Nigerian rapper MI Abaga has expressed his profound admiration for hip-hop, describing it as the truest art form. In a recent episode of Pulse Fun Fact, the multi-award-winning artist was asked to choose his favorite genre among hip-hop, Afrobeats, and Amapiano.

Without hesitation, MI Abaga selected hip-hop as his favorite genre, placing Afrobeats in second place.

According to MI, hip-hop is the genre that has served as the foundation for many other musical styles. He referred to hip-hop as the deepest art form and described it as the love of his life, highlighting its significance in shaping his musical identity.

 

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Hip-hop holds a significant place in the rich tapestry of Nigerian music history, boasting a cadre of top-class rappers who have left an indelible mark on the industry. Icons such as Eedris Abdulkareem, Ruggedman, Mode 9, M.I, Ice Prince, Naeto C, Dagrin, and Olamide have played pivotal roles in popularizing hip-hop within Nigeria.

In the realm of Afrobeats, hip-hop stands as one of the foundational genres, influencing the early sounds of groups like The Remedies, Trybesmen, and Plantashun Boiz. These pioneering acts drew inspiration from hip-hop elements, infusing them into their music and contributing to the development of Afrobeats as we know it today.

Furthermore, rap music has transcended geographical boundaries, becoming domesticated in various parts of the world. Its influence extends far beyond traditional hip-hop realms, feeding into and shaping a multitude of genres that borrow from its rhythmic and lyrical elements. This cross-pollination has resulted in the evolution of diverse musical styles, showcasing the universal appeal and enduring impact of hip-hop culture worldwide.

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Sampling Culture has always been a part of the Nigerian Music scene right from the late 90s. As the Nigerian Hip-Hop scene began to thrive, it was obvious that a lot of Nigerian Artists tailored their sounds and songs with that of their western counterparts.

For today’s throwback edition, we would be looking at the Nigerian Hit songs that sampled foreign sounds.

• RELATED: Top 10 most-streamed Nigerian afrobeat albums on Audiomack
• RELATED: Throwback: Iconic Music groups that rocked the Nigerian Music Industry

Ebute Metta- Banky W

Banky W came to the limelight in his music career with the song “Ebute Metta.” Released in 2008 as his first official single, the song was an instant hit. The song was sampled from Rihanna’s 2007 hit song “Umbrella”.

Black Reverendz- Ayangba Girls

The Group Black Reverendz was formed in the early 90s comprising of Shobb2 & Wesley. They came into the limelight with their hit track “Ayangba Girls are Dangerous”, which took the Nigerian music industry by storm in 2000.

The song samples Busta Rhymes‘ Dangerous.

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Maintain-Catch Cold

Tolu Maintain and Olu Maintain were a group known as The Maintain who dominated the industry with their catchy tunes. One of those is “catch Cold” released in 2002. The song was sampled from Ludacris‘s Area Codes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvrKzmkdBTI

P-square- Bizzy Body

P-square were one of the front liners of the sampling culture in the early 2000s. Their songs borrowed heavily from RnB and Hip-Hop groups. One of these songs is “Bizzy Body” which heavily sampled American Hip-Hop group, Fugees‘ “Ready or Not‘

Rasqie- Soji (Wake Up)

If you do not remember the song titled “Soji”, you are missing a lot. Rasqie was, at the peak of his career, a Kennis Music act who rocked the scene with the like Azadus, Remedies, Platashun Boiz, Kenny Saint Brown, Olu Maintain, Trybesmen among others.

Soji (Wake Up) was recorded and released around 1999 – 2000 and was the only song that got Rasqie all the fame he ever needed.

The song sampled DMX’s ‘Ruff Ryder Anthem’

Sauce Kid Yebariba Samboribobo

Remember Sauce Kid? He also goes by the alias ‘Sinzu’ now. His instant hit song “Yebariba Samboribobo“ was a national anthem and later on, parlance used amongst Nigerians back then.

The song was sampled from Remy Ma’s “Conceited” produced by Scott Storch

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The Music Groups/Boy Bands movement was so successful during that period that most Nigerian Artists wanted to be in a band.

Music groups were like the mecca of sorts where most artists sharpen their craft to become the most revered musicians. In the era where collective glory was a valued achievement, it was trendy to be a member of a music group.

Their achievements are groundbreaking. They individually at different times shaped pop culture narratives. Their songs made us fall in love. Through fashion and lifestyle, they made us felt witty like our foreign hip-hop and pop music heroes.

In this article, I will try to go down memory lane to talk about music groups that dominated the Nigerian music industry.

• RELATED: Top 5 songs from Naija music groups of the early 2000s
• RELATED: P-square Splits; A menace to the Culture?

