The talent pool in Nigeria is ocean-level deep; for each of our artistes attaining continental and global relevance, there are probably four more waiting for their shot at the big leagues. With Lagos essentially serving as the entertainment capital of Nigeria – and we daresay, Africa – the burden of the hidden gems and undiscovered acts is significantly higher in the northern half of the country. But just as sure as there is an exception to every rule, young singer and songwriter, Namenj is on course to change the narrative and lead the wave of Arewa musical talent.
Although born in the Western state of Oyo, Ali Jubril Namanjo is a Hausa man through and through. He grew up listening to Westlife, Celine Dion, and other superstars of the early 2000s and they inspired him to express himself through music. In 2012, he took it a step further and started recording music, staying true to his tribal origins in his lyrics and style. By 2015, he scored his first big break when his cover of Adekunle Gold’s “Orente” caught the attention of many on social media. His reputation within the Arewa community grew immensely as he persisted down the unique path he was creating for himself. So when superstar artiste and musical mastermind, Mr Eazi decided to spread emPawa’s reach up North, it only made sense that he adopted the region’s leading voice – Namenj – into the program.
Backed by the support of Mr Eazi emPawa’s label, Namenj has been able to officially launch his musical career with several releases. His debut with “Watarana” in 2020 and has grown almost exponentially with each single. “Dama”, one of his most recent works is arguably his biggest work so far, scoring 1.7 million streams on Audiomack alone and 2.6 million views on the official music video on YouTube. His debut project, accurately titled “The North Star” has amassed streaming numbers comfortably into the millions since its November 2021 release. Life has been good to Namenj, to say the least.
The reasons for his success so far lies in his ‘best of both worlds’ approach to music. Not only does he sing almost exclusively in his mother tongue, but his style is also unrepentantly Northern. He’s bringing traditional music into modern Afropop sounds and blending it all together to create something that immediately grabs the attention of all and retains that of most. His success has inspired more of the Arewa youth to create music their own way and more young acts are now beginning to emerge with that unmistakably Northern style of music. He’s yet to release any new music in 2022, but you can be certain he’s somewhere quietly working on bringing Arewa-styled Afrobeats music to the mainstream media. While he continues the good work, catch up on his discography and have a taste of the movement Namenj is headlining.
