Since the lockdown era triggered a domino effect that resulted in the Nigerian music industry, becoming an album market yet again—almost every year has been eventful. Since 2020, our superstars and even alternative acts have been very prolific where body of works are concerned, ensuring that in the present decade we’ve had nothing but a plethora of albums to listen to. Almost to the point of over-saturation, in fact.
However, amidst all the noise, chaotic release schedules and roll-out shenanigans, some great albums were able to rise to the occasion and become defining moments of the year—producing songs that were major highlights that sound-tracked our respective journeys. Dear readers, we present to you, Album Talks’ Staff Top 10 albums of the year.
Criteria: Quality/Critical acclaim, Mainstream acceptance and commercial success.
Notable mentions:
Minz’s By Any Minz
DOTTi the Deity’s Madam Dearest, pt. 1
Chike’s Son Of Chike
BOJ’s 12 Summers
Monaky’s Candor.
10. Full Time Job – Phyno
In a year where some of the genre’s biggest superstars failed to live up to their own stellar standards, no one expected a thirteen-year old veteran to casually drop such an era-defining album that would hold up in conversations about the best albums. Full Time Job is arguably Phyno’s second best LP, since his undeniable 2014 classic, No Guts No Glory.
Despite being Phyno’s most accessible project, it doesn’t sacrifice his sonic identity, as the music is still very steeped in Igbo culture. The highlife soundscape and energetic indigenous rap fusion ensures that the music is still unmistakably Phyno’s and with the assistance of carefully picked new gen artists, the music sounds refreshing and sophisticated. All in all, it’s a great project that caps off a significant year for the rap veteran.
9. YP & Azanti, Vol. 2 – Psycho YP & Azanti
This duo are becoming quite the formidable force at crafting albums, that not only has them thriving at their respective artistic strengths but also sees them pushing each other to new heights of dynamism. Whilst Vol. 1 leaned more towards R&B fusion, this one favors pop and Hip-Hop fusion, of which it yields great results.
The first single, Naija Funk explored Brazilian funk fusion, Lowdown takes a dip into Caribbean swing waters and Breathe ft. Malik pays homage to its predecessor’s R&B roots. It’s such a great cohesive project that not only provides great music, but great music that can only be attained when these two artists combine for this unique synergy. It would be interesting to see where this duo take future installments to, creatively.
8. Morayo – Wizkid
Undoubtedly the most anticipated album of the year and perhaps if it was released much earlier, it would have had an higher spot on this list but alas—there is only so much impact an album can have when it’s released about 5 weeks to the year’s end. Everyone is privy to the tragedy that befell Wizkid in the wake of his mom’s death, so when he announced that the album would be dedicated to her, it made almost everyone root for him on this album.
This writer’s biggest critique of Wizkid over the years is his affinity for playing it safe and sticking to the same sonic ingredients that made MIL thrive. Since coming off the high of Essence’s crossover success, Wizkid had sparsely abandoned his midtempo pop, R&B fusion sonic template. With Morayo however, he steps out of his comfort zone and does something fresh with more up-tempo rhythms and culturally infused sounds. Until the second half of the album, where he can’t help but succumb to his old ways. Nevertheless, most people will agree that there is something on this album for everyone and with that sentiment, it’s a triumph.
7. Homeless – Llona
Calling Llona an outsider before Homeless dropped would have been massively under stating things. Yes, he wasn’t the only emerging, underground act with the odds stacked against him to break out—but this was a PH-bred music talent that was making therapeutic music, that straddled sensitive topics like depression, violence and other mental vices. And unlike Omah Lay, who also makes soothing music to exorcise your demons to—Llona’s music isn’t mainstream adjacent.
And so when he announced he’ll be going the unconventional route of releasing a debut album and not an EP, it garnered attention and definitely raised some wary brows. Fast forward to the end of the year and those doubts have been squashed. Not only did Llona release an amazing album that has been pivotal to him finding his own community that rides for him, he’s proven the importance of authenticity and not diluting your artistry to appeal to audiences.
6. Born In The Wild – Tems
Let’s be honest, Temilade Openiyi made us wait a really long time for her first full length album. Tems caught the attention of music heads since 2018 due to a handful of well placed features with alte acts and in 2020, she had her mainstream breakthrough moment with her debut EP, For Broken Ears. Then she’ll follow up it up with a sophomore EP a year later and then go into a 2-year hiatus, before commencing the roll-out for her debut project.
