10. Payper Corleone
The reclusive Nigerian rapper might not be popular, but he has been gathering a slew of fans and momentum with his boundless energy, releasing mixtapes and freestyles of Naija pop hits. In 2019 he dropped his body of work Fly Gangsta from the 90s.’
The body of work is a brutal and unrepentant ode to the grimy streets of Lagos. The South-South act is undeniably one of the fast-rising under lords of street rap in Nigeria.
The South-South has never been short of mean rappers. Payper Corleone is the latest from the creeks of the Niger-Delta.
9. A-Q
Based off his critically acclaimed collabo album, Crown with Loose Kaynon, in 2018, Pulse ranked A-Q as the second hottest Nigerian rapper after Ghost of SDC. The album featured a string of beastly performances from the Mainland lyricist.
While he has been relatively quiet in 2019, his verse on the Martell Cypher opposite Blaqbonez, M.I. Abaga and Loose Kaynon is the best Nigerian rap verse so far in 2019. That verse alone championed Twitter conversations for days. #
He has dropped other loosies like ‘God’s Work‘ and ‘Don’t Let The Devil Use You,’ but the rap verse stands out as an effort that rivals the best efforts in 2019. His album, God’s Engineering is expected to drop later this year.
8. Teeto Ceemos
In 2019, Nigerian rapper, Teeto Ceemos finally obliged his fans with a rap project. Many thought he had moved on, but he gladdened the heart of many Nigerian rap heads with his debut project, Lataaro with his ‘brother’ Rae Slick.
The album boasts of unbridled lyricism, hard body bars and excellent penmanship.
7. iLLBliss
Earlier in the year, veteran Nigerian rapper, iLLBliss released a project IllyZilla alongside producer, Teck Zilla. The project features patent Illbliss larger-than-life lyrics backed by exceptional production. While Illbliss is a Hip-Hop statesman, his music is far from dated. He still resonates with the contemporary rap audience.
Illy will forever be more commercially appealing than most rappers in his class. Aside from that, he released ‘Nkali,‘ produced by his friend and longtime collaborator, Big Foot. It is a concrete cracking song.
6. Olamide
Badoo is approaching veteran status and he is still steady dropping hits for his core audience- the streets like he is a hungry rookie.
His singles, ‘Woske‘ and ‘Oil and Gas‘ are rap hit singles on the Nigerian streets. While there are many street generals popping out, Olamide still remains the king.
5. The Lost and Found (Paybac and Boogey)
the group consisting of ace rappers, Paybac and Boogey released not just one of the best rap albums of 2019, but one of the best albums of 2019.
Known for their lyricism, The Lost and Found have evolved into premium storytellers and concept creators with their latest body of work.
Hopefully, The Lost and Found will bless us with another gem like Alternate Ending in 2020.
4. SDC (Ghost and Tec)
After taking a detour with the saccharine Palm Wine Music projects, Ghost and Tec were back to murder every beat on their instalment mixtape series. Weaving their bars around a socio-political theme, Show Dem Camp’s stock continues to rise within Nigeria’s rap circles.
At this point, we can have a conversation that is the most consistent Nigerian rap group of all time.
3. Naira Marley
Ladies and gentlemen, this might be an unpopular choice but what is a good list without a forward-thinking choice.
Coming off the high of ‘Issa Goal’ in the World Cup year, Naira Marley entered 2019 slowly until… his comments about Internet fraud gained him more notoriety than fame. Channelling the controversy around him, Naira Marley blessed his cult fan base ‘Marlians’ with the witty ‘Am I A Yahoo Boy’.
No one should mistake Naira Marley for a lyricist, but his witty wordplay and smooth rhymes have helped establish him as a street rapper who has embraced the ugly underbelly of street life in Lagos.
ALSO READ: A case dies on bail as Naira Marley’s stock rises
While in incarceration, Naira Marley dropped the raunchy tune ‘Opotoyi,’ proving that he can weave his slurry, seemingly drugged out voice and flow over a Zanku beat again and again. Using his infamous status to pen undeniable bangers, Marley has become a household name. As we write, his controversial single, ‘Soapy’ sits atop the Apple Music charts.
Naira Marley is not for the purists, he is for the streets. His controversial and explicitly worded songs, ‘Am I a Yahoo Boy?’ and ‘Opotoyi’ hit more than one million views in one week and two weeks respectively.
2. Zlatan
What does this mean? No one knows but it gets the people going. It gets the crowd going!
Zlatan has not only invented a new term but he killed the Shaku Shaku dance craze and replaced it with ‘Zanku’ which stands for ‘Zanku Abeg No Kill Us.’
Teaming up with the hottest pop artist out now Burna Boy, he unleashed the Zanku anthem ‘Killing Dem’ which remains the hottest song of 2019 – though released in the final days of 2018.
While some might bash him for not having enough solo hits to his name, his impressive bars on the aforementioned collabo and ‘Am I a Yahoo Boy’ has made him the hottest commodity on the streets.
If Quavo is the American king of adlibs, Zlatan has owned that niche in Nigerian Hip-Hop. Je’on mo! In 2019, he also has also made a habit of killing features, second only to the guy at No. one.
Coming out from detention, he hit the studio to address the controversy on ‘4 Days (Nights) in Okotie-Eboh’, proving he can channel his pain into music. Zlatan is a new school street and indigenous rapper that has the game locked.
1. Falz
The man who hacked it. The UK-trained lawyer who raps like a local Yoruba man with his alters ego, Brother Taju from Ilawe-Ekiti. The man emerges Hip-Hop endorsement and shepeteri appeal.
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