The year 2013 was definitely a great year for Nigerian artistes and our goal of taking our music global is gradually becoming a reality not only have we conquered the African continent, other part of the world now recognise our music, our sound, our dance. International recognition for P-Square after their “Personally” video was recognised by the Jackson’s family not only because of the dance moves but because of the kind of groove the afropop duo of Peter and Paul bring to the table. Wizkid and Ice Prince stamping their foot on the international scene following in the footsteps of 2face Idibia and D’banj.
My top 20 hit songs of 2013 is determined by general acceptance, downloads, video concept and most especially providing that good african music which either gets us to the dancing floor or just allow us to feel good.
20. Reminisce – Ijoba ft. Olamide & Endia:
Off his “Alaga Ibile” album, Reminisce released “Ijoba” which had Olamide and Endia. The Reggae fusion with hip hop just made us all love Chopstix the producer of the song more. Olamide and Endia’s versatility definitely murdered the song for me. The video was indeed military and was disappointing if you ask me.
19. Orezi – Rihanna:
Orezi’s Rihanna turns up the his at any event, The party goes harder anytime the deejay slams it. Kiddominant and Orezi were just made to make good music. And the video which reportedly gulped N7million was worth all the coin and Rihanna look-alike gave it all the anticipations fans needed and the video didn’t disappoint when it dropped. Afro-reggae at its best!
18. Sound Sultan – Natural Something:
The video of this song just gets me laughing all the time and fans loved it too. You’d get nodding at first listen. Sound Sultan reminded us why we fell in love with him with “Natural Something” the rhymes and cute use of word. Naija Ninja got us grooving with this one.
17. P-Square – Personally:
I’m sure some peeps will see P-Square’s Personally at no. 17 and will be like naaah, i don’t think should be here but believe me, The remaining 16 hit songs won’t disappoint. When P-Square dropped Personally, They dropped the visuals and audio all at once and before i could say humpty dumpty, the song was everywhere and the dance moves got fans glued to their mobile devices, TV screens and when the DJ slams it in the club – the ladies dance turns sexually making you wanna give it to them radically
16. D’banj – Don’t Tell Me Nonsense:
Track 2 off the DKM compilations album, The call and response phrase in the song got the streets going crazy for D’banj – When he says “Eyin Boys” you already know what the response is. Until D’Banj tells me he is dating Genevieve Nnaji himself, gossipers “Don’t Tell Me Nonsense”. The video was totally different from a normal D’Banj video, great concept and fans loved.
15. KCee – Pull Over ft. Wizkid:
Third single release off his “Take Over” album – KCee’s pullover is a song that kids, youths and even the old ones love. Del B went in hard on the instrumental, with Wizkid on the hook and a video shot by Clarence Peters. You just have to pull over and dance. The song gets 5 star from me.
14. Burna Boy – Run My Race:
Leriq got me playing the instrumental of this song for days but when you listen to Burnaboy on the beat you’ll fall in love with their collabo. That unique voice and style of Burna just created a path for him and no one can run his race with him. When this song comes on at any event, I just do the Burnaboy dance in the video. Clarence Peters again did a great job to the video of “Run My Race” which was shot in Lagos, Nigeria.
13. J.Martins – Touching Body ft. Dj Arafat:
“I No Like This Your Touching Body”…. J Martins sings as he co-produced the song with one of Africa’s sukus artiste, DJ Arafat. The dance moves in the video got me trying to break my legs. The song picked up late in the year and went viral and everywhere you went you hear all the alaba mixes having “Touching Body” in it. The Makossa and sukus blend got Nigerians dancing and we do love to dance in this country lol*
12. Solidstar – Skibo
Solidstar got his vibe back with this song, “Omotena” got him love from the ladies but when Achievas Entertainment dropped “Skibo” the streets went crazy! I still don’t know what gets to me with the song, was it Slim Beatz crafting the beat or Solidstar’s rich uniqueness in his voice and before we all knew it we were all going along the line and another beautifully crafted video by Clarence Peters. Skibo!
11. Phyno – Ghost Mode ft. Olamide:
This is one collabo we won’t see for a long time in Nigeria, no matter how hard these artistes try, this was meant to be done once and Phyno and Olamide went “Ghost Mode” on us. The understanding between the two indigenous rappers is just beyond me and when Olamide was talking about the song he said when he heard the beat and dropped his verse he had to beg Phyno for them to share the 16 bar and the video for Ghost Mode was shot by you know who – Clarence Peters in Lagos.
10. Starboy – Caro ft. Wizkid & LAX :
Starboy’s “Caro” gets the other half of the countdown. Legendury Beatz are such talented duos with the way they remake afrobeats and make you feel like you’ve gotten to a live musical concert with all the instrumentals, from the konga, guitar, flute all combining in the background to make good music. If i don’t mention LAX verse on the song, I’m sure i will be stoned from here. The video was shot in London by Mr. Moe Musa.
9. Timaya – Ukwu:
When this song dropped, I just said to myself – Masterkraft is the best producer in Nigeria, He reminds me of Timberland – Why? Because his style of production is unique, you can hear a beat and say that’s a Masterkraft beat and this doesn’t apply to any producer in Nigeria, Any! The producers that come close to this uniqueness are Sarz and Young D. Lets go back to “Ukwu” after the video for the song dropped – The song went more viral and suddenly all the songs that came out after the video had “Ukwu” in it. For those that don’t know “ukwu” means waist. Mr. Moe Musa shot this video in London and Nigerians loved it. British police dancing and singing “Ukwu”. Loool! Funny Video.
