10 Famous Slang in Afrobeats You Need to Know

Afrobeats and Nigerian music in general move fast, but the slang moves even faster. Every season, artists drop a new phrase that slips into lyrics, jumps to social media, and ends up in everyday conversations across the country. 

These words say a lot about the culture: confidence, money, lifestyle, vibes, and the playful chaos that powers Afrobeats. Here are the slang terms dominating music and pop culture right now, plus where they came from and how people actually use them.

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“Eja nla” translates to “big fish,” and it’s how you hype someone with presence. They’re your typical big spenders, influential babes, or people who move like they run the room.

Afrobeats icon D’banj was known for famously referring to himself as Eja Nla. Adekunle Gold keeps this befitting title alive. In his hit single ‘Many People’, he calls himself Eja Nla in a thump-chesting display of status. It has become shorthand for someone who’s in a league of their own.

Since he broke into the mainstream, Shallipopi has had an unmissable impact on Afrobeats. “Men Mount” is one of the slangs that the senior Uzama and leader of The Migwos, popularised in Nigerian pop culture.

At its core, it’s about solidarity; the boys coming together, holding each other down, and having a good time. After ‘Ex-Convict’ blew up, the phrase moved beyond TikTok into everyday gist, even among people who don’t listen to the song.

A “City Boy” (or “City Girl”) is someone who’s fully inside enjoyment mode. No stress, just vibes, soft life, and money that seems to appear when needed. Burna Boy stamped this one with ‘City Boys’ off his seventh LP ‘I Told Them’, turning it into an anthem for anyone living loud and unbothered.

While Burna Boy might have documented the word in his hit song, its earliest popular use can be traced to musician Brymo, who, in a 2022 campaign post on X (formerly Twitter), referred to Presidential candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a "City Boy".

Perhaps, there’s no bigger slang in Nigerian pop culture and Afrobeats in the past two years than Oblee, which means party and pop bottles.

Coined by Seyi Vibez in his song ‘Flaky’ and hugely popularised by era-defining street DJ YK Mule in his smash hit song ‘Oblee’ featuring Qdot, Slimcase, and Kashcoming.

Oblee is a word coined and owned by the street that breathes life into it through electrifying legwork and street raves. The word is now synonymous with party, even in the mainstream, where it was the biggest song and word for Detty December 2024.

“Izz Going” simply means what you think it does. “It’s Going”. In Afrobeats, the use of “Izz Going” is an announcement that events are going as planned. It could also signify a defiant intention to keep forging ahead, irrespective of challenges.

Sope O Ti Lo, on the other hand, means “Izz Gone.” In Afrobeats parlance, this indicates a change in the state of a thing, event, or person. It can be indicative of a positive or a negative change. Either way, whenever you hear “Izz gone,” just know things are no longer the same, like that popular Naeto C song. 

Another Shallipopi update.

“Oscroh” (or “OS”, although “OS” is more accurately the short form of “Oloso”, which is a Yoruba word for sex workers) is a Benin slang that refers to sex work, similar to “hookup” in Nigerian street talk. The term took off after he used it in ‘Peperline’, adding to the growing list of Benin-origin slangs shaping mainstream pop culture.

Aza is a Bini word that means safe or bank account in modern usage. This is where the term Azaman was coined from as a way to describe a man of means or a middleman who collects funds and remits to a third party.

On the surface, “Azaman” means a rich spender, someone who has money and isn’t shy to show it. But in street lingo, an azaman also provides the bank details that Yahoo boys use to “pick” funds. Rema’s ‘Azaman’ leans heavily into that imagery and helped the slang grow beyond Benin circles.

“Cana” comes from “Canadian Loud,” a popular and pricey cannabis strain. In Afrobeats culture, it’s become shorthand for weed, vibes, and the kind of lifestyle artists like Seyi Vibez channel on tracks like ‘Cana’.

It’s one of those slangs that instantly paints a picture of a certain behaviour or demographic.

One of the biggest slang moments of 2023, and it’s still everywhere.
“Idan” describes someone who pulls things off with ease, a boss, an OG, someone who doesn’t stress but always delivers.

Musician Segun Johnson turned the word into a cultural moment when his track ‘Idan’ went viral, and it still pops up in memes and captions.

A Yoruba slang meaning “don’t fear” or “don’t be intimidated.” Naira Marley made it mainstream with his 2019 track ‘Mafo’, and it’s been locked into Nigerian pop culture ever since. It’s bold, energetic, and hype enough to work as either motivation or mischief.