The 10 Most Gifted Rappers in Nigeria
It is safe to say that the Hip - Hop scene
in Nigeria is beginning to take form and
may soon become a viable and more
commercial genre in the Nigerian music
scene; only time will tell. In the past
year, summer of 2012 to summer of
2013, a handful of rappers have
dropped music consistently or have
released a body of work such as a
mixtape or full length album to stay
relevant in the hiphop scene. Because
not all rappers are made the same, we
gathered all the material from these
relevant rap artists and listened
diligently . During this process we judged
each EMCEE on skill, from wordplay
ability , delivery style , catchy and
versatile flow , lyrical potency, punch
line, rhyming not just to rhyme, and
story telling. Here is the list of The 10
Most Gifted Rappers in Nigeria .
10. Reminisce
Reminisce is a very skilful rapper when
it comes to his local dialect, Yoruba,
and pretty decent when spittin' in the
English language. His street appeal and
commercial success have made him very
relevant whenever rap is mentioned in
Nigeria. His versatility, catchy phrases
describing his thoughts tend to usually
solicit a rewind to verify that you heard
right while listening to his music. He
displayed this perfectly in "Government
(Ijoba)" featuring Olamide and Endia.
9. Naeto C
Naeto C came in the game and took
rap to an unprecedented commercial
level with Kini Big Deal and his debut
album. You can also tell that apart from
being a rapper, he is a music composer
who focuses on building the structure
of his songs. Naeto also tends to pay
special attention to details from his very
catchy hooks to his bars. He displays
all these on Tony Montana, I gentle O,
Can You Do It and even his older tracks.
8. Vector
Other than his work ethic, Vector 's
strength is his word play ability. He
tends to put words together to make
meaning and then goes ahead and uses
that meaning to explain a point. So for
the most part, he uses inference as
opposed to laying down lyrics that will
paint a clear picture. It's almost like,
sometimes he wants his audience to do
some work in order to figure out the
point he tries to make. In addition,
Vector keeps a strong flow for the most
part and delivers the right voice tone/
inflection to each beat/instrumental and
music context.
7. Ice Prince
Panshak Zamani unofficially holds the
current title for "most commercial rap
artist", but still makes the list for a
couple of reasons; his canny ability to
coin catchy rap lines and hooks in his
commercial songs such as "Aboki" and
his fierce delivery that commands
attention when we listen to his hard
core rap freestyles such as "Truth". Like
it or not, it requires real skills to go
commercial as a rapper and still switch
it up when required.
6. ShowDemCamp (SDC)
The duo Ghost and Tec are true rappers
of this time. When they rap, they tend
not to emphasize their punchlines or
wordplay so as not to compromise the
big picture. Instead, they use their
wordplay as tools to stay on topic and
to paint a very clear scenario or story.
Ghost spits the lyrical fiya and Tec
delivers catchy flows, but together they
are able to rap without compromising
or mumbling words just to rhyme. SDC’s
ultimate focus in most of their verses is
to deliver a full story or use
descriptions to make a point that you
will see play out in your head as you
listen, and they still manage to make
each line rhyme. They also tend to be
big on rapping about their experiences
and lifestyle.
5. SiNZU
No one is touching Sinzu when it comes
to maintaining the same level of delivery
on any kind of beat or song; party,
conscious, gangster, local... you name
it. He is as versatile as they come. Most
of us know that Sinzu grew up partly in
Ogba, Lagos and Los Angeles California.
His strength is his impeccable delivery
(flow, bars and words) when he does
any type of track. So when he is rappin'
with a down South or an L.A type flow,
he does it properly and is still able to
switch to Naija street type flow within
the same 16 bars. Sinzu is also big on
infusing humour into his music which
keeps his listeners very entertained.
4. M.I
Since M.I Abaga dropped his debut
album in 2008, rap music has never
been the same. He single-handedly
upped the standards of Naija rap music.
With M.I , his voice coupled with his skill
(strong flow, punch lines, story telling
ability and uncommon and unexpected
joining of words to make meaning which
is popularly known as wordplay) make
him a master at rapping. On LOST, the
1st single of his iLLegal Music 2
mixtape, instead of just saying some
folks are taking the piss, he put words
together and delivered these lines
‘these dicks made a quick move to
zipper down a piss take‘ … You can
hear more from the aformentioned
mixtape… Don’t be fooled
by Chairman.
3. Phyno
When you rap in a native African
language (Igbo) and you are able to
deliver it in a polished manner that gets
even those who don't understand the
words that are coming out of your
mouth to not only listen, but wish that
they understood your language so that
they can experience the entirety of what
you are spittin, then you are on your
way to greatness. This is one of Phyno 's
core strengths and it is obvious that he
has won the hearts of most music
lovers in Nigeria to where his name has
to be mentioned whenever rap music is
the topic of discussion. His style can
easily be exported and liked outside
Nigeria.
