Greatest Nigerian Rappers Of All Time
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Eedris abdulkareem
When the Nigerian music industry was just waking up from its slumber and moving away from doling out contents for grown ups alone, this guy made use of the influence of american hiphop to reach out to the nigerian youths with raps placed on beats mixed with yoruba/broken english choruses. A product of the defunct group called Remedies, he rose to become more famous than his former band mates and did a song called “wackawikee MCs”, in which he dissed top acts in the game including a former band mate. Other hits include “Mr Lecturer” and “Jaga jaga”. Though criticized for mumbling jargons at times, one can't just take away his energy and vocal prowess as he sometimes sings. He was the shining light of naija rap music in the early 2000s.
Rugged man
Many will say he dissed his way to fame when he hit at topshots like Maintain, Raskie, Eedris abdulkareem etc, but he proved he was worthy to be in the limelight with tracks like “big bros”, “ruggedy baba” and the club banger “baraje”. He made it clear to Nigerians that even if we must do the american genre of music called hiphop, we have to do it in our own way. Knowing fully well that no matter how well he raps using the american english, the americans and his own people will hardly accept him, he laid down his art in broken english, a language understood by mechanics and shoe makers and also widely spoken in west africa.
Mode 9
If you are not brilliant and a lover of true hiphop, his music might sound too hard for you. His lyrics are of intellectual quality and instrumentals of the underground type. He was underground for quite a while dropping dope mixtapes but came to full limelight when he dropped the chart topping song "cry". Even when his colleagues sold out by doing mainstream rap laced with singing, he remained true to the game and can be considered as the true hiphop head of Nigeria and also a rapper's rapper. Other hits include “Nigerian girls” and “elbow room”.
MI
The short black boy from Jos first got recognised in lagos when he dropped a single titled “crowd mentality”. Knowing that wasn't enough to propel him to the top, he dropped a bomb track called “safe”, where he freestyled using lines from the hit naija songs at the time. His first album was a huge success even as he flowed more with the american styled english, though laced with yoruba/broken english choruses. His ability to use the american english and still pass off as a Nigerian is part of what keeps him in the limelite today. Other hits include “bad belle” and “number one”.
Dagrin
Died in an auto crash at the peak of his career, he rekindled people's love rap music when the genre was fast dieing in nigeria and the world over. He was the typical gangster rapper with an hustler's mentality clearly shown in songs like “pom pom pom” and “if I die”. He showed the nation that rap music, when done in one's dialect, can sell better than when done in american english. His use of the yoruba language made girls love his music, as they could relate with his message and and also sing out his lyrics. RIP
Olamide
When Dagrin died, we all thought we were never going to have another yoruba rapper as good as him until Olamide aka badoo showed up. He rose to the level where you won't be able to tell who's better between him and dagrin simply because you want to respect the dead. It will be unfair if we forget Lord of Ajasa, the rapper who created yoruba rap music, a platform that paved the way for Olamide to come down heavily with hits like "eni duro", "ilefo illuminati" and "durosoke". When you need an energetic rapper who sings as well, he's the man to call. His prolific talent saw him drop 4 albums in the space of 3yrs. He's currently the hottest rapper at the time of this write up.
Other rappers to watch out for are Phyno, Vector, Lil kesh etc.
Eedris abdulkareem
When the Nigerian music industry was just waking up from its slumber and moving away from doling out contents for grown ups alone, this guy made use of the influence of american hiphop to reach out to the nigerian youths with raps placed on beats mixed with yoruba/broken english choruses. A product of the defunct group called Remedies, he rose to become more famous than his former band mates and did a song called “wackawikee MCs”, in which he dissed top acts in the game including a former band mate. Other hits include “Mr Lecturer” and “Jaga jaga”. Though criticized for mumbling jargons at times, one can't just take away his energy and vocal prowess as he sometimes sings. He was the shining light of naija rap music in the early 2000s.
Rugged man
Many will say he dissed his way to fame when he hit at topshots like Maintain, Raskie, Eedris abdulkareem etc, but he proved he was worthy to be in the limelight with tracks like “big bros”, “ruggedy baba” and the club banger “baraje”. He made it clear to Nigerians that even if we must do the american genre of music called hiphop, we have to do it in our own way. Knowing fully well that no matter how well he raps using the american english, the americans and his own people will hardly accept him, he laid down his art in broken english, a language understood by mechanics and shoe makers and also widely spoken in west africa.
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Mode 9
If you are not brilliant and a lover of true hiphop, his music might sound too hard for you. His lyrics are of intellectual quality and instrumentals of the underground type. He was underground for quite a while dropping dope mixtapes but came to full limelight when he dropped the chart topping song "cry". Even when his colleagues sold out by doing mainstream rap laced with singing, he remained true to the game and can be considered as the true hiphop head of Nigeria and also a rapper's rapper. Other hits include “Nigerian girls” and “elbow room”.
MI
The short black boy from Jos first got recognised in lagos when he dropped a single titled “crowd mentality”. Knowing that wasn't enough to propel him to the top, he dropped a bomb track called “safe”, where he freestyled using lines from the hit naija songs at the time. His first album was a huge success even as he flowed more with the american styled english, though laced with yoruba/broken english choruses. His ability to use the american english and still pass off as a Nigerian is part of what keeps him in the limelite today. Other hits include “bad belle” and “number one”.
Dagrin
Died in an auto crash at the peak of his career, he rekindled people's love rap music when the genre was fast dieing in nigeria and the world over. He was the typical gangster rapper with an hustler's mentality clearly shown in songs like “pom pom pom” and “if I die”. He showed the nation that rap music, when done in one's dialect, can sell better than when done in american english. His use of the yoruba language made girls love his music, as they could relate with his message and and also sing out his lyrics. RIP
Olamide
When Dagrin died, we all thought we were never going to have another yoruba rapper as good as him until Olamide aka badoo showed up. He rose to the level where you won't be able to tell who's better between him and dagrin simply because you want to respect the dead. It will be unfair if we forget Lord of Ajasa, the rapper who created yoruba rap music, a platform that paved the way for Olamide to come down heavily with hits like "eni duro", "ilefo illuminati" and "durosoke". When you need an energetic rapper who sings as well, he's the man to call. His prolific talent saw him drop 4 albums in the space of 3yrs. He's currently the hottest rapper at the time of this write up.
Other rappers to watch out for are Phyno, Vector, Lil kesh etc.
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