How will your most recent pop stars fare this year?

Ycee, Adekunle Gold and Kiss Daniel still represent the most recent musicians to become stars. After a long history of hustling, they have got their music accepted by the public in 2015.

Kiss Daniel was the product of good music and relentless marketing. The young singer who is signed to G-Worldwide Entertainment received the financial might of CEO Emperor Geezy, and promoted the single ‘Woju’. The rest have been history. Ycee’s Çondo’ put him on the map last year, and via smart choices, he was able to release ‘Jagaban’, and later ‘Omo Alhaji’. Adekunle Gold, the lover boy struck gold with ‘Sade’, and has been on the rise ever since.

YCEE

2016 couldn’t have started better for the rapper. Ycee opened up the year with subliminal disses directed at Vector. This made headlines in the news. It is rare for a young upstart to come up against a proven rapper in the Nigerian game.

Beef had trended in January, and the rapper had gotten his own fair share of the attention, prepping himself for the release of new material. The new work came out in form of the visual for ‘Omo Alhaji’.

‘Omo Alhaji’ video has catapulted the single released in 2015 up the charts, with renewed interest in the song having a positive impact on the rapper. He has also been featured in a number of singles which has steadily kept his brand on the rise.

Two good singles this year will have him ready for an album.

Adekunle Gold

The love singer from YBNL who deals with urban Highlife is having a great time. After the success of ‘Sade’ and ‘Orente’, Adekunle Gold’s stature and standing grew in Nigeria, but definitely not enough. The singer was bounced from a nightclub, giving him a rude awakening.

He responded like all great men do; Heading home to the drawing board and writing another song to better his stand. The song ‘Pick up’ was released in December 2015, and currently stands this year as the most played song on radio.

Adekunle’s stock has risen considerably, with the video of ‘Pick up’ gaining rotation, and becoming an anthem for all hopeful hustlers.

A curious situation for Adekunle Gold has been his inability to appear in collaborations. The singer has one of the fewest collaborations in the industry, and while this might be considered a blessing in many quarters, the lack of diversity and synergy might just be affecting his growth rate.

Three more singles will make Adekunle Gold ready for a project this year.

Kiss Daniel

2016 has been relatively quiet for the man from G-Worldwide when considered in the light of releasing new music. The past three months has seen the man hold back on new material.

But that is expected seeing that the appeal of his last song ‘Good life’ is still very strong. With a ‘vintage’ video to follow the song, directed by AJE Filmworks.

Kiss Daniel’s 2016 is pure textbook success. Running away with the song ‘Woju’, he made a remix, scored another hit with Laye, had Tiwa Savage and Patoranking on a song, performed at the best shows, and wrapped up the year with a decent single. He has also worked on a new song with Wizkid which will be released this year.

Where’s the fault in that?

This year, he already has an album planned, and is working on tying it up. But Nigerians will need another hit single for it to work, and judging from his earlier exploits, that isn’tb expected to be a problem.

An album, good singles, and an award? Kiss Daniel’s fortunes for the year looks bright and very entertaining.