Junior and Pretty

JUNIOR & PRETTY are credited as the pioneer godfathers of Nigerian hip hop music. When everybody was trying to mimic the American rappers, they came out with their unique rap style which is comic in nature and uses local pidgin English as the language of delivery. This unique blend took the country by storm, and the rest is history.

Waltzing into our hearts with a super-detailed account of their hot-pursuit of Bolanle, Junior and Pretty dominated the 90s music scene.

Remedies

ANOTHER boy band that rocked the late 90s and early 2000s were Remedies, made up of Eddy Remedy, Tony Tetuila and Eedris Abdulkareem.

The group was a force to reckon with, giving the RnB and Rap genre a new face. The group had songs that enjoyed airplay. They went separate ways to start as solo artistes which at a point were successful.

Trybesmen

Trybesmen (also known as Da Trybe) comprising of three original members, known as Eldee, Kaboom and Freestyle.

Their first album, L.A.G Style Volume 1., was released in 1999 to positive reviews. Their hits included “Plenty Nonsense” and “Shake Bodi”.

Maintain

Before Olu Maintain dished out his smash hit, ‘yahooze’ and danced with former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, he was one of a duo known as Maintain.

The group was made up of Tolu Oguniyi (Tolu Maintain), Olumide Adegbolu (Olu Maintain) and they had a frequent collaborator and label owner in Adeboye Bammeke aka Big Bamo.

Their music was mostly famous for its often humorous, politically underlined lyricism.  They became household names in Nigeria after the success of their debut album Ni bo la wa gbe lo in 1999.

The group’s rise to fame was mostly based off samples and covers of other  international pop songs. Particularly, one of their biggest hits till date I Catch Cold, was a parody of Ludacris’ and Nate  Dogg’s 2001 smash hit Area Codes.

Plantanshaun Boiz

ANOTHER powerful group that rocked the Nigerian music industry between the late 90s to early 2000s is Plantashun Boiz which was made up of the trio, Innocent Idibia, aka 2Baba, Chibuzor Orji, aka Faze and as well as Ahmedu Augustine Obiabo better known as Black Face.

During their days as a group, they had several hits but things came to a head when some members of the group decided to pursue individual careers in 2003.

After their separation, 2Baba got signed under Kennis Music where he dropped his hit song African Queen which catapulted him to stardom and made him a force to reckon with in Africa and beyond. Faze on the other hand also made his solo debut with Faze Alone as his first single as a solo artist. Black Face as well dropped a couple of singles.

Within a space of about two years, the three of them had songs and albums doing well out in the industry and radio stations. 2Baba had ‘Face to Face’, Faze had ‘Faze Alone’ while Black Face had ‘Ghetto Child’. The albums did quite well in the industry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM35Au_IYRM

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Styl Plus

Described as the Nigerian version of the American RnB group, Boys 2 Men due to their genre of songs, Styl Plus were an R’n’B group that was consisted of Shifi, Tunde and Zeal.

Style Plus gained stardom with their hit single Olufunmi in 2007 and they all enjoyed their time giving hit songs back-to-back.

However, Tunde left style plus a few years after to pursue a solo career and since then, not much has been heard from him. The reason for his departure is still unknown.

Shifi and Zeal also haven’t dropped many songs since, leaving their fans to assume that they are done with music and facing other endeavours.

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• RELATED: Top 5 Nigerian songs for Motivation
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Nigeria is plagued by many issues, police brutality a part of it. This is a long age issue that even Celebrities are not spared from.

Earlier in the year, Fast rising artist, Oxlade was stopped by police brcause of his dread and possessing an Iphone.

Nigerian artists since the days of Fela Kuti have addressed the issue through music. Mp3bullet.ng compiled a list of 5 songs that addressed Police Brutality.

Trybesmen- Plenty Nonsense

“plenty Nonsense” is a song by defunct Hip-Hop group, Trybesmen. The song which talks about an array of social issues affecting Nigerians in the early 2000s is still relevant in 2020 as nothing much has changed.

At the beginning of the song, Freestyle, a member of the group starts the story with a story of Police harassment at a roadblock. They are assaulted by the Police even after they plead for help.

• RELATED: Top 20 Nigerian Latest songs

Falz- Johnny

Falz tells an emotional story of a fresh graduate, “Johnny” who is gunned down by a Police Officer during a stop and search process.

The TMXO- produced song samples Fela,’s “Johnny Just Drop”. The song was off his social conscious laden album, “Moral Instruction”.

P-square – Oga Police

Oga Police a song by defunct music duo, P-Square from their second album, “Get Squared” released in 2005.

The song tells the story of a young man’s terrible encounters with the Police Force and being arrested for no crime in particular.

