The State of Hip Hop in Nigeria

Nigeria really is the giant of Africa, and definitely the most 'up to date' in fashion and style in the whole African continent, but as much as the music scene is flourishing, the state of Hip Hop in the country is another case. There are a couple of rappers doing there thing and being successful with it, but the bulk of Nigerian rappers are either trapped in the 90s, or those in the bid to infuse the local content into their music, have gone all the way to the left. You have the bulk of rappers that are too rigid with their style, and are stuck with that 80s/90s flow with no space for growth, and then you have rappers like Eldee, Dr Sid and Skales, who are definitely very skilled rappers, who have gone all the way to doing the local sing-song style which is very popular with Nigerian dancehall artists.




You are now left with rappers like M.I, Vector, Naeto C, and Ice Prince who are in the balance. Eventhough the last two mentioned are highly commercially inclined with their styles, you can't take away the fact that they are not out of the boarder of what is called rap...they deliver the 16 bars the right way. As much as Modenine is considered the best rapper in the country, i think he is too rigid. My apaologies to all his fans, but I am just being honest. He is not well rounded. Like I know KRS 1 is a skilled rapper, but he is not well rounded...that's how I see Mode. He has tried to break out of that box in recent times, and while some of the efforts were cool, in general, I don't think he is ever going to be that kind of artist. I listened to his Occupy The Throne mixtape, and i still feel this way.



Another notable person is Terry Tha Rapman, but i think he needs to put in more work. I was actually rooting for him for the title of the best rapper in Nigeria, but his latest single (I Like Your Style), I saw that he hadn't found that balance; the song was a cheap attempt to make a commercial song...he crossed too much to the other side. I still give the crown to M.I. "M" has been able to deliver song after song, album after album with that balance, and until someone comes along that is competent and well rounded enough, he would continue to wear that crown. Some would say Naeto C deserves to have that crown...or maybe Vector.



First of all, I think Vector is brilliant rapper. From his lyrics, you can see that he is actually very intelligent. His wordplay is cool...nice punchlines...super cool double enterdres, but I can't get over that voice. He sounds too much like Jay-Z. In fact, he stole Jay's whole style, and that alone disqualifies him. As for Naeto, he has two very big qualities that work well for him; he knows how to pick hot beats and make lace them with catchy hooks, and he knows how to ride those beats, but his lyrics are not super enough.



Sauce Kid on the hand is not just serious enough. He would have been that perfect blend if he put in more work. Ghino is another rapper worth mentioning. He also has that perfect blend. But I think he also needs to put in more work. But I have always liked him, and he never disappoints on tracks. And as for the females, I would start paying attention to them when they stop sounding like Eve or Nicki Minaj.