₦airaland Forum

Naeto C ft Ikechukwu - U Know My P (2007).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl8Dg4oKTus

Styl Plus ft Da Capo - Olufunmi Remix (2003).



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlIGjI38Xu8

Ikechukwu ft D'banj and Don Jazzy - Wind Am Well (2008).



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

JJC & The 419 Squad - We Are Africans (2009).



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

Morachi - Hapuya Lyke Dat (2007).



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K0KaskCZDc

Kemistry ft Terry G - Shake (2006).



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq8OcXIvgV0

General Pype ft Vector Da Viper, Dagrin, Sasha, Naeto C and GT The Guitar Man - Champion (Remix) (2010).




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs8LHULnOeE

Omo, this beat dey waste, this beat dey waste, find something fill up this space.


Maintain - Maintain In India (2003).



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6fW3sznOJY

Kel - Wawa Alright (2008).



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFvojx9tjes

DJ Jimmy Jatt ft Sasha, Blaise, Bouqui and Kemistry - Too Much (2007).



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzRZjxsic3E

The Definition


DJ Jimmy Jatt ft 2Face, Mode9ine and Elajoe - Stylee (2007).



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WT0oBkQs9A

Freestyle ft 2Face - Sip Easy (2007)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCDRGWcfVY4

Tony Tetuila ft Plantashun Boyz (2Face, Blackface and Faze) & Ruff Rugged N Raw - Omode Meta (1999).



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M2cUkQqdqA

Remedyies - Shakomo (1997)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He3S8hSNiOw

Trybesmen - Shake Bodi (1999)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m60A_0tVGOc

Now, let's go to town

Ishilove:
I don't know why all these 80s Nigerian songs don't resonate with me. I'm already feeling sleepy one minute into the song.

My parents always liked this song though.

Don't feel bad. We also made fun of the song back then.

I didn't include Heart of Stone because I wanted to include only songs that were primarily hip hop songs. That's also the reason that I didn't include the song below. Do you know that Shina Peters sang what was probably the first Yoruba rap song? It was a very short song at the end of his Shinamania album. It's at the 31:49 minute mark in this video.


Shina Peters - Omoge Loke Loke (1990).



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuPsS9fcBzw

armadeo:
I think dizzy k also sang ambush you.

I cant find the video but that song was the jam.back then

Yeah, Ambush You was his second hit after Baby Kilode. I'm still searching for the video. Baby Kilode was his biggest hit.



Dizzy K - Baby Kilode (1983).



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr730JxuXYg

J2381:
but how did Dr Alban metamorphose from a rap artiste to reggae artiste?

There was a little bit of reggae in his earlier hits. He was a rapper, then he switched to toasting and finally to singing.

Ishilove:
Naptu2, I had no idea It's My Life was such a huge hit. I only knew that I liked the song, young as I was back then.

It was a hit worldwide. It was even popular in Chile.

The hip hop scene in Nigeria began in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The song “Rapper’s Delight” was a huge hit in Nigeria and a lot of people wanted to imitate the Sugar Hill Gang. However, hip hop was not always accepted in Nigeria. Rappers had to overcome the feeling by older Nigerians that “hip hop is not music” and that “it didn’t make sense for people to be talking all through a record”.

There was also the feeling that the early rappers were trying to copy Americans and yet they were not Americans.

Ron Ekundayo was a presenter on Radio Nigeria 2 in Lagos and he launched the hip hop scene with this effort.

Ronnie – The Way I Feel (1981)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekqyMBCPkG4



Dizzy K was better known as a pop star and he had a hit with “Baby Kilode”, but did you know that he also rapped? This was his rap song.

Dizzy K – Saturday Night Raps (1982)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA8fNfM2Xak

---

This was probably the first rap song by a Nigerian that was accepted by Nigerians. It might be because the Nigerian members of the group were based abroad and it might also be because the group comprised of both Nigerians and Americans.

The group was made up of Nigerians Mr. Kool, Ebony Laoye and Monica Omorodion, and Americans Jedi and Scratch. Scratch had previously worked with the Sugarhill Gang.

Unlike previous Nigerian rap songs, this song had heavy airplay on NTA2 Channel 5 and Radio Nigeria 2.

Sound On Sound – I’m African (1988)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcW9S88aplU

---

Then came the 1990s and 3 songs that permanently changed the face of Nigerian hip hop.

This particular song was the first Nigerian rap song to become an international hit. It got to number 1 in Austria, number 2 in Germany, Greece and Portugal, number 3 in Switzerland, number 7 in Spain and Sweden and a massive hit right across Africa, Europe and in fact, around the world. It was on heavy rotation on MTV Europe throughout the early 1990s. It was covered by the South African group Dr Victor and the Rasta Rebels and by many other groups.

Dr Alban moved to Sweden to study dentistry. He became a DJ in order to finance his studies and he used the income from his work as a DJ to set up his dentistry practice when he graduated. However, he had become quite a popular DJ and he used that popularity to break into the music scene. Dr Alban had several worldwide hits in the 1990s and this was the first of them.

(This video was shot in Lagos and Sweden)


Dr Alban – Hello Afrika (1990).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3I8BISQfWc


Bonus track.


This song got to number 2 on the UK charts, it was number 1 in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden. It got to number 3 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music chart in the US and it was a hit all over the world. The song was used in tampon adverts in the UK, stout advert in Nigeria and in several Bollywood movies.

Dr Alban – It’s My Life (1992)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zHm_6AQ7CY


This song was probably the first rap song by Nigerians in Nigeria that was accepted by Nigerians. It is also my favourite on this list. I think that one of the reasons that it was accepted was that it was in Pidgin English, so nobody could accuse them of trying to sound like Americans. It was also accepted because the storyline was very funny and my God it was a great song! It would be a hit if it was released today.


Emphasis – Which One You Dey (1991)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ulv4yaA8UDg





This song was the first rap song by Nigerians in Nigeria to become a mainstream hit. The song would have been in the top 5 of the Nigerian charts if there were Nigerian charts at that time. I remember that it won an award at the Nigerian Music Awards (NMA). The song was in Pidgin English, so you can’t accuse them of trying to sound American and everybody, both young and old, loved the song because of the funny story line. In fact, it was a form of musicomedy.

Junior and Pretty made it acceptable to be a Nigerian rapper and the idea no longer seemed strange to Nigerians. Lots of rappers and rap groups sprang up after the success of Junior and Pretty.

Unfortunately I can’t find a video of the song, but you can hear the audio if you click on this link.

Junior & Pretty – Monika (1991)

https://www.360nobs.com/2010/09/41-50-360-listening-ear-independence-day-special-nigerias-top-50-songs1960-2010/junior-pretty-monika/



Bonus track

Junior & Pretty – Bolanle (1994)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z87kHA5sD44