• RELATED: The 5 Best Nigerian Songs of the 2010s

Ruggedman- Is the Police your Friend?

Veteran Rapper and activist, Ruggedman is one of the leading men on the #EndSars campaign frontline.

He decided to go further by releasing the song, “Is the Police yoru Friend?”. In the song, Ruggedy baba raps about the the irony of the infamous police slogan, “Police is your friend”.

D’banj – Olopa

In 2005, D’banj dropped his debut album, “No Long Thing”. From the album was “Olopa” a true story of how he and Don Jazzy encountered the police while on their from the club.

He had his windscreen broken, Don Jazzy was charged with a crime that he didn’t do. Situation even got worse when they protested the harrasement.

This post appeared first on Mp3bullet.ng... Read Original post on #EndSars: 5 Nigerian Songs that address the issue of Police Brutality.

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Late Fela Kuti described Music as the weapon of the future and he wasn’t wrong. He was the rebel child of the music industry that made sure to call out the Government with his music, a choice he paid dearly for.

Its quite unfortunate that years later after his death, the situation of things hasn’t changed much.

To give a rundown on why celebration isn’t the focus on the nation’s 60th birthday, Mp3bullet.ng has compiled a list of songs that narrates the sad tales of the country perfectly.

Jaga Jaga – Eedris Abdulkareem

One of the best political commentaries-like song to date, Eedris Abdulkareem describes the country situation as ‘Jaga Jaga’, a Nigerian term which has been used to describe something in a state of chaos or disarray in the song.

It’s unfortunate that despite the fact that this song was released in 2002, it still perfectly describes the Nigerian situation in 2020, eighteen years since it was dropped.

Upon its release in 2002, the song sparked reactions from the Nigerian Populace with the song subsequently banned from being played on the radio by the Federal Government under the administration of the ex-president, Olusegun Obasanjo.

• RELATED NEWS: The 5 Best Nigerian Songs of the 2010s

Plenty Nonsense – Trybesmen

Nearly 20 years ago, Trybesmen, dropped their debut album L.A.G style, following the success of the classic club hit, “Shake Bodi”. The album also housed “Plenty Nonsense”, a heavy-bass set rap song, featuring verses from the group’s earliest members, Freestyle, K.B, and Eldee.

“Plenty Nonsense”, is the Trybesmen’s take on some of the frustrations of being young in Nigerian society.

Following a chorus simply decrying how there are many everyday realities that shouldn’t be a norm, Freestyle, starts off with a story about a typically Nigerian Police checkpoint stop by officers looking for any reason to harass and assault young people seen driving flashy cars.

This situation is still ongoing in this present day even escalating to people getting shot by the police in some cases.

K.B takes the next verse, to church, only to subtly play out a narrative of how blind faith in religion is used to keep the poor, impoverished.

Eldee’s for his part reflects on how the intense competition for public universities left a lot of young people stuck in the JAMB/WAEC limbo between high school and college in the 90s, while also managing to infuse a correlation between marital abuse and poverty.

Bushmeat(Ole) – Sound Sultan ft 2Baba

Sound Sultan paints an abstract look on the corruption games in Nigeria on his 2008 single, “Bushmeat” which features 2Baba and W4.

He sings “One day bushmeat go catch the hunter” before asking people shout Ole which means ‘Thief’ in the chorus.

He talks about the corruption structure in Nigeria and how Nigerians are wallowing in poverty and the Government doesn’t care.

He also laments about the difficulty of getting anything in Nigeria or getting a job or contract unless you have a connection in high places.

2Baba in his verse talks about the unfairness of life as some people are trying to survive while others enjoy it.

• RELATED NEWS: Top 10 Nigerian songs turning 15 in 2020

Mr President- African China

African China is a unique reggae singer who in the early 2000s was known for his socially conscious songs one of which is ‘Mr President’.

‘Mr President’ is a song about the daily struggles of an average Nigerian. African China calls on Nigerian Leaders to lead well.

The singer calls out the Political parties in Nigeria for their destructive manner and the lack of proper infrastructures.

2010(Light Up)- Sound Sultan ft M.I Abaga

As the title depicts, “2010” is a political song released in the year 2010 as a reminder for the Nigerian Government about their promise to provide constant electricity supply by the year 2010.

Soundsultan and M.I speak specifically about the electricity problem and how this has stalled our collective progress as a Nation.

In a plot twist, the Government is still yet to fulfill that promise in 2020.

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Rara- Tekno

In “Rara” Tekno addresses the issue plaguing Nigerians. He begins the song with “My Country People” before he goes on to calls out the bluff of the Nigerian Government complaining of the stories they sell to the citizens.