8. Olamide – Durosoke:
Baddest Guy Ever Liveth, Olamide dropped “Durosoke” with “Msarewole” and fans didn’t know “Durosoke” was going to be that big when they downloaded but that Ibadan accent and the story line that came with the song was dope bro. Pheelz blended a local rhythm to the Nu school hiphop beat and before Olamide could say YBNL, “Durosoke” blew and we all loved that he was forced to shoot a video for the song which star lager beer bought for their music app. The only limitation the song has is the fact its not a dance tune.
7. Mafikizola – Khona ft. Uhuru
Mafikizolo’s “Khona” was one of the biggest tune in Africa, It got so big in Nigeria that Terry G and Samklef both did a cover for the song. The video for the song is one cool unique concept for a video in 2013. The dance moves was on point. Shoutout to Mafikizolo for “Khona”… My mum loves the song and she doesn’t even know what they’re saying – that shows you how big the song was in Nigeria.
6. Wizkid – Jaiye Jaiye ft. Femi Kuti:
“Jaiye Jaiye” is one of the biggest tunes in 2013 because Wizkid for the first time in his career featured a living legend from the older music artiste in Nigeria and fans anticipated a song that was produced by Sarz. Femi Kuti murdered the song for me with his saxophone at the end of the song. Afrobeat legend Fela would be proud of this collabo like we all are. If you listen to the backup of the song by the Femi Kuti’s Saxophone – the maestro basically gave Sarz beats more flavour which allowed Wizkid to easily swim on the beat. The video wasn’t all that but ending it at the New African Shrine and on stage with Femi Kuti was just perfect and awesome. The video was shot be Sesan in Lagos, Nigeria.
5. Flavour – Ada Ada:
Flavour’s “Ada Ada” was just a regular song on his Blessed album till Flavour N’abania called up Clarence Peters and they made “Ada Ada” the wedding song of the year. Only Flavour can tell you the amount of Wedding he has played in 2013. The video was shot in Enugu and the only thing Clarence brought to Enugu was his cameras, others were made and created in Enugu. You can’t take away the lyrics of the song from Flavour who also self produced the track. “Ada Ada” went viral and a new hit from his blessed album was born and Nigerians love it. “Have you seen my beautiful baby”?
4. Davido – Gobe:
Davido makes his entry at the top 20 songs of 2013 with “Gobe”. Davido got in trouble for the song, remaking the song done by an upcoming artiste and making a hit out of it – that’s just pure genius if you ask me. Davido later paid N500k for the song after re-doing the song without authorization. Password who originally did the “Gobe” song is now signed to Don Jazzy’s Mavin Records that was how big the song was, although the song wasn’t the one that got him signed to Mavin records but it was a major stepping stone.
Davido went ahead to shoot a good video for “Gobe” and i still hear some fans say Davido owns the song well technically he doesn’t he only paid to remake and he turned it to a hit.
3. Sean Tizzle – Sho Le:
Arguably the hottest song of 2013, I’m sure Sean Tizzle and D’Tunes didn’t know they were creating a master piece when they recorded this song. I remember reluntantly listen and uploaded the song when i got the song – Saying to myself “Lemme just support D’Tunes new label since he just left them Iyanya” and before i knew it the song grew on me and before i could wink the song was everywhere – A hit song that got Sean Tizzle an award at the Headies as the next rated and yes he is the next rated as we expect his debut album to drop this year. Bigups to the Difference Entertainment for creating a new afropop star in this competitive Nigerian music industry.
2. KCee – Limpopo:
Kcee’s Limpopo is one song i feel in love with a one listen and suddenly i didn’t want to listen to any song for the rest of the day. Del B should be worshipped at Five Star Music no wonder, KCee recently bought the producer a brand new 2010 Toyota Camry Muscle. A monster hit that paved way for KCee and the rest was history. Limpopo made KCee an A-List artist in 2013 and the slang “Limpopo” just made it viral not only in Nigeria but music lovers all over Africa and part of the world. This is a tune for decades – The video was shot in South Africa and some part of Spain. KCee never disappoints with his videos.
1. Davido – Skelewu:
Davido’s Skelewu is the biggest tune for 2013. Where do i start from – Shizzy produced hit that gets you dancing within 45seconds of the song – The production is out of the world, the piano sounding like xylophones, the beats, claps and Davido’s lyrics just created his biggest hit of a lifetime. I’m sure Davido himself his scared of releasing another single after “Skelewu”. Everybody danced Skelewu from Chelsea and Cameroon striker, Samuel Eto to Tottenham’s Emmanuel Adebayor to mention a few. The only video in Nigeria that technically has 2 videos. One shot by Sesan in Lagos, Nigeria which Davido rejected but somehow made it online and fans loved it and later the Skelewu movie which was shot in London by Mr. Moe Musa. Skelewu chased the Azonto dance away in Nigeria and Ghanaians can now have their Azonto dance back.
kids, youths, Old folks dances and sing to Skelewu. Congrats to Davido for having the biggest hit of 2013. After being the Next Rated artiste at the 2012 Headies he sure didn’t disappoint with the hits he released in 2013. Skelewu doesn’t look like its going away anytime soon.
Also worthy of mentions:
Tiwa Savage – Eminado
Banky W – Jasi & Yes/No
Maleek Berry – The Matter ft. Wizkid
Wande Coal – The Kick ft. Don Jazzy & Rotate
May D – Got Me High / Many Tinz
Sarz – Samba ft. Wizkid
K9 – Kokoma