TOP 10 MOST SLEPT ON ARTISTS IN NIGERIA

   There is no doubt that Nigeria has been on the map in terms of music with most Nigerian artist gaining international recognition and collabs from international artistes from around the world. In the world of music there's always the growing need that some artist needs that recognition and this term is widely referred to as being "slept on", which indicates that an artist is too good but doesn't have enough recognition or fame among listeners. Without doubt Nigeria has seen a lot of musical talent within the years from the likes of Wizkid, Burna Boy, Davido etc. which has seen Nigeria been put in talks of being a musical nation with the growing need for listeners to tap into our genre "Afro-beats". But regardless, most Nigerian artist are still being slept on mainly due to their genre or uniquely their sound, also these slept on artist some times have seen breakthroughs in recognition and fame through collaborations with popular artist. Such artistes include Tems; which saw her breakthrough to the Nigerian musical scene and international scene with a feature on Wizkid's most decorated song Essence and also on Drake's track Fountains,  Buju; his breakthrough coming from a feature from notable artist like Zlatan & Burna Boy. But we are not here to talk about break through but rather those slept on artist that deserve some recognition.

  These are VibeHub's most slept on Nigerian artist which are ranked;

10. PRETTYBOY D-O, (Genre; Alte)

               Donald Ofik Le Omura professionally known as PrettyBoy D-O is a Nigerian Alte (Alternative) artist which has been on the musical scene since 2012. Pretty Boy is massively unique in his Alte sound which he calls "Culte" which is a mixture of both street music and Alte sound and he backs it up with his wide range raps and singing. If you are a music lover that wants to explore a wide range of sounds, PrettyBoy D-O should be your go to for  and this makes him so slept on and also the Alte genre generally. 

     Notable Recommendations from VibeHub if you want to listen to PrettyBoy D-O include;

i. PrettyBoy D-O ft. Tim Lyre - Odeshi

ii. PrettyBoy D-O ft Santi - Pull Up

iii PrettyBoy D-O ft Olamide - Wetin You Smoke

iv Wildfire (EP)

v. Everything Pretty (Album)

9. LATINO PERRICO, (Genre; Rap/Hip Hop)

             

Ezeh Kingsley, known by his stage name Latino Perrico is a Nigerian Hip Hop artist. This rapper can be compared to the likes of Tyler The Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, KOTA The Friend and so on in terms of his abstract lyricism and melodic rap which can be seen in tracks like Big Fish, Wolves don't Sleep at Night, Mercury ft Asa Quana and so on. Latino is a rapper that can be affiliated with groups like "The Flockers" & "Bratlife". Added to his advantage of being rapper, poet and lyricist this artist Latino is also a graphic Designer almost all is artwork is done by him.

 

VibeHub's recommendations for Latino Perrico include;

 

i Latino Perrico - Wolves Don't Sleep at Night.

 

ii My Art Does Not Understand You Too.(Album)

iii November 2020 (EP)

 

iv Latino Perrico x Shewrotee - NASA Demo (EP)

 

v Latino Perrico x Asa Quana - Mercury 

8. LADY DONLI (Genre; Alternative, Afrobeat )

         

Birthed Zainab Elizabeth Donli however turned out to be expertly known as Lady Donli is a creative 26 years of old artist and lyricist. She has been a genre bending artist that gained a bit of recognition with her hit single Cash, but since then She has fallen back off the radar but that doesn't mean her sound isn't good it is  unique to every listener that's why her sound always stays relevant through the ages and has made a huge impact to the Alte genre.

VibeHub's recommendations for Lady Donli include;

i. Cash

ii.  Enjoy your Life (Album)

 

iii. W I L D (EP)

 

iv. Searching

7. TAY IWAR (Genre; R&B/Soul & Alternative)

     Austin 'Tay' Iornongu Iwar (born June 9, 1997), better known as Tay Iwar, is a Nigerian recording artist, singer-songwriter, sound engineer and record producer. Raised in Lagos and Abuja, he began creating music at age fourteen. He has been an absolute artist when it comes to delivering heart warming lyrics and collaboration with other Alte artists. If you are a Nigerian music lover and love Soul, R&B & Alte then Tay Iwar's songs and works are the perfect music for you, definitely he had to make the list. 

