Nigeria is a home to a developed music industry that gave a birth to many talented singers, musicians, and other music professionals. Below is a short list of the most popular present-day Nigerian musicians who have become recognized names in Nigeria and beyond its borders.
Wizkid
Wizkid is perhaps the most famous pop-star from Nigeria. The star boy is hugely popular not only in Nigeria but also around the world. Wizkid’s official name is Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun. He started singing at the young age of 11 years and easily rose to fame after the Halla at ur boy song release in 2010. Since then, he has become popular in Nigeria and internationally receiving a lot of awards and nominations including to the Grammy awards as well as invitations to perform in international events.
Wizkid is known to collaborate with world-known artists including Chris Brown, Kendrick Lamar, Trey Songs, Drake, Alicia Keys, and many others. Wizkid performs numerous hits that are included to two solo albums.
Photo: digitalspy.com
Don Jazzy
With no doubt, Don Jazzy is one of the most popular and richest Nigerian musicians. The official name of the artist is Michael Collins Ajereh, however, he is best known by his stage name Don Jazzy. He is a record producer, singer, songwriter, director, and entrepreneur. As for his entrepreneurial activities, Don Jazzy is making investments in high technologies sector. He is a co-founder of the Flobyt, a technology-based company that offers free WI-FI to users who are working for the entertainment companies. Don Jazzy is also an owner and Chief Executive Officer for Mavin Records and Mo’ Hits.
Don Jazzy has won multiple awards including Headies award twice in 2011 and 2014, Producer of the year titles from the Nigerian Music Awards and the Nigerian Entertainment Award and a City People Entertainment Award.
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D’Banj
D’banj is best known for his Fall in Love and Oliver Twist hits that are popular in Nigeria and internationally. Oliver Twist, an Afrobeat and electronic dance music fusion featuring Kanye West, became the African hit thanks to which the artist was named several titled the Best Performer of the Year and Nigeria’s most influential singer in 2015.
D’banj’s real name is Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo. He is a talented pop-star, a TV star, and entrepreneur. He has worked closely with Don Jazzy on various projects like Sony Music Entertainment, but the two decided to start their solo music careers. Similar to Don Jazzy, he has built a great career and made a name for himself in the music industry.
D’banj is known to be an ambassador for Heritage Bank, Globacom, SLOT, Ciroc Nigeria, and Bank of Industry. Currently, he is working with G.O.O.D Music Record Label owned by Kanye West. D’banj has a lot of followers on social media platforms like YouTube which makes him one of the most recognized Nigerian musicians.
Photo: nigeriafilms.com
Davido
Davido (David Adeleke) was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the USA, however, for a long time he has lived in Lagos, Nigeria. Davido is one of the present-day top Nigerian pop-stars in the Nigerian music industry.
Davido’s most viewed song on YouTube is If and Fall that has more than 60 million views. Davido’s most recent 30 billion concerts showed that Davido is a highly influential artist as all the tickets were sold out long before the concert day.
READ ALSO: Top 5 richest musicians in Africa in 2018
Photo: guardian.ng
Sade Adu
Sade Adu is one of the most popular Nigerian female musicians. She is a British-Nigerian artist who is based in Great Britain. She is a talented singer and songwriter who started her career in 1982. Sade Adu has released many albums including Diamond Life, Absolute Beginner, Stronger Than Pride, Promise, and Lovers Rock. The Soldier of Love released in 2010 was a breakthrough song with a great number of positive reviews and 500,000 of copies sold out during the 1st week. Sade Adu has two Grammy Awards.
Photo: theelitesng.com
