I decided to write this after seeing the Nigerian BET cypher and thought it was time everybody stopped been a mediocre if we want to promote Nigerian music abroad. After listening to all the rappers, y'all will agree with me on this,

BET cypher is not about finding rhymes from nursery books. It is much about your creativity with story telling and how you can find good word plays to push it. I looked at all the cyphers and i find the Nigerian cypher the weakest(I am Nigerian lol). It just hurt that the truth is not always supported in Nigeria just the way our politicians use bias to put people to lead industries when we have world class managers everywhere in Nigeria and abroad.  If we really want to set a bench mark for hiphop in Nigeria, we should get a cue from Mode. He leads the next rapper in Nigeria with a long stretch.

Mode 9 - I got introduced to his songs by a friend who was a big fan. After hesitating at first, i decided to give it a try and that was it. For years, i have seen arguments on who tops him in Nigerian hip hop but i am ashamed to see that we Nigerians, though claim to know one or two things about rap are just plain commercial. We don't appreciate conscious music. I wonder how Asa managed to sell albums in the country.  He is straight classic and would go pound for pound with any American MC.

M.I. - On the average, he did not disappoint compared to the other guys, but i think he was trying too hard. A real hardcore rap is mostly about punchlines and fluidity rather than vocabularies. M.I's intro was good though. (Reference to Joe Budden on the Slim 2.0 cypher). I won't put him on another cypher even though i like him as a Nigerian artist not world stage. I will replace him with Terry tha Rapman.

Sauce Kid - My love for sauce kid does not go beyond rap. I just like him as a rapper and i can acknowledge his ability but he always come to most as an underperformer rather than one with no rap skills. He did not do badly on the cypher and he managed to have a story line rather than finding rhymes like others were doing. I still think he has a place to do another cypher if the chance comes through.

Ice Prince - A rare combination of poor rapability and childish punchlines. NO storylines. He reminded me of some 9ice's songs where gathers adages from wherever to make a song. He DEFINITELY has no place on another cypher. Infact, he should never win a rap album award. Its damaging to our hiphop music. I will replace him with Muna

X.O. - To most people, he came as a disappointment on the cypher after so much hype. I really don't think he did that bad rapability wise and story lines, its just that he wasn't audible enough. There is something wrong with his accent. It came bad on that particular cypher. If he would make another cypher, he will have to be supervised. I will replace him with Rico White

Naeto C - I love him as a Nigerian artist, i don't think he has what it takes to go on the world stage. He is only going to be a bomb waiting to explode. He should feed us with more swag in naija and we will be appreciative of that.


So who would make my cypher list in Nigeria. My judgement is based on story line, punchlines, accent, and fluidity. I think the people who makes my list are

Mode 9
Sauce Kid
Terry that Rap Man
Rico White
Muna

If you think my opinion lacks credibility, share your opinion ( i respect it) but don't be bias as well in the second place.

I agree wit u, mode 9 was a 100% he had all d elements 2 do a cypher,sauce kid wasnt bad either,i felt his first set of bars, rappers like terry tha rapman & pherowshuz would've probably done beta than the others, here's my naija cypher list--MODE 9,DOUBLE SIX,TERRY THA RAPMAN,PHEROWSHUZ,SAUCE KID & BLAISE hola @ PHAT WALL MUZIK PRODUCTIONS for top quality/affordable beats,recording,mixing & mastering.voice-overs,radio jingles,cd/web graphic design +2348033422206 God bless.

Someone should put up videos for the Nigerian Cypher somehow I missed it, but I was able to catch the Slim 2.0 Cypher - that had to be the best!

I agree with you OP. X.O is forcing it too much. He should form a rhythm in his head and try create some suspense like mode did. Mode9 brought tragedy to the cypher, Ice prince brought "baba suwe" comedy. 

So what accent do you want a Nigerian rapper to use?

Brooklyn accent? Compton? Louisiana?


What is wrong with rapping in English with Ijebu accent?

Kilode?!:

So what accent do you want a Nigerian rapper to use?

Brooklyn accent? Compton? Louisiana?


What is wrong with rapping in English with Ijebu accent?

hehehe

odiaero:

The video please anyone?

Make use of youtube bros. quote 'nigeria bet cyper'

well sir, you are entitled to your Opinion, i take it as this is your just as A Well respected Dj and Radio Personality in the Uk said he believes the Nigerian BET Cypher beats most of the American ones he's seen,
 I do not agree with you that rhyming always has to tell a story, it could just be like and "Oriki" sort off, hyping yourself and letting other cats know you are taking over or that you are the best as long as it makes sense and tight, rhymes just as well with good punchlines, BET CYPHER is as good as any other, u over critical Nigerian
(typically Nigerians fail to see whats good about themselves and like to praise imported stuffs)

yur Link:

well sir, you are entitled to your Opinion, i take it as this is your just as A Well respected Dj and Radio Personality in the Uk said he believes the Nigerian BET Cypher beats most of the American ones he's seen,
 I do not agree with you that rhyming always has to tell a story, it could just be like and "Oriki" sort off, hyping yourself and letting other cats know you are taking over or that you are the best as long as it makes sense and tight, rhymes just as well with good punchlines, BET CYPHER is as good as any other, u over critical Nigerian
(typically Nigerians fail to see whats good about themselves and like to praise imported stuffs)

Hahahaha Seriously? wetin be d DJ baba suwe name

[flash=530,325]http://www.youtube.com/embed/zSuPST8OUbw" frameborder=0"[/flash]

i thought they all rapped well apart from X.O . Just couldnt get what he was trying to do. The "Yes Boss" exponent was okay too but the others trumped him (minus Ice Prince)

what about the ladies?

