Nigerian Hip-hop and Kicking It Old Skool

So one of the best things about traveling to other countries is enjoying the culture, a fun part of which is listening to the latest tunes. Nigeria without a doubt has some of the best hip-hop sounds in Africa. You can hear the influence of Bollywood, American rap/hip-hop all blended together with Nigerian flavor added in. It wouldn't surprise me to hear some of these artists get airplay in the states in the not too distant future.

Unfortunately, I never had a chance to see any of these acts in person. But there were plenty of stalls everywhere selling CDs. Some were of the bootleg "mix" variety
that had the latest Nigerian/American tunes crammed onto a single disc...


2Face is probably my favorite Nigerian artist. He gets constant airplay at the bars/clubs with good reason, he's fantastic. Another member of a group that 2Face previously belonged to, Faze, is also great.



Then there are some second tier artists. I think I bought these CDs 'cause the photos on front were hysterically funny. I'm not too sure what image these guys are trying to cultivate, but N'Sync and the Backstreet Boys come to mind. Luckily for them, their music sounds slightly better.

CD "shops" tended to be no more than a wooden shack jammed floor to ceiling with CDs. Usually they have huge boom boxes blaring out in front to attract costumers. Put a dozen or so of these shacks in a row and you get a weird mix of Nigerian hip-hop blasting.

In one of these shacks, I asked the seller for some old school Nigerian music, something his parents would listen to. He went digging through his boxes and found some golden oldies, and they turned out to be uber-fantastic. He played some of them on his boombox and actually started to close his eyes, singing along and grooving to the tunes. A crowd heard the "unusual" tunes blaring from the shack and actually gathered to watch the spectacle. It's not every day someone, let alone a foreigner, comes along and asks for the oldies, hah! At any rate, here are some more clips, enjoy Okonkwo, Perricomo, and Sonny Bobo (and is it me, or does Okonkwo- the first guy, look like the Nigerian version of Nat King Cole?). Enjoy!