Top 5 Nigerian Hip Hop Artists That Rocked The 1990s

Nigerian Artists

Do you wish to know the top 5 Nigerian artists that made the 1990s a memorable one? Those artists that made growing up fun and memorable? Then you are in the right place.

The Nigerian music industry has seen a lot of artists in since the beginning of time. Before the likes of Wizkid, Burna Boy, Davido, MI Abaga and co, there have been great artist that rocked the country.

Sit back, grab a cold beer or juice and sip as we take you back in time.

1. 2Shotz

2Shotz

Williams Orioha, popularly known as 2shotz was a Nigerian rapper and songwriter. He is a versatile artist that sang in English, Pidgin and Igbo fluently. He served us with dope songs such as Carry Am Go”, “Odeshi” and “Delicious”.

He was born on March 3rd 1979 in Lagos State but his hometown is the Abia State capital, Umuahia.

His first studio album, Pirated, was released in 2004. Second was released in 2005 and was called Original Copy. He went ahead winning the Headies 2006 Award for Best Collaboration and then released his third album, Commercial Avenue in 2007. His fourth, fifth and sixth albums were Music Business, I am William and Loud Silence which were released in 2008, 2010 and 2016 respectively.

He worked with artist like Big Lo, 2Ply, 9ice, Terry G, Timaya, Brymo and others.

In present day, 2shotz is now based in the United State of America as a photographer. and filmmaker.

2. eLDee

eLDee

Born, Lanre Dabiri, with a Lagos State Origin, better known as Eldee, styled as eLDee, also known as The Don or eLDee tha don, was a rapper, singer and producer that graced our ears with nice tunes too.

Born in Kaduna on the 23rd of May, 1977, eLDee worked with a host of artists like 2shorts (mentioned above), Dr SID, Sasha P, Yemi Alade and many others (since he was a producer).

He was a top and one of the founding members of Trybesmen which started in 1998 with fellow rappers, Freestyle and KB. Although still present in the industry, but quite, eLDee has five solo albums to his name which are:

• 2004: Long Time Coming
• 2006: Return of the King
• 2008: Big Boy
• 2010: Is It Your Money
• 2012: Undeniable

His musical career kicked off in 2002 after moving to USA. His second album, Return of the King, won the “Best International Album” at the 2007 Nigeria Entertainment Awards which was held in New York City.

eLDee has worked as a rapper, video director, interactive media consultant and also a producer. He also holds a master’s degree in Architecture from UNILAG. This guy basically does it all. Presently, he is an IT Consultant and resides in USA.

3. Sasha P

Sasha P

Sasha P, known fully as Anthonia Yetunde Alabi is a businesswoman, lawyer, motivational speaker who was was a rapper.

Sasha is referred to as the First Lady of Nigerian Hip Hop. I personally refer to her as the queen of Nigerian rap.

She was born in the capital city of Oyo State on the 21st of June 1983 but hails from Lagos State.

She was active from 1993 to 2014 and worked with artist like Banky W, Tuface Idibia (now 2baba) Niyola and number 1 & 2 mentioned above.

She was once signed to eLDee’s label, Trybe Records. She won the 2009 “Best Female Artist” award in the UK at the Women in Entertainment Awards for her first single titled “Adara”. She also was nominated for several awards.

She was the first ever Nigerian female artist to perform at the 20th anniversary of the World Music Awards in October 2008. She was also the first Nigerian female artiste to win the Best Female Award at MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA).

She took a break from the music scene, prior to her announcement in 2013 that she would love to focus on her fashion business.

4. Lord of Ajasa

Lord of Ajasa

Olusegun Osaniyi, known by his stage name, Lord of Ajasa was prolific Yoruba rapper. He was crowned the Lord of Flavour (Ajasa is a Yoruba term for Flavour) in his polytechnic days in Ondo State.

He was born July 16th, 1982. He was regarded as a Potent Lyricist in deep Yoruba language.

He dropped his rave single, Otiya, in 2015 which shot him to to a status known before entertainment lovers across Nigeria.

He is the most sought after artiste both by promoters and fellow artistes alike. Having had more featured appearance than any known Hip Hop act in Nigeria due to his creative and energetic musical abilities.

He was the winner of the Best Rap Indigenous Category of the Afro Hip Hop Society Awards 2001, Nominee in the category Lyricist On The Roll in Hip Hop World Awards in 2006.

5. Ikechukwu

Ikechukwu Onunaku, also known as Killz was a rapper, song writer and now movie star having featured in The Wedding Party 1 & 2.

He was born in Virginia, USA but raised in Lagos.

He went back to the United States shortly after finishing his secondary education and returned after a decade in 2006 with his debut album, Son of the Soil. He further went on to release two other albums. One of his biggest track ever was “My Name is Ikechukwu” which was released in 2006. He has solo albums to his name which are:

• Son of the Soil (2006)
• Life and Times of Killz Vol. 1 (2008)
• The Alliance Reconstructed (2010)
• Hard (2019)
• Soft (2019)

He worked with other artists like D’Banj, Wande Coal, Don Jazzy and others.

Although some of these artist still have influence and are still relevant in the music industry, they are highly underrated by many Nigerians and whether you believe it or not, if you grew up listening to the likes of these artists named above, you would realize that a lot is missing in the Nigerian Music Industry of today and that even make me miss them more.

Do you know these artists?

What is/are your favourtite track(s) of them?

Tell us below in the comment section.

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