Was ‘Who you epp’ competition created to recruit new YBNL soldiers?

Honestly, these are scanty times for the talent numbers at YBNL. Rewind a year ago, and they had the next set of stars ready to start an onslaught of the music industry. Olamide had become a king, Lil Kesh an emerging prince, Xino, and Chinko Ekun were waiting in the wings, their talents on the burner, heating up for an explosion. Adekunle Gold had joined as an impromptu signing, with his ‘Sade’, single just out of the studio and picking.

What a difference one year makes.

These days, Lil Kesh is flying the banners of a different personalized house. Xino has been kicked out and has turned rogue, blaming Olamide for the failure of his career to soar. Chinko Ekun’s project is not yet on the radar, and Adekunle Gold has the specter of an exit looming over him.

Lil Kesh’s exit, although premeditated and properly transitioned, leaves the label a little light on rap stars. Adekunle Gold has achieved pop success with his urban Highlife path, but he isn’t a rapper and is still considered an outsider by many. YBNL’s selling point has been the rap and familial spirit that they have promoted and sold to the public. A new set of stars are needed to fill in the empty spaces and continue what has the potential to be a dynasty and thrive for countless years.

The addition of a female singer and the first in the history of the company– Temi Ovwasa – has lifted spirits at the house, and given a fresh injection of talent. But she adds to the singing group, leaving the rap facet a little bit short in the department.

Olamide might just have found his new recruits. And it is from a very unlikely source: the winners of the viral ‘Who you epp’ competition. The rapper’s 201g single came with a free 16 bars of instrumental, with no vocals laced in it. Olamide put that deliberately, and via social media, announced a competition for people to bring on their most creative 16-bars to fill that space. First came the celebrity rappers who took the gauntlet, and dropped their golden flow. Ruggedman, Phyno, Lil Kesh and many others are proud fillers of ‘Who you epp’.

But the competition really became a hit with lesser known rappers and singers. There have been works from Slay, Bils, MVP, Pepenazi, Gunzoe, Ms. Chief, Ozee, Lypsi, Viktoh, Subzilla, Lowbeek, Ckay, Pryse, and a host of others. This has created a long list of  ‘Who you epp’ songs flooding the internet, and offering new versions and extended enjoyment to fans.

The winners were promised a free feature by Olamide, a free beat/instrumental (paid for by Olamide) and a free video, shot by the highly-rated Mr. Moe Musa. That’s the big time for a struggling upcoming act.

Today, those acts who won – Dali and Maupheen – have received their prizes, as the music video of ‘Lies people tell’ is out and receiving attention. But it’s the titling of the song that has caught the attention of people. The video wasn’t named Olamide – ‘Lies people tell’ ft Dalis, Maupheen. It was called ‘YBNL – ‘Lies people tell’ ft Maupheen, Olamide, Dalis.

That title unofficially implies that the two winners are now signed to YBNL, the hallowed house of Nigerian indigenous rap music. The two acts took verses on the song, but it’s too little to judge the strength of their talent off a single verse.  No announcement has been made, but there’s an inkling that the ‘Who you epp’ competition was a recruitment selection for the label.

The coming days will tell.