After much ado and anticipation, Born In The Wild finally got a June 2024 release and it was met with resounding critical acclaim and commercial success too. Love Me Jeje is the most streamed 2024 Afrobeats song and Born In The Wild earned a grammy nomination. As expected, the soundscape of the project is heavily R&B influenced, almost to the point where it totally deviates from its Afro roots at times, but Tems’ imprint on every song is inevitable and her essence is so embedded in the music that you couldn’t mistake it for just another R&B project in passing.
5. Lungu Boy – Asake
Asake burst onto the scene with his artfully curated aesthetics and rambunctious neo-fuji bops in 2022 and since then, he’s had the mainstream in a chokehold. He released his debut and sophomore projects in the space of eight months and both are certified classics by now. So he was well aware of the fact that he was on the verge of completing a trifecta and so couldn’t resist the urge of releasing yet another album in quick succession.
Lungu Boy had all the right ideas. Asake experimented with new producers, opting for soundscapes that were more infused with swing, grime and Hip-Hop—as opposed to his over flogged Amapiano fusion formular on his previous two albums. There is probably no 2024 album more commercially successful than Lungu Boy, as its dominance at the top of the charts speak for itself and whilst the album might be good enough to earn Asake his trifecta status, you just can’t fight off the feeling that the Asake we got on this album was a tamer version and not the aggressively dynamic one we had gotten accustomed to.
4. HEIS – Rema
Rema’s sophomore album is probably 2024’s most divisive album, amongst casuals and industry folks alike. A sect of critics praise it for its bold, daring ambitious soundscapes whilst another sect criticize its polarizing execution. One thing everyone can of course agree on is the fact that Rema’s confidence to take Afrobeats fusion to sonic territories of Hyper pop, punk rock and goth aesthetics—is definitely justified, as Afrobeats was in desperate need of a sonic reset, having ran out of fuel from Amapiano fusion.
Of course, HEIS is in no way the sonic reset that Asake’s Mr. Money With The Vibe was in 2022, as it hasn’t exactly heralded a new mainstream sound that influenced almost everyone else to follow suit. However, one can’t deny that the highs of HEIS is unrivalled, as it produced beautifully chaotic music that not only managed to resonate with the mainstream but also ensured that the culture and our origins needn’t be diluted, all in the sake of the exportation of our music.
3. adedamola – Fireboy DML
Fireboy became a victim of his own stellar standards, when the general consensus about his third studio album was the fact that it didn’t complete his trifecta. Then he would go on to have a quiet 2023 that triggered claims of him “falling off” and so he of all people knew, how crucial his next album would be in rectifying that narrative. And man, he didn’t disappoint. adedamola is yet another brilliant addition in a discography that rivals all-time greats of the genre and re-establishes Fireboy once again as a force to be reckoned with.
Definitely 2024’s best written album, adedamola grapples with love, lost, growth and gratitude. Gone is the loverboy on Laughter, Tears & Goosebumps and jaded loner on Apollo and here comes a confident superstar that’s a no-nonsense lover, who is still vulnerable and attuned with his emotions. And my word, nobody was expecting Fireboy to pull the legendary Lagbaja out of retirement and make a song so nostalgic and sonically gratifying as back n forth.
2. The Year I Turned 21 – Ayra Starr
It’s been three years since Ayra came onto the scene and released her debut album, and an awful lot has happened since then. She has gone from dreamy eyed, jaded teenage lover-girl to globe-trotting, charismatic superstar. The title of her albums having a recurring thematic relevance with her age means that they aren’t just saddled with the burden of being great body of works, but also have to be compelling coming-of-age stories.
And she does deliver on TYIT21, whilst taking more ambitious decisions in the process. Where her debut album was very R&B and Pop centric, Ayra dips her feet into dancehall, reggaeton, Hip-Hop and even Fuji on her sophomore outing. These same ingredients that elevate the listening experience and gives you good variety, also detract points of overall cohesion and makes it pales in comparison to her faultless debut. Nevertheless, it remains one of 2024’s best and biggest highlights.
1. Stubborn – Victony
Victony’s debut album started garnering Album of The Year shouts since its weekend of release and for good reason. The album has peerless writing that champions profound storytelling, on songs like Oshaprapra and History. There’s also ingenious fusion of unlikely genres like trap and Afro-Pop on Risky and emotive, R&B cuts like Slow Down that incorporates 90s synