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2020 took a lot from us, with new music from some of our favourite artists being one of them. A pandemic and a year-defining protest don’t particularly make for the best environment to release new music, so many artists were forced to push their releases to this year.
The good thing, however, is that this means we will be spoiled this year with back-to-back releases. So, we’ve made a round-up of five talented artists who have announced or alluded to releasing albums in 2021.
Joeboy (Somewhere Between Beauty And Magic, February 4)
Joeboy had a stellar debut EP in Love and Light, which was released in 2019. The five-track EP spawned the megahits “Baby” and “Beginning”, which also properly introduced the afropop star to the world.
With his debut album, which was originally slated for a 2020 release but was delayed due to the pandemic and then the #ENDSARS movement, we can expect Joeboy to solidify his status as a definitive star.
Bella Shmurda (Hypertension, Release Date TBA)
Following the mega-success of Bella Shmurda’s street anthem, “Cash App”, the Lagos State University final year student has made it clear that his debut studio album is coming soon rather than later.
While fans do not have an exact date the album is expected to drop, we do know that the album, Hypertension, will feature the likes of Kida Kudz, Shatta Wale and more.
Teni (TBA)
When it comes to music from Teni, one thing you can be guaranteed is that it is going to bang. The singer was set to release an album last year but due to multiple reasons, she couldn’t.
Although we don’t know much about this album — we don’t know the title or her collaborators — we know that, as she did on her last two EPs, Teni will deliver the bangers.
Rema (TBA)
It is hard to name a newcomer in the Nigerian music industry who has had a more fun-to-watch ascension than Rema. In less than two years, the twenty-year-old has become one of the biggest acts in the country.
Now, after a bunch of solid EPs, the singer has promised fans that his debut album will be dropping sometime this year. It goes without saying that this might be the most anticipated release of the year.
Simi (TBA)
After dominating 2020 with back-to-back releases, including a well-received EP, a killer feature on Ladipoe’s “Know You” and one of her biggest hits to date, “Duduke”, Simi is all set to give us a full-length album in 2021.
Going by her tweets about the album, we can expect that the project is going to be even better than last year’s releases, and we can’t wait to see what she has in store for us.
An exciting female musician begins to catch some buzz. After teasing crumbs on her Instagram, she puts herself out there for the first time. Millions more get to meet this insane talent.
That’s where things start to get funny. To some, she’s as ‘fine’ as they expect any self-respecting female musician to be. To others, she’s a bit too fine – so much that they’re sure her body is her primary product. But she does well. Well enough that she damns the warnings to tone down the ‘energy’.
See, there’s no space on the fringes for women in Nigerian music.
But who cares? She drops the album. Everyone laps it up.
Some more good news; a baby. Great, right? A fitting end to the first chapter of a budding success story, right? Not exactly. Because for the next few weeks, our heroine has to deal with new rumours that she sold herself out for money.
Pundits divine she’ll choose her family over the music. Others say she never cared in the first place.
By the time she begins to roll out her next single, she’s seen the light in all the ‘advice’. No-one cares anymore.
This is a true story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O22u_FUkmu8
Or at least, an aggregate of the real stories of artists like Waje and Omawumi. It’s the inverse of Teni the Entertainer’s troubles. It’s what everyone expected to happen to Tiwa Savage.
It tells of a very simple reality; that while Nigerians may love their female musicians, we expect them to fit very strict specifications.
They have to be traditionally beautiful, but not too much, or it may intimidate us. They have to be strong, but only in a motherly sense. Sex appeal is super important, but they can’t have partners, especially wealthy ones. They now belong to us.
And God forbid they go so far that they have kids and a ‘happy married life’ after. Tueh.
Basically, they have to be safe – as safe as possible.
You see, everyone knows that Nigerian music is largely a male enterprise.
For all the ground covered by Nigeria’s pop princes – Wizkid, Burna Boy, Davido, Tekno, Mr Eazi, only one woman plays in the same league – Tiwa Savage.