     

    To Tap in to Tay Iwar here are some worthy songs or projects you should  listen to;

i.  GEMINI (Album)

ii. Into the Flame

iii GOLD (Album)

iv. 1997 

6.  ODUNSI THE ENGINE (Genre; Alternative, R&B & Afro Pop)

 

             Odunsi the engine is a prolific Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer born on June 7, 1996. He has stood up to be one of the genre benders in the Alte scene, where he blends alternative, indie, afro pop, R&B, EDM & soul to create a unique sound entirely. He got a little bit of recognition due to the excellence and undeniably the creativeness of his debut album; rare. which saw a host of features from different artist and made his debut album one of the best projects of his career. Regardless of the how well the album was Odunsi remains heavily slept on and deserves more recognition from music fans all over. 

Here are some recommendations to get tapped in to an entirely new sound from a genre bending artist;

i. rare. (Album)

ii. EVERYTHING YOU HEARD IS TRUE (EP)

iii. Odunsi The Engine ft. Runtown - Star Signs

iv. Odunsi The Engine ft. RAYE - Tipsy

v. Odunsi The Engine ft Amaarae & DETO BLACK - Body Count.

5.   DRB LASGIDI (Genre; Alternative or Alte, AfroBeats & AfroPop)

 

        The Musical group comprising of artists like BOJ, TeeZee & Fresh L was created in 2007 but  gained major recognition in the Alte scene with the release of their debut album; Pioneers which saw them burst into the musical scene with tracks featuring artistes like Tems, Santi, Olamide and so on. Drb has been one of the musical groups out there that is been heavily underrated and denying the fact of their debut album being a masterpiece among the rest. Although they haven't been a lot of discography by the group but regardless their debut album fills all those spaces. Also, individually the artists themselves have seen a couple of recognition outside and inside the music scene; with BOJ recently  getting a feature in Dave's album"Were Are All Alone Together" with the hit track Lazarus and also made popular tracks such as Money, Tears & Laughter  featuring Zamir and Amaarae also the single Abracadabra featuring Mr. Eazi & Davido with these tracks it has made BOJ stay relevant in the musical scene, TeeZee has also gained a major amount of recognition coming from a feature in Skepta's EP "All In"  and on the other Fresh L hasn't been that known on the musical scene for a long time but still doesn't deny him the fact that he is an influencer of the musical industry.

 

Here are some recommendations from DRB Lasgidi's projects;

i. Pioneers (Album)

ii DRB Lasgidi ft Tems - Trouble

iii. DRB Lasgidi ft Santi & Maison2500 - Salty

iv DRB Lasgidi ft Odunsi The Engine - Necessary

4. VICTONY (Genre; Rap/Hip-hop & AfroBeats)

 

             Anthony Ebuka Victor (born January 5th  2001) professionally known as VICTONY, is a Nigerian rapper, singer and songwriter,  he started off solely rapping but later developed a more dynamic artistry that made him swing between different genres such as R&B , Trap music & Afropop. Victony has been underrated for a long and would have made the top of the list if he isn't getting the recognition he deserves from the popular collaboration with hit making artiste Mayorkun in the song "Holy Father" which has seen him gain more fans since after his tragic car crash. Victony is a talented rapper and singer who can put in a mosh pit mood and also give chill kind of vibe. 

     Recommendations from Victony's Discography;

i. Saturn (EP)

ii. Savage x Victony - Rosemary

iii. Pray

iv. Victony ft Falz - Maria

3. PSYCHO YP (Genre; Hip Hop, Rap & Trap)

 

 

              PsychoYP is a Nigerian Trap/Hip-Hop artist who has garnered a large underground hip-hop fan base of music lovers in Nigeria. YP being the focal point of Trap sound in the Hip Hop genre in Nigeria and has done that all on his own and is part of the forerunners and pioneers of the Trap culture in Nigeria and still with that YP is massively underrated and deserves a little more attention. With his unique style of flows and in depth lyrics YP adds a new context to the Trap genre and this has to be addressed among music lovers all around the nation and among those that love the Hip Hop/Rap genre.

