What a year 2021 was for Nigerian music, right?! The year kicked off with two Grammy wins for Wizkid and Burna Boy respectively, “Essence” had the world in a vicious chokehold, CKay’s sleeper hit “Love Nwantinti” became the biggest song to ever come out of Africa, Wizkid treated the O2 arena like it was his father’s property, etc. The wins were too numerous to recount, and thankfully that is not the scope of this piece.
2022 is here already, and it comes with huge expectations for our uber-talented artistes. It is going to be an eventful year, that much is certain. The big boys don’t look like they will slow down anytime soon, and more talented acts look set to break into the mainstream in the coming months. We hope this year is geometrically better than the last, and here are five things we hope will happen if 2022 is going to top its predecessor:
A DOUBLE GRAMMY NIGHT FOR WIZKID
The list of Nigerian artistes who have taken home the gold-plated gramophone during the awards nights is exclusive and short. Only two Nigerians – Sikiru Adepoju and Lekan Babalola – have more than one Grammy award to their name. A total of zero Nigerian artistes have left the show with two awards in a single night. On the 31st of January, 2022, that could change. And the man in pole position to change that? Wizkid, of course. With nominations in the categories for Best World Music (Made In Lagos: Deluxe Edition) and the newly introduced Best Global Music Performance (Essence featuring Tems), Wizkid looks set to add to his 2021 win and become only the 3rd Nigerian to have two Grammy trophies. He also might become the first to take home two in one night and reach a total of 3 wins! – if he triumphs in both categories, in which he is arguably the favourite.
AT LEAST ONE SUPER COLLAB BETWEEN THE BIG THREE
Wizkid, Burna Boy, and Davido have continually blazed the trail for Nigerian and African artistes to follow. However, the relationship amongst these three legends has been shakier than a table standing on three legs, to put it mildly. Burna Boy and Wizkid seem to be best of buds and have gingered us with Ballon d’Or worthy singles, but Davido’s relationship with the other two has oscillated between nonexistent and controversial. The good news is that recent events suggest Odogwu and OBO might be about to patch things up. If Wizkid and Davido can show some damn consistency in their friendship, there can finally be some peace at the top. And we hope that peace can give us a Burna Boy & Davido record. Or a David ft Wizkid hit single. Or – and yes, we realize this is probably asking for too much – a song where all three appear!
NIGERIAN ARTISTES ARRIVING ON TIME TO CONCERTS
While the trend is certainly nothing new, we might have reached an all-time high of artistes showing up late to their shows in December 2021. It is extremely annoying for concert-goers to be positioned for a night of fun at 8 pm, only to not get what was promised till around 2 am. The African Time mentality has to die a violent and brutal death this 2022. We want these artistes to show the same level of punctuality they afford their fans when performing outside the continent so that fans can get a fulfilling experience worth the money they paid despite the stranglehold of sapa. It’s the least we deserve, please. Artistes and event organizers, over to you.
TOTAL GLOBAL DOMINATION
The phenomenal growth of the Nigerian music industry has been a joy to watch. Our artistes are charting and receiving certifications in the US, UK, and France and selling our tour dates in foreign lands like they were born there. But in typical Oliver Twist fashion, we want more, a lot more. In fact, we want it all; complete domination on the international music scene. What would that look like? A Nigerian artiste at the top of the US Billboard charts as a lead single. A Nigerian artiste selling out iconic venues in Japan, Korea, or any other Asian country. Multiple Nigerian singles going platinum, multiplatinum, and – we’re getting greedy again – diamond in the States. A Nigerian song or album getting nominated in the main categories of the Grammys. And more. We realized doings like this would only give Shatta Wale more sleepless nights, but it is a small price to pay for greatness, right?
EMERGENCE OF A NEW SOUND/GENRE
Look, we are not complaining about the quality of the Afrobeats sounds we are churning out right now; it is incredible music, and we want more of it. But perhaps, it’s time for an expansion of our soundscape as we continue our charge to domination? Infusion of a new genre into the robust sound that is Afrobeats will certainly open up more markets for our artistes, and thankfully there are a lot of sounds to pick from. EDM remains a sound that has not been fully tapped into, while soft rock and drill could make for very interesting music if more producers and artistes lean into the sound. We’ll leave that to the geniuses to figure out, but it would be nice to hear. We have already overused the Amapiano sound, and frankly, if we persist, it might just trigger a civil war between South Africa and Nigeria. It’s time for Afrobeats/Afrofusion to move into its next stage of metamorphosis.
With that, we come to the end of our list. We would love to hear from you though, what would you like to see happen in the Nigerian music industry this year? Please drop your comments below or on our social media pages.
