The year 2023 witnessed a remarkable twist of events on the Nigerian music scene, as skit-makers and content creators battled professional Afrobeats artistes for the microphone. OLAITAN GANIU explores how comic stars are crossing over to the music industry.
IN recent years, the music scene has been flooded with comedians taking to singing with some of them doing real well at it. The long list includes Broda Shaggi, Nasboi, Basketmouth, EmmaOMG, Carter Efe, Kenny Blaq, Josh2Funny, Taaooma, Oluwadolarz, OGB Recent, Sydney Talker, Chigul, Twyse Ereme and others.
Whoever was responsible for the trend can not be particularly ascertained but at some point in 2023, a good number of skit-makers made an impressive transition from comedy to the world of music. While some popular artistes describe the year 2023 as a tedious year due to economic hardship affecting the creative sector, these crossover artistes are smiling to the bank and continue to earn themselves new levels of recognition in the music space.
As Afrobeats continues to reverberate around the globe, the genre continues to inspire a new generation of artistes including established entertainment practitioners who are trying their luck by hitting the music booth to showcase themselves – and by extension enjoy from the Afrobeats largesse. Some of these tummlers were billed to perform at different musical events and festivals all through the yuletide. These famous skit-makers, comedians and content creators were not performing as actors but as musicians.
One of the most fascinating things about these jokesters is their promotional approach in ensuring that their songs go viral on social media platforms. Millions upon millions of fans continue to use their sounds to create engaging videos and repost till it gets viral. Once it becomes a trend, celebrities and influencers join in the process to either support or make themselves relevant.
From Don Jazzy, to Funke Akindele, Cute Abiola, D’banj, Sabinus, Mr Macarroni, Zlatan Ibile, Mercy Aigbe, Kiekie, Kanayo O. Kanayo, Bimbo Ademoye and others, these celebrities take up viral challenges or trends to support or remain relevant to fans and industry.
With an impressive comedy skit and film catalogs, Samuel Animashaun Perry aka Broda Shaggi hopped on the singing train. Although Shaggi had shown signs of having musical talent, it wasn’t until he decided to record a single that many of his fans began taking him seriously. To launch himself as a recording act, Broda Shaggi collaborated with Fuji maestro, Pasuma, for the single, ‘Ijo Loka.’
On December 8, the high-tempo single was released alongside its dramatic video. The visual featured the finest of Nigeria’s entertainers including actress Toyin Abraham, Bimbo Ademoye, Cute Abiola and others who made cameo appearances as vixens delivering a razz and slick dance steps with their heavy make-ups and costumes in the 2 minutes 52 seconds video.
On whether he plans to switch over permanently to music, Broda Shaggi said, “I enjoy doing everything linked to arts but one should not hurriedly jump from one aspect to another because you feel you have weight.”
The two-time AMVCA winner said he finds acting easier than other crafts.
Similarly, a skit-maker and content creator Lawal Nasiru aka Nasboi created a fresh sound with his infectious single entitled, ‘Umbrella’. The single featured Afropop vocalist Wande Coal.
The single has continued to break records on the music charts and streaming platforms. It reached number six on the global top songs chart and also topped the charts in several African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda. The single also earned him his first Billboard chart appearance. On Shazam, it was the most searched-for song in Nigeria and Ghana in December. In total, ‘Umbrella’ has amassed over 20 million across all streaming platforms including Apple Music, Shazam, and iTunes.
“I’m very happy with how ‘Umbrella’ turned out,” Nasboi said. “I just wanted to make a song that would make people smile and feel good. I think music has that power to do that.”
The comic act, who started his skitmaking career by mimicking Afropop singer Davido said he delved into music for the love of it not to create another stream of revenue.
“I have always been a singer. It was my first hustle, skit-making was just to put food on the table. Next year we will go harder. The EP has been ready since a year ago. Three amazing features,” he said.
