ARTICLE: The Unappreciated Rap music in Nigeria.

There can only be two reasons behind you doing music, its either you are doing it because you love doing what you’re doing and you’re not bothered about the money and fame it brings along when it pays, Or you’re doing because you just want to be rich and famous. These two reasons can either make you or break you. We are going to be focusing on rap music here on this article and its value to the Nigerian music industry.

Today, we do not have a rapper in the top 5 Nigerian artistes (Wizkid, Davido, Dbanj, Tuface, Psquare), although Banky w recently started spitting some hot bars on some tracks, but he is still widely recognized as a singer. Now what are we driving at? We are driving at the fact the Nigerian Music Market as a whole only responds to songs that bring in profit not only to the artiste but to the management and every other body involved. It is clear and obvious that Nigerians want to dance; they want the type of music that can sweep them off their feet, Club bangers! Dancehall tracks! That’s what 90% of Nigerians are willing to spend their money on.
We are now in an era where rap music is not as appreciated as it should be. The reason is because there are way too many rappers in the underground music world, and for the fact that the Nigerian method of rap is an easy thing to do, many rappers have developed over time in similarity. So with this high level of congestion, this has made it very hard for record labels to appreciate the value of rap music in the industry unlike foreign countries.

Wizkid, Davido and the likes have succeeded beyond normal because they have consistently satisfied Nigerians with dancehall tracks and club hits, not only Nigerians but the clubs, the radio stations etc. But we should not forget there are other rap artistes that are also entertaining like Vector, Ice prince, M.I., Lynxxx, KingZamir, Olamide etc. The only reason why the category of these rappers made it this far is  purely because none of them sound alike, and they have this Uniqueness in their style of music, which is the exact key to breaking into the industry as a rapper. Don’t forget! These guys rap but they always try to add some melody to their rap and make it look all playful and nothing too serious. That’s the point, a large amount of we Nigerians don’t entertain rappers taking sh!t too serious on their verses, You can’t  blow if you keep on acting all rick ross,  Kendrick lamar, j cole on your tracks. Different moods are applied to different tracks, depending on the concept. But in terms of the dancehall tracks we are talking about, you can’t apply foreign rap to them and expect Nigeria to appreciate you, Even if youre a rapper, find a way to sing in between your lines and play with your lyrics. Punch lines are meant for hardcore rap artistes, its no longer a thing of necessity to rappers.

With sincerity, If you list out 20 nigerian songs that really hit just this year. You would find out that none were rap songs or none of the tracks had two rap verses on it! Kukere by iyanya, Baddest boy by the EME crew, Dami duro by Davido, implication by tuface, personally by psquare and many more. It is very clear that only groovy songs are saluted and just a few people appreciate Rap music and those are the same people who go ahead to cop Born sinner by jcole or Yeezus by Kanye west online.

Music is no longer dependent on Rap like it used to be. Rap used to be the spice added to a track to make things sound much cooler, because not everyone was able to fix words together in a sequence to make meaning. But now it’s the other way round in Nigeria, because the population of rappers is now far more than the population of singers, that what makes it dependent on singers. Not everyone can sing like Praiz or Bez, Not everyone can sing like wizkid or sean tizzle or davido. But almost everyone can rap! Even Banky w can now raise his shoulders to some rappers, despite the fact that he’s a well known singer. Rappers now depend on singers for their hooks and back ups most of the time, and there is absolutely no way a rapper would drop a solo dancehall track. HOW? only if he did something exceptional on it. So when a singer is spotted to have that quality, He/she is usually more valued than a rapper that has equal quality. I am not trying to say rap is now bullsh!T, but even if you want to venture into rap music, you should have that exceptional and unique ability to showcase on your tracks, because that is 70% of what you need to succeed as a rapper in Nigeria.

But this should only affect you if your reason for doing music is to be rich and famous. If its not, then keep on doing what you love. if it is the rap music, Go on! As long as your passion and your music are in connection, because there is no greater feeling than getting paid for doing what you love to do best. That’s if your music eventually pleases your listeners. My reason for cooking up this article is just to open your eyes to the true picture that shows the value of rap music in Nigeria. I speak the truth from my perspective and I hope every upcoming rap act reads this and take to my advice, that uniqueness is a very key thing to an upcoming rap artiste in Nigeria!

Once again, I am Adese Ifeoluwa David (Head of Spankz Online Media), And I hope to bring you more helpful articles to you and your music career. Please visit us from time to time, There are always new stuffs to share with you. Thank you & God bless.

Adese Ifeoluwa David

Head of SpankzOnline Media.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014