Nigerian Hip Hop - SHOUT Around the World

When most people think of contemporary Nigerian music, legendary names like Ebenezer Obey, King Sunny Ade, and, of course, Fela Kuti usually spring to mind. Though the country may have reached its musical zenith-at least on a global popularity scale-in the 1970s and 80s, when Kuti pioneered the Afrobeat movement against the backdrop of escalating political and social strife throughout Africa, the Nigerian music community in fact continued to ride the surging wave of innovation and western inculcation that Kuti and his contemporaries began. Ever since it exploded onto the global scene, the music coming out of this country of over 250 different ethnic groups has been fraught with multi-layered depth, nearly every song and every new movement a veritable sedimentary deposit of centuries of tradition, yet always dusted in new motifs. And today, with the surging global popularity of Nigerian hip hop, is certainly no exception.

Several artists have built on the foundation laid by hip hop forerunners in the 80s and 90s – musicians like Sound on Sound and the Remedies- and have started to attract Western audiences, as well. Contemporary artists and DJs like M.I., Rico White , and Objazz have used the Internet to diffuse their mixtapes to wider audiences. Others, like Wale and 2Face Idibia have collaborated with major Western artists Lady Gaga and R. Kelly, respectively. While a first run through a lot of Nigerian hip hop may seem not markedly different from most mainstream American rap, a closer second, third, or even fourth listen will likely unveil the traditional underpinnings or flashes of past influences that color the music in uniquely vibrant hues. Emerging talent Abiade, for example, rhymes over traditionally plaintive sounding stringed lilts on the haunting track "It Doesn't Matter She Said," and more established star Ruggedman's "Ruggedy Baba" fuses textured chants and harmonies with synthetic beats to create a completely new soundscape.

Make no mistake about it, it's definitely-and proudly-hip hop, and remains firmly entrenched in the genre's stylistic canon that has become the skeletal root of any variations that other cultures have developed. But the combination of Nigeria's own storied and mind blowingly complex musical heritage along with the incredibly malleable medium of hip hop creates a synergy that is truly unlike any other. Though the names have changed along with the styles, the wave that Fela began is still surging. And the good news is, it may not have even crested yet.