Making music involves a lot of parties and sometimes all we know about making music rises and falls on the artiste who finally lays his/her vocals on a beat. Unfortunately, the songwriter does not readily come to mind, in fact he/she is the last entity you think of in the chain of making music.
One of the most underrated process of making a song, is the art of songwriting. Songwriting is both a talent and an art form in itself. An artiste might have an exceptional vocal and singing ability but overall sucks at writing their own songs. Some of the best musicians out there did not write their best songs. For some artistes, they are both blessed with graceful songwriting skills and good vocals to back it up.
In this post, we hope to give credit to some of the finest new school songwriters doing the most in the music industry. Their discography stacks a string of songs where they showed exceptional songwriting skills.
In no particular order here are the finest Nigerian new school songwriters below.
Adekunle Kosoko popularly known as Adekunle Gold came into prominence for his song ‘Sade‘, a hearty remix of One Direction’s ‘Story Of My Life‘. He excited further with tunes like ‘Orente‘, ‘Pick Up‘ and two solid albums to his name. His music has been surreal and his songwriting is nearly flawless. The Afro-Urban singer has written a lot of songs behind the scenes, however, Davido gave him credits for co-writing a song on his ‘A Good Time‘ album.
2. Simi:
Besides having a light sonorous voice, Simi is also an amazing songwriter. Her consistency in churning out songs with quality lyrics has separated her from some of her colleagues. Simi is flexible, emotive and often articulate when putting down the lyrics to her songs. She has maintained the same fervour from ‘Jamb Question‘, to ‘Smile For Me‘, ‘Joromi‘ and others. She is easily one of the best in the industry.
3. Johnny Drille:
The Mavin Records artiste is a multi-talented musician. Johnny can sing, play instruments, produce music and at large a fantastic songwriter. The folklore singer has a nice discography of songs that he put in the work in terms of songwriting. Some of his finest works are ‘Romeo & Juliet‘, ‘Wait For Me‘, ‘Count On Me‘ to mention a few. Actually Johnny Drille has no bad songs to his name.
4. Peruzzi:
Victor Tobechukwu Okoh better known as Peruzzi has come to stay as far as music in Nigeria is concern. Within his two years of professional debut on the music scene it has been verified that the DMW artiste is talented. One of his selling points has been his songwriting ability. He is credited largely for Davido’s fantastic run in 2017 after writing some of his hit songs in the same year. He may not be conventional as those listed above him but his pen game is airtight. At this moment it is recommended you listen to his ‘Heartwork‘ EP all over again
5. WurlD:
Sadiq Onifade better known as WurlD is an American-Nigerian singer and songwriter. The artiste who is signed to Universal Music Group ranks high among the finest songwriters in Nigeria. He has worked with top American singers and music producer. In March 2019, WurlD dropped critically acclaimed debut album ‘Love Is Contagious‘. He is also credited for co-writing Davido’s ‘Blow My Mind‘ featuring Chris Brown.
6. Fireboy DML:
The YBNL signed artiste is one of the freshest names on the list and he is worth every mention here. The 23-year-old born Adedamola Adefolahan has been nothing but exciting since his professional debut in the Nigerian music industry. You can’t hide a talent like his for too long that why his song ‘Jealous‘ is the best song off the ‘YBNL Mafia Family‘ album. The tune shows in depth songwriting effort by the singer. His follow up songs have maintained the same standard in songwriting. With his kind of talent it is expected that the Fireboy DML would go a long way in this business.
7. Teni:
Against all odds Teniola Apata has broken down several stereotypes with her very sensational kind of music. She is one of the few musicians who make the process of making music seem so easy. One thing that has differentiated her from the rest is her music composition. Her music writing skills is highly commendable having written for top acts like Davido. She could easily give some of her senior colleagues a run for their money with it comes to music writing and composition. She is simply effortless and graceful with the arts.
8. Kizz Daniel:
The former G-Worldwide singer has an uncanny songwriting skill. He has crafted some of the most witty and diverse lyrics to his songs. From ‘Woju‘, ‘Good Time‘, ‘Jombo‘, ‘One Ticket‘ the list extends. He made a bold stake with his debut album ‘New Era‘ and sophomore ‘No Bad Songz‘ which are phenomenal pop albums. Kizz Daniel is one artist you can count on when his comes to delivering a complete form of music, lyrics, vocals and otherwise.
9. Reekado Banks:
Born Ayoleyi Hanniel Solomon, Nigerian singer Reekado Banks is a stable and bankable artiste any day anytime. He has one of the finest pen skills around the industry. Some of his works show he takes his song writing very seriously. Some of his best efforts include ‘Dorobucci’, ‘Adaobi‘, ‘Oluwa Ni‘, ‘Like‘, ‘Easy (Jeje)‘ etc. His verse on Skiibii’s ‘Sensima‘ is worth something.
Kindly share your thoughts in the comments!
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