International collaborations are important to most Nigerian artists, and it is often a matter of status and pride when they collaborate with a foreign act.
Highlighting the Biggest Nigerian-International music Collaborations of all time
International Collaborations are frequently regarded as a triumph in the Nigerian Music industry. As a result, Nigerians Artists will often go to great lengths to secure a collaboration with a well-known international musician.
Over the years, the ever-strengthening bond between the Nigerian Music Industry and the Global Music scene has seen a lot of hit collaborations being birthed.
As of recent, Justin Bieber’s unexpected feature on Wizkid’s summer bop, “Essence” had a lot of fans gushing at their chemistry and thirsting for more.
- RELATED: Top Naija Collaborations So Far This 2021
- RELATED: Best music collaborations between the United States and Nigeria
Which is why we decided to go back into time and curate a list of the Biggest Nigerian-International music Collaborations of all time;
D’banj, Don Jazzy ft Snoop- Endowed
In 2012, D’banj surprised the world when he performed the unexpected by Featuring popular American rapper, Snoop Dogg on the Mr Endowed remix.
“Mr Endowed (Remix)” was undoubtedly the tune that paved the path for more international collaborations in Nigerian music.
This track spread like wildfire across the country upon its release and became many people’s favourite song as a result. This remix affected the original by creating the impression that it was never released.
P-square ft Akon- Chop My Money
In 2011, defunct music duo P-square dropped their groundbreaking album, “The Invasion.” The album which produced so many hits also contained amazing international collaborations one of which is the “Chop My Money” remix which was released as a single in 2012.
The song which also featured May D who was also in the original single overwhelmed the original song.
Davido ft Meek Mill- Fans Mi
This song was released in the summer of 2015 and featured Meek Mill, an American rapper. “Fans Mi” was the second song in Nigeria following “Mr Endowed (Remix),” to have a strong international attachment, as Meek Mill was featured on this song while he was still a popular artiste in the United States.
Wizkid ft Drake- Come Closer
After the success of Drake’s “One Dance” which featured Wizkid in 2017, “Come Closer” was released as Wizkid’s first single in that same year.
It was a huge song, one of the best songs of 2017, receiving constant radio airplay and becoming the fastest Nigerian music video to reach 1 million views (a record which has now been broken).
“Come Closer” is one of the most-streamed Nigerian songs on Spotify and still bangs hard when played today. Currently, its music video has surpassed the 100 Million views mark on Youtube.
Timaya ft Sean Paul- Bum Bum remix
Since his “Dem Mama” days, Timaya has been pushing the boundaries with Afropop and Dancehall. While he has a lot of hit songs, his first International collaboration with Sean Paul gave him an edge.
Featuring Sean Pual on the remix of “Bum Bum” which was already a hit song, amplified his music and earned him more audience.
Davido ft Chris Brown- Blow my Mind
Most of the time, Davido never gets it wrong with his international collaborations and ‘Blow My Mind” is a testament to that fact.
It’s worth noting that “Blow My Mind” has smashed almost every major record on streaming platforms since its release. It became the fastest Nigerian song to reach one million Spotify streams, the video has broken all thresholds of YouTube views records.
The music video which featured a cameo of Chris Brown also saw the song climb charts and dominate airwaves. “Blow My Mind” is a fantastic record with a great melody and vibe.
2Baba ft T-Pain- Rainbow remix
2Baba also have his share of good international collaboration. Although his earlier international songs with Beenie Man and Reggie Rockstone in 2008 had little impact, “Rainbow” with T Pain exceeded all available metrics and was a massive success song back then.
“Rainbow” is a hit song from the album Away and Beyond, and 2Baba opted to remix it with vocal aid from T-Pain, who gave colour to this gorgeous record.
- RELATED: Top 5 trending Nigerian-International collaborations for 2020
- RELATED: Top 10 collaborations from Nigerian Rappers and Singers in 2021 So Far
P-square ft Rick Ross- Beautiful Onyinye
The Okoye brothers, Paul and Peter, released this song in 2012. Rick Ross, the Maybach Music Group’s CEO, was enlisted by P-square to add sophistication to the song, which he did admirably with his rap bars and wordplay.
Like the other songs on this list, “Beautiful Onyinye” is a hit song that boldly proclaims “Africa to the World.” This song like their “Chop My Money” hit overshadowed the original.
In fact, it’s hard to remember what the originals sound like.