Generally, the Nigerian music industry had a very good 2014. From the supreme reign of Davido, Yemi Alade, Don jazzy and Oritsefemi, to the strong emergence and presence of Runtown, Cynthia Morgan and Patoranking; the introduction of Rookies like Lil Kesh, Kiss Daniel; and Mavin Rookies, Reekado Banks, Di'ja and Korede Bello.The beautiful albums by Phyno, Flavour, M.I and Psquare; the average performances of Timaya, Kcee, Tiwa savage, Ice prince, Jmartins, Chidinma, Wande Coal, Waje, Omawunmi and Inyanya.The hardwork of Olamide and Illbliss. The poor run of WizKid,down to another flop album from our ever respected 2face Idibia, and finally with the struggle and almost disappearance of D'banj.
I will not go into the boring voyage of commenting on all the musicians even though I'm tempted to, but I will pick some musicians in each category that will enable me deliver my realistic review of the industry in 2014.
There is really nothing much to say about the rulers of the industry in 2014 as mentioned above, they were just outstanding and could not really be ignored by award organisers, both local and international, apart from the very obvious snub of Davido at the Channel O video Awards. More hardwork please.
The resilience of Runtown not to be a one hit star was obvious and he accomplished that by giving us a few more hits. Patoranking is just enjoying all the love we have for his talent and delivery on both his tracks and the ones he was featured on, particularly Sheyi's "Murder" and Wizzypro's "Emergency". Skales, wow! I'm really happy for the young man.He finally announced himself fully and had his share of shows from his hits. Cynthia Morgan, the young lady came in with her 'strong' lines, uniqueness and energy as we rightly experienced with her Headies performance.Very good!Great talent!Neatly harnessed by Jude Okoye and spotted by Joy Tongo,if I'm right. Worthy of mention in this category are new producers WizzyPro and Tspize.They had a very good year.
We had lots of rookies this year, from the One Hit Stars(although we still expect more this year) to Don jazzy's rookies with their effect on super hit " Doro bucci" and "Adaobi". Their personal efforts had Di'ja standout for me with her track " Awwww" which can still get bigger this year.
M.I stood out with his album.After a very long wait, he knew he didn't have to fail.He delivered almost perfectly; with good videos.We will enjoy M.I in 2015 although I have not forgiven him for not shooting a video for "African Rapper" ft Flavour. Flavour pulled a 'Beyonce' on us.It worked and of course the album sold very well just as hyped.So those doubting can swallow their voter's card. Mr. Alobam had a very good year, he was on almost every track that was a featuring.His NGNG album performed very well in the market, although his romance with video director Clarence Peters has not given us very good videos. The bosses themselves P-square hit us with a couple of singles then the album came, they have always had the highest sales when it comes to albums in Nigeria and Africa at large.So the sales have never been in question. The only issue is whether the album songs that match their status.Some were in the affirmative;others felt it could be better. The collaboration with T.I didn't do as well as they expected I bet, but in all, they delivered as usual and have now sealed their status as the most consistent.
The average performers had some songs do well, but with their status and fan base, they didn't meet up with expectations. May be 2015 will be super for some of them, we pray so.
The work rate of Olamide and Oga boss himself was very obvious in 2014. Olamide, of course had hits all over, from his previous album and singles then came the 'Street OT' album, another album in a short while. He says the songs are too much to keep for later(Timaya said that some years back), his fans are enjoying his voice everywhere although industry professionals think it may not be wise. We wish him well though. Oga boss worked harder this year as I have always expected him to.He released a couple of singles and videos which were good and had big tracks like "WTF" and "Bank Alerts". For those who think he should have been on the 'Most Gifted' list by notjustOk, I will repeat;"swallow your voter's card" in protest. With good videos for "Bank Alerts" remix and "Jamo" ft Cynthia Morgan, he could start 2015 on a high.
Fans would have been wondering why I called WizKid's year poor. Well, realistically that is what it was.No apologies.He started the year with a not-too-good video in my opinion for his late 2013 hit track "On my matter" went on to release a not-too-bad album. The album sold even though it was not released with much confidence from WizKid himself. It was like he knew the album wasn't that good but had to release it. The hottest track from the album, "In My Bed", a party jam,wasn't coherent at all.We don't expect much sense from music these days, but this one was too bad.It is what I call 'guff and goof' music. How did God, Fashola, Tinubu and others find their way to his bed? I'm tempted to agree with Samclef about w**d affecting him, this song and his new dreaded look (I heard he has removed it, Thank you Jesus!) supports that claim. He ended the year by releasing wasted songs every Monday for his followers.
They will come after my head on this one, lol. Last year was one of the worst in the music career of celebrated and respected music icon 2face.A flop album again? How possible? He made it possible, this one was so bad that after a while,it's not been possible for us to find the hit track as we used to. It is also hard to say, but point blank the album didn't sell. He even went ahead trying to spoil his best album ever by trying to do remixes, with foreign instrumentals! Oh! After the first download, I couldn't go further. In fact, to further tell us his fans the truth, he didn't deserve the best RnB award he got last year.Yes, not even a nomination in any category did he deserve although I don't mind if we give him an award for his humility.But he should not enjoy this music award favours at the expense of these young ones. Let Annie just keep that one in her own empty shelf, as a wife; she deserved to collect that one. The featuring of all those 'fake oyibo' on the album didn't help either, if he needs foreign collaboration, he can go and ask from those who do it better. The only good he did musically last year was the remix to "Rainbow" ft Tpain. In addition, he and Annie are indeed a beautiful couple.
Even his fans know this one and that is why they encouraged him at the end of the year by reminding him of his non-musical achievements. You already know I refer to D'banj, banga lee and 'Eja' because I have decided to remove the 'Nla'. Since after his 2012 monster hit "Oliver twist", he has struggled obviously to sustain his status as a hit maker.His DKM album didn't do well at homehere; in fact I fought to get a copy, not because it sold out but because there was no demand, so no need for supply. I decided to start from 2012 because I would be really harsh if I settle for 2014 alone. "Top of the World" track was a success, though after that in 2013, he proudly and confidentlyattempted to flex muscle, he released a track "Finally" to rival P-square's heavy tune "Personally".You can find the result of that 'coded' competition on YouTube. In 2014 he came again with another 'coded' competition, this time with his former label mate and producer Don jazzy.In an attempt to rival " Doro Bucci", he released "Omini". We all know how that ended, that is if it started at all.
Underneath all these were some singles and videos that didn't get airplayed,that is apart from trying to steal into someone else's instant fame which he does very well. Ask Genevieve Nnaji. Still on that, it has not worked in recent time though as he has spoilt some successful songs in an attempt to remix them and share in their glory. Ask Inyanya, Olamide and recently Oritsefemi. As for stealing into instant fame, "Finally" video with Wizkid didn't work. I only hope this new video with Tayo of BBA will work. By the way, the track sounds nice, so let's try to hype it so he can bounce back. Kudos to him. As a business man he enjoyed foreign endorsements and his agricultural hustle paid well in 2014, with his garri in the market.
To the fans, these words about our much loved superstars hurt, but they are true. So if you cannot accept my opinion, ignore it. The matured artistes and their associates and fans will understand this harsh reality. I only want the best for my Nigerian music and its superstars.
Written by By C.G Ifenkwe
Entertainment lawyer