2. Olamide
Other than his apparent work ethic
which is evident in the rate at which he
releases music, Olamide ’s nonchalant,
street flavored and playful delivery of
words which surprisingly, typically make
sense and rhymes, tend to draw most of
us to listen to him; so he has taken care
of the attraction factor where most
people actually feel the need to listen to
his verses all the way through. Digging
deeper to his lyrics both in English and
Yoruba, Olamide is not much of a
storyteller but he is able to make a clear
point with strong metaphors, which are
difficult to rhyme in Yoruba, and out of
this world comparisons that are
guaranteed to crack you up.
1. ModeNine
Whether he knows it or not, ModeNine ,
who we can all agree is the GrandFather
of true lyricism in Nigerian hiphop, has
the ability and skill to go commercial.
This fierce emcee can do anything with
words from punch lines, to clear and
vivid story telling, to using metaphors
that will make you put a puzzle together
in his verses. ModeNine ’s flow is extra
fluid and floats exactly to the beat; he
spits his lyrics right within the confines
of whatever beat he is dealt in an
effortless manner. For all his fans
praying he goes commercial, there is
hope because he can if he decides to.
Worthy Mentions
1. Phenom
Phenom 's potential is obvious; all you
have to do is listen to his TKG freestyle
where he switches flows at will
whenever the beat switched. He also
delivered on all songs he featured on
including Maleek Berry's New Bounce ft
Wizkid.
2. Boogey
Boogey is a fast rapper so you have to
listen fast so you can follow him when
he skilfully delivers his bars. The kid can
rap very well and it appears that
ModeNine and M.I agree and respect
his skill level enough to feature him on
their Occupy The Throne and iLLegal
Music 2 mixtapes respectively.
3. Ikechukwu Ikechukwu also known as
Killz remains relevant in Nigerian rap
music today. Killz is going the
commercial route with an Igbo angle
and we all check for his new joints
whenever they get released. 4. IllBliss
Ibo Boy iLLBliss who dropped his new
album in December of 2012 raps with a
calm flow without too much force and
delivers his bars in a regular talking
tone which fits his size and demeanor.
BOSS- type delivery, its no wonder he
named his most recent album OGA
BOSS. 5. Jesse Jagz Jargo as most of us
know him, has turned all the way
spiritual and can rap his lungs off. In
his most recent album, he spits long
bars on most of the songs to a point
that you actually realize that he has
been rapping for a while. Above his
ability to rap for long at one go, Jesse
Jagz also tends to speak lots of sense;
personal and social-wise in his music.
It is safe to say that the Hip - Hop scene
in Nigeria is beginning to take form and
may soon become a viable and more
commercial genre in the Nigerian music
scene; only time will tell. In the past
year, summer of 2012 to summer of
2013, a handful of rappers have
dropped music consistently or have
released a body of work such as a
mixtape or full length album to stay
relevant in the hiphop scene. Because
not all rappers are made the same, we
gathered all the material from these
relevant rap artists and listened
diligently . During this process we judged
each EMCEE on skill, from wordplay
ability , delivery style , catchy and
versatile flow , lyrical potency, punch
line, rhyming not just to rhyme, and
story telling. Here is the list of The 10
Most Gifted Rappers in Nigeria .
10. Reminisce
Reminisce is a very skilful rapper when
it comes to his local dialect, Yoruba,
and pretty decent when spittin' in the
English language. His street appeal and
commercial success have made him very
relevant whenever rap is mentioned in
Nigeria. His versatility, catchy phrases
describing his thoughts tend to usually
solicit a rewind to verify that you heard
right while listening to his music. He
displayed this perfectly in "Government
(Ijoba)" featuring Olamide and Endia.
9. Naeto C
Naeto C came in the game and took
rap to an unprecedented commercial
level with Kini Big Deal and his debut
album. You can also tell that apart from
being a rapper, he is a music composer
who focuses on building the structure
of his songs. Naeto also tends to pay
special attention to details from his very
catchy hooks to his bars. He displays
all these on Tony Montana, I gentle O,
Can You Do It and even his older tracks.
8. Vector
Other than his work ethic, Vector 's
strength is his word play ability. He
tends to put words together to make
meaning and then goes ahead and uses
that meaning to explain a point. So for
the most part, he uses inference as
opposed to laying down lyrics that will
paint a clear picture. It's almost like,
sometimes he wants his audience to do
some work in order to figure out the
point he tries to make. In addition,
Vector keeps a strong flow for the most
part and delivers the right voice tone/
inflection to each beat/instrumental and
music context.
7. Ice Prince
Panshak Zamani unofficially holds the
current title for "most commercial rap
artist", but still makes the list for a
couple of reasons; his canny ability to
coin catchy rap lines and hooks in his
commercial songs such as "Aboki" and
his fierce delivery that commands
attention when we listen to his hard
core rap freestyles such as "Truth". Like
it or not, it requires real skills to go
commercial as a rapper and still switch
it up when required.
