Top Nigerian Artiste To Watch In 2020
A new decade begins and yet another opportunity for greatness and excellence in Afrobeats presents itself. 2020 is a pivotal year because it has the capacity to detect how the rest of the decade would look like for the Afrobeats movement.
As the new year and decade continue to roll out smooth Amebo9ja picks out some Nigerian music acts and creatives to watch for in the year 2020.
The past year was absolutely amazing for Azeez Fashola better known by his stage name Naira Marley. The ‘Soapy‘ crooner was at least among the top two hottest Nigerian acts for 2019. However, Nigerians seem to think that his arrest by EFCC was a big factor in the mass popularity of Naira Marley among Nigerians. Then again others think his good run would not continue in 2020. What do we say? You better watch out for Naira Marley. With the launch of his record label, a trending tune ‘Tesumole‘ we think he is off on a good start. In 2020 we watch out how he continues to build his legend this year.
2. REMA
In March 2020, Rema would officially mark the first anniversary of his professional debut. With less than a year in the music business, Rema has made international hits and it seems he is yet to attain his full potential. In this new year, we hope to see more exploits from the Mavin Records act. More international impact, perhaps a debut album and maybe landing a huge international collaboration.
3. JOEBOY
The emPawa Africa music talent has been nothing but fantastic in 2019 with mega hits like ‘Baby‘, ‘Beginning‘ and an EP. We hope the pleasant form continues for Joeboy in 2020, however, we expect more than music from him. It is expected the singer shares more of his personality with fans and also gets to work with artistes outside emPawa Africa circles.
4. YONDA
It has been a while since Yonda signed on to Davido’s DMW and somehow not much has been heard from him. In 2018 he featured in the record label’s all-star singles and also holds songwriting credits for songs coming out of DMW/30BG. Just before 2019 ended Davido featured him on a single ‘Animashuan‘ off his ‘A Good Time’ album. Just maybe this would be the year we hear more and see more of Yonda musically speaking. Hopefully, the label’s resources would be deployed judiciously to make this work.
5. OXLADE
Abdulrahman Olaitan better known as Oxlade has been in perspective for a while now. His buddy Fireboy DML had a stunning outing in 2019, while he was still in limbo about to takeoff. We are hopeful that 2020 is the year Oxlade actually takes off into greatness. He has got the talent obviously and a good team behind, this might just be his year.
6. LYTA
The past year was a good year for Lyta without a doubt as he put out one of the finest pop singles of 2019. Although the last year ended well for him, he suffered a little set back after he parted ways with YBNL where he was first discovered. Davido co-signed him and the rest is history. in 2020 much more is expected from the young singer and he is one act we would love to watch out for this year.
7. PSYCHO YP
One talent we should all look out for in 2020 is rapper Psycho YP. Many music lovers are still getting to discover the prolific hip-hop artiste. Last year he drops a dope mixtape YPSZN2 which garnered critical acclaim. Best bet the young rapper is just getting started and we are here for his explosion in 2020.
8. TG OMORI
Talented videographer ThankGod Omori popularly known as TG Omori is the guy behind some of the biggest music videos of 2019. From Naira Marley ‘Am I A Yahoo Boy‘, Tekno’s ‘Skeletun‘, Teni’s ‘Billionaire‘, to Wizkid’s ‘Blow‘ TG Omori was behind the camera. He gave senior industry colleagues Clarence Peters, Unlimited LA, Avalon Okpe etc., a run for their money. He shot about 75 videos last year a huge feat for the 24-year-old videographer. As a creative in the music industry, we can’t wait to see the next level of creativity TG would bring to our Nigerian music videos.
9. NAYA EFFECTZ
He may not be as popular as TG Omori but Naya Effectz, but the budding music video director has crept into our consciousness. He has made beautiful videos in the past year noticeably working with Naira Marley on ‘Mafo‘ and ‘Isheyen‘. Naya Effectz offers a breath of fresh air in Nigerian music videography, he isn’t at the very top yet but he holds lots of promises.
10. OZEDIKUS
The advent of Rema also brought into perspective talented music producer Ozedikus. He is the guy behind some of Rema’s biggest songs from 2019, producing ‘Dumebi‘, ‘Iron Man‘ and ‘Corny‘. As we continue to anticipate more beautiful sounds in 2020, we are sure Ozedikus definitely has more in the bag for us. We would definitely be looking out to hear more of that ‘Ozedikus nwanne’ on a track.
11. LONDON
The umbrella label Mavin Records brought new talents on board and one of such was music producer London. He had a fantastic 2019 after working with top industry acts like Wizkid, DJ Tunez. He produced Crayon’s hit single ‘So Fine‘, Wizkid’s ‘Blow‘, Rema’s ‘Bad Commando‘ among others. So far we are impressed by his production skills and definitely want to hear more from him in 2020.
12. REXXIE
Rexxie was very vital in the zanku wave that swept the music landscape last year. He single-handedly produced some of the biggest songs from 2019 with Naira Marley and Zlatan. Although Rexxie is talented, somehow his beats always lean towards a particular direction. In 2020 we would look to see some diversity and versatility from him.
13. POCO LEE
The high point of the Zanku rave was the accompanying dance and you can talk about zanku dance without Poco Lee. The young man has been a big part of the movement showcasing his legwork skills from Naija to London. Choreography and dancing have been central to the growth of Nigerian music and the likes of Poco Lee are at the front. Can Poco Lee hold it down longer even when zanku is done and dusted? Can we go as far as Kaffy? That’s exactly what we hope to see in 2020.
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