Nigerian musical artistes have made immeasurable contributions to the music industry, making Nigeria Africa’s biggest depot of talented, creative, and successful musical artistes.
These artistes have taken the art of singing beyond the shores of West Africa and Africa as a whole, enjoying lots of fame and fortune. But, today all of that is gone. Those stars have lest their relevance. City People Entertainment Reporter PRECIOUS POMAA bring you a list of few artistes who have faded off.
TERRY G
Gabriel Oche Amanyi, popularly known by his stage name Terry G, is a Nigerian musician and producer. He is widely known for his eccentric dress-sense, controversial lyrics and awkward identity.
He has been described as “one of the world’s weirdest singers” as a “weird singer”, and as the “craziest musician in Nigeria”. In 20012 he released his fourth album, titled Book of Ginger.
He brought a new kind of flavour to the music scene, carving a niche for himself, as a talented singer with a hyper-energetic style of music delivery. Free styling on a beat he had produced for another artiste, his infectious beat and melody of most of his songs could not be overlooked.
Terry G found his way to stardom with a worrisome trend that the likes of Naira Marley, Zlatan, Qdot and others have carried on with. Some of his ‘crazy’ songs from the ‘Ginjah Master’s that shut down everywhere includes ‘Free madness,’ ‘Run Mad,’ ‘Akpako Master,’ ‘See groove,’ and ‘Sangalo pt 2.’ He has now faded from the scene.
FAZE
Chibuzor Oji, better known by his stage name Faze, is a Nigerian musician and actor. He was a member of the defunct Nigerian hip hop group Plantashun Boyz, along with BlackFace Naija and TuFace (better known as 2face Idibia. The group split up in 2004 and each member of the group has gone on to launch solo careers.
Faze is a best-selling Nigerian artist. His first album Faze Alone sold over three million copies, while his second album Independent sold over 7 million copies. His third album Originality went platinum in its first month of release. He is the first Nigerian artist to have three consecutive platinum albums. Faze was known for his ability to sing the highest vocal note out of Nigerian contemporary male musicians . His collaborations include a recorded single with Wyclef Jean titled “Proud to Be African”.
AY.COM
Many years ago, singer, AY.com, was rated as one of the raves in the music industry with his hit song, ‘Pass me your Love’ featuring Terry G. The singer whose real name, Ayoola Johnson, faded from the music scene after allegations caused a rift between him and Terry G. Ay.com went on to release more singles like ‘Jombolo’, ‘Komagbon’, ‘No Mind Dem,’ among others.
BLACKFACE
Augustine Ahmedu, aka Blackface, was a founding member of the Nigerian band Plantashun Boyz in 2000 with Tuface (also known as 2face Idibia) and Chibuzor Oji (better known as Faze).
During the days of the plantation boys, Blackface was one of the big things in the Nigerian music industry but he lost all after the group broke up with each deciding to go solo. Blackface, however, made a come back with a hit song titled “Erimma” which was his first and last hit song since he became a solo act.
Blackface later accused his then musical partner, 2face of stealing one of his best songs, ‘African Queen,’ one of the biggest evergreen songs in Africa. No one took him seriously since he couldn’t provide enough evidence to back up his claims. He went further to release his own version of the song. Ever since this incidence of theft, blackface has been struggling with his career, though he has released a couple of songs.
LORD OF AJASA
Lord of Ajasa is a legendary Nigerian Afro hip hop artiste and is widely referred to the pioneer of Yoruba rap, setting the pace for rappers like late Da Grin, Olamide, Reminisce, Baseone, Jhybo, Oladips, Seriki, Zlatan and many more.
Born Segun Osaniyi, he was given the stage name ‘Lord of Ajasa’ (Lord of Flavor) in his polytechnic days in Ondo State, where he majored in Quantity Survey. As a potent lyricist, Lord of Ajasa made hip to rap trendy in Yoruba dialect, inspiring many upcoming acts to follow in his footsteps. Ajasa hit limelight with the track,
“Ma yi lo” in 2000. Lord of Ajasa then came through with hit singles, Otiya, Esa lo bade, Ara Awe, Otiya and Le fe nuso, featuring Nigerian singer, 9ice, before Dagrin came with ‘Pon Pon Pon’ and took the game to an entirely different level. He was the most sought after artiste both by promoters and fellow artistes alike headlining and featuring in various prime events in Nigeria. He was recently in the news when he was critically ill and needed funds to undergo an urgent peptic ulcer operation.
SUNNY NEJI
Sunny Neji is probably part of the old generation you should consider checking because of his “Traditional highlife” style. Sunny Neji was born in Lagos, to Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Neji; Sunny, the youngest of five kids. He began to sing at an early stage. As a young boy, he participated in cultural performances while in school and by 1987 he ventured into recording earning a reputation in the jingle-production scene in no time.
His debut album, ‘Captain’ on EMI was released in 1991, before he went on to join Colors Band with which he performed as the lead singer for five years. In 1997 with the release of his sophomore set ‘Mr. Fantastik,’ the album sold hugely and won numerous awards for the artiste. He went on to drop other amazing works, such as Tribute Album To The Legendary Sir, Victor Uwaifo with his reinterpretation of the classic ‘Joromi,’ ‘Wake up!’ in 2003 to challenge Nigeria to vote right in the general election. These special projects helped to set the tune for his fourth full-length album unchained, with Oruka and Face Me. Sunny Neji was described as Nigeria’s Luther Vandross, whose beautiful love songs are enjoyed by everyone, old and young. His hit single “Oruka”; still remains a dream song for every couple walking down the aisle.
CYNTHIA MORGAN
Many still listen to Cynthia Morgan, she is still a living Afro legend. Known for her amazing energy. Morgan who is the queen of Afro pop established that musical style, eventually displaced West African high life as Nigeria’s national sound. She knows how to serenade her listeners right, and expresses it with the simplest of lyrics to convey her message of affection.
TONY TETUILA
Anthony Olanrewaju Awotoye, popularly known as ‘Tony Tetuila’ is another successful Afro hip hop artiste, formerly a member of The Remedies (along with Eedris Abdulkareem and Eddy Montana), he split with the group and went on to established himself as a successful solo musician. He hails from Kwara State and is best known for his song,
‘My car’, where he shaded his former labelmate Eedris Abdulkareem, and pay homage to Bola Tinubu, the Lagos state governor at the time. He went on to drop other hit songs such as ‘Only You,’ ‘Iseju Kan,’ ‘My Heart Go jigi jigi,’ ‘Omode Meta.’ Nothing was heard from him again musically. In 2014, Tony Tetuila ran for political office for the House of Assembly of Kwara State as a candidate of the All Progressives Congress, but lost.
Send Us News, Gist, more... to citypeopleng@gmail.com | Twitter: @CitypeopleMagz