2016 was a great year for the industry, new talents were beginning to crop up and great songs were being released.
Mp3bullet.ng presents a curated list of the top Nigerian songs that dominated the industry in 2016
- RELATED: Throwback: Nigerian Albums turning 10 in 2021
- RELATED: Top 10 Naija Throwback songs turning 10 in 2021
Reekado Banks- Oluwa Ni
“Gbedu wey dey burst brain”. Months after winning the Headies Next Rated Award, Reekado Banks immediately justified his controversial win over Lil Kesh with this hit record, “Oluwa Ni. Produced by Altims, the two created something very magical.
Koker- Kolewerk
Koker had a good run in 2016. “Kolowerk” became a hit track thanks to the Creative and comic lyrics with great beats. Everyone seems to know the lyrics, Koker made a sing-along street anthem with “Kolewerk”.
Sugarboy- Hola Hola
In 2016, the G-worldwide act, Sugarboy hit the streets with “Hola Hola”, a jam that turns you on instantly. Even though he wasn’t nominated as “Rookie of the Year” for the Headies Awards 2016, Nonetheless, he had one of the best tunes that year.
Mr Eazi- Skin tight
Mr Eazi had one heck of a musical runs in 2016, with his biggest record been “Skin Tight” which features Ghanaian songbird Efya.
Skin Tight is sexy in every sense of the world. The beat, the presentation, the video, everything is simply sexy.
Falz ft Olamide X Davido- Bahd, Baddo, Baddest
Arguably the best and most Afro-trap jam released in 2016. The big collabo consisted of Falz, Olamide and Davido, who did their bid to make it a stand out jam.
Bahd representing Falz, Baddo (Olamide) and the Baddest, Davido completed a trio of multi-talented artists bringing their own flavour to the track.
DJ Spinall ft Mr Eazi- Ohema
DJ Spinall employed the services of Mr Eazi to make a song ladies everybody loves. Mr Eazi banku style of music which was one of the dominating sounds of 2016 still makes it one of the best jams to be released in 2016.
Korede Bello- Do Like That
Korede Bello brought sexiness back to music with “Do Like That”. The DJ Altims produced number rose to become one of the most played songs on the radio that year. It currently has more than 100 million views on Youtube.
Mayorkun- Eleko
DMW act, Mayorkun came into the Nigerian music landscape with a bang. His first rollout, Eleko was a firecracker and it banged even to the disbelief of critics. Eleko amassed huge success from heavy radio airplay to impressive YouTube views.
- RELATED: Nigerian Afrobeat artistes with over a 100million YouTube streams
- RELATED: Top biggest Nigerian Afrobeat solo songs so far
Tekno- Pana
Tekno’s Pana is one of his biggest hits to date, crossing boundaries and shooting the singer/producer to international acclaim. Krizbeatz did something special on the beat, and Tekno with his massive musical talent maximized the potential in the beat and production. Simple. It’s was the song of the year.
Phyno X Olamide- Fada Fada
In a year that was pretty forgettable for hip-hop, Phyno was a bit of shining light. Phyno teamed up with his musical BFF, Olamide and together they dropped this classic “ghetto thanksgiving” joint. “Fada Fada” hit every generation in Nigeria, and even found its way into churches.
Kizz Daniel- Mama
Kiss Daniel dropped his debut album, New Era, in 2016 and proceeded to dominate the music scene in Nigeria with hit after hit. The biggest one was Mama, and it was one of the hottest songs of that year. It was google’s most searched Nigerian song of 2016.
Olamide- Who You Epp
“Who You Epp” was the song that popularized song challenges. It kickstarted a trend and attracted hundreds of freestyle from both fans and artists alike. This record was arguably the biggest hip-hop record of that year.
Patoranking ft Sarkodie- No Kissing
Paroranking and Sarkodie blessed fans with a Nigerian X Ghanaian collaboration that dominated airwaves.
Pataranking’s blend of patois and pidgin is seamless, requiring close attention to unpick. Ghanaian star Sarkodie is a mad-fluent spitter whose verse here is faultless in cadence, as always, even when delivered in Twi.
“No Kissing Baby” was produced by GospelOnDeBeatz, who uses a syncopated hi-hat that is uniquely Ghanaian, but was being borrowed by an increasing number of Nigerian producers in 2016.
Timaya ft Flavour – Money
Since his entrance into the music scene, Timaya has always dropped hits. In 2016, he featured Flavour on the hit song, “Money”.
P-square- Bank Alert
After a misunderstanding caused them to separate the first time, musical duos, Peter and Paul Okoye known as P-square decided to put aside siblings rivalry and family squabble to compensate fans with “Bank Alert”. Unfortunately, it didn’t take too long for their fragile peace to break causing them to permanently separate.
Zoro ft Flavour- Ogene
“Ogene” is a fine blend of culture best interpreted into music. In 2016, Zoro conquered the east where he is from and went on to win over the west with “Ogene”.
- RELATED: 10 Songs from D’banj and Don Jazzy that dominated the industry
- RELATED: Nigerian Hit Songs you didn’t know sampled Foreign sounds
Ycee- Omo Alhaji
“Who’s your daddy?” in Nigerian parlance could double as a preamble to an actual pick-up line and as a status identifier.
While it might have suited the pervy older man that Banky W characterised on “Jasi.” Ycee rap-singing the line in the hook and verses for “Omo Alhaji,” which is a hybrid delivery—American-accented rap and the indigenous preference of afrobeat had fans dancing to it.