Best Rappers in Nigeria: Do you know who Nigeria’s top rappers are? This blog post provides you that information. In Nigeria, as in every other country, rap has long been a part of the music scene.
Rapping was first popularised in Nigeria by musicians such as Dagrin, Mode 9, Idris Abdul Kareem, Tony Tetuila, and many others. Since then, rapping has been a key part of Nigerian music. Even if the number of rap artists has increased, just a limited number of them have gathered enough modern experience to be ranked among Nigeria’s finest musicians. They are talented, dedicated, hard-working artists with a lot of imagination.
Top 10 Best And Most Popular Rappers in Nigeria 2024
Below is a list of the top 10 rappers currently active in Nigeria, many of whom will still be around in 2024. We would go over everything you should know about them. The top rappers in Nigeria are listed below, in no particular order:
Recommended: 74+ Happy Birthday Prayers For Your Friends And Loved Ones
10. Erigga: Erhiga Agarivbie, also referred to as “Erigga,” is from Warri in Nigeria’s Delta State. A well-known rapper and songwriter is Erigga. In the early months of 2010, Erigga launched his musical career in Nigeria.
Erigga debuted with the single “Mo Street Gan” in 2012. When he published the song “A trip to the South” in 2017, Erigga became well-known. Erigga and Victor AD collaborated on a new song they titled “Motivation” in 2018. This song earned over a million views on YouTube. On July 27, 2020, Erigga tweeted on his official account @erigganewmoney that his fifth campaign, “Growth,” had been released. The album will be a follow-up to the 2019 undertaking “The Erigma 2.” Erriga made the announcement via Twitter, writing: “New album on the way…” Growth.There is little doubt that Erigga made the top ten list of Nigeria’s best rappers.
9. Blaqbonez: Emeka Akumefule, better known by his stage as Blaqbonez, is an Obafemi Awolowo University graduate with a degree in computer engineering. Currently, Blaqbonez is a member of Chocolate City Records. Born on January 29, 1996, the hip-hop rapper is currently 27 years old. At the tender age of 16, Blaqbonez began to showcase his talent, placing first among more than 3000 rappers in Nigeria in Terry the Rapman’s Zombie competition.
As a result, he appeared alongside Vector, Olamide, Mode 9, and Spellz on the Terry World Domination album, which was later published in 2012. 2019 saw the New York Times spotlight Blaqbonez as one of the futures of Nigerian music. He is most known for his contentious moniker “Best Rapper in Africa” (short for “BRIA”), which with the release of his single “Haba” in 2020 became the most talked-about hip-hop space topic among Nigerians.
Recommended: Countries With The Smartest Students in the World
8. Y-Cee: Rapper and songwriter Oludemilade Martin Alejo, best known by his stage name Ycee, is well-known in Nigeria. He rose to fame after releasing the popular rap song “Jagaban” in 2015. Ycee, Nigeria’s eighth-ranked rapper, unquestionably made the top ten. He’s currently connected to Tinny Entertainment.
Ycee has been nominated for the Headies Awards, the MTV Africa Music Awards, and the Nigerian Entertainment Awards. Additionally, he was nominated for some of these awards.
7. Reminisce: Remilekun Abdulkalid Safaru, well known by his stage name Reminisce (ALAGA IBILE), is from Ogun. Yoruba, Reminisce’s native tongue, and English are both languages the rapper sings and writes music in with ease. He was a well-known musician from Nigeria who entered the music business in 2008 after signing up with EDGE records.
Additionally, he founded LRR Facilities and serves as its creative director. Since he began his career, Reminisce has put out three new albums.
Book of rap stories, Remilekun’s debut album, was released in March 2012; Alaga Ibile, his follow-up, was released in November 2013; and Baba Hafusa, his third album, was released in 2015. Reminisce is undoubtedly one of Nigeria’s top rappers, and some consider him to be the quickest Yoruba singer in the country. As the first African hip-hop artist, Reminisce’s album made its debut on the Billboard Charts World Music. Reminisce has garnered a significant number of national and international accolades.
Also see: Most Dangerous Places In The World 2024
6. Ill Bliss: Oga Boss, better known by his stage name Ill Bliss, is a Nigerian rapper, the CEO of the Goretti firm, and an entrepreneur. Being the brand owner of a talent management organisation, some of the most well-known musicians in Nigeria, like Chidinma and Phyno, have received backing from his company.
He first rolled out “Dat IBO Boy” in 2009, followed by “Oga boss” in 2012, “Power” in 2014, and “illygaty 7075” in 2016. Ill Bliss has received numerous nominations, some of which he has actually won. He has received honours from the NMVA, Sound City Music Video Awards, and Southern Music Video Awards, among others. Ill Bliss, who ranks sixth on our list of the top rappers in Nigeria, is considered one of the country’s best.
