The 2016 Freshman Class

It’s very easy to say 2016 has been the biggest year in Nigerian music in recent times, and that’s because it’s true. Wizkid’s turn on Drake’s ‘One Dance’ and the Grammy nomination that followed is the greatest testament to our sound crossing over internationally.

This was also the year of the Sony deal, the world’s biggest music label gave deals to Davido, Wizkid, Tekno and Ycee; all this happened while celebrities the world over made 10-second love to 'afrobeats' on Instagram and Snapchat.

That success and the build-up to it has also given us a new wave of musicians that are reflecting our biggest influences in 2016.

This year has given us the widest range of hits we've ever heard; we’ve crooned along to alternative RnB sounds, vibed to Ghanaian highlife and celebrated sweaty nights with afro-trap.

We’ve decided to make a roll call of the best of these game changers; a definitive list of the artists we expect to move from buzzing talents to shapers of the soundscape in 2017 and beyond.

We call them the Freshman class.

How do you pick a freshman class?

Or better, what is a Freshman?

For us, a freshman is someone who has in the past year made a significant entrance into the mainstream. The freshman has a song that would qualify as a hit.

But what’s most important for us is an X-factor; that point where the sound, brand and content have met this year to create a breakout that promises a stellar 2017.

Who makes our Freshman List in 2016?

MOELOGO

Some people say his official debut ‘Pangolo’ went viral in 2013 but I’m not familiar with that story. ‘Ireti’, the mixtape that dropped early in the year was the one that sounded the alarm.

Moelogo’s sound is a fusion of his influences, he combines afro-pop and folk with flavours from the UK scene that have seen him work with acts like Chipmunk & Sneakbo. He’s built a good following outside Nigeria in the last two years and has been nominated for the MOBO awards twice in that time...

But London is not Lagos and nobody plays the UK Top 40 on Beat FM. The promise of a Nigerian breakout lies in sounds like ‘Rora Se (Tread Softly)’ featuring Adekunle Gold, where he pleads for humility, effortlessly riding lush strings and heavy hitting drums in a mixture of his native Yoruba, English and Pidgin English.

Moelogo finally found his vibe this year, and with his sights back on his homeland, you’ll hear a lot of him in 2017.

Listen to: Rora Se (Tread Softly); Ireti; Plenty Plenty; Ireti: The Mixtape.

MR EAZI

Eazi’s stripped down afrobeat is so effortless it makes you wonder if there’s something you’re missing. But that’s the idea; he wants his vibe to be as his name suggests.

Born Tosin Ajibade, Mr Eazi first dipped his hands in music while at school in Ghana, and the influence of Ghanaian highlife sticks to his sound like stickers on a brand new windscreen. Cuts like his latest ‘Legover’ continue to prove that he is in a class of his own. This year, he’s proved his mettle along the best from both of his worlds; Sarkodie, Reminisce, Burna Boy and frequent collaborator, Juls.

Eazi is signed to Wizkid’s Starboy Worldwide and in less than a year since his first breakout, has already headlined the Life is Eazi concert in London. Like Wiz, Eazi is learning to use his style to own just about any track he jumps on, so much that going into 2017, ‘Zaga Dat’ is becoming more of a warning than a voice tag.

Listen to: ‘Skin Tight’ feat Efya; ‘Anointing’ feat Sarkodie; Leg Over.

TERRY APALA

Terry is not a rookie in any sense of the word, but what he is doing with his fusion of afro-pop, fuji and trap is as new as the dawn of day. His breakout, ‘Champagne Showers’, a Sess-produced banger, sounds like what happens when Fuji music spends two weeks in Atlanta.

It was the one got everyone to listen to his sound and that has been the difference this year. Breaking the tungba ceiling in Nigerian music is a problem that he was bound to face, but Terry’s talent has never been in doubt and now that he has crossed that hurdle, his afro-trap is catching on fast.

There’s a feeling that he needs to collaborate more, but with a personality as intimidating as his music, a vast fanbase and a sound that is totally his own, the stars are finally lining up for Terry Apala.

