Nigeria is a country to watch out for when it comes to emerging hip hop acts. My friend always disagreed with people saying hip hop is dead, and said what they ought to be saying is that it has moved to another continent…Africa. Nigeria has always been the Giant of Africa, and it is evident when it also comes to music. You just have to consider how many U.S based rappers have their routes here in Nigeria; Chamillionaire, Tyler the Creator, Wale, Akinyele…The country is a haven for talent. Right now, in the midst of all the rappers doing their thing, and breaking down boarders, there is a constant argument on who is the best rapper in Nigeria.
Let me also add that the forthcoming B.E.T Awards for 2011 (Oct 11) would have a slot for Nigerian rappers doing their thing on the cypher. I think this (the cypher) has always been a major event to look out for when the annual awards hold, and the fact that it is going to be featuring Nigerians this year would just show the whole world what they are missing.
Okay, enough of the props, and back to the reason of my writing this article, which is to zero down on who could be considered the best rapper in Nigeria. I am going to base the criteria on lyrical content, flow, commercial achievement, and versatility. Naeto C, Terry Da Rapman, Modenine, Ruggedman, M.I, Sauce Kid, Ikechukwu, Ice Prince,and Eldee D Don are the notable emcees that always seem to make a lot of people’s list of who they consider to be the best rapper in the country. I am going to eliminate rappers one by one till there is one rapper left.
Ruggedman and Modenine are the pioneers of the rap game in Nigeria, and they had a highly publicized beef a couple of years ago, but since then, they have both not had the weight they once had in the hip hop scene. The former was the more commercial one, and the latter paid more attention to lyrics. Let’s just say that at this point they are like how Rakim and Big Daddy Kanewere in the early 90s when biggie, tupac, and nas were blowing up; respected but not in the present scene. So, for that reason, they are both off the list.
Ice Prince is the golden child right now, with the success of his Oleku single last year and Superstarin 2011, he has become the people’s favorite. He appears on more features than any other rapper at this point, but he doesn’t have an album out, and we can’t judge him off two songs, which are technically commercial songs. And we also cannot judge him based on the dozen or more guest appearances he has been on, because, really, those were also majorly commercial tracks. We can’t say if he is able to deliver the same greatness over and over again, track after track, and on different subject maters, with different concepts. For that reason, he is off my list.
Ikechukwu is the next rapper under the lens. I can remember back in early 2006, when he was just getting on the scene, after he and his friend Naeto C had returned to the motherland to get their rap thing going; I went for a show with a friend of mine, and that was actually the first time I saw him perform. He blessed the crowd with some of the illest flows, and some of which had not been heard on radio. I started looking out for him after that, because I knew he loved the art, and he wanted to give his best. He has released three albums since then, and I have to say that along the line, he lost it. That’s all I can say. I believe he can get it back, if he tries to focus on how he started out, before he began trying too hard appeal to too many people and lost the art…before he got that horrible accent he now uses.
I am going to mash Eldee and Sauce Kid up to go next. Eldee D Don is also one of the pioneers of hip hop in Nigeria. As far back as 1999, he had a rap crew called the trybes men, with Kabom and Freestyle as the other members. They delivered an equivalent of what Nigerians saw on MTV, but with a local blend to it. The group disbanded sometime in the mid-00s, and Eldee went on to do his solo thing. Throughout his career, he has always been respected for bringing the real hip hop to the table, but most recently, I don’t think he can be classified a rapper anymore. Although he still kills it on any track he gets on, he is more of a sing song kind of rapper right now. And that’s the same thing that happened to Sauce Kid…after his mixtape (Monelylong: The Mixtape Best of Both Worlds) blew people away in 2006, he faded into oblivion, and when he got himself together, he started doing what I still cannot put a label on…of course he has killed it on many tracks, but it is obvious he is not serious with it. He finally dropped his debut in 2010, and it didn’t live up to the glory of his Mixtape. So, these two emcee’s are off the list.
We are left with Terry Da Rapman, Naeto C and M.I. Terry Da Rapman, although not as popular as the other two rappers left on the list, is just as much a lyrical heavy-weight. He has one album (Boys Are Not Smiling- 2010) out, but has been on the scene since the early 00s. He spits witty lines, but still manages to intertwine them with deep lyrics. He knows the basics of rap, and he more than delivers. His story telling skills are on point, he is versatile, his flow is not boring, but he doesn’t have as much material as the other two on the list…so, he is off.
Naeto C is over Terry Da Rapman on my list majorly off the work he has put in since he dropped his debut in 2008 (U Know My “P”). His commercial success, the smash singles he has dropped, the popularity…but really, that is where it stops. Because, I think if Terry works just as hard and has the kind of opportunities Naeto has, he would stand out better; Of course, maybe not in the public eye, but in the circle of hip hop enthusiast.
It is clear, at this point to say that M.I is the best rapper in Nigeria- like he said himself on a track off his first album, ‘I ain’t saying I’m the best, I’m just asking, who’s better.’ Really, ask yourself- who is better than M.I? Or at least, who has shown to be better? He has constantly showed and proved that he is the best. His first album, Talk About Itwas the most anticipated of any rap album in the history of Nigerian hip hop. I know that, not only because that’s what everybody on the streets was talking about at that time, but because I also have a shop where I sell CD’s, and demand for it was crazy.
The Kid studied the game, and came with what people had been longing for. He is lyrically fit; he is versatile; he has enjoyed huge commercial success, and he is always on-point with the flow. A lot of people might pick flaws from his style, but what he makes up for with delivery; lyrics, concept, and versatility outweigh the negative. Even though he watered down his lyrics a bit on his second album (M.I 2) to reach a bigger audience, he still is on top of things. I say it again- M.I is The Best Rapper in Nigeria.
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