Nigerian artistes beforehand were being ridiculed by the rest of Africa and the world. Since Fela Anikulapo Kuti, no Nigerian artistes has been revered as highly as him and respected by the rest of Africa and the world. Fela Anikulapo Kuti was a highly revered and honest politician. He was a highly revered and respected musician. Before his death, he broke many records including shutting down the O2 arena in London for one of his shows. Fela afro beats took Europe and America by storm. They totally bought into his kind of music. He was even more prominent and more powerful in Africa especially in Nigeria. He was practically a god in Africa. An African giant in his own right.
When he died, it took a long time for Nigerian artistes to gain prominence. Although some i.e Tuface tried, none of them could reach the heights of Fela. Some of them were popular in Africa but were practically unknown to the rest of the world. Tuface was the most prominent of them all. This is not to say that the Nigerian Artistes did not release good music. There were a lot of good music even better that the ones. It is just that Nigerian Artistes were not able to break through to the global scenes. It became so worse that we became the Congolese whose artistes are only known in their own country. Our artistes were not that respected and relevant anymore.
But up came Wizkid, Davido, Olamide, Burna Boy and others to save Africa music. It all started with Olamide. With his first single, Olamide announced himself to Nigeria and Africa. His fame and Prominence grew wider. He then went on to create his own record label group Y.B.N.L which is an acronym for Yahoo boy no Laptop. Out of the blues came Wizkid. Wizkid first ever single Holla at your boy was a nationwide hit. It earned the next rated award at the Headies 2011. This was just the beginning for him. Wizkid has gone to release many other hit singles like Love my Baby, Pakuromo, Don’t dull, Oluwa lo ni and many others. Wizkid became a global sensation when he released Ojuelegba. Ojuelegba brought many favourable world reviews. People started calling the new Fela with his new Afro beats. Wizkid became the first Nigerian artiste who got featured in the Billboard’s Twitter last 24 hour chart with his guest feature on Drake’s international smash hit song one dance. The song later became the No 1 smash hit on the Billboard Hot 100. He later became the first African artiste to be included in the Guinness World Book of Record for his involvement in Drake’s hit song one dance. He has won many awards and broken so many records. Wizkid is now a worldwide star. Wizkid has many lucrative endorsement deals both local and international.
Davido in his own is seen as many as the closest opponent or challenger to Wizkid. Davido is a very hardworking artiste. He has helped many artistes become bigger than they used to be. Davido rose to national prominence after the release of Dami Duro, a single from his debut studio album. Dami Duro was a nationwide hit. Hardly will you find any other song being played when Dami Duro was the hottest jam around. Davido warmed his way into the heart of many Nigerians after the release of that single. Like wizkid he won the Next Rated award at the Headies in 2012. Davido has gone to be a very big artiste in Nigeria. He has released many hit songs like Gobe, Ekuro, Aye, Assurance, Blow my mind and so on. He gained global prominence when he featured Meek Mill on his hit single Fans mi. He has won many prestigious and global awards including two BET awards and two MTV Africa Music Awards. Davido is a Nigerian musical legend and is the most followed African artiste on any social media platforms. Just like Wizkid, Davido has broken barriers to be where he is today. He is also a proud Sony ambassador as he is signed to their record label.
Burna boy is a Nigerian musical legend. His afro fusion songs and manner of singing has won him so many fans home and abroad. He is seen as a strong alternative to Wizkid and Davido. If you want to take a break from Wizkid and Davido’s music, Burna boy is a good choice. He is the only other Nigerian artiste aside from Wizkid and the Kuti sons (Femi and Seun Kuti) which they compare to the great Fela Anikulapo Kuti. He broke Fela’s and Wizkid’s record for shutting down the 02 arena in London. One can say 2018 was his best ever year as an artiste. He was dropping hot singles back to back. Burna boy released an album which he titled African Giant. It’s no surprise that he named the album African Giant. Burna Boy himself is an African Giant. Burna Boy has also won many prestigious awards. In 2019, he won the Bet awards for the best international act. At the recently concluded MTV E.M.A awards, Burna Boy won an award for being the best Africa act. Burna boy is a great artiste.
With these three artistes plus many other more, Nigerian Music has worked its way back on top. If a European or American talks about African Music, they will be basically talking about Nigerian music as Nigerian Music has become very dominant in the African Musical industry. If some other African artistes want to get popular, they feature Nigerian artistes especially these three as they carry a lot of marketing power. With all these, it is safe and absolutely correct to say that Nigerian Artistes are now the pride of Africa. Nigerian Artistes are making Nigeria and Africa proud.
Pelumi King
