The year 2014 could be described as the year
the stars aligned and we were blessed with a boatload of albums from top notch
artists. From MI’s concept album, P Square’s Double trouble, Tuface’s
Ascension, Wizkid’s Ayo, Phyno’s NGNG, Olamide’s Street OT to Yemi Alade’s King
of queens just to name a few. What could possibly be left to look forward to in
2015? The truth is, there is actually a lot to get excited about.
Here are 10 reasons to celebrate in advance
10. ORITSEFEMI
ALBUMS – FLOG
POLITICIAN {ELEWON} (2007), WICKED WORLD (2009), UNFADEABLE (2012), MUSICAL
TALIBAN (2012)
ALBUM TITLE – DOUBLE
WAHALA
ALBUM # - 5
LABEL – MSN/AVATAR
Oritsefemi
has had quite the career over the last decade, starting out in Ajegunle with
Junglist before embarking on a solo career that has produced 4 albums, Spurred
on by a remake of late afro beat king Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s “double wahala”
the Warri born artiste finally established himself in the big leagues in 2014,
a remix of the same song featuring D’banj and the Fliptyce produced “igbeyawo”
promptly followed while singles like the Puffy T produced “culture”, the
Davido assisted “sexy ladies”, “body & soul” and “redi
dance” also gained massive airplay. Guest appearances on “pass you by”
with Black magic, “inshi gini” with Seriki, “Oya now” with Joe el & “asiko” with Artquake has
Oritsefemi set up for the biggest album of his career so far.
9. BURNA BOY
ALBUMS – L.I.F.E (2013)
ALBUM TITLE – TBD
ALBUM # - 2
LABEL –
How do you follow up a critically acclaimed debut? If you are Burna,
you get back in the studio ASAP and then release couple of hit singles such as
“don gorgon”, “roses (na so e suppose be)” and “won da mo”
ft D’banj to keep your buzz strong in the street. When not changing management
or walking off his erstwhile record label, Burna still put in work on Wande coal “amorawa”, DJ Spinall “gba
gbe e”, R2bees “somebody loves you”, Sarkodie “special someone”
and D’banj “oya wait”. As if that was not enough, the Spellz produced “check
and balance” was unleashed on an unsuspecting public thereby setting up the
foundation for another outstanding body of work from Oluwaburna.
8. CYNTHIA MORGAN
ALBUMS – NIL
ALBUM TITLE – TBD
ALBUM # - 1
LABEL – NORTHSIDE
MUSIC INC
The
Edo state born dancehall/reggae sensation shot to limelight on the heels of her
collaboration with Jhybo on “run dia mouth” and thereafter secured a
deal with Jude okoye’s northside music. Judging by the blazing singles she has
on constant rotation nationwide, it is safe to say that the Okoye’s have struck
gold. From the crowd pleaser “lead me on” to the fierce “i am taken”
to the Tony Ross produced party starter “popori” to “kuchi kuchi”
and the chart topping love ballad “don’t break my heart”, the super talented
singer has solidified her status as one of the best upcoming acts in the
country. Lil kesh’s “shoki (female version)” had her going toe to toe
with Eva & Chidinma who are no slouches in their own right, while she shone
alongside Illbliss on “jamo”. Her debut album slated for release in the
second quarter will surely be a revelation.
7. SEYI SHAY
ALBUMS – NIL
ALBUM TITLE – TBD
ALBUM # - 1
LABEL – FLYTIME MUSIC
Every other year a female artiste gets her
breakout year, 2013 was Tiwa Savage’s year and 2014 was Yemi Alade’s year, 2015
is already looking like Seyi Shay’s. Contrary to what most might think, the
Genevieve pink ball ambassador is no green horn as she has had the privilege of
touring with Beyonce and working with her father Matthew Knowles, not to
mention writing songs for former spice girl, Melanie C and also writing and
producing songs on the soundtrack of Konami’s video game “crime life :gang
wars”. Preparation for her debut has seen the release of several chart
topping singles such as “loving your way”, “irawo”, “chairman”
ft Kcee, “crazy” ft Wizkid, “ragga ragga”, “killing me softly”
ft Timaya, “airbrush” & “murda” ft Patoranking &
shaydee. With A list producers such as
Dokta Frabz, Cobhams Asuquo, Del B, Legendary beats, TY mix & J Sleek on
board, Seyi Shay’s album will most definitely be a pleasant and solid offering.
6. REMINISCE
ALBUMS – BOOK OF RAP
STORIES (2012), ALAGA IBILE (2013)
ALBUM TITLE – BABA
HAFUSA
ALBUM # - 3
LABEL – LES ROUGES
ROSES/EDGE RECORDS
Remilekun Safaru saw his stock rise considerably following the release
of his outstanding sophomore effort “Alaga Ibile” which spawned hits like “sunkere”,
“fantasi”, “eleniyan” ft Wizkid & “daddy” ft Davido.
Despite dedicating his junior album to his daughter Hafusa, it certainly won’t
be filled with nursery rhymes as evident on the street single “tesojue”,
“let it be known (freestyle)” and Sarz’s “ise yen”. Guest verses on Ruggedman’s “8 figures”,
Phenom’s “ashewo”, Morell’s “wazobia”, Hakym’s “salamualekum
(remix)”, Black magic’s “Africa (remix)”, Sean Tizzle’s “kilogbe
(remix)” and Jaywon’s “tana wole (remix)” just to name a few has
kept his momentum going. Alongside
Olamide and Phyno, Remi has got this whole indigenous rap thing on lockdown and
in case you still doubt his versatility, listen to his verse on Naeto C’s “owu
no dey touch”.
