For a while, I have been actively deciding on the next piece of music to cover. There were various options to pick from, but this artist was too enticing to ignore. Despite producing little output, the woman exuded a breezy aura.

Hailing from Lagos, Nigeria. Eme Ballantyne worked at NTA, a Nigerian public broadcasting channel. Richard Askipo, a producer, one day saw her on a broadcast harmonizing. Thanks to the contact of another producer, Askipo was able to connect with Ballantyne. Resulting in one project: Remember Me (1981)

Only two songs are avaliable on YouTube: "My Life" and "When Will I See You Again". Apparently, Remember Me consists of six tracks. The rest are yet to be unearthed, but from what we can infer from the listed tracks: The album's vibe is as sweet as coconut candy

Primarily, Ballantyne's voice harbors a soft yet brittle tonality. Often coming off as aloof in her delivery. This is showcased in "When Will I See You Again" where she thoughtfully sings: "Are we in love or just friends/This is my beginning or this is the end". Ballantyne doesn't appear to be a hopeless romantic but rather an introspective woman who questions uncertainty. The production can be a tad bit overshadowing, but Ballantyne's Nigerian accent give the songs a lot of character. The good kind of awkward

Speaking of production, Richard Asikpo provides the aforementioned sweetness flavor. The bass guitar, synthesizer, drums, and strings sound comfy. You can hear the slight crackle but pleasing to the ear. The musical embodiment of ASMR

I'd also argue that Asikpo must have paid attention to the United States R&B/Soul scene of 1976 - 1981: raw yet beautiful. It still has that African touch but instrumentation cues harkening from that period. Presenting the development of International act being inspired by Western musicality to create hybrids of genres

Too bad the world did not get to experience more Emé Ballantyne. Probably lost interest in the music industry

Much love to all ya'll and Happy Belated Womans History Month. Need to be back on the wave

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damn just a one and gone artist??

sheesh

listening to When Will I See You Again right now

she has the classic vocal tone that you'd hear on a classic Nigerian highlife / gospel record, but the production is way more pop

I wish she was able to have the sort of crossover experience someone like Tems is having right now, and we got to hear her voice blend with American artists of that era, people like the gap band, earth, wind, and fire, Diana Ross

just wasn't as easy in that era though
hopefully she is still around and doing well
Aquilla transmitting the wave once again

word my life crawled into my ytb recommended a few weeks ago. like u said "good kind of awkward" yet still heartwarming and she clearly has a good ear for melody.

late 70s-80s african / arabic funk~pop scene has so many hidden gems its kinda sad to think some of these records didnt get due flowers in their day. but with the music industry slowly globalizing, i imagine that'll change n be at least 1 silver lining for newer artists

Definitely, the access to music outside of the U.S. and to a small extent, U.K. was nearly nonexistent. For example, you'd be lucky if you found an Arabic Funk record at your local music shop but the options of finding one would be sparse. So, you would probably have to go to that country or maybe even know someone who has that particular record.

It's probably why most International music was unheard of, until the rise of the internet. A damn shame cause I think a lot of collaborations would have occurred between countries frequently.

Just imagining Al Green on this production would have been

100%

The good thing is that people are more receptive to International music than ever before. Which is a great thing.

Would love for the Middle East to have a AfroBeats moment but we'll see

Very nice

I wonder why only one project

Hello

There's a lot hidden gems in that 70-90s scene of Nigerian music

So much more to uncover too

my mum used to work at NTA too, wonder if they ever crossed paths

Your mom worked there?

That is really cool. What was it like for her working there?

Only two songs are avaliable on YouTube: "My Life" and "When Will I See You Again". Apparently, Remember Me consists of six tracks. The rest are yet to be unearthed

damn…things like this is why I think it’s so important for artists today to hit upload in any way they can and let the world experience a little bit of your world, as this art outlives them and can impact literally anyone in ways they can’t even comprehend when making it because so many people simply can’t and wish they could express themselves musically or artistically. like she will never know this love was shown to her in this thread…or maybe she will from someone in her circle randomly googling her name! that’s the beauty of art appreciate the tag like always dawg!

I think this album came up on my home page before, it looks familiar

Facts and No problem

She probably lost interest unfortunately

this gorgeous, ty for the rec as always