Monday, 13 June 2016

Nigerian artistes without a hit song

’Nonye Ben-Nwankwo, and Ademola Olonilua
Lami Philips
Lami is more popular on social media than on stage. She has been lucky to be invited to one or two not- so- popular gigs but even her performance at such gigs, isn’t earthshaking but almost boring.

Some may excuse her since her songs are mostly love songs and not dancehall; however, she has not been able to repeat what she did with her ‘Know’song, which kind of topped charts for a while. Some people feel that the song was acceptable because of MI’s input (she featured him in the song).The singer made her debut into the Nigerian music scene with the release of her debut album, Intuition, in November, 2009.
She may have felt featuring another known person in another song would earn her some kudos in her career but then, the Kotobata, which featured Olamide, made little or no impact in her career.
Presh
Presh may be wondering which god he offended; since he and his former Best Friend Forever (BFF), KC broke up, Presh’s career has almost gone into oblivion.
As a group, their (KCPresh) career wasn’t even fantastic as they didn’t have a great hit that could earn them fantastic points even after they had won at the Nigerian Breweries sponsored music reality show, Star Quest.  However, they had performed on stage for so many years (all thanks to Nigerian Breweries sponsored concerts and gigs) with other A list international and Nigerian musicians.
Interestingly, they broke up and KC started dishing out club bangers back to back while Presh is…just Presh.
 When it looked as if his career was at a zero level, Okwudili Umenyiora’s Eric Manny Records came to the rescue and even went as far as ‘packaging’ Presh with exotic cars and other incentives.
Presh tried… he actually tried to make a comeback. His song, Say Dem, featuring Davido, could have earned him a place but oops, Presh has yet to deliver songs his fans would die to listen to.
2shotz
Once upon a time, 2shotz was the man of the moment. That time is quickly fading in the minds of many; so many people may not even recall what songs shot him to the limelight.
His song, ‘Superman,’ which was released in 2012, would have put him back on track because it gained a lot of public acceptance but that did not seem to be enough as he still wasn’t able to top charts
Apart from allegedly battering his girlfriend Beverly Osu and later on, his wife, and the stories making headlines, nothing more has been heard from the talented guy who used to make so many fans dance with the great songs he put out back then.
K Switch
Well, K Switch is popular; after all, he is D’banj’s biological brother. But that may be the only gene they share because musically, they are certainly world apart!
He was a member of the defunct Mo’hit group but even back then, K Switch was just there, he wasn’t so spectacular.
His peculiar style of music, which tilts towards reggae, could have got him a breakthrough but the likes of Patoranking (who sing similar genre) came on the scene and practically chased him out of the league with their hit songs.
But K Switch could be pardoned a bit, his ‘Obimo’, featuring D’banj may not have topped so many charts but it is a good song. ‘His’, For Example featuring Olamide and Wizkid and Jaburata could not be said to have done great.
Styl-Plus
Who remembers Styl-Plus again? This group of boys held sway so many years ago and their song, Olufunmi, was a big hit. Sadly, that was   many, many years ago.
Back then, the lads stormed all the happening gigs, jumping from one point of the stage to another and so many fans, especially the females, went wild just at the sight of them. They were even dubbed Nigeria’s Westlife.
In 2006 when they launched their album, it was alleged that the star-studded event in Abuja and Lagos cost over N10 million making it one of the most expensive album launch in Nigerian history.
They may have felt they could do better than they did in their first album as they released their sophomore album, ‘Back and better’.  But that effort wasn’t so good and that was how the boys gradually faded.
Now, Styl Plus might need to reintroduce themselves to a lot of people if they should make a comeback as so many talents have come and overtaken them in the music business.
 Sasha P
Thank God Sasha P got another calling. Her musical career became practically dead and so many people felt that in order to remain relevant, the one-time rap queen switched to clothing and shoe business.
But there was a time the pretty babe was a rap queen. Yes, Sasha ruled, at least the female musicians’ scene. But it looked as if the babe couldn’t stand the competition when other female singers came on the stage.
By the way, Sasha broke into the Nigerian entertainment scene with the defunct hip-hop group, Trybesmen in 1994 when the first members, Eldee, Kaboom and Freestyle, met in Lagos. The group later broke up and everyone went their separate ways.
 In 2002, she sang, ‘Oya’ and ‘Work’ it but she did not gain prominence till she released ‘Emi le gan’, which was widely accepted, ditto for her ‘Adara’, which she released in 2008.
 In 2012, she sang, ‘Bad Girl P’ and the babe decided to go back and face what may likely be a better career, her clothing business

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