 

  VibeHub's Recommendations for Psycho YP;

 

i. Euphoria (Album)

 

ii. YPSZN &YPSZN2 (Album)

 

iii.  Daily Paper

iv. Lost In The Sauce (EP)

2. SHOW DEM CAMP, SDC (Genre; Rap, Alte, & Afro Pop)

 

       The Iconic musical duo comprised of rappers Ghost (Olumide Ayeni) & Tec (Wale Davies), has been known to Nigerian Rap and Hip Hop fans as the Godfathers of the rap craft in Nigeria. SDC has been on musical scene since 2011 and known and widely regarded as underground gems with the promotion of Hip Hop with their "Clone Wars" projects and also creating their own alternative genre which the duo tagged and called "The Palm wine Genre" and it fuses sounds of Afro Pop with Alternative sounds and this genre has gotten a wide spread of fans hooked to it. Adding to their talent and creativeness of their rap and music, SDC has also helped in pushing out underground artists and making them gain recognition through their music, a whole lot of artist has gained recognition through Show Dem Camp's music with a host of them which includes; Tems, Buju, Amaarae, LadiPoe, DAP The Contract and so many other ones. It's also good to add that SDC have been massive in making hit music although criminally underrated and little known about them, but among a wide range of artistes, Alte fans and rappers they are regarded and treated like icons and legends.

Here are Recommendations for SDC;

i. Palm wine Music & Palm wine Music 2 (Albums)

ii. Clone wars IV, III, & V (Picked the best out of the 5 Clone Wars project)

iii. SDC ft BOJ & Odunsi The Engine - Popping Again.

iv SDC ft Burna Boy - True Story

v. Palmwine Express (Album)

1. SANTI OR CRUEL SANTINO (Genre; Alternative, Rap & Dancehall)

 

     

     Osayaba Andrew Ize-Iyamu, who operates under the stage name Cruel Santino (and has also performed and popularly known as Santi) emerged in the late 2010s with an vibe, yet accessible style that quickly put him at the forefront of the genre-hopping Nigerian Alté movement. His acclaimed debut album, Mandy & the Jungle, which employed a streamlined blend of Nigerian roots music, dancehall, processed rap, and R&B, arrived in 2019. Raised on the Western sounds of '90s R&B, alternative rock, and hip-hop. He released a handful of mix tapes, including 2016's Suzie's Funeral. He is also known for producing almost all his tracks with collaboration with renowned producer GMK. 

 

VibeHub's recommendations for Santi;

i. Mandy & The Jungle (Album)

ii. Suzie's Funeral (Album)

iii. Sparky 

iv. Santi ft Octavian - End of the Wicked

v. Santi ft Shane Eagle & Amaarae - Rapid Fire

    These rankings show the major artiste which deserves more recognition  but it doesn't deny the fact that other top notch underground artiste couldn't make the list, and here I would give my honorable mentions of artistes that couldn't fit in the list but as music lover and the need to test out a new sound you should try listening too their work; 

i. DAP The Contract (Rap & Alte)

ii. Tolani (Genre; R&B and Soul)

iii. Wani (Genre; R&B)

iv. Chop Life Crew (Genre; Hip Hop/Rap)

v. Tim Lyre (Genre; R&B and Soul)

vi. Tomi Thomas (Genre; R&B and Soul)

 

vii. Kahren (Genre; Afro Pop and R&B)

 

viii. Asa Quana (Genre; Alte/ Indie)

These honorable mentions would have been a lot but these are the ones worthy of being in the list but couldn't make it  but if you readers want recommendations and write ups on these honorable mentions then just comment below and a second list would be made for the readers. Here we draw the curtains on what i feel has been a great write up to get you tapped into an entirely different sound and explore more genres of music, hope you enjoyed it please to do well to share, comment and interact with this post.