What no-one ever talks about is that women are the uber-minority in pop culture, because they have to play by a different set of rules entirely. And everyone, male and female, whether you’re a record label head or Kamoru with the MP3 player, is guilty of upholding those rules.
How? You see, we love to classify things. Food. Music. And the people who make it. But when an unfamiliar set of people doesn’t fit any classification, we sort-of panic, and find a way to get rid of them.
We’re also guilty of doing ourselves a great disservice.
By expecting women in music to be simple and safe, conservative or matronly, we shut our eyes and ears to everything else that makes them women. We tell them there are no ears for their stories or their experiences.
Till this day, the Nigerian wife in represented in music as a hyper-sexual opportunist or the weaker vessel – a hapless appendage, in songs written by naive young men and women who should know better.
We tell them that their identity does not matter – they might as well be all be versions of the same person, like mass-produced dolls off a production line.
And in doing so, we silence the best voices before their first words.
It’s no mistake that one of the biggest criticisms of Nigerian music is that it’s mostly opaque.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Buwa_vTBrsS/
It’s hard to see beneath the veil of party bangers and praise singing. When you do manage to steal a look, things are as bland and impersonal as possible.
That’s why it’s important that things are changing. Cue a group of women who are breaking that mould.
The subject of where they come from is exciting; some will remind you of the strong back women of 1990s R&B. Others preach the militant gospel of the internet-assisted open source feminism of the 2010s. Others just are, because they really don’t need to explain where they’re from.
In the last few years, we’ve been confronted with women who do not feel the need to satisfy our expectations.
And it’s been beautiful to watch.
There’s Teni; an absolute baby girl who rocks baggy shorts and is proof that beauty doesn’t always come in size 12. The phenomenal Asa is proof that women can be smart, politically aware and successful musicians while giving no hoots about your desire for sex appeal. Tiwa oozes that sex appeal yet she has a workhorse’s reputation as well and is going benchmark-for-benchmark with her male peers.
If there’s one thing common among these women, it is that they do not feel the need to satisfy our expectations. They are not safe, neither are they sorry for how you feel about that.
Of course, they’ve faced their fair share of criticism. Some have accused Tiwa, for instance, of being too pick-me and ignorant of the plight that women face.
But such criticism is beside the point. The women, like Tiwa and Teni, who choose to do things on their terms are an affront to our ideas of what women should and can be.
For starters, they bring with them a refreshing type of authenticity.
There’s no better proof of this today than Teni – an artist who has shed all the typical expectations of a female musician and forced us to focus on what she can do. And within that ability to make extremely relatable songs, Teni’s connected to her audience in ways that none of her more ‘practical’ predecessors could lay claim to.
Her success, if nothing else, is an inspiration–you’ll see a few more Tenis soon enough.
Of course, for everyone who loves music, this should mean everything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKSkr7TILRs
‘Safe’ often means familiar, but when artistes no longer feel pressured by that tag, they make what they want to make.
Today, the alte scene is defined by artists who are dipping their hands in various unfamiliar genres of music. But it is arguably the women who are doing the most audacious genre-bending, recording entire projects on cell phones and baring their soul in their work in a way that’s just unusual. Artistes like Lady Donli make no attempt to fit the mould and one track at a time, they’re changing our ideas of what ‘Nigerian’ can or should sound like.
This new wave of defiant women in art and their refreshing stories is not unique to music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v45GprEyM7U
Two of the best young photographers from out of Nigeria – Emily Nkanga and Yagazie Emezi – are young, self-aware and unapologetic women. Oyinkan Braithwaite, Genevieve Nnaji and Nora Awolowo are telling nuanced stories of the Nigerian experience through female eyes and we love it. This revolution will be televised and streamed on IG as well.