I think Muna and Eva were good on the day

Sasha? undecided

NOTE: They all rapped well yeah. 'They' doesn't include Ice Prince

The most useless thread ever!

OK just seen the vid. There was nothing remarkable about it. It still remained miles behind Slim 2.0

Em2va:

The most useless thread ever!

Not always so.

I think Mode9 is over hyped

Kilode?!:

So what accent do you want a Nigerian rapper to use?

Brooklyn accent? Compton? Louisiana?


What is wrong with rapping in English with Ijebu accent?

lwkm

The Nigerian cyphers performed "bad" simply because we are using the americans as a yard-stick to decide their success and how good they are. This is where the problem lies. The truth is americans own and invented the game, and Nigerians rappers will always remain inferior by comparing them with the americans.

Mode 9 is #1, followed by MI. Sauce Kid should get a job at TFC or KFC where his IQ will be appreciated. Naeto C should go back to nursery and learn ABC, heaven knows how he got MSc. Ice Prince disappoints, in his quest to deliver punchlines in every line, he forgets how to be lyrical whilst remaining logical. XO had no business being there AT ALL. Is his father chairman of BET?

To start with do you even listen to rap at all? Because to be honest with you your opinion to me sounds like rubbish on this topic. Did you even watch the whole show? Saying Nigerian Cypher is the worst, shows how inept and baseless your judgement is. Did you see the UK, and some other American cities? They were whack and whack is even an understatement. I'll rate the Nigerian cypher 2nd (because of MI, Mode9 and maybe Sauce kid)after Eminem and Joe Budden's then third on the list would be them Chris brown and Kevin McCall's and the UK cypher should be last. Please give those guys their well deserved credit, they delivered as expected. Stop belittling 9ja!!!    

And I don't get it why you guys like throwing dirt on M.I. when he obviously had the best delivery on the whole cypher. He is the most versatile rapper in Nigeria (and y u think commercial rap is nothing beats me when the best rapper alive is also into commercial: EMINEM)  

Mode 9 no doubt ranks high up there but to be honest with you MI shut him down on that cypher- All those stuff about you got air fare ticket u not gonna fly didn't cut it for me.

And stop the cypher story telling definition blah blah stuff> CYPHER is what you make it mate. go listen to Budden, McCall and Eminem.

Skii:

I think Mode9 is over hyped

I'll assume u speaking ironically or else. . . . . .smh

yd849ja:

To start with do you even listen to rap at all? Because to be honest with you your opinion to me sounds like rubbish on this topic. Did you even watch the whole show? Saying Nigerian Cypher is the worst, shows how inept and baseless your judgement is. Did you see the UK, and some other American cities? They were whack and whack is even an understatement. I'll rate the Nigerian cypher 2nd (because of MI, Mode9 and maybe Sauce kid)after Eminem and Joe Budden's then third on the list would be them Chris brown and Kevin McCall's and the UK cypher should be last. Please give those guys their well deserved credit, they delivered as expected. Stop belittling 9ja!!!    

And I don't get it why you guys like throwing dirt on M.I. when he obviously had the best delivery on the whole cypher. He is the most versatile rapper in Nigeria (and y u think commercial rap is nothing beats me when the best rapper alive is also into commercial: EMINEM)  

Mode 9 no doubt ranks high up there [b]but to be honest with you MI shut him down on that cypher- [/b]All those stuff about you got air fare ticket u not gonna fly didn't cut it for me.

And stop the cypher story telling definition blah blah stuff> CYPHER is what you make it mate. go listen to Budden, McCall and Eminem.

@Bolded. . . . . . . . Did u mix up the names I'm confused bro.

My best Cypher list

1. Bembe (e wa fun mi ni visa )
2. Raski
3. Zaaki
4. Eedris

Men these guys can so wrap.

to an average american they all rapped with a funny accent and infact cant event hear them.mode nine is good everybody knows that but the truth is that everybody loves the best,MI.mode9 never broke even.even the mediocre iceprince gets more airplay than mode 9.ice prince is a big failure if not brymo do you all think that oleku will sell?just check out his superstar hes a fool

@OP, i totally disagree with you, Those guys held their own, well, except for XO.  The Nigerian cypher is by far not the worst cypher. You need to listen to it again.  From mode9 to M.I, Sauce kid, Naeto c and even Ice prince did his thing, even if you think his punchlines were childish. XO was poor though.

odiaero:

The video please anyone?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSuPST8OUbw

my love for mode9 is much,hardcore and real rap.modenize should be compare with krs 1,nas and common,real rappers and poetry to sauce it.sauce kid is good also.

scribble:

Mode 9 is #1, followed by MI. Sauce Kid should get a job at TFC or KFC where his IQ will be appreciated. Naeto C should go back to nursery and learn ABC, heaven knows how he got MSc. Ice Prince disappoints, in his quest to deliver punchlines in every line, he forgets how to be lyrical whilst remaining logical. XO had no business being there AT ALL. Is his father chairman of BET?

this is soooooo funny. . . i laugh tire!!. . . . .

