5 key songs by the indigenous duo you should listen to

Recall for a moment your days in secondary school, when you are faced with new friends from different ethnic backgrounds, then you bond with a particular lad, young people who had dreams, didn't bother about ethnicity but only had sights on the future and taking over the world like the cartoon Pinky and the Brain.

Now imagine years down the line, and all those dreams begin to come true strengthening the intimacy of your friendship, that is in a way the situation with Olamide and Phyno.

Olamide was a young rapper who was just finding his feet on the scene, while Phyno had been enjoying relative success in the East, producing and performing but never broke into the Lagos market, which in Nigerian context is the mainstream.

Come 2012, the duo bounce off an idea, step into the studio together and the result was a classic single that six years down the line, the effect is still being felt.

ALSO READ:Why the two rappers cannot go wrong

What the duo have together is more than a friendship; a synergy is formed every time they collaborate and with the release of their new single, ''Onyeoma'', it is evident that this creative partnership is not coming to an end, anytime soon.

Here is a list of five key songs by Olamide and Phyno

1. Ghost Mode - 2012

Phyno X Olamide - ''Ghost Mode''

After making his journey into Lagos, the coal city producer had hooked up with a star studded list of Timaya, Flavour, Mi and Mr Raw on the single 'Multiply' in 2010, but despite the presence of industry heavyweights on the song, it made very little impression on the music scene, only catching the attention of keen industry observers.

Fast forward two years down the line and he hooked up with rapper Olamide on the joint 'GhostMode'.

The single broke every formula derived in creating a hit record and despite delivering gritty rap in local languages, it became a mega hit tune that forever swinged their careers forward.

'Ghostmode' won several awards including Best Collabo at the 2012 Headies awards.

2. Fada Fada - 2016

Phyno - 'Fada fada' ft Olamide

Headies 2016 song of the year, MTV Africa hottest song of the year and Playdata'sMost played song of the year are just some of the feats attained by the hit single ''Fada Fada'' when it dropped.

Unlike Ghost Mode, where the duo were all about rap bars, a transformation had occurred in four years, they sought a bigger audience and in trying to compete with the top mainstream acts, the pair became pop singers and as much as rap fans hated it, they had to accept that they did it right.

Fada Fada was melodious, hinted at a prayer and had the right hook that got everyone singing along faster than they could recite the national anthem.

ALSO READ:Fada Fada wins Headies Award of the year

3. Local Rappers - 2014

Reminisce - ''Local Rappers''

Just before the pair made the 360 move from rappers to singers, they felt the need to prove one more time that they really could rap and this single by Reminisce gave them the right platform to do so.

At a point when the conversation surrounding Nigerian rap bothered on the language best applicable for the art form, Reminisce tapped into the chemistry and hype around the duo and they helped make the joint a monster hit.

Throwing shots with lines like, ''Oshee hot nigga, awon eyan Bobby Shmurda, mo ti take over throne yi, awon eyan te fi sho da'', Olamide and Phyno monopolized the joint like one of theirs.

'' Local Rappers was'' nominated for the Best Rap song at the Headies, and it won the award for the Best Collabo.

4. Dope Money - 2013

Olamide X Phyno - Dope Money

If it is not broke, then why fix it? Off his 'Baddest Guy Ever Liveth' album in 2013, the duo reunited to progress the conversation that started the previous year with GhostMode, but this time they are making dope money.

Rapping in his local flow that he had introduced on Durosoke, Olamide delivered a solid verse which was well complemented by Phyno who wants to ''run the town like he was Tinubu''.

5. Ladi - 2015

Olamide X Phyno - ''Ladi''

Off their 10 track collaborative 2Kings album, released in 2015 is Ladi which features fellow indigenous rapper, Lil Kesh

The album surprisingly didn't hit the heights that was expected from a body of work of two individuals who had been able to own the scene, but one of the brightest sparks off the project was Ladi, which had heavy instrumentals and a good verse from Lil Kesh.