These four stars might be doing different genres of music but they have one thing in common, they are all young and remarkable and are making Nigerians proud. Ada Igboanugo reveals to you the future generation of Nigerian music. {contributors Kayinsola Doherty, irepnaija.com}Mo Cheddah
Real name Olamodupe Olaoluwa describes her genre of music as hip-hop/pop. The three hundred level student of the University of Lagos started her music career like most others- at a very young age but so far has done over 50 performances as she started way back in church and counts it as the beginning of her career but this 19year old became ‘Mo Cheddah’ at the age of 15. ‘At that point I did a couple of shows but not professional ones as Knight House has been working on me’
Signed to Knight House as she noted, this femcee has worked her way through in the musical industry as a young female rapper and is not letting her male counterparts weigh her down.
She proves to be good in what she does and when asked how she said, ‘I’m posh and extreme. I’m not close to where I want to be right now so I have to keep going until I get there. It’s a long road from here’
Her performances in the recent year have been remarkable including that of the Future Awards always warranting a standing ovation after every one of them.
She has done a couple of songs that can be found on the website. This young star is set to revolutionise the mindset of musicians in the industry and is here to stay.
S.K.A.L.E.S
The newly signed EME kid, the music label credited for one of Nigeria’s most sought after artistes, is determined to and confident of winning the American Grammys and is not hesitant in letting us know as his hit single, ‘heading for the Grammy’ says it all.
Born on the 1st of April as John Raoul, 18 year old rapper, song writer and performer has wooed many audiences around Nigeria with his unique rap style and charm on stage; from the Zain Tru Search talent competition in 2008, to the Soundcity Blast concert in 2009 where he astonished the crowd with a rap acapella.
The journey for Skales begun way back in 2000, when he started writing his own songs and honing his rap skills in Kaduna, where he grew up. Between 2007 and 2008, this adventurous young man travelled to Jos as often as he could to work with some of Nigeria’s finest producers, Jeremiah Gyang and Jesse Jagz. In 2008, he entered for the Zain Tru Search competition and emerged as the winner for the North Central region, and then he came to Lagos.
His first single, ‘Must Shine’ enjoyed good airplay early 2009 and made it to the Rhythm FM Top 7 Jamz at 7 in Lagos for some weeks and then it was also the ‘Hit Song of the Week’ on Rhythm FM in Jos and Abuja. Skales has gone on to record and write well over 20 songs and has collaborated with some of the finest music acts in Nigeria such as Eldee Tha Don, Jeremiah Gyang, Banky W and Knighthouse.
Though with a rather built stature, The 200-level student of Office Management and Technology at the Leads City University, Ibadan, Oyo has a rather ironically quiet persona from what a rapper is supposed to be but he defends himself saying that’s just the outer side of him, he’s a much more lively person.
He is set to bring a fresh vibe to the rap music industry which would be a relief as to what is being done in the industry today and so far he is doing us proud.
He recently performed at the Kennis Easter Music Fiesta at the Oriental Hotel and will also be performing at several upcoming events including the Dynamix/Etisalat concert in Unilag
Eva Alordiah
The fast rising femcee is a graduate of computer Science from Bowen University. As to why she didn’t specialise in her area of study, “I was once in love with computers but I always wanted to be a rapper. School was just a hindrance. I don’t know how I ended up finishing a degree in Computer Science”.
But now she focused on doing music full time and nothing’s going to stop her this time. Though Being an independently signed artiste i.e. she’s not signed into any record label, Eva has worked with several Nigerian artistes such as ill bliss, Whiz kid, Kel, Id Cabasa, etc, not to forget Wyclef Jean {in the future} proving herself to be competent in the industry and ready for whatever she’s thrown with. In 2008, she hooked up with Tha Suspect to produce “A Millie” remake of M.I’s “Safe” and this gained massive airplay in and out of Lagos. Teaming up with Cartiair in 2009, she was featured on the remix of the popular 'Owo ati Swagger' which went on to become a massive hit.
Eva isn’t so much of a known name in Nigeria yet like its counterparts probably except online and when asked on this she still pressed on the issue of schooling being a major hindrance but to her success wasn’t far away as she immediately kicked off her career in the music industry immediately after school. ‘I was getting finished with school when my first song came out’
Born Eva Alordiah, Eva hails from Delta state and has been surrounded by music since childhood. Being around her brothers, she grew up listening to hip-hop music and has since being at the forefront of entertainment; be it through dancing, acting, music or anything that requires her to be on stage. Musically influenced by the likes of Kanye West, Lil Wayne, M.I, Jay Z, Eminem and B.I.G amongst others, there’s no doubt that these models haven’t influenced her as her flow depicts such.
The talented Rapper, writer and performer amongst other things is currently promoting her debut single titled 'relentless'. It's been released online and is enjoying good reviews.
Her works can be found at www.evaalordiah.tk
Whiz kid
He’s done songs like ‘holla at your boy’, ‘wind it’ both songs produced by V.D and DJ Klem respectively and he’s not stopping just yet but this ‘whiz kid’ didn’t just jump into limelight.
Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun a.k.a Wiz kid is a talented singer, song writer and performer. He kicked off his singing career as early as 11 when he recorded his first song with one of Nigeria’s celebrated music icons, OJB Jezreel. He went on to record a 7-track album, which he released in his church in Lagos, under the name of Lil’ Prinz; this was just a stint that earned him a remarkable deal of encouragement and recognition from family, his church and other artistes.
Years later in 2006, with a new name, which he picked up from a very funny incident, Wizkid got into the studio to record again; this time with HMan (OJB’s younger brother) and Ugly on a song titled ‘Naija Boy’, produced by OJB Jezreel. He went on to perfect his singing skills with influences from the likes of OJB Jezreel, Ruffman, Naeto C, Ikechukwu and many others. By 2008, he had developed a unique reggae style and had worked with some of the finest artistes in Nigeria such as Sound Sultan, Ruffman, Nyore, Durella, Kel, TBase etc.
Wizkid’s collaboration with M.I on “Fast Money, Fast Cars” on the Talk About It album, drew major attention to his distinct voice and singing style. From there, he went on to feature on Kel’s Turn by Turn, the 2008 Barcelos radio jingle and many others.
In 2009, he got signed to Banky W’s Empire Mates Entertainment, featured on and co-wrote some of the songs on Banky W’s The W Experience album. Wiz kid explained that things didn’t start out that easy as his role model now didn’t even know who he was even as he sat beside him but now they are so close people are beginning to notice.
Wizkid recently dropped a freestyle track online, titled 'Tease Me'. It was something he did in the studio off the top of his head. It's currently getting a lot of reviews online and is slowly getting good rotation at clubs.
His first single, ‘Holla At Your Boy’ though yet to be officially released is also creeping in on various charts around Nigeria
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