5. PATORANKING
ALBUMS – NIL
ALBUM TITLE – TBD
ALBUM # - 1
LABEL – FOSTON MUSIK
In an industry over saturated by candy pop songs and recycled beats, it
was no surprise when Patoranking’s debut single “alubarika” featuring
Timaya caught on and spread like wildfire. Just as critics were about to write
him off as a flash in the pan, the dancehall star wowed with his patois flow on
DJ hazan’s “early momo” and further impressed with the release of his
follow up single “girlie o” and the remix which featured Tiwa Savage. Patoranking’s
burgeoning career further blossomed with the release of singles such as “friends”,
“happy day” and “daniella whine” and culminated in him winning the
next rated award at the Headies 2014. Patoranking’s debut looks to be heading
for ground breaking status and missing that will still be a much needed breath
of fresh air.
4. MAVINS
ALBUMS – NIL
ALBUM TITLE – TBD
ALBUM # - 1
LABEL – MAVIN RECORDS
Following up on the success of Dr Sid’s “Siduction” and Tiwa’s “Once
upon a time”, Don Jazzy and his super talented crew made up of sibling
D’prince, Tiwa savage, Dr. sid, Di’ja, Reekado banks and Korede bello dropped “dorobucci”
which was unarguably the biggest song of 2014. They followed that up with “adaobi”,
“looku looku” and the Nigerian solidarity single “arise”. With the individual singles from the likes of
Di’ja “awww” and “yaro (remix)” ft ice prince, Korede bello “african
princess” and “cold outside”, Reekado banks “chop am” and “turn
it up” ft Tiwa savage & D’prince “Oga titus” turning up the
heat. All bets are on the Doros to have
one of the biggest albums of 2015.
3. D’BANJ
ALBUMS – NO LONG THING
(2005), RUNDOWN (2006), ENTERTAINER (2008), D KINGS MEN (2013)
ALBUM TITLE – TIMELESS
ALBUM # - 5
LABEL – DB
RECORDS/G.O.O.D MUSIC/MERCURY RECORDS
Even though we were teased with the idea of a new D’banj album in 2014,
it never came to fruition and instead what we got was the Burna boy assisted “oya
wait”, the deevee produced workout song “omini”, the soundtrack to Chimamanda
Adichie’s half of a yellow sun movie “bother you”, “gifted” featuring DJ
jimmy jatt and the chest thumping banger “alaye” which all showcased
banga lee at his finest. As ONE ambassador he also played an integral role in
Africa’s biggest collaboration of 2014 “cocoa na chocolate” and while
rumours of being heavily indebted swirled in the media, the Apple/Beats by Dre
African ambassador released the radio friendly “feeling the nigga” to
cap off the year and ushered in the New Year with the remix featuring Konvict
music boss, Akon. If all the
aforementioned tracks are anything to go by, we should be expecting a more
mature sound and a well rounded album from kiniun funfun.
2. WANDE COAL
ALBUMS –MUSHIN 2
MOHITS (2009)
ALBUM TITLE – BLACK
DIAMOND
ALBUM # - 2
LABEL – BLACK DIAMOND
ENTERTAINMENT
Saying Wande’s sophomore album is long overdue is the understatement of
all understatements. It’s been 5 long years since the release of his
outstanding debut “Mushin to Mohits” and the years have not been so kind
to WC. In spite of all his personal travails and label woes, he has so far
managed to stay relevant. From failed comeback bids in the form of “the
kick”, “private trips”, “Go low” and “been long you saw
me”, The chocolate skinned MC has re emerged with the infectious Maleek
berry produced hit single “baby hello”, the Shizzi produced and Skuki
assisted “aye dun” which is gaining massive airplay nationwide while
singles like “rotate”, “amorawa” ft Burna boy and “baby face”
have kept his buzz strong. Guest appearances on Ruggedman’s “agidi” and
Flavour’s “wake up” have done nothing to hurt his cause. You don’t go
from Mushin to mohits, mohits to mavin and fading from mavin to black without
having a lot to get off your chest. It is safe to say we are about to find out
how bright WC’s diamond really is.
1. DAVIDO
ALBUMS –OMO BABA OLOWO
(2013)
ALBUM TITLE – TBD
ALBUM # - 2
LABEL – HKN GANG
There is no denying the fact that Davido has risen to become one of the
best artists in Africa since the release of his debut “Omo baba olowo”
which spawned several hits like “back when” ft Naeto C, “all of you”,
“ekuro” and “dami duro”. In the quest to follow up the successful
debut, the HKN gang boss didn’t rest on his oars and his hard work paid
immediate dividends in the form of hit singles such as “gobe”, “skelewu”
and “one of a kind”, but it wasn’t until the T spize produced smash
single “aye” rocketed up the charts that people started to notice. Not
one to be contented with being good when being great was achievable, Davido
teamed up with continental heavyweights Mafikizolo, DJ Arafat and Uhuru for “tchelete”,
“naughty” and “skelewu (remix)”
respectively. Not even the negativity surrounding his rumoured beef with
Wizkid could slow his role as he carted home various awards ranging from The
Headies (song of the year & artiste of the year), BET (Best
international act, Africa), Ghana music awards (African artiste of the
year), MAMA (Best male artiste & Artiste of the year), NEA (Male
artiste of the year & Hottest single of the year) etc. Davido’s music
has become simply irresistible and while he yet remains the darling of Nigerian
pop, 2015 might be the year of his coronation as king.
