5 MOST SUCCESSFUL MUSIC GROUPS IN NIGERIA TILL DATE

     

 

By Femi Akinpelu Joseph

The Nigerian music scene is undoubtedly blessed with many talented singers, song-writers, producers, directors and even managers.  

And the coming of the urban (Hiphop and RnB) genre of music that now dominates the scene since this new millennium era began, could be traced back to the early and the mid 90s, when a number of music groups started to form.

Interestingly, there were some of these music groups that were exceptional considering the personalities in the groups, their talents, popularity, and the quality of music they have produced.

These are people that we could refer to as the legends of our time. The most outstanding five or the ‘BIG 5’ of those groups that have rocked the country in the past and till present time are presented below.

Plantashun Boiz

 

L - R, Faze, 2face and Blackface

Plantashun Boiz was an R n B and Naija hiphop group that was formed in 1997 under Dove Records, and this consists of 2face, Faze and Blackface. During their reigning days, their style of singing was compared to none, not only in Nigeria but even in Africa. 

They serenaded the ladies and mesmerized all Nigerians with their smooth and flowing singing. They had hit tracks like Knock Me Off My Feet, Plantashun Boiz, You And I, and Baby Don't You Know from their first album, and other songs like One And Only, from their second album. 

They, however, went separate in the year 2003, shortly after 2face got signed on to Kennis Music. They came together and produced one more album together in 2008, and that made it the last group engagement between the trio. 

The Remedies

 

L - R, Eddy Remedy, Eedris and Tetuila

Remedies was one other very popular group that pioneered hiphop and shook the country with fine music from the mid 90s (1997) to the early 2000s. The members of this great group were Eddy Montana, Tony Tetuila and Eedris Abdulkareem.

Eedris Abdulkareem

This group, which was signed on to Kennis Music, appeared to be very interesting and endearing to 
Nigerians because of the fact that the three guys that made up the group hailed from three different regions of

Tony Tetuila

the country; Tetuila was from South-West, Eddy from South-South and 
Eedris from the Northern part of the country. They were the most formidable hiphop group of their era. 

Eddy Montana

They produced hit songs that include Shakomo, Shade, Jealousy, Belinda and many others. The group later broke up to pursue solo careers, with Tetuila being the first to step out of the group due to some irreconcilable differences between him and the other members. They all still went on and had enjoyable and very impactful solo  careers.

The Trybesmen

L - R, K.B, Eldee and Freestyle

  

The Trybesmen were the next successful hiphop & rap group that came out with an outlook of a more conscious and the modernized hiphop movement. They blew out to limelight in the early 2000s. The group had Eldee (D Don), K.B, Dr. Sid, Freestyle, and others like Sasha, Blaise, and 2Shortz (all very good rappers at that). They were known for hit-tracks such as Plenty Nonsense, Shake Body, Shake It and others. 

They blended so well with a fusion of mainly rap with some singing, which sounded so good, so modern and created a huge interest from a large section of the youths and even the much older bracket. They were very impressive with hiphop lovers during that period. Just like the ones discussed earlier, they also broke up after issues began to generate between the members. The members all went solo one after the other afterwards.

Styl-Plus

L - R, Tunde, Zeal and Shifi

Styl-Plus was a purely R n B music group that made its debut in the year 2003. Their first song was the ever popular Olufunmi. The group was made up of three fresh-out-of-school good looking guys, Shifi, Tunde and Zeal. They formed the group while they were still undergraduates at the Federal University of 

Technology Akure (FUTA), Ondo state. 

Their first album “Olufunmi” was a banger and a block buster, with very popular songs like Olufunmi, Runaway, Call My Name and Stay Alive, which won them a couple of awards, including a Channel 0 Award, winning as the Best R n B group in Africa, in 2004. Their second album (Expressions) too was big.

It was produced in 2006, and had hits like She Drives Me Crazy, Always On My Mind, Iya Basira, Delila and some others. They were the people’s first choice when it comes to love songs, such that music lovers already were comparing them with Westlife, the U.K popular band.

 In 2008, they released a track called Four Years, which was more or less a thanksgiving song, through which they shared their experiences, challenges so far and thanked God for having kept them thus far. Tunde was afterwards rumoured to be stepping out first to pursue a solo career, though nothing really was heard from him. 

The group then inexplicably went out of limelight, unannounced and in such an unusual and disappointing manner, and none of the group members tried his luck in music again as a solo artiste.

 

P-Square

 

Peter and Paul Okoye

P-Square is a music group with a difference. The group consists a duo of twin-brothers; Peter and Paul Okoye. Interestingly, they are the only group from the early 2000s that is still active up till date. They began their career in the entertainment dancing and singing, and miming songs and performances from MC Hammer, Michael Jackson and others, and they were formerly called “Double P”, “P & P” AND “Da Pees” Peter and Paul, and then eventually settled for P-square after they went into music fully. 

Their first album was ‘Last Nite’ in the year 2003 and almost immediately, they began to got huge recognition from Nigerian music lovers, for the fact that their coming into the scene brought something fresh 

and uniquely different (cool hiphop and R n B music and clinical break -dance moves), with songs like

Senorita, Igbedu, Last Nite, Kolo. But as soon as they dropped their second ‘Get Squared’ in 2005, their name was already on the lips of every one that followed music in the country and the African continent, the album could boast of hit-tracks such as Bizzy Body, Story, Omoge Mi, Temptation, Oga Police, Get Squared, Say Your Love, E Don Happen, Temptation.  

Their third album (Game over) in 2007, was a monster and it turned out to mark the beginning of their bigger career breakthroughs in music as nearly all the songs on the album became a hit. It had hits like No One Like You, Ifunnaya, Do Me, More Than A Friend, Roll It, Miss You Die, Game Over.

Their fourth album ‘Danger’ in 2009, was likewise successful with songs like Possibility (with 2face) E No Easy (with J. Martins), Danger, Gimme Dat, Trowey, Who Dey Here, Do As I Do (Ft Tiwa Savage and May D), and Beautiful Onyinye (with Rick Rosss). Then they had ‘The Invasion’ in 2011, and ‘Double-Trouble’ in 2014.

 P-Square has been known for dishing out hits after hits, since they started. Also they have won several music awards both national and international, including The Headies, Nigerian Music Awards, MTV Europe Music Awards, MTV African Music Awards, KORA Awards, MOBO Awards, BET Awards, Ghana Music Award, and more. Some of their most recent hits are Chop My Money (Ft Akon and May D), Alingo, Personally, Shekini, Collabo (With Don Jazzy), Bring It On (Ft Dave Scott), to mention a few. P-square could be rated as the best and most successful music group ever to come out of Nigeria.