5 Nigerian Musicians Who Have Promoted The Street Vibe In Their Music

Street music is one style of Nigerian music that will never fade away. From the era of Daddy Showkey to Dagrin, we’ve seen several music acts who have not shied away from promoting the street sound through their music.

In 2019, there are more musicians who have adopted this sound and are making it more mainstream than ever

Here are 5 of them below:

Olamide

Of course, you don’t compile a list of street Nigerian musicians without mentioning BaddoSneh. Almost a decade ago, Olamide took the music industry by storm with his hit single Eni Duro. He has gone further to establish a legacy as one of the pioneers of street rap in the Nigeria music terrain. His impact has been so massive that many critics have dubbed him ‘local rapper’. Yet, he has stayed true to his art never failing to infuse elements of the street sound in his songs. Songs like Wo, Voice of the Street, and Anifowose are just prime examples of how the rapper has promoted the street sound in his music.

Naira Marley

The current ‘bad boy’ of the music industry. Naira Marley has been a sensation since the release of his hit song ‘Am I a yahoo boy’ which put him in trouble with the law. He is quite vocal and never fails to affirm how he is the ‘Messiah of the Street’. Within a short time of his reign, he has garnered a loyal fan base, the Marlians, who went as far as protesting for his release while he was in prison. Although his recent song ‘Soapy’ came with a controversial dance step, the song has remained a party banger nonetheless. Love him or hate him, one thing you can’t deny is that Naira Marley’s songs resonate with the people of the street and they love him for it.

Zlatan Ibile

Originator of the street dance ‘Zanku’ and famous for the slang ‘Gbe Body E’, Zlatan is one artist that has undeniable street cred. This is perhaps the reason why A-lists artists like Burna Boy and Davido have collaborated with him. Many would know him as the partner in crime to Naira Marley as they’ve released major hits together and were both involved in a legal case some months ago. Zlatan has a sound you can never miss and he is unarguably one of the artists changing the game in street music.

Lil Kesh

You can’t mention Lil Kesh without mentioning Olamide, the YBNL boss, who signed him to his record label years ago and established him as an artist. Lil Kesh has since left YBNL and didn’t fail to carve out a niche for himself in the industry. We may not have seen the most of Lil Kesh in 2019 but we can agree that he once had a major impact with the invention of his dance Shoki and his many club bangers.

Slimcase

2018 was Slimcase’s year. He released street anthems with a unique sound people love and succeeded in making the ‘Shaku Shaku’ dance popular. His street cred saw him collaborate with Dbanj, Tiwa Savage, Reminisce, Dj Enimoney, and Yemi Alade on songs like ‘Diet’, ‘Issa banger’, and many more. Slimcase found the ghetto sound (wobey and shaku shaku), rebranded it and succeeded in making it sensational.