{"id":41413,"date":"2019-10-02T16:03:02","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T15:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/5-nigerian-classic-albums-of-the-90s\/"},"modified":"2020-05-04T22:39:26","modified_gmt":"2020-05-04T21:39:26","slug":"5-nigerian-classic-albums-of-the-90s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/5-nigerian-classic-albums-of-the-90s\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Nigerian classic albums of the 90s"},"content":{"rendered":"

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From Onyeka Onwenu to The Remedies, we picked five classic works from the good old days.\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

The Nigerian music scene was very vibrant in the 90s. There was unheralded rapidity in the release of music \u2013 good music \u2013 and across many genres, artistes released credible projects and stepped into mainstream attention. In this article, we have selected the 5 most vibrant albums of this period.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Seyi Sodimu\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n
Born in Afrika\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n
Shakara Entertainment (1998)<\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n

While a student in America, Seyi Sodimu made friends with an American, Carl Bassey, a part-time DJ from Howard University in Washington, DC. Already boasting some creative output, he had been commended on his writing (stories and poems) by many of his teachers and professors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After saving up enough money, Seyi released\u00a0<\/span>Born in Afrika<\/span><\/i>, his debut album, in 1998, which contained the hit song \u201cLove me jeje, love me tender\u201d. The album topped the charts in Nigeria on Ray Power 100 FM and sold over 30,000 copies in the first weeks of its release. The album also earned him nominations and awards in Nigeria.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So famous is the Afro R n B artiste’s hit song that by this day, he goes by the moniker of \u201cMr Jeje\u201d \u2013 even, in recent times, he tried to bank on the song’s commerciality by featuring American singer Michelle K in a remix.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Listen on\u00a0<\/span>YouTube<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

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Onyeka Onwenu\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n
Golden Songs (Vol. 3)\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n
Ayollo Records (1991)<\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n

The Elegant Stallion, as she so magnificently goes by, has rocked the airways since the 80s.\u00a0 Onwenu began her music career in 1981 while still working with the NTA, releasing the album \u201cFor the Love of You\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After that, she went on to delivering classic song after song, delivering virtuoso and mastery performances across the genres of Highlife, Funk, Soul, R n B, and Gospel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This collective of songs, aptly titled \u201cgolden\u201d, was released and pushed as an album in 1991. It features tracks such as \u201cKeredim\u201d, the super-hits \u201cOne Love\u201d and \u201cYou and I\u201d, among others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Listen on\u00a0<\/span>YouTube<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Blackky\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n
About Tyme\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n
Premiere Music (1991)<\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n

Born Edward Inyang, Blackky’s music is a generous mix of Reggae and its subgenre Reggaeton. His 1991 debut,\u00a0<\/span>About Tyme,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0showcases the finesse with which he employs these sounds, then encompassing them in relatable themes that are instantly Nigerian.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The album boasted a number of hits like \u201cBlackky Skank\u201d and the sexually-charged \u201cSugar Stick\u201d. It is worthy to note that it also featured the smash hit and dance floor darling, \u201cRosie\u201d, a song most would mention as the biggest of his largely successful career.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The classic project served as a catalyst for the then 24-year-old artiste who bagged a deal with Polygram Records, a little while after winning the Lekki Sunsplash Talent Hunt Contest. Although the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission banned the tracks Yanshman, Sugar Stick and Bang Belly, the artiste, who started out as a DJ in 1986, was already a star. In the same year, he received a lot of awards, proof of his music’s likability.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Listen on\u00a0<\/span>YouTube<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sonny Okosun\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n
African Soldiers\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n
Profile Records (1991)\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n

Although this album was released past his own prime, it was still gold-level work across the continent. With a name that has come to be associated with musical excellence, Sonny Okosun barely relinquishes his vintage quality in the project.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Best known as the leader of the Ozzidi band, Okosun maintained \u2013 contrary to popular opinion about the name being inspired by an Ijaw river god \u2013 that the name means \u201cthere is a message\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And there is, on\u00a0<\/span>African Soldiers,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>which, across two cassettes, displays the mastery of Okosun’s music which has been described as as \u201ca synthesis of Afro-beat, Reggae, and Funk.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Listen on\u00a0<\/span>YouTube<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Remedies\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n
Peace Nigeria\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n
Kennis Music (1998)\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n

Made up of the trio of Eedris Abdulkareem, Eddy Remedy and Tony Tetuila, the group caused quite the stir in the 90s with their unique brand of music which fused elements of contemporary Afrobeat and Hip Hop.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Doused in social commentary and hedonism, their music proved to be zeitgeist. \u201cShakomo\u201d, released in 1999, was their first song and an instant classic. Later on, they put out songs like \u201cSade\u201d and \u201cJudile\u201d. In between these, they got a contract with Kennis Music, the biggest label at the time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Peace Nigeria,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>their debut album, was released after the departure of Tony Tetuila, the flamboyant blonde-haired character. Although this fairly affected the album’s reception, it did have stellar singles such as \u201cBelinda\u201d and \u201cJealousy\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

To properly understand the historical precedent for today\u2019s Afrobeats rave, one must find him(her)self returning to the music of this legendary group and in doing so, no doubt, unearth the gem which is\u00a0<\/span>Peace Nigeria.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Listen on\u00a0<\/span>YouTube<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Read the\u00a05 Nigerian classic albums of the\u00a070s<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a080s<\/a>.<\/span><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Onyeka Onwenu to The Remedies, we picked five classic works from the good old days.\u00a0 The Nigerian music scene was very vibrant in the 90s. There was unheralded rapidity in the release of music […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":30115,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7833,9400],"tags":[],"location":[8172],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41413"}],"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\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41413"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=41413"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=41413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}