The Changing Face of Nigeria’s Rap Scene

Amidst the big wins, the disappointing losses and the perennial problems resurfacing at the 17th Headies held two weeks ago, the win of Shallipopi and Odumodublvck’s club anthem Cast as Best Rap Single slipped somewhat under the radar. At the time of its nomination, the song generated controversy over its eligibility, even from other artists—it deviates from traditional expectations for Rap music, being built on a framework of log drum-driven Benin swagger that Shallipopi has made his signature, with rapping consigned to small pockets and delivered at a slow pace. Its win brings to the fore unresolved arguments about what constitutes Rap music and artists: is the use of hard punchlines enough, or must a rapper conform to all of the age-long Hip-Hop conventions to merit the title? And, is the evolution of Rap music to make it more accessible for a broader audience a progression of the genre or an insult to it?

We find Nigerian Rap in an ambiguous position. The smarter Rappers now know to mix the flavoring of Nigerian pop, by curating high-energy danceable beats and swaggering over them, like Shallpopi; by incorporating melodious flows and vocals, like Odumodublvck; or by straight-up switching between genres, like Blaqbonez did for most of Emeka Must Shine, his last album. The drawback to this is that their placement outside the genre has brought their Rap credentials into doubt. The fact that these rappers are now currently the face of the genre—according to Headies awards and chart positions—also inevitably calls to question the status of the genre.

There are artists whose views of Rap leave little doubt as to their affiliations. Psycho YP has spent the last few years as an instrumental part of the Abuja scene, holding the fort via ten projects in the last eight years, where he abides by a slinky, chesty blend of Trap and Rap. Jeriq, the Enugu-based rapper, also fits into this model, although his variety of Rap carries an Igbo flavour in language, delivery, and rarely, production. Ladipoe, Erigga, Payper Corleone, Paybac Iboro and more have also held their own for the genre for the last few years, consistently producing high quality Rap albums enjoyed amongst niche audiences. Other practitioners of the genre include the class of artists that came before, who, whilst having achieved “elder” status, are still flagpoles of Nigerian Rap excellence—like Olamide, MI Abaga, Vector or A-Q. 

But the big conundrum is that these rappers, at least in 2025, struggle to match the impact and reach of their more genre-fluid counterparts. It explains why some traditional rappers have drifted from the scene in recent years—Olamide has stayed on the loverboy Afro RnB path since 2020’s Carpe Diem, though his latest, Ikigai Vol. 1 was an appreciated call back to the old days; Vector’s last album, Teslim: A Lover Boy PTSD saw him do a lot more singing than rapping. The Lagos-based rap outfit Show Dem Camp switches personalities between projects—with their Clone Wars series servicing their Rapcore fans, while their Palmwine Music line welcomes an Afropop audience and often features seasoned Afropop vocalists. The latter series is also the much more successful one, but by alternating between two soundscapes they can keep their Rap credentials intact while maintaining some connection to mainstream Pop.

What all of this points to is a decline in appreciation for Rap music amongst the Nigerian audience, or, at least, a shift towards a genre-contorting version of it. And as fans are the pillar of any music industry, their votes, with streams and concert tickets, have set the direction of Nigerian Rap. As an industry, we must therefore be willing to expand on the definition of Rap. Rap is often considered as Rhythmic poetry; a music style in which a performer (or MC) speaks rhyming lines over a beat, as opposed to a singer who makes music in melodies. The genre originated in Black America, as masters of ceremony recited lines speedily over beats the DJs provided. Over time, its scope has widened considerably, incorporating a variety of languages from all over the world, and diversifying from the Boom Bap beats that were its first accompaniment. At present, Rap has grown to become more melodious and musical than ever: Drake is positioned as one of the top rappers despite being a Pop singer half the time; Future and Travis Scott are melodic Trappers who sometimes sing their choruses; Doja Cat finely straddles the divide between Rap and Pop.

In Nigeria, Rap has evolved by the inspiration of our music and culture. The first Nigerian Rap song is credited to DJ Ron “Ronnie” Ekundayo’s The Way I Feel Rap of 1981, which was nearly indistinguishable from the earliest Hip Hop tracks from New York City in production and cadence. In the years that followed other artists like Emphasis (a group consisting of Terry, Mouth MC and Junior) and the duo of Pretty and Junior were also early pioneers of the genre. At the turn of the 21st century, Rap was nearly indigenized in Nigeria. The Remedies (a trio comprising Eddy Remedy, Tony Tetuila and Eedris Abdulkareem) released Sakomo in 1998, often regarded as Nigeria’s first mainstream Rap single. It had extended the genre further, incorporating Yoruba language and Pidgin, and a catchy chorus sung by Eddy Remedy.

As the ‘10s rolled around, Nigerian Rap expanded even further. Acts like Dagrin, Olamide, Phyno and Reminisce entered the scene, each bringing the local flavour of their hometowns in a show of authenticity. They were occasionally mocked as local rappers (a tag that was owned and reframed in the 2015 song), but they undisputedly bore the identity of their country; they made Nigerian Rap Nigerian. Everything that has come since then has been a continuation of that evolution: the advent of Street Hop, Afropop-Rap fusions, even the section of Alte that channels Rap. 

Therefore, Odumodublvck, Blaqbonez, Shallipopi, Ajebo Hustlers, Zlatan and more represent the next phase of Nigeria’s Rap evolution. Rap has always meant more than the speed of delivery and rhyme schemes; the attitudes, swagger and cultural currency that accompany these lines are just as important, and these rappers have them in abundance. Cast winning the Headies award for Best Rap single this year wasn’t any more a fluke than Declan Rice two years ago—it is a representation of institutions catching up to what audiences have already embraced. The scene is shifting, and it’s the artists who adapt to the evolving tastes of the audience that will stay ahead of the curve.