording artistes such as Banky W and Omawumi.

He has arranged music, and performed with bands at international music events as The Harare International Festival of Arts, the AFA Sponsored French Cultural Center Concert with Asa and Angelique Kidjo; AFA Sponsored French Cultural Center Concert in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nigeria Week in Paris and the launch of MTV's one hundredth channel (MTV Base Africa) at Abuja, Nigeria.

In the TV and film media, he has composed and arranged film scores to be interpreted for conservatoires as well as for film and stage performances such as "A Voice for Ella" by Uche Macaulay, Sunshine (Alpha Vision), "Bent Arrows" by Isang Awah and Communication for Change's "Bayelsan Sillhouttes".

In 2016, Cobhams started a digital radio countdown show Cobhams Top 12. The digital radio show counts down the hottest African/Nigerian songs that Cobhams thinks the Nigerian audience should be listening to. The show was originally called The Top 12 Countdown With Cobhams Asuquo.

 And with that said, allow me the honor of introducing to you one of his latest work and also a personal favorite, a song written and produced by Cobhams, titled "Empty". 

The visuals to this wonderful and breathtaking song was directed by Paul Gambit for Kurlevra Production. 

Enjoy it !



Kay Magnate

Music, The Violin Of Life

Music is the art of science of combining vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) to produce beauty of form, harmony and expression of emotion. The oxford advanced learner's dictionary defines music as sounds that are arranged in a way that is pleasant or exciting to listen to. It's the written or printed signs that represents the sounds to be played or sung in a piece of music.

Music is life and to so many people, it's the reason they are alive. You might deprive someone like me for instance of his food for a whole day and I will do just fine but try depriving me of my music for just a second and you'll find an human body just lying frustrated on the bed with no soul in it, it's more like you disconnected me from life. Apparently, music is like food to the soul, a merry heart is a joyful heart, a joyful heart is a sound mind and a sound mind is a musically inclined one.

The truth is, music does more to the human body than we can ever imagine. Basically, it does more than just bringing sound to its ears. Just as water is very essential for the digestion process that takes place in the human body, so is music extremely important to maintain stability in the human head, it lubricates the mind. So many things go on in there and a little piece of music could serve as a filter that eliminates all the stress imposed on the brain due to the work overload and excess thinking undergone in the course of carrying out the day's work, thereby bringing a suiting feel to the ear, body and soul.

Fundamentally, it is life preserving. Just as Paracetamol is a pain killer, so is it an automatic stress reliever, it enlarges the life span. It is innovative, suiting, music is the violin of life. Subscribe to its manual and enjoy the bumpy ride through the world of class and exclusive instrumentation. Music is love, music is togetherness, it is an ambassador for peace. It cuts across all race, culture and gender. Inherently, music is me, music is you, music is us, it's the reason we all gather in lounges and refreshment homes to unwind and meet with friends.

Music connects us to life itself, a life without it is like a shoe without its lace. And the truth is, no matter the genre of music that catches your fantasy, there's always some sort of satisfaction met when the earphones romances your eardrum and when you just allow it breathe out ceaselessly through your speakers. It calms your nerves and sets you in the mood, taking away all your worries and preparing you for the task ahead. It is inspirational, motivational and empowering. And just like style, it gives a mouth to mouth to your personality, thus bringing it to life. A good investment in music is a good investment of your time because a well relaxed brain will always produce for you.

Just as leaders spend their leisure time catching up on a good book, you can spend yours listening to good music in as mush as you're feeding on the right content. Music is the vehicle that transports you instantly from the valley of depression to the city of creation. It's a weapon that forces the enemies of fatigue and boredom to be dispelled quickly and instantly from our lives. It's like a current in the ocean of life moving us towards the palace of our dreams. When everything around is dying, music lives, so lets carefully rebuild the atmosphere of our expectation, hope and enthusiasm. Music is life, don't stop the music.

Kay Magnate