Music in my ears: 31 Great Music Albums in Nigeria

Rating music is one of the most difficult subject to embark on for the reasons that music is a very highly subjective product of human endeavor, our music tastes are different and varied as much as the different genres that exist.

In this write up I will attempt to compile a selection of some of the greatest contemporary albums in Nigeria. This selection is by no means a technical or critical appraisal of the various albums, rather major consideration is given to other factors such as longevity as in albums that have stood  the test of time and the songs will still sound pleasing to the ears after many years, relevance as in having songs that have  relevant messages and are still relevant in our socio- cultural context.

Also considered are impact albums or albums that have a song or songs that made great impact in terms of national spread and acceptance or was a pace setter for a particular genre of music.

 The wholesomeness of the album was also considered by that I mean that one would have no need to skip tracts which simply means all the songs are worth listening to and there is little or no issues in terms of use  vulgar words etc.

I excluded certain artistes for the reasons of their 'not to be contested' status either for their legendary status or for the uniqueness of their music which make them peculiar works of art. This will include, Fela, Victor Uwaifo, Sunny Ade, Ebenezar Obey, Prince Nico Mbarga, Oliver De Coque, Osadebe Femi Kuti and other legends of the trade.

The period of coverage however includes the Funk Rock era of the late 70's through the Nigerian Pop era of the early 80's to the reggae filled late 80's to the resurgent of the Nigerian music in the mid 90's till date.

In no particular order, my list goes thus:

1. I need someone- Kris  Okotie (Changed the perception that music was for drop outs, title tract was a monster hit, leading album of the Nigerian pop music era)

2. Prisoner of Concience- Majek Fashek(introduced one of Nigeria's greatest talent with the hit song 'send down the rain')

3. Lamentation for Sodom- Terra Kota (revolutionary album that changed the music equation from the pop era to the reggae era paving way for Majek, Mandators, Ras Kimono etc)

4. World of  My Dreams - Samsong (wholesome gospel album from beginning to the end)

5. Super Sun- Bez (the very best of neo-soul music in the Nigerian landscape)

6. Asa- Asa (this album berthed neo-soul in Nigeria)

7. Jagznation vol.1- Jesse Jags (even Damian,Stephen and Ziggy Marley will press replay on this album)

8. Lover Boy- Felix Lebarty (embodied everything the Nigerian Pop era had to offer)

9. Chicks and Chicken-  Esbee Family (great Funk/Soul/Pop presentation from Nigeria' s version of Dynasty,)

10. Across the Desert- Sweet Breeze (In my opinion, the best album from the Funk/Rock era of the late 70's )

11. Body and Soul- Plantation Boiz (One of the albums that reawakened the music industry in the mid 90's and threw up Tuface Idibia, Faze and Black Face)

12. Face to face- Tuface Idibia(This album gave us 'African Queen' and brought Tuface to limelight)

13. Conqueror- Oritz Wiliki (Technically one of the best produced albums in Nigeria, great reggae songs from begining to the end)

14. Promised Land - Majek Fashek (Great experimentation in Reggae and Rock fusion only The Police/Sting have done it a shade better than Majek)

15. Game Over- PSquare ( Can't talk Afro Pop without this album)

16. Master of the Universe-Panam Percy Paul (Great Gospel album)

17. The Bard- Silver Saddih (Out of the very few full  R'n'B albums in Nigeria, The Bard is simply fantastic)

18. Unchained- Sunny Neji (Brought high life music back to the fore. The massive hit wedding song 'Oruka' came from here)

20. Congo Aso- 9ice(Cross Over Pop, Fuji album worth remembering)

21. The year of R 'n' B- Capital Femi ( Arguably the best full R'n'B album on offer till date)

22. The Paradigm Shift - Mode 9 ( Rap album the way it should be done)

23. Mr Raggamuffin - Daniel Wilson (when it was time to switch from full Reggae to Ragga, this album made it happen paving the way for  Blackky, Desmond Dread, Felix Duke etc)

24. About Tyme- Blackky- ( The album that Confirmed the ragga/toast genre in Nigeria. Remember 'Rosie', 'Blackky Skank' etc)

25. Jealousy- Remedies (When the Afro hip hop chapter of Nigerian music is mentioned, these guys will surely be on the first page, I mean Eeedris, Tony Tetuila and Eddy Montana)

26.  Blessed- Flavour ( This album points the way for the 21st century high life music which is basically the music that is coming out of Nigeria at the moment even though the artistes call it Afro Beats)

27.One Love- Onyeka Onwenu (At a time when Nigerians where not so appreciative of Nigerian music this album was one of the stand out albums of the mid 80's and the song 'one love' was a regular feature on DJ mixes)

28.Respect Africa- Bright Chimeze ( Okoro Jnr, effectively bridged the gap between the older generation of high life artistes and the newer generation and this album was a template for future high life acts)

29. Say No - Alex O (Alex O extended the space for Nigerian Pop in the face of domination by reggae artistes and this album relesed in 1990 stood out)

30. Ace - Shina Peters (The phenomenal album that sold Juju music to non Yoruba speaking people across the world)

31. Concert Fever - Mike Okri (Concert fever opened the chapter for Afro pop)

This is by no means an exhaustive compilation as there are other excellent albums that made great over the years up till this moment. Again one may have missed out on some recordings. Hence it makes sense to add to this list.
Peace.

How Indigenous Record Companies Contributed to the Development of Nigerian Music Industry

The Nigerian music industry witnessed a dominance of recorded music from foreign labels in the 1960's to the 1970's. Some of these recording companies include Philips West Africa limited which later metamorphose to Polygram and currently Premier Music, The British owned Electric and Musical Industry popularly called EMI which is currently known as Ivory Music and Decca West Africa or Afrodisia Records.
These companies were later joined in the early 1980's by CBS later called Sony Music.
Together, these foreign owned companies were responsible for the recording and release of the major musical works of Nigerian artistes as well as the marketing of foreign music in Nigeria .

 

However in the late 1970's, Popular Apala musician Chief Haruna Isola had established Phonodisk Limited which had a record pressing factory in Ijegbu Igbo and employed ace producer as the production person there. Phonodisk innovated and recruited some of the top selling acts then including Kris Okotie, Bongos Ikwe,Amas Grill,Chief Sunny Ade, George Ema, Eric Kol among others.
 Kris Okotie in particular was a musical revelation of some sort who created adequate impetus for the positioning of the Indigenous Recording companies.

Following in the footsteps of Chief Ishola, Prince GAD Tabansi floated Tabansi Records which was responsible for the careers of Felix lebarty,Jide Obi,Ace in house produce Jake Sollo, Esbee Family and others. in the later part of the 80's, Tabansi records produced another in the Nigerian music industry in the person of Majek Fashek with the release of his debut 'Prisoner of Conscience'as well as 'save the masses' by Andy Shurman.
 Other indigenous Record companies of note will include Shanu Olu Records another Ijebu based company that released Terra Kota's debut 'lamentation for Sodom', Chris Robinson Recordings that released Chris Mba's debut 'Love Everlasting', Aba based Top Rank that launched the careers of Daniel Wilson and Alfa Kuffa, Time Records that introduced Oby Onyioha, Rogers All Star that brought to us some of the highlife greats including Prince Nico Mbarga, Supreme Disk that brought out Terry Mackson.
Several other imprint labes existed and together provided a rich catalog of hit songs that were recorded and produced by our indigenous record labels.