Lagos-based multimedia and entertainment company, Continued Entertainment has launched a Holiday album – “A MerryGo Christmas”; a culmination of a year-long consolidation of the outfit’s engagement with its teeming publics via its popular MerryGo Kids franchise.
The album, produced in collaboration with some of Africa’s most in-demand entertainers and rising stars, including Chioma Chukwuka, Deyemi Okanlawon, Ada Ehi, Niniola, Waje, Teni the Entertainer, Oxlade, Limoblaze and Sister Wisdom is a ten-tracker featuring an eclectic mix of Afrobeat, Amapiano, Pop and Gospel songs all showcasing the warmth, whimsy and wonder of the yuletide season.
A MerryGo Christmas album cover
“Very few things make Christmas more memorable than music. Long after the jollof has been consumed, and the gifts shared, it’s the music that tend to remain with us, indelibly”, remarks Margaret Akideinde, Co-founder of Continued Entertainment & MerryGo Kids.
“It is no surprise that certain Christmas classics remind us of some of the best memories from our childhood. This is the sort of enduring sentiments we aim to bequeath to our little ones moving forward”, she vows.
Sewedo Nupowaku (Creative Director), Margaret and Oye Akideinde Co-Founders of MerryGo Kids art illustration
In addition to the album, the innovative outfit will also launch ten animated music videos created specifically for the project with some of Nigeria’s foremost animators and studios. Sewedo Nupowaku, Creative Director and Consultant, believes the double offering shows Continued Entertainment’s ambition. “It is daunting enough getting all these incredibly talented, busy people into the studio to record these songs, but combining all of that with individual. animated music videos involves a mountain of work and is frankly, unprecedented”, he opines. The music videos will be released all through the Christmas and New Year holidays with the first 2 – “Keresimesi featuring Teni the Entertainer” & “We wish you a Merry Christmas” already out.
Watch “Keresimesi (Merry Christmas) ft Teni the Entertainer” –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tj-QJp8Z_A
Watch “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg0e5AhrsRo
Throughout 2021, Continued Entertainment has sought to position itself as one of the leaders of the growing market for ‘edutainment’ programming and platforms for children. Through a combination of popular animated videos, music and educational literature, the company has staked a claim to be seen as the preferred provider of content amongst kids and families. “We care about children deeply. That is why we created the MerryGo Kids universe as a way of delighting and inspiring children through exceptional, Afrocentric content so they can grow to be exceptional in their different endeavours and communities”, Oye Akideinde, a top African Digital & Entertainment exec and the co-founder of Continued Entertainment & the MerryGo Kids franchise explains.
A MerryGo Christmas tracks and features list
Distributed by African Media Agency on behalf of Continued Entertainment.
MerryGo Kids was created in 2016 and the franchise has grown its fanbase steadily in the last 12 months by embarking on a hygiene-related, ‘Wash Your Hands’ animated video campaign (watch here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyjcaY4G6Tw) in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic that kept many children at home, created a “colour my story” book to keep them busy and is making plans for a creative skills initiative aimed at getting children to optimize their creative potential.”Growing up, I was very fortunate to have people around me who encouraged my creative impulses and this has helped me immensely in my career trajectory”, says Oye Akideinde, who made a name for himself when he helped create and launch an award-winning app at Boomplay Music along with several other platforms. “The MGK franchise is our own way of propelling kids towards their dreams by inspiring their creativity and innovation via our characters and stories.”In the meantime, we offer the world a fresh Afrobeat alternative to the classic and iconic Christmas albums from BoneyM and Mariah Carey.