At the turn of every new decade, a new generation of superstars would emerge and lead the charge for the next phase of the sonic evolution of our music. It’s not an attribute that is unique to the Nigerian soundscape, as there are peculiar characteristics that can be ascribed to certain decades in music. However, in this article we would be focusing on contemporary Nigerian pop music.
Tuface Idibia, D-Banj and P-square dominated the 2000s with numerous smash hits and classic albums. Then the 2010s gave us Wizkid, Olamide and Davido who dominated for the better part of the decade before Burna’s resurgence in 2018, saw him eclipse his peers and ascend to the very top of the genre’s zeitgeist on the global stage. Since the turn of the 2020s, we’ve witnessed another generation of superstars break through and try to lay claim to the throne.
The likes of Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido, Olamide, Tiwa Savage and Kizz Daniel have definitely overstayed their time at the top and by so doing, haven’t totally relinquished their spots to the new generation of stars that have emerged since 2019. However, that doesn’t mean the new kids on the block haven’t been pulling their weight and giving the OGs a run for their money. Matter of fact, in this writer’s humble opinion they’ve definitely been making the better music, putting out more ambitious and provocative body of works than their predecessors
Since the inception of the new age, there hasn’t been a scarcity of great music or stars who have credible stakes in laying claim to the throne. 2019 saw Rema, Fireboy DML and Joeboy notch smash hits that would cement them as the exciting stars of the new generation. Naturally, they were dubbed as the next three to watch out for, but Omah Lay would have a phenomenal 2020 that resulted in him being the artist of the year.
Joeboy would have a quiet year, Fireboy would release his second critically acclaimed album in eight months that is now an undeniable classic and Rema would have a decent outing with a number of resonant singles. Tems also had her breakout moment during lockdown, after a couple of years in the underground and alte scene but at the end of 2020, Fireboy DML, Omah Lay and Rema were the big 3 of their generation.
2021 gave us Ayra Starr, Ruger and BNXN. Ayra would seamlessly rise to the top of her game, filling a void as the next exciting pop queen to watch out for, as Tems kept on making western R&B centric music. Rema and Omah Lay would have respective quiet years, whilst Fireboy released the biggest song of his career that would become the country’s third crossover western hit in 2022, after Wizkid’s Essence and Ckay’s Love Nwantiti. He would also make history as the first Nigerian artist to perform on the main stage of the BET awards and Wembley stadium, all in the space of a week.
Fireboy was the biggest star of his generation, when he released his third studio LP, Playboy and his counterparts were playing catch up. Omah Lay finally released his debut album and whilst it was the most critically acclaimed project of the year, it took a while for it to gain steam. Same could be said for Rema’s Rave & Roses, except it garnered more mixed reviews. Ayra released the deluxe version of her debut album and cemented her place as the most prominent female artist in the country, with Tems away on hiatus.
In the same year, Asake would have the greatest debut year in history for a Nigerian artist, amassing countless number of hits and releasing a certified classic album on arrival. In 2023, after the release of his sophomore album, he did the unthinkable and sold out the O2, becoming the first amongst his peers to do so and the fourth Nigerian artist overall. A feat that took the big 3 a decade to achieve, was attained by him in a mere eighteen-month period of being mainstream. A couple of months later, Rema would also sell out the O2 keeping his name in the conversation after scoring Afrobeats biggest global hit ever, with the Calm Down Remix ft. Selena Gomez.
Tems also came out of her hiatus to kickoff the roll-out of her much anticipated debut album, and when it eventually dropped in June 2024 and she embarked on its ensuing tour, it was more glaring than ever that she was still one of Afrobeats biggest exports since the success of Essence and her monumental collaborations with Rihanna, Future and Drake. Asake dropped yet another album in 2024 and embarked on a new tour, with stops at Capital One and Barclays Arena, which are venues none of his peers were attempting and he was comfortably selling his shows out in the tune of the 10,000s.
Rema also did his thing, after releasing his sophomore album and went on tours to select venues across Europe and America and even stadium tours in India. Fireboy had an off year in 2023 and despite releasing a critically acclaimed album in 2024 and co-signing one of the year’s biggest hits from a new act, he didn’t exactly have a meteoric year by his own standards. Ayra released her sophomore album and it was largely successful globally, becoming the most streamed Nigerian album of the year. She also went on tour with Cold Play and had strategic features with the likes of Khalid and Giveon.
The fact that we’re halfway into the decade and there is still no big three set in stone for the new generation, speaks volumes to the cutthroat competition brought about their respective prodigious talents and work ethics. As of the current moment, it’s safe to say that Asake, Rema and Tems perhaps have the most momentum but in a constantly changing sonic climate, where these youngins are always one-upping each other every year, it would be premature to say that’s our new big three, until the status quo remains for a couple of years.
This writer also believes a Big 4 conversation built on the concept of forcing a new generation artist, alongside the OGs is disrespectful to the artists who have maintained their spot at the top for more than a decade and even a huge disservice to the other successful outliers like Tiwa, Olamide and Kizz Daniel who have also been mega successful in their own right and are still in the peak of their careers. Hopefully, in the next couple of years we would have a more comprehensive idea of the new big 3 but for now? The war for that conversation is still being fought and it doesn’t help that the OGs don’t seem to be going away anytime soon.
