Words:Adedosu 'kenzy' Adekunle
Over the years Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine. The two primary charts – the Hot 100 (top 100 singles) and the Billboard 200 (top 200 albums)factor in airplay, as well as music sales in all relevant formats.
On January 4, 1936, Billboard magazine published its first music hits. They parade the first Music Popularity Chart which was calculated in July 1940. A variety of songs charts followed, which were eventually consolidated into the Hot 100 by mid-1958. The Hot 100 currently combines single sales, radio airplay and digital downloads.Nigerian music has gone over age and it has transformed a whole lot, metamorphism into what we all now call AFRO HIP-HOP.
I can probably start counting those that started hip-hop in the early 80's.It all a bunch of African American cats.From a far perspective view, they were been referred to as the BLACK HIP HOPPERS. From RUN DMC, GRAND MASTER FLASH, THE FURIOUS FIVE, KEITH' COWBOY' WIGGINS.
Thirty years later, hip-hop is the premier pop music of Nigeria, dominating radio play as well as the sales charts(Billboard, feted in mega budget videos, glossy magazines and glitzy award shows.
When the average Nigerian kid decides to get into the music biz, the first impulse is not to grab a guitar or a talking drum, but to pick up a microphone. It was a long way from there to here, though.
For years, the earliest attempts at homegrown rap were ridiculed, resisted or downright reviled by the mainstream. And in some cases, perhaps, rightfully so,they were often awkward, overly imitative, fatuous. But they also laid the foundation for the 2Faces, the 9ices, the D’Banj's, Ruggedman's, Modenine's and the rest of today’s Naija hip-hop superstars.
So here’s our salute to some of the ground breakers in the first decade of Nigerian hip-hop. The like of this great Nigerian hip-hopper's, Ron Ekundayo, Lexy Mella , Super Doeths, I.C. Rock’s, Ernest McDormett Ofonedu , Mike Umoh, Timi Gawi “3”’s ,Emphasis, Kunle"Dizzy" Falola , Dili I. Jukson’s rhyme ,Gloria Hart ,Oby Onyioha......and the list goes on.
This guys actually started hiphop in Nigeria.
Nigerian Hip Hop is sometimes called "GBEDU"or"NAIJA". Afro Hip hop in Nigeria dates back to the late eighties and early nineties. Groups and solo artists i the early 90's include the likes of Junior & Pretty, Daniel 'Danny' Wilson,charlie boy, alex o,alex zitto,chris okotie and the rest. This guys open up the door for this dudes in the late 90's,likes of Plantaintion Boyz, The Remedies, Ruff,Rugged and Raw.
The early years of the new millennium saw an outburst of artists and groups like, Trybesmen, Naeto C, P-square (the duo of Peter & Paul Okoye),Tuface idibia, Dbanj. They all became a part of mainstream music in Nigeria after the collapse of pop trends like Yo pop.
The availability of computers and cheap music editing software in the late 1990s and the 2000s enabled Nigerian musicians to achieve higher quality recordings which quickly won over the Nigerian audience. Just as Nigeria's Nolly-wood movies have done with Western movies, Nigerian hip hop has begun to displace Western popular music.
Magazines like, Hip-Hop World" based in Nigeria, is a prominent publication that has helped fashion the orientation of hip-hop culture in Nigeria and across the continent.
African Beatz, Blast and Bubbles magazines are other similar major Nigerian hip hop publications.
Other notable Nigerian Hip hop artists include Modenine, Terry tha Rapman, O.D, Six-Foot Plus, M.I, Ruggedman, Duncan Mighty, Pherousheouz, Freestyle, Ill Bliss, Elajoe, Sasha, B.o.u.q.u.i, Tony Merlot, Jesse Jeggs. Meanwhile its seems like the coming up underdogs Nigerian/American rapper Tansion P Digga will bring African hippop to the fullness.
More recently the Nigerian hip hop industry has witnessed a wave of new artists which include Terry g, ice prince, wande coal, Dj zeez, omotee and sylence(a promising producer) and the late rap icon Dagrin.
Some American Hip hop artists have included and have been influenced by Nigerian music. For example on an episode of the radio show “The Let Out,” there was a “Nigerian Gangsta Remix” of the Jay Z song “Roc Boyz” which features the late Fela kuti's instrumental,one of the most influential Nigerian musicians of all time.
Nigeria has grown over the years to become the 'seat' of Hip hop in the African continent.Contributors to this 'success' includes the producers ID Cabasa, OJB Jezreel, Paul 'Play' Dairo, Don Jazzy, Ugly Beatz, Y.E.M.I., Puffy T, Cobhams Asuquo, Terry G, Omotee ,banky w,Sylence.Hiphop has finally come to stay.
This new revolution in the Nigerian music industry, have created a new billboard chart , originaly licensed from the American and Uk chart, called THE NIGERIA BILLBOARD.It is a way of re-organzing the music scene.
Originally, Billboard had separate charts for different measures of popularity, including disk jockey playings, juke box song selection, and best selling records in retail stores. A composite standing chart that combined these gradually grew to become a top 100, the ancestor of the current Hot 100 chart. The juke box chart ceased publication after the June 17, 1957 issue, the disk jockey chart, after the July 28, 1958 issue, and the best seller chart, after the October 13, 1958 issue. The July 28, 1958 issue was also the last issue that called the composite chart the Top 100 The following week began the Hot 100.
Currently, Billboard publishes many different charts, with the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 being the most famous. Billboard also has charts for the following music styles: rock, country, dance, bluegrass, jazz, classical, R&B, rap, electronic, pop, Latin, Christian music, comedy albums, and even for ringtones for mobile (cell) phones. In 2009 Billboard partnered with MetroLyrics to offer top 10 lyrics for each of the charts.
Currently it is been aired on Silverbird Television(STV), every mondays by 5pm to 5:30pm.Its runed by two yougest producers in nigeria. TAIWO OKUNREN and TOBI EROGBOGBO.
