TOP 10 BEST LIVE PERFORMERS IN NIGERIAN MUSIC

TOP 10 BEST LIVE PERFORMERS IN NIGERIAN MUSIC Delivering beautiful live performances is an art on its own. It stands apart from making music. That’s why some fantastic musicians may not even have the best stage presence. In Nigeria today, here are top 10 artists who will mesmerise you with their live performances anytime, any day: #10: Yemi Alade If you are lucky to see her perform even once, your mind will be blown by her ability in everything she does. She could go from simply standing still to an intense choreography in seconds. Yemi’s vocal range, energy, dance routines and synergy with her backing acts is always a joy to watch. #9: Simi Simi does something with her band where they go off into medleys of Nigerian folk while performing some of her songs. Other times, she would just flip some of her songs and send her audience spiralling. Her major strengths are her energy, vocal range and dexterity, crowd control, synergy with her band and creative medleys. Just ask people who saw her at Trace LIVE 2019. #8: Adekunle Gold Adekunle Gold is like King Sunny Ade without guitar straps around his neck. With a smile on his face, the man breezes through his songs with an unusual synergy with his band members. When Adekunle Gold starts performing, he doesn't need you to tell you to do anything, you will just join him. You should check his Felabration 2018 and Adekunle Gold LIVE 2018 performances. #7: Patoranking Everytime he takes to the stage, he mixes Seun Kuti-esque expressions with weirdly exciting dance routines with scary energy and endurance levels. There's also this amazing thing he does with his backup singers and his band at the end of every song - it's like a bridge between vocal strumming and freestyle. It is amazing. #6: Asa Asa is a good performer because everything happens at her pace. In-between songs, she even tells stories and gets your heart warm. Watching Asa perform is usually like watching Shreya Goshal with a dash of Chris Martin. Check out the Koroga Festival 25th Edition 2019 and you’ll see what we are talking about. #5: Mercy Chinwo A Nigerian idol contestant turned gospel music maven, Mercy Chinwo was the 10th most-streamed Nigerian artist on YouTube in 2019. She doesn't really jump around, but whenever she opens her mouth, it's like she telepathically passes energy into your body. Go watch her live recording of 'Excess Love Remix' with JJ Hairston on YouTube. You go fear fear. #4: Tope Alabi Tope Alabi is one of the greatest Nigerian artists of her time. She has conquered everything from secular circles to gospel circles. She controls her crowd without saying anything directly to them, she feels like 10 people on any stage. She is like Mercy Chinwo with a dash of energy and God-directed panegyrics #3: Eben Eben once flipped DJ Ykay's famous zanku rhythm into a gospel song while jumping around and making grandmothers break into dance routines. He takes his live performance so seriously, he created an alter ego for it. #2: Brymo One of Brymo's greatest strengths is his ability to simply keep going and going. His band is a gift and so is that ability to speak through the themes of any song he performs. Asides that, he makes life easy for his band members and his ego shines through his performances. The man once performed naked, take from that what you will. #1: Femi Kuti Femi Kuti is unrivaled as Nigeria's live performance supremo. The man produces joules of energy with his impressive footwork and dance routines alongside his far younger backup dancers. He then gets on the microphone and belts out tunes while playing multiple instruments. If he then gets angry, he can hold a note of his saxophone for 30 minutes just to show off. CTA: Which of these Nigerian performers is your fave?