Dissecting “L.A.G Style” Volume 1, the first Alaba-distributed album

The year was 1994. There was not a lot happening for Hip-hop in Nigeria. But there was eLDee, there was Kaboom, and there was Freestyle. The trio began the movement that was to become our county’s Hip-hop.

Lanre 'eLDee' Dabiri and the Trybesmen (also known as Da Trybe) are credited with being the ones that created the modern Nigerian hip hop music culture. The three original members, known as Eldee, Kaboom and Freestyle, first met in 1994 in Lagos. Their first album, L.A.G Style Volume 1, was released in 1999 to positive reviews. Their hits included "Trybal Marks" and "Shake Bodi."

But two years later, it made history as the first album to be legally distributed by Alaba international market.

eLDee, who is popular for his revolutionary music when he owned Trybesmen Records, and his innovation with setting up a national distribution network for music, began his career in 1998. At that time, Nigeria lacked record labels with the infrastructure and skill set to fully generate value for musicians via record sales. He approached Alaba sealed a deal, and repackaged this album which was released in 1999. This was the first album ever marketed and distributed by Alaba International market.

And what about the music?

The three stars were heavily influenced by Western Hip-hop and stuck their own interpretation and mashup of it. The music which was served was mostly a lyrical exercise, with the three acts coming together and serving lyrical gems.

Thematically, braggadocio was the lyrical focus. All of them drew on the arrogant swashbuckling bragging that their US counterparts had working for them, and they delivered. Rap was their food, and they ate it with aplomb. There was a rhyme waiting for you at every turn.

From the cerebral edge of ‘No Question’, to the pop credentials of ‘Shake bodi’, they took over, spreading their wings from Lagos to Port Harcourt, pushing through on minimalist production, which relied on muscular drumkits, and sparse synths. The Latino sound experimentation paid heavy on ‘Plenty Nonsense’, although it is the relativity of the rap that pushed it into becoming a hit song.

On ‘Asiko Laye’ you find the skeleton of what has become the modern fusion of rap and Highlife. As drums and backup singers offered traditional dynamism. Artistically, this was the crown jewels of the project.

The group would later be rocked by exits and additions to the gang, with eLDee growing it to become a proper record label. But this was where it all started.

10 tracks and winning, Trybesmen released a project that was crucial in starting off the modern Nigerian music business, and it did it championing Hip-hop.