He then goes on to complain about the electricity situation in Nigeria and the heavy dependence on generators for power supply. He blames greedy people in the Government who will collect contracts for these projects only to keep aside.

In verse 2, Tekno talks about corruption whereby the “big people” take public funds and stash it in offshore accounts and hence cannot be traced before asking them to invest in the country to make it a better place.

This is Nigeria- Falz

One of Falz’s best works ever, “This is Nigeria” is his cover of Childish Gambino’s “This Is America”.

Falz is the son of popular human rights activist and Lawyer, Femi Falarin and which is so no surprise that Falz would have the same idealogy as his father.

“This is Nigeria” is a mirror in which Falz reflects the factors that contribute to Nigeria’s many problems.

The music video which was artistic and well done played out the everyday struggles of Nigerians from Police brutality, to extreme religion practice, corruption, terrorism,

According to Falz, the song “addresses numerous political and social ills”, and is an attempt “to spark a reaction in the positive direction”. The video highlights Nigeria’s issues with violence, political corruption, policing, and organized religion.

• RELATED NEWS: Top 5 Nigerian songs for Motivation

Talk- Falz

In 2019, as the election year drew near, Falz attempted to speak sense in Nigerians with “Talk”.

He addressed critical issues caused by greedy Politicians and warns the Youths and all Nigerians, in general, to speak up for what they truly want.

“Talk” was another of his political commentary. He takes a Jab at MURIC for trying to take him to court for “This is Nigeria”, Politicians, Yahoo boys, pastors of Megachurches, and the President, Buhari.

Promise and Fail- 9ice

In “Promise and Fail” 9ice takes a jab at the ruling political party who has been promising change once they get into government when they were the Opposition party only to get in the seat and are still yet to deliver on their promises.

This post appeared first on Mp3bullet.ng... Read Original post on Nigeria@60: Jaga Jaga, other songs that tell the sad tales of Nigeria.

• SEE ALSO: 4 Songs to Groove to During the Sallah Holiday

The songs released in 2000 were considered fresh and innovative and remain instantly recognizable and classic to this date. These Naija songs are turning 20 years in 2020

Over the last 20 years, the Nigerian Music Industry has also experienced major revolution ushering in a new style, sound, and talent but the classics by Nigerian musicians remain evergreen.

Azadus – You is the one

“You is the One” is a love song by Olalekan Fadeyi who was known by his stage name Azadus. He was signed to Kennis Music and released his self titled album of which the song, “You is the One” was part of.

• SEE ALSO: Top 5 Influential Women in Music

Plantasun Boiz – Don’t you know

Plantashun Boiz was a Nigerian Hip Hop and R’n’B bot group consisting of 2face now known as 2Baba, Faze, and Blackface.

They were undoubtedly the most successful and iconic boy group in Nigeria. In the early period of there career through 1998-2002, they won just about all the awards imaginable in the Nigerian music and social scene before their split prematurely.

The group produced hits songs during their time together but their memorable one is ‘Don’t You Know” from their debut album “Body and Soul: The Begining”.

https://youtu.be/wM35Au_IYRM

Lagbaja – Gra Gra

Veteran Afrobeat Musician, Lagbaja was known for entertaining and socially conscious songs which were always a hit with music lovers.

The Masked Singer was famous for his Saxophone which was an important factor of his unique sound. One of his memorable song, “Gra Gra” was released about 20 years ago.

The song told the story of a fight from Lagbaja’s perceptive and how he responds to the situation. In the song, Lagbaja warns his opponent against looking for trouble and pride.

• SEE ALSO: 4 Music Video Directors That Changed The Face of Music in Nigeria

Maintain Featuring Big Bamo – Ni Bo Lawa

Maintain was a Music duo group consisting of Olu Maintain and his cousin, Tolu Maintain. Later Big Bamo joined them. The group released six albums between 1998 and 2004 with the hit songs “I Catch Cold”, “Domitila” and “Alo” before they separated in 2004.

Their song “Ni Bo Lawa” was released in 2000.

• SEE ALSO: 5 Naija hit songs that were banned by the NBC

TrybesMen – Plenty Nonsense

Trybesmen (also known as Da Trybe) is an African hip-hop group from Lagos, Nigeria. They were described as the pioneers of Hip Hop in Nigeria.

The group was made up of original members Eldee, Kaboom, and Freestyle and later Oladele and TKO joined the group after the departure of Kaboom and Freestyle.

The group dropped their first album, “L.A.G style Volume 1” twenty years ago and one of their memorable song is “Plenty Nonsense”.

The song tackled the Nigerian Government and corruption in a satirical manner and it remains one of the group’s biggest hits.

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