5. Phyno: One of the most well-known rappers in Nigeria is Chibuzor Nelson Azubuike, also known as Phyno. Due to his variety in rapping styles, Phyno presently ranks fifth on our list.
Rapper, composer, producer, and actor, Phyno also performs on the stage. Since 2003, when he first began his music career, he has consistently been releasing several styles of rap songs in quick succession. After the 2014 releases of “No guts, no glory,” “Ghost mode,” and “Parcel,” Phyno entered the music industry from the ground up. When performing at his “Phyno Fest” performance in Enugu, Phyno set a new record for a Nigerian musician by filling the entire stadium.
Recommended: How to become a successful lawyer
4. Vector: Vector had little trouble making it onto our list of the best rappers in Nigeria. Olanrewaju Ogunmefun, commonly known as Vector Tha Viper, is one of Nigeria’s most well-known hip-hop musicians, songwriters, and singers. Vector, the CEO of the G.R.A.P record label, was born in Nigeria’s Ogun State. Since he is arguably one of Nigeria’s best and fastest rappers, many music fans refer to Vector as the nation’s Eminem.
While Vector’s studio album, “State of the Art,” was released in 2010, his debut character, “Kilode,” was launched in 2009.
The fourth-best rapper right now, without a question, is Vector. Additionally, Vector claims to have the longest rap freestyle in Nigeria. Vector has received recognition through the Nigerian Entertainment prizes, Dynamic Awards, Nigerian Music Awards, Headies Awards, and nominations for more prizes.
3. Falz: Commonly referred to by his stage moniker, “Falz“, the third-best rapper in Nigeria is Folarin Falana. Rapper, singer, actor, and songwriter Falz rose to fame following the 2014 release of his debut album, “WAZ UP GUY.”
With his rapping and performances in several tracks in 2014, Falz won even more followers. Amazing songs like “Jamb Question” with Simi and “Soldier” were hugely dominant in the market. The accolades that Falz has received span the local and global music, comedy, and film industries. His album Moral Instruction was perhaps Nigeria’s best album of 2019 in terms of all genres.
Ms. Banks was a featured artist on a song by Falz that was released in 2020 on Bop Daddy. This song has remained at the top of several Nigerian charts for weeks. Falz doesn’t seem to be willing to back down, so.
Also see: Countries With The Highest Rate Of Cybercrime
2. M.I: Without M.I., the undisputed champion and self-declared chairman, this list would fall short (lol no shades intended). Jude Abaga, better known by his stage name M.I., is a rapper and author from Nigeria. His birthday is October 4, 1981. His debut single, “Crowd mentality,” which established him as one of the greatest rappers in Nigerian music history, propelled him to fame in the music industry in 2008.
For many years, M.I. has held his title as the best rapper in Nigeria high, and we think he still has plenty of gas left in the tank.
M.I. won a number of prizes and was also nominated for more. The Headies Award, the Nigerian Entertainment Awards, the Future Awards, the National Daily Awards, the Orange Wall of Fame, the Hip Hop World Awards, the Modemen Class, the NMVA Awards, the MTV Africa Music Awards, and many others are just a few of the honours he has received. M.I. served as Chocolate City Music’s chief executive officer from July 1, 2015, to March 6, 2020, when he announced his resignation and unveiled Incredible Music as his replacement record label.
1. Olamide: The top rapper in Nigeria according to our list is Olamide Adedeji, also known as Olamide Badoo. Olamide is a well-known and gifted Yoruba rapper from Nigeria. Olamide, who was born on March 5th, 1989, is a native of Bariga in Lagos, Nigeria. Rapper Olamide is proficient in both Yoruba and English. He raps in syncopation, my god.
While signed to Coded Tunes, he put out his debut album “Rapsodi” in 2011. Since the start of his career, Badoo has released one album every year, giving him a total of seven albums. Olamide, the CEO of YBNL, one of the top 10 music record labels in Nigeria, released his ninth album, 999, on February 10, 2020. It has nine tracks.
The EP garnered positive reviews from music critics, many of whom gave Olamide praise for producing an EP that was almost all rap after taking a break from the genre. The Nigerian Entertainment Awards, Channel O Awards, Headies, MTV Africa Music Awards, and City People Entertainment are just a few of the honours Olamide has received. The reason Olamide is currently the finest rapper in Nigeria is now fairly clear.
Recommended: Richest Musicians In Nigeria And Their Networth
Conclusion
There you have it! That is our list of the top rappers from Nigeria right now. Since they first appeared on the Nigerian music industry, the top-ranking artists on this list have been at the peak of their rapping game. They are a great inspiration to upcoming rappers too.
Edeh Samuel Chukwuemeka, ACMC, is a lawyer and a certified mediator/conciliator in Nigeria. He is also a developer with knowledge in various programming languages. Samuel is determined to leverage his skills in technology, SEO, and legal practice to revolutionize the legal profession worldwide by creating web and mobile applications that simplify legal research. Sam is also passionate about educating and providing valuable information to people.