It’s somewhat telling that many of the women who got buried in the pressure to conform are now giving as few fucks as possible too. The last few months have gifted us with rawer, more personal versions of stalwarts like Waje and Omawumi – and music they wouldn’t have made years ago.
The women who do not feel the need to be safe are writing a new template for the Nigerian woman in music, and art, in a larger sense. It’s one where the only person she has to answer to is herself, and we’re already the better for it.
While you’re here, let me tell you about the Zikoko Pop Newsletter.
It’s called Poppin’ – everything you should know happening in pop culture, plus recommendations, our fire playlists, info on all the best parties and freebies you won’t get anywhere else. Do the right thing and sign up, my gee.
No matter how much the highs of a good year take the most avid fan, January inevitably brings with it one question; What next?
2018 was, in ways, a watershed moment in Nigerian music. A new king took the throne, a new queen sent out her statement of intent, and on the international stage, we won big.
The question will now be asked of the people who dominated the conversation in 2018, like Burna, and those who, like Peruzzi, have everything to prove.
These artists may still be reeling from the hangover of a very detty December but it’s never too early for new music.
Some of my faves have already announced they’ll be dropping new music this year. Others are, well, toying with our emotions.
But that never stopped anyone from expecting what we deserve. Definitely not me.
Davido – TBA
It seems like a century ago that Davido dropped that debut album.
Ice Prince was the superstar. Reminisce was finally breaking out. And Davido’s music seemed, to most casual fans, like a labour of love.
Now, he’s the big dog–record label chairman, international hitmaker and father of two daughters. He’s entering this year at the peak of his powers, with two of the best songwriters on his team and an expectant audience.
David’s mentions of the project have hardly gone past references to “My album…” but it’s almost certain OBO’s sophomore drops this year. The timing couldn’t be better. God safe us when it happens.
Maleek Berry – TBD
I can imagine a future where a white-haired former journalist explains to a room full of kids how a record producer reinvented himself as a pop star over the course of two brief, delicious EPs.
After learning the ropes as part of Wizkid and Wande Coal’s teams, Maleek is now a verified heavyweight on his own.
Now established on two continents, and already shaking the right hands in the US, Mr Berry’s debut is due, and he knows it.
Melodies abound for this man, and Maleek on his day can take you from Ikoyi to Rio in the same song.
That and his Afropop leanings have reflected on two stellar EPs–now it’s time for the coup de grace and the final chapter of a transition made in Gbedu Zion.
Santi – TBA
“Santino has this city in a headlock”–a tweet read after Santi, the mysterious, dreadlocked rager who makes anthems for a generation rocked a crowd of his peers to a sweat-soaked frenzy at a concert last December.
Over several years, Santi has built the cosigns, the records, the loyal cult following for the moments that are bound to come.
He may be little more than the face of the alternative music scene in Lagos now but almost everyone who’s a fan of the kid swears he’s the one.
After ending the year on a high with “Rapid Fire”, it’s a good thing that Santi began the year by announcing an album for January. We’ve been waiting for a while.
Wizkid – Made In Lagos
If you listen to the people who treat music as a lifeforce, the face of Afropop’s tour of the UK and the US is on his way back home.
Few pop stars can spend a decade topping charts while carrying a genre’s finest elements to new ears around the world.
But it would be unwise to count Wizkid out.
His fourth studio album has been touted as a return to the source – to Lagos and the overcrowded studios where it all began.
It may be where Wizkid finds the sauce to blow our minds again.
Burna Boy – TBA
Burna Boy’s 2018 was written in the stars–a beautiful story of overcoming one’s predilections that you could adapt into 30 languages.
But it’s over now. And no-one will know more than Burna that you’re only as good as the people’s last memory of you.
There’s word that last year’s “Outside” is the prelude to something else; a mixtape that took on bigger importance with an international record deal and a few collaborations.
Now Burna’s settled into big boy mode. Let’s see him swing for the stars.
