It’s been a pretty incredible year for the Nigerian music industry. From releasing stellar albums to landing international collaborations and receiving critical acclaim, Nigerian artistes have stepped up their game.
Check out our top music highlights:
1. Beyonce´ + The Lion King + Naija
Source: Pitchfork
When Beyonce´ announced a new soundtrack, an album inspired by The Lion King, the world was excited. However, Queen Bey stepped it up a notch by revealing the tracklist featuring collaborations with some of Nigeria’s top artistes- Wizkid, Tiwa Savage, Burna Boy, Yemi Alade, Mr Eazi and Tekno. She gifted us with the album on July 19. From Beyonce ́ and Wizkid celebrating African beauty in ‘Brown Skin Girl’ to Tiwa Savage’s sonorous vocals on ‘Keys to the Kingdom’ to Burna Boy getting the only solo track on the album, Nigeria delivered, and we are grateful.
2. Burna Boy’s World Domination
Source: Billboard
Earlier this year, when Burna Boy went on a rant about the font size of his name on the Coachella lineup, he called himself an ‘African Giant’. While there were a lot of doubts, jabs and jokes, Burna stood by his statement. Well, he’s proven himself right because if anyone is living up to that title and having the best year so far, it’s Burna. He’s won a BET award, dropped hit after hit, topped the charts and received major recognition. On July 26, he fully manifested, releasing his album ‘African Giant’ to local and international acclaim. Asides performing at Coachella, he’s performed on the Jimmy Kimmel Show, appeared on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, landed a spot on Bey’s Lion King album and has even been endorsed by Elton John. We stan!
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3. Davido Teams Up with Chris Brown
Source: Guardian Life
Last year, Davido hit the US charts with ‘Fall’, which became the longest-running Nigerian song on the charts. It’s only fitting that he decided to follow it up with a stellar international collaboration, choosing R & B superstar, Chris Brown, as his worthy collaborator. When the Afro-Fusion/ R& B single ‘Blow My Mind’ was announced, a lot of people wondered how such a collaboration would turn out, but the result wasn’t disappointing. With Davido’s rhythm and Chris Brown’s melodious vocals, they made it work and gave us a summer smash.
4. The Rise of Rema
Source: Pitchfork
In February last year, Rema uploaded a video of himself freestyling on the beat of D’Prince’s single ‘Gucci Gang’ which featured Don Jazzy and Davido. The freestyle got D’Prince’s attention and landed him a major record deal with Mavin Records. Since then, the 19-year old artist has been on the rise, releasing the smash hit ‘Dumebi’, which shot to the top of the charts. He also dropped his self-titled four track-EP which has gained several downloads and streams. Rema has been able to rise from a rough childhood to stardom, and he isn’t stopping anytime soon.
What has been your top Nigerian music highlight of 2019 so far? Share with us!
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