;d

Naeto C fell my hand
M.I was too predictable
Sauce Kid was Ok.
That first guy was a weist.
Ice Prince was just clowning.

That was an opportunity to show Nigerian rappers to the world and they screwed it up real bad. Thank God for Mode 9. Even though he can't sell records, at least he can still rap unlike the other mickey mouses,

I think the girls would have done better than this,

[size=15pt]@OP: The Nigerian Cypher was good. Even though Nigeria has terrible leaders,some times our citizens have such awkward expectations. There's a white girl based in UK (Evie kutie)-youtube her,she's an aspiring artiste and guess what? She infuses Yoruba and pidgin in most of her songs,very good songs actually but still sounds awkward to me as a Nigerian. When you listen to other non Nigerian artiste who have forayed into genres like Afro beat,you'll also notice the awkwardness. Our Artistes held their own and THEY WERE THEMSELVES. Iceprince rapped the way he has always rapped. Naeto C sangrap the way he has always been. MI maintained the standard we've always known him for. The only reason why most people hailed Mode 9 as the best was because out of all of them he sounded most like the average African American rapper,true or false?[/size]

yemmy_ma:

I decided to write this after seeing the Nigerian BET cypher and thought it was time everybody stopped been a mediocre if we want to promote Nigerian music abroad. After listening to all the rappers, y'all will agree with me on this,

BET cypher is not about finding rhymes from nursery books. It is much about your creativity with story telling and how you can find good word plays to push it. I looked at all the cyphers and i find the Nigerian cypher the weakest(I am Nigerian lol). It just hurt that the truth is not always supported in Nigeria just the way our politicians use bias to put people to lead industries when we have world class managers everywhere in Nigeria and abroad.  If we really want to set a bench mark for hiphop in Nigeria, we should get a cue from Mode. He leads the next rapper in Nigeria with a long stretch.

Mode 9 - I got introduced to his songs by a friend who was a big fan. After hesitating at first, i decided to give it a try and that was it. For years, i have seen arguments on who tops him in Nigerian hip hop but i am ashamed to see that we Nigerians, though claim to know one or two things about rap are just plain commercial. We don't appreciate conscious music. I wonder how Asa managed to sell albums in the country.  He is straight classic and would go pound for pound with any American MC.

M.I. - On the average, he did not disappoint compared to the other guys, but i think he was trying too hard. A real hardcore rap is mostly about punchlines and fluidity rather than vocabularies. M.I's intro was good though. (Reference to Joe Budden on the Slim 2.0 cypher). I won't put him on another cypher even though i like him as a Nigerian artist not world stage. I will replace him with Terry tha Rapman.

Sauce Kid - My love for sauce kid does not go beyond rap. I just like him as a rapper and i can acknowledge his ability but he always come to most as an underperformer rather than one with no rap skills. He did not do badly on the cypher and he managed to have a story line rather than finding rhymes like others were doing. I still think he has a place to do another cypher if the chance comes through.

Ice Prince - A rare combination of poor rapability and childish punchlines. NO storylines. He reminded me of some 9ice's songs where gathers adages from wherever to make a song. He DEFINITELY has no place on another cypher. Infact, he should never win a rap album award. Its damaging to our hiphop music. I will replace him with Muna

X.O. - To most people, he came as a disappointment on the cypher after so much hype. I really don't think he did that bad rapability wise and story lines, its just that he wasn't audible enough. There is something wrong with his accent. It came bad on that particular cypher. If he would make another cypher, he will have to be supervised. I will replace him with Rico White

Naeto C - I love him as a Nigerian artist, i don't think he has what it takes to go on the world stage. He is only going to be a bomb waiting to explode. He should feed us with more swag in naija and we will be appreciative of that.


So who would make my cypher list in Nigeria. My judgement is based on story line, punchlines, accent, and fluidity. I think the people who makes my list are

Mode 9
Sauce Kid
Terry that Rap Man
Rico White
Muna

If you think my opinion lacks credibility, share your opinion ( i respect it) but don't be bias as well in the second place.

So you actually believe that Mode 9 can go pound for pound with Mos Def, Talib, KRS1 or Nas? Quit with the jokes hommie

jason2010:

So you actually believe that Mode 9 can go pound for pound with Mos Def, Talib, KRS1 or Nas? Quit with the jokes hommie

YES!!!! If he is in the right competing environment. There are 100's of American rappers that aren't even spitting what mode9 spits. I think you need to download mode9's free albums and get copies of his album to know how "discouraging" mode9 can be to upcoming rappers or better still refer to the "Best rap punchline threads" and see wetin man pikin dey talk.