Falz – TBA
Steady, consistent, calculated. Falz is a marketing course waiting to be studied. First introduced to us as a quirky, funny gimmick, Falz now comes up in conversations about new Felas and the best Nigerian rappers.
All of this while taking statues at award shows and offering poignant commentary.
He is in the big league now, which is why he must punch at even higher weights. Can Falz take Nigerian hip-hop to a new place? Can he take a very vacant throne even? What happens when he stops trying to be funny?
This could be the album that answers all those questions.
Tiwa Savage – TBA
The only woman in the game who can touch Tiwa lives in France.
Mummy Jam-Jam is proof that angels never die or get old.
Just when we thought we’d seen the best, Tiwa underwent a reinvention in 2018 helped undoubtedly by rumours of a fling with a certain Starboy.
Never mind that while all that was festering, she dropped one of the biggest songs of the year in “Ma Lo” and took a ride on the Duncan Mighty train with one of the better collaborations, “Lova Lova”.
The Tiwa who made R.E.D seems so far away now. Which is why this one has to drop that album so we can get to know her better.
Reminisce – TBA
Reminisce’s nickname literally translates to Chairman. Chairman in the sense of a gang leader who tries to usurp a king of boys, or an indigenous rapper who will hold his own in Queen’s English with the finest of the bunch.
Staying in the conversation in 2018 would have been enough for Reminisce, but the man’s role in one of 2018’s best movies reminded us of all the things we love about Baba Hafusa – grit, ambition and versatility.
2019 is the year where Alaga reminds us what he can do behind the mic.
Lady Donli – TBA
To some, she’s the female face of the Alte community. To others, she’s the unknown young singer who made a criminally brief festival on the intro to Mr Eazi’s 2018 album, “London To Lagos”.
Either way, Lady Donli is coming for your necks in a flowing dress, with cowries in her locks and the sensation of an old soul.
After a year spent in bars and arenas in Europe and North America, she’s back at home.
Her tweets suggest she’s in the studio, and with the experiences she’s gathered on the road for inspiration, we won’t be against Lady Donli striking gold on her debut.
Runtown – TBA
Runtown is like the uncle from Texas who we hardly hear from, until he calls on a Friday afternoon and the entire family gathers around the phone like loyal fans. Label battles have played their part in keeping him away for stints at a time but the singer says the worst is in the past now. If songs like “Oh Oh Oh (Lucie)” and “No Permission” are anything to go by, Runtown has finally found his aesthetic.
It may seem obvious that we’ll get the laid-back, dreamy Afropop he silenced doubters with in 2016, but that’s fine because it’s just what we want.
Teni – TBA
Love abounds for Teni. Unknown to most at the start of the year, she ended 2018 as the year’s biggest revelation, a viral sensation that is fiercely loved by her fans. Teni ticks all the boxes that should matter–she has the range, she writes like a ghetto poet and her talent for making songs is freakish–as evidenced in those Instagram videos where she makes demos out of unsuspecting friends.
She’s begun the year with a headstart–the absolutely uplifting “Uyo Meyo” and if we can rely on her record, another single should be in the offing.
Few Nigerian prodigies have ignored such raw desire for their music over time.
In Teni’s case, it would be almost criminal, because we know Makanaki can pull off something beautiful.
Tekno – TBA
As with most nascent spaces, Nigerian music has regularly churned out a new successor (or pretender to the throne) each year–one artist who changes the texture of the popular sound, puts out the year’s biggest single or just shows an astounding level of promise.
In 2017, that person was Tekno. Yet, despite heavy demand for a full body of work, Tekno chose to ride out on the strength of singles.
There is little doubt that the man knows his stuff–melody and an innate sense of rhythm drive his music and has also provided hits for peers like Davido.
Sadly, illness ultimately slowed down his pace as 2018 wound down.
With all the big dogs dropping this year, it might be time for Tekno to put his hat in the race and finally claim his place.
