The year 2014 was a good one for the emergence of new acts. That year had four acts emerge from the backwaters of Nigerian music, and into mainstream glory. They are Skales, Patoranking, Runtown, Yemi Alade, and Orezi.

Skales turned around a dire situation after being released by EME, and came through with his smash hit ‘Shake body’ single. Yemi Alade’s hardwork paid off heavily as ‘Johnny’ propelled her to the limelight. Sean Tizzle grew up in style as ‘Sho le’ launched him on the path to success. Runtown became a mega hit, after assisting Davido on ‘Aye’, and getting payback on ‘Gallardo’. Orezi who had made steady growth, came into his own with the success of ‘Rihanna’, ‘Booty Bounce’, ‘Shoki’, and ‘You garrit’.

All of these stars have gone on to drop their projects, with only Patoranking completing the group two years later with his debut.

Skales was fast in 2015. After inking a deal with Baseline Music, and guided by Osagie Osarenkhoe, he dropped his debut album, “Man Of The Year”, a body of work which still polarizes opinions to this day. Sean Tizzle capitalized on his good fortune early enough, and released the best pop album of the year. His “The Journey” LP is still regarded as one of the best pop projects released in the past 3 years. Orezi spent 2015 working on his debut album that finally dropped when he handed in “The Ghen Ghen” album.

Yemi Alade has been phenomenal. Using strategy, branding and diverse sounds to penetrate the African market. She has released two albums in that time. Dropping the “King of Queens” LP in October 2014, before doubling it with the 2016 “Mama Africa” LP. Of the entire class of that year, she has been the closest to exploiting her full potential.

Patoranking, remained the last on the list to drop his album. The singer chose a different path to growth, as he chased growth via singles, and delayed on an album release.

Patoranking first broke through with his 2013 ‘Alubarika’ single featuring Timaya. A dancehall single, he made the step up with the successful ‘Girlie Oh’ follow-up hit. Tiwa Savage became a blessing to him, as she hopped on the remix to provide him with the needed amplification to help drive his brand through the ceiling. Other songs ‘Gravity’ and ‘Sex tape’ rolled by with no effect. In-between, he dropped the sleeper hit, ‘Daniella Whine’, before slamming through again with the Wande Coal-assisted ‘My woman my everything’ in 2015.

That was when his album would have made the entrance. Patoranking had the world at his feet. His brand had found the right mix, and had grown. Throw that in with his humble beginnings and how that resonated with fans, and you have a man sitting on a goldmine.

But the album never came in 2015. Power moves for the star was not lacking. In February 2015, he signed a deal with a deal with VP Records’ distribution arm VPAL Music to release his debut album. He is the first African dancehall artist to partner with the world’s largest reggae company. VP Records has been home to Jamaican dancehall superstars like Sean Paul, Beenie Man, Elephant Man, Lady Saw, Mavado, Busy Signal and many more.

Jay Jules, the territory manager at VP Records Music Group Africa, expressed his enthusiasm.

"VP Records’ team and I are proud and excited about Patoranking joining our renowned home of internationally recognizable reggae and dancehall superstars. African dancehall is at an exciting place. This deal is simply the next step to break our first African dancehall artist in the global music arena. VP records is undoubtedly in the best position to facilitate this,” he said.

Instead of getting that album, we got ‘Make am’, another single which showed a new dimension to Patoranking’s craft. Teaming up with the Ebonyi State Band, he layered his verses and dancehall delivery over highlife instrumentation. That song became another hit.

2016 has seen him prep for the album release, with two singles, ‘Another level’, and the more recent ‘No kissing baby’featuring Ghanaian powerhouse rapper, Sarkodie.

Today, that album is done and out, completing the projects from the class of 2014 and bringing gifts from what was a good year in Nigerian music.