This week, we will be talking the top 4 breakout hits from top Nigerian pop stars from 2010 till date.
No. 4: Tiwa Savage
Tiwatope Savage (born 5 February 1980), known professionally as Tiwa Savage, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Isale Eko, she relocated to London at the age of 11 for her secondary education. Five years later, she began her music career doing backup vocals for artists such as George Michael and Mary J. Blige. After participating in the UK edition of The X Factor and graduating from Berklee College of Music, Savage signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2009. Inspired by the growth of the Nigerian music industry, Savage moved back to Nigeria and signed with Mavin Records in 2012. She made an appearance on the label’s 2012 compilation album Solar Plexus.
No. 4. Song – Kele Kele Love. It was released as the lead single from her debut studio album Once Upon a Time (2013). It won Best R&B Soul Song at the 2011 Afrotainment Museke Online Music Awards.[4] It earned Tiwa Savage a nomination for the Next Rated award at The Headies 2011. The music video for “Kele Kele Love” was nominated for Most Gifted Female Video at the 2011 Channel O Music Video Awards. It was also nominated for Best Use of Choreography at the 2011 Nigeria Music Video Awards (NMVA).
No. 3: Wizkid
Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990), known professionally as Wizkid (sometimes stylized as WizKid), is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. He began recording music at the age of 11 and managed to release a collaborative album with the Glorious Five, a group he and a couple of his church friends formed. Wizkid signed a record deal with Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E) in 2009. He rose to prominence after releasing “Holla at Your Boy”, the lead single from his debut studio album Superstar (2011). “Tease Me/Bad Guys”, “Don’t Dull”, Wizkid began recording his debut studio album Superstar in 2009. He released “Holla at Your Boy” as the album’s lead single on 2 January 2010. The song nominated for Best Pop Single but earned him the Next Rated award at The Headies 2011. In addition to winning the award, he was awarded a 2012 Hyundai Sonata courtesy of the organizers. Its music video was nominated for Most Gifted Newcomer Video at the 2011 Channel O Music Video Awards.
No. 3. Song – Holla at your boy. This song earned Wizkid the Next Rated award at The Headies 2011. The music video for “Holla at Your Boy” was nominated for Most Gifted Newcomer Video at the 2011 Channel O Music Video Awards.[7] The video was also nominated for Best Afro Pop Video at the 2011 Nigeria Music Video Awards (NMVA).
No. 2: Davido
David Adedeji Adeleke (born November 21, 1992), better known as Davido, is an American-born Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. He studied Business Administration at Oakwood University before dropping out to make beats and record vocal references. Davido rose to fame after releasing “Dami Duro”, the second single from his debut studio album Omo Baba Olowo (2012), from which six additional singles—”Back When”, “Ekuro”, “Overseas”, “All of You”, “Gbon Gbon”, and “Feel Alright”—were taken. In 2012, Davido won the Next Rated award at The Headies. Between 2013 and 2015, he released the hit singles “Gobe”, “One of a Kind”, “Skelewu”, “Aye”, “Tchelete (Goodlife)”, “Naughty”, “Owo Ni Koko”, “The Sound” and “The Money”. The album’s second single “Dami Duro”, which was released on October 30, 2011, was jointly produced by Davido and Shizzi. In an interview posted on the NotJustOk website, Davido said he recorded the song in August of that year. The song was leaked three months after he sent it to some of his friends. The accompanying music video for “Dami Duro” was released on January 8, 2012, during the Occupy Nigeria protests. The song won the hottest single at the Nigeria Entertainment Awards, Best Video by a New Artiste at the Nigeria Music Video Awards and Most Gifted Newcomer Video of the Year at the Channel O Music Awards all in 2012.
No. 2. Song – Dami Duro. It won the Hottest Single of the Year at the 2012 Nigeria Entertainment Awards. It was nominated for Best Pop Single and Song of the Year at The Headies 2012. The music video for the song won Most Gifted Newcomer Video of the Year and was nominated for Most Gifted Dance Video of the Year at the 2012 Channel O Music Video Awards. The music video was also nominated for Best African Act Video at the 2012 4Syte TV Music Video Awards. “Dami Duro” earned Davido the Best Video by a New Artiste award at the 2012 Nigeria Music Video Awards (NMVA).
No. 1: Burna Boy
Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu (born 2 July 1991), known professionally as Burna Boy, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence in 2012 after releasing “Like to Party”, the lead single from his debut studio album L.I.F.E (2013). In 2017, Burna Boy signed with Bad Habit/Atlantic Records in the United States and Warner Music Group internationally. His third studio album Outside marked his major-label debut. In 2019, he won Best International Act at the 2019 BET Awards, and was announced as an Apple Music Up Next artist. His fourth studio album African Giant was released in July 2019; it won Album of the Year at the 2019 All Africa Music Awards and was nominated for Best World Music Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. He was awarded the African Artiste of the year at the 2020 VGMA’s.
No. 1 – Like to party. The song won the Best Pop Song in the South South Music Awards and Best New Act of the Year in the Nigeria Entertainment Awards in 2013. It was also nominated at The Headies for Best R&B Single of the same year.