Since the release of the song, it has been an engaging year for Nasboi as he has been performing from one event to the other. He stated that he will be featuring American singer, Chris Brown on the remix of the smash single, ‘Umbrella’. It was a dream comes true when he shared the same stage with Davido at the ‘Bear With Us’ concert on December 27 in Lagos. He is billed to perform at the Bass Festival on January 6 at Sol Beach, Lagos.
Colleagues and fans go gaga
As these comic stars continue to attain musical success, celebrities, experts and music buffs shower encomium on the skit makers-turned-artists.
A Direct Message (DM) sent to one of the skit makers, Nasboi by Innocent Idibia aka 2baba reads: “Mad verse. Yo Nasboi. Na cheat mode u dey, it’s unfair to some of your colleagues.”
Performing artist, Ọlawale Ọlọfọrọ aka Brymo described Nasboi as the best comedian to ever cross to music. “Nasboi na my favourite of anyone wey don ever cross from other entertainment sections into music…best comedian/content creator to ever cross to music… great voice, and lyrics.”
But social media commentator, Daniel Regha urged Nasboi to up his stage performance. “Happy to see you getting gigs, well-done; However, you really need to up your stage performance. Go easy on the shouting and focus on breathe control. Your vocals aren’t clear enough. Good luck by the way, and please stay safe.”
A fan of Broda Shaggi, Robert Dan applauded him for his creativity saying, “This is going to be a national anthem for ‘Owambe’ this festive period. The visual is more than enjoyable. I laughed all through at the cast, what a mad combo.”
“I love the tune, especially the concept of the music video. It is like a throwback of what Fuji music videos used to appear back then,” another fan, Suliyat Adegoke, a POS operator in Oshodi said.
Samuel Chibuzor opined that these skit-makers are as talented as the current music stars.
“Nasboi sounds like a white angel on the ‘Umbrella’ track, I hope this is not a work of auto-tune because the AI technology can make almost anyone sound like Adele. I can’t wait for his live performance,” Funke Adeyanju wrote.
But Gafar Abdullahi said the trend proved the versatility of Nigerian youth. “I love how skitmakers are showing their versatility. It is amazing. I love the faces I saw in the video too.”
Popularity, awards not synonymous with quality, says critics
Music critics and industry watchers debate the negative implications of this trend. Nigerian Canada-based music critic and Juju musician, Badejo Thompson, in a chat with The Nation, said what the industry is witnessing with skit makers crossing over to the music industry is a race to add more feathers to their caps.
Thompson described the trend as a tricky proposition.
According to him, it would be difficult for any dabbler to succeed in the music industry.
“Music is totally different from stage play or acting. You learn easily how to act by watching YouTube and you would get to master it with constant practice, but singing is a different ball game. You either have the voice or don’t.
“Don’t get me wrong, anybody can record a hit song but that does not qualify you as a professional artist. Their fans might idolise them today and shame them tomorrow if their songs are wack, so they should not be carried away with the success of one song,” he said.
For the CEO of Wolexxy Records, Wole Pedro, not everybody can have the title of ‘a jack of all trades’ because it could make some folk lose their focus. He advised artists to continue improving on their craft if they really want to remain relevant in the highly competitive music scene.
“My question is how many of these crossover artists people are hailing can remain in the industry for a decade? People might not see what I am seeing as a music executive, but the standard of the Nigerian music industry is on the decline. There are too many amateurs in this game. Forget all these international awards and brand endorsements, our artists need to learn and unlearn the basic techniques of music-making if they want to go far. For these skit-makers, they are just experimenting, they only rely on their popularity on social media, and being famous does not equal quality,” Pedro said.
A commercial music promoter, Agbaje Taofeek said young talents should be allowed to express their creativity.
According to him, they are following in the footsteps of veteran broadcaster and comedian, Gbenga Adeboye who he described as an extraordinary man.
“Gbenga was an all-rounder entertainer. He is a comedian, compere, musician, actor just to name it. Before he died, he recorded six albums between 1990 and 2003. I’m not comparing these new set of skitmakers to Gbenga because nobody can replace him but they should allow them breath,” he said.
