{"id":15763,"date":"2018-07-09T15:21:52","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:21:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?p=15763"},"modified":"2020-05-04T23:18:25","modified_gmt":"2020-05-04T22:18:25","slug":"the-hustle-emerging-nigerian-music-artists-to-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/the-hustle-emerging-nigerian-music-artists-to-watch\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hustle: emerging Nigerian music artists to watch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don’t sleep on them.<\/span><\/h2>\n

On the first day of this year, Joey Akan, music editor at Pulse.ng lamented on the lack of breakout musicians in 2017 and for the reasons he gave, it is quite obvious why as we conclude the first half of 2018, we are yet to have a major breakout. While we look forward to mainstream hit from our emerging talents, we want to take a moment to outline some of the many Nigerian musicians who dared to do things their own way while waiting for the limelight.<\/p>\n


\"\"<\/p>\n

Odunsi \u2018The Engine\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

Odunsi released his debut EP,\u00a0Time of our Life\u00a0<\/i>(T.O.O.L) in 2016. Born Bowofoluwa Odunsi,\u00a0Odunsi \u2018The Engine\u2019\u00a0is a singer, producer and a poster boy for afro-fusion. His ability to blend genres sets him apart from his contemporaries. Though Odunsi is yet to break into the mainstream, he is popular on Soundcloud and has a growing fanbase on social media. Early this year, he featured in “Lekki<\/a>” and “Popping<\/a>“, t<\/span>wo tracks in M.I. Abaga\u2019s experimental playlist,\u00a0Rendezvous<\/i>.<\/p>\n



\"\"<\/p>\n

Lady Donli<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

In 2017, Lady Donli released two creative singles, \u201cIce Cream<\/a>\u201d and \u201cPoison<\/a>\u201d. Zainab<\/span> Donli is a neo-soul\/Afro-fusion singer. The graduate of Law from the University of Surrey blends poetic lyrics with hip-hop and jazz. The singer has been around for a while, in 2014, she featured in Sute\u2019s song \u201cMr Creeper<\/a>\u201d and followed up with an album\u00a0What is Perfect?<\/i>\u00a0In 2015.\u00a0Wallflower<\/i>, her 2016 project was<\/span> groundbreaking as it positioned Donli as an emerging alternative talent.<\/p>\n



\"\"<\/p>\n

Nonso Amadi<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

He arrived at the scene in 2015 with\u00a0Alone<\/i>, an EP that established his style of music. Nonso Amadi is a Soul and R&B singer and producer who started out in 2012 at Covenant University and later relocated to the UK. Nonso Amadi is a self-taught artist and emotional lyricist. He followed up his 2015 EP with a groundbreaking single, “Tonight<\/a>“. In 2017, he attempted to break into the mainstream with singles like \u201cLong Live the Queen<\/a>\u201d, \u201cRadio<\/a>\u201d and \u201cAika<\/a>\u201d. He<\/span> is one of the most promising emerging talents.<\/p>\n



\"\"<\/p>\n

Johnny Drille<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

Johnny Drille was a contestant in the MTN Project Fame in 2013. He is an alternative folk singer, songwriter, producer and sound engineer. His 2015 cover of Di\u2019ja\u2019s \u201cAww<\/a>\u201d brought him in contact with Don Jazzy. Few months after, Drille released \u201cLove Don’t Die<\/a>\u201d and two months after, he released \u201cWait for me<\/a>\u201d that ruled Nigerian alternative music chart in the year. He was signed to Marvin Records in 2017. From singing in his father\u2019s church to hitting the mainstream with songs like \u201cRomeo and Juliet<\/a>\u201d and a cover of Owl City\u2019s \u201cNot All Heroes Wear Cape<\/a>\u201d, Johnny Drille\u2019s unique sound and unconventional style is something to look out for.<\/span><\/p>\n



\"\"<\/p>\n

Tay Iwar<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

After co-founding Bantu Collective, Tay Iwar debuted with\u00a0Passport<\/i>, a 12 track album in 2014. Tay released Renascentia<\/em><\/a> in 2017,<\/span> the 8 track album was a Soundcloud hit that established his style. Tay Iwar\u2019s music is a mix of jazz, blues, neo-soul, and reggae, his renditions are personal narratives and are metaphorical with resounding effects. The 21 years old singer, is also a songwriter, audio engineer and record producer.<\/p>\n



\"\"<\/p>\n

D-Truce<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

D-Truce started out with\u00a0Mixtape Killer,<\/i>\u00a0a mixtape series in 2011 under Turnout Records. In 2012, he participated in the Nokia\u00a0Don\u2019t break the beat\u00a0<\/i>rap battle and took third place. Since then, he has featured in Ag\u2019s EP, Modenine\u2019s Occupy The Throne<\/em> mixtape and Cyrus the Vinus\u2019s infiltration mixtape. D-Truce joined X3M Music in 2014, an event that followed the success of his 2013 mixtape Truce Shall Set You Free<\/em>. Truce\u2019s 2015 \u201cBetter Days<\/a>\u201d w<\/span>as a hit with a national reception.<\/p>\n



\"\"<\/p>\n

Bella Alubo<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

Mabel Alubo is an ex-model and 1st runner-up at the 2010 Miss Tourism, Plateau and 3rd runner-up, 2011 Miss Plateau beauty pageant. Bella released her first song \u201cNo Lie<\/a>\u201d and a cover of Falz\u2019s \u201cKarishika<\/a>\u201d in 2015. She debuted with an EP the same year and followed up with a second project Bella 2.0: Lucid Dreams<\/em> in 2016. The success of her EP won her a deal with Tinny Entertainment. Bella\u2019s sound is a fusion of hip-hop and Afro-pop. In 2017, she debuted at Tinny Entertainment with \u201cRadio<\/a>\u201d, a song that featured a label mate, Ycee.<\/span><\/p>\n



\"\"<\/p>\n

Lord Vino<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

Lord V hit the mainstream in 2017 when he responded to M.I Abaga\u2019s \u201cYou Rappers Should Fix up Your Lives\u201d in his song \u201cFix up Your Lies<\/a>\u201d. Lord V is a singer, rapper, songwriter and composer. He is popularly called \u2018the only rapper with two MSC’s\u201d. The is a lyrical genius and social media maverick. He is the originator of the clich\u00e9s like \u2018pepper dem gang\u2019 and \u2018something light\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n


Read next:\u00a0Pantsula: 5 faces shaping the South African scene today<\/a><\/span><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don’t sleep on them. On the first day of this year, Joey Akan, music editor at Pulse.ng lamented on the lack of breakout musicians in 2017 and for the reasons he gave, it is quite […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":15764,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9373],"tags":[],"location":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15763"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15763"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=15763"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=15763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}