Nigeria Rap Music Fading?

Nigeria’s fastest growing hip hop artiste, Ice Prince, recently won BET award.It’s been noticed that those who were a force in the genre are nowhere to be found.

While some say it is due to breakups from labels by some strong members, others say it depends on time and ability to blend ineasily.

Nigerian entertainment industry has lots of potentials and they help in the sustenance of the height and level placed by other African and European counterparts who hold it in high esteem because of the possible market they could open for themselves. The different music genres help in letting those who have more interest in a particular style feel it by giving more attention.

Ice Prince And Rap Music Nigeria rap music has come a long way in shaping the music industry. The growth in the genre has helped in bringing world’s renowned hardcore and soft rap musicians to Nigeria either on tour or for collaboration. Recently, Nigeria's superstar, PanshakZamani popularly known as Ice Prince, represented to the fullest at the recently concluded BET Awards on 30th June, 2013 in Los Angeles.

The event, hosted by the veteran comedian/actor, Chris Tucker, saw Ice Prince win the prestigious award for Best International Act – Africa. Unlike the past two years where two artistes shared the BET Award in that category, Ice Prince stood alone this year as the winner. A big attestation that the young artiste,Ice Prince, who attended St. Murumba’s College, Jos, the same school that produced superstars P-Square and Mikel Obi, and Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State, among others, also attended the Science Tutorial College in Jos, where in 1998 he began writing hip hop music. In 2002, he got together with a couple of his friends and formed a group called the Ecomog Squad. In 2004, he met hit makers like the Abaga brothers - M.I. and Jesse Jagz at a young persons' forum. He is now fast becoming the best even when the rap music in Nigeria is fast fading away.

Other Rappers and Their Current State According to Matthew X-T, there was a time when Nigeria could boast of strong artistes like EedrisAbdulkareem, Mode 9, Rugged Man, Terry Da Rapman, OD, Sauce Kid, Dat, Nigga Raw, Lambothe Virus, Gino, Ghetto P, Freestyle and Durella whose songs are worth following. Also ladies like Sasha, Bouqui, Muna, Eva are still active in the genre but seem to be interested in something else.

For Jude Abaga, better known by stage name M.I, (Mr Incredible), who has won several awards including the MTV Africa Music Awards 2009 and was nominated for BET 2010 Awards for the Best International Act Category, he rose to prominence in 2006, when his song,CrowdMentality, became popular in his hometown Jos. Signed to Chocolate City music label on the 11th of December 2008, M.I released his critically acclaimed debut album, Talk About It. Tripol of Blaze-A-Mic describes M.I's flow as "easy going but full of punches".

His similarities in styles have also been drawn to renowned rappers such as Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Jay-Z. But recently, it seems things are not going as supposed. While some sayit’s the X-factor fever that is weighing him down, others say he is still very active. According to VickySlosh, MI is still very sound in rap music but the present crop of hip-hop artistes like Vector are really giving them a run for their money.

Until tomorrow, many music lovers will continue to see Mode 9 as the best rapper Nigeria has ever had. His punch lines are crazy, though his publicity has not been strong; he has contributed his quota just like Overdose and EedrisAbdulkareem to the genre. The artiste said in an interview that he fell in love with hip-hop when he heard Grandmaster Flash the Furious Five, one of the most revered music icons back in the early 80's, that “it was a crazy new experience.

I couldn’t stop thinking about it,” he said. He believes that Trybesmen, Rugged Man etc are not prominent the way they ought to be even when they have been there for quite a long time. “They are not even emerging, they are okay!!! But we still got a lot of trashy artistes in the system,” he added. Though he believes MI is better than Ice Prince, he said he won't work with any of them. “I had a very bad experience with one.So I'm watching my back.”

The Future Ghanaian hip hop artiste, Sakodie, is also fast becoming a force to be reckoned with in Africa because of the niche he has carved for himself. He has featured big rap artistes including Ice Prince of Nigeria. If more prominence is not given to the genre and the future that would make it better and more publicized, rap music will diminish just like the ghetto music which Nigeria was known for by the Jamaican.

Ice Prince’s best international act award at the BET is one of the biggest in his career. He should use the opportunity to collaborate with world class Wale of MayBach music, Miguel and others to keep the tempo high in order not to fade in fame.

Source: Leadership