6. ShowDemCamp (SDC)
The duo Ghost and Tec are true rappers
of this time. When they rap, they tend
not to emphasize their punchlines or
wordplay so as not to compromise the
big picture. Instead, they use their
wordplay as tools to stay on topic and
to paint a very clear scenario or story.
Ghost spits the lyrical fiya and Tec
delivers catchy flows, but together they
are able to rap without compromising
or mumbling words just to rhyme. SDC’s
ultimate focus in most of their verses is
to deliver a full story or use
descriptions to make a point that you
will see play out in your head as you
listen, and they still manage to make
each line rhyme. They also tend to be
big on rapping about their experiences
and lifestyle.
5. SiNZU
No one is touching Sinzu when it comes
to maintaining the same level of delivery
on any kind of beat or song; party,
conscious, gangster, local... you name
it. He is as versatile as they come. Most
of us know that Sinzu grew up partly in
Ogba, Lagos and Los Angeles California.
His strength is his impeccable delivery
(flow, bars and words) when he does
any type of track. So when he is rappin'
with a down South or an L.A type flow,
he does it properly and is still able to
switch to Naija street type flow within
the same 16 bars. Sinzu is also big on
infusing humour into his music which
keeps his listeners very entertained.
4. M.I
Since M.I Abaga dropped his debut
album in 2008, rap music has never
been the same. He single-handedly
upped the standards of Naija rap music.
With M.I , his voice coupled with his skill
(strong flow, punch lines, story telling
ability and uncommon and unexpected
joining of words to make meaning which
is popularly known as wordplay) make
him a master at rapping. On LOST, the
1st single of his iLLegal Music 2
mixtape, instead of just saying some
folks are taking the piss, he put words
together and delivered these lines
‘these dicks made a quick move to
zipper down a piss take‘ … You can
hear more from the aformentioned
mixtape… Don’t be fooled
by Chairman.
3. Phyno
When you rap in a native African
language (Igbo) and you are able to
deliver it in a polished manner that gets
even those who don't understand the
words that are coming out of your
mouth to not only listen, but wish that
they understood your language so that
they can experience the entirety of what
you are spittin, then you are on your
way to greatness. This is one of Phyno 's
core strengths and it is obvious that he
has won the hearts of most music
lovers in Nigeria to where his name has
to be mentioned whenever rap music is
the topic of discussion. His style can
easily be exported and liked outside
Nigeria.
2. Olamide
Other than his apparent work ethic
which is evident in the rate at which he
releases music, Olamide ’s nonchalant,
street flavored and playful delivery of
words which surprisingly, typically make
sense and rhymes, tend to draw most of
us to listen to him; so he has taken care
of the attraction factor where most
people actually feel the need to listen to
his verses all the way through. Digging
deeper to his lyrics both in English and
Yoruba, Olamide is not much of a
storyteller but he is able to make a clear
point with strong metaphors, which are
difficult to rhyme in Yoruba, and out of
this world comparisons that are
guaranteed to crack you up.
1. ModeNine
Whether he knows it or not, ModeNine ,
who we can all agree is the GrandFather
of true lyricism in Nigerian hiphop, has
the ability and skill to go commercial.
This fierce emcee can do anything with
words from punch lines, to clear and
vivid story telling, to using metaphors
that will make you put a puzzle together
in his verses. ModeNine ’s flow is extra
fluid and floats exactly to the beat; he
spits his lyrics right within the confines
of whatever beat he is dealt in an
effortless manner. For all his fans
praying he goes commercial, there is
hope because he can if he decides to.
Worthy Mentions
1. Phenom
Phenom 's potential is obvious; all you
have to do is listen to his TKG freestyle
where he switches flows at will
whenever the beat switched. He also
delivered on all songs he featured on
including Maleek Berry's New Bounce ft
Wizkid.
2. Boogey
Boogey is a fast rapper so you have to
listen fast so you can follow him when
he skilfully delivers his bars. The kid can
rap very well and it appears that
ModeNine and M.I agree and respect
his skill level enough to feature him on
their Occupy The Throne and iLLegal
Music 2 mixtapes respectively.
3. Ikechukwu Ikechukwu also known as
Killz remains relevant in Nigerian rap
music today. Killz is going the
commercial route with an Igbo angle
and we all check for his new joints
whenever they get released. 4. IllBliss
Ibo Boy iLLBliss who dropped his new
album in December of 2012 raps with a
calm flow without too much force and
delivers his bars in a regular talking
tone which fits his size and demeanor.
BOSS- type delivery, its no wonder he
named his most recent album OGA
BOSS. 5. Jesse Jagz Jargo as most of us
know him, has turned all the way
spiritual and can rap his lungs off. In
his most recent album, he spits long
bars on most of the songs to a point
that you actually realize that he has
been rapping for a while. Above his
ability to rap for long at one go, Jesse
Jagz also tends to speak lots of sense;
personal and social-wise in his music.
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