Listen to: ‘Modernize’; ‘Champagne Showers’; ‘Omidan’.

MALEEK BERRY

Almost everyone who vibes to Nigerian music knows Maleek Berry the Producer; he’s behind hits like Wizkid’s ‘The Matter’, Wande Coal’s ‘Baby Hello’ and Runtown’s ‘Lagos to Kampala’.

This year, the stars aligned and we met Maleek the singer. He still produces all his music but the vocals are now the inspiration... Maleek sings like dancehall fell in a thick mist of afro-pop and RnB.

He carries the banners of one shaped by music and sound and his songs are a mix of light poetic lyrics over beats that are shoutouts from Lagos and London. On his debut project, the phenomenal ‘Last Daze of Summer’, he showed that he is as ready to sing sweet love to Caribbean Princesses on ‘Nuh Let Go’ as he is to bump fists in ‘Eko Miami; and this versatility and the breadth of his appeal are key to what he promises.

We’ll admit that his live performances beg for work, but the man can’t stop making hits. All things being equal, Mr Berry should have a sweet 2017.

Listen to: ‘Kontrol’; ‘Lost in the World’; ‘Let Me Know’; ‘Last Daze of Summer’; With You (w/ Juls, Stonebwoy, Eugy).

HUMBLESMITH

He talks of his rise in the themes of his songs, and the transition of his priorities from praise on ‘Osinachi’ to beautiful women and money on ‘Jukwese’ is typical. But what gives Humblesmith the feeling of the underdog is how he has managed to make his place in a space that continuously seems the property of Flavour’s waists.

This year, Humblesmith’s unapologetic highlife is the soundtrack of happiness in the midst of hustle. When he seems boxed in a corner, he has released RnB influenced sounds like Na U and Change.

It’s very obvious that he’s punching way above his weight class, but if he can keep at it, there’s only so much time before people starting falling over.

Listen to: ‘Osinachi (feat. Davido)’; Jukwese (feat. Flavour); ‘Na U Remix (feat.  Harrysong).

DREMO

Whichever way you want to look at it, hip-hop as an artform in Nigeria is dying. Some of our brightest rappers are not actually ‘rappers’ in the true sense; Ycee should be the first to tell you he does all kinds of music.

But in the cold ghost-town that the culture is becoming, Dremo is looking like an unlikely bright spot. The first thing that strikes you about him is not his appearance, even though he’s a follower of the new school that wears snapbacks like an ID tag; it is a rapid spit-fire flow that is as likely to carry you along as it is to drop you carelessly by the side of the tracks.

On Back to Back, he sings ‘my life changed in one night’, and it is the best account of his story you will get. This year, he recorded the viral hit ‘Fela’, a cover of Designer’s Panda that got Davido to sign him to his new Davido Music Worldwide label.

Since then, he has dropped ‘Ojere’ and the afro-pop jam, ‘12 Bang’. Dremo might look like soft-sell at first glance but his swagger belies an ability to weave complex lyrics into catchy tunes that can connect across his fan base.

With major label support, a project due next year and a hunger that no-one can deny, Dremo seems ready to make a killing in 2017.

Listen to: ‘Fela’; ‘Ojere’; ‘12 Bang (feat. Davido)

MAYORKUN

Mayorkun’s story in the past year feels like the build-up to something special. In January, his only claim to fame was his actress mother and her contribution to the yoruba half of Nollywood. A few months into the year, his debut dropped.

There have been viral singles in 2016; but none of them has played as much of a role in the making of a career as ‘Eleko’. It was the song that gave him his first hit, his first major performance, his first controversy and ultimately, his first record deal with Davido’s DMW.

Mayorkun is afro-pop with no pretences; his sound seems green at times but it carries a melody that is hook-ready, as he has shown on ‘Back-to-Back’, the DMW posse cut.

His music is an evolution that is playing out before our eyes and crooning defiantly into our ears; we think there’s something close to a finished article coming in 2017.

Listen to: ‘Eleko’; ‘Love You Tire (feat. Mr Eazi); ‘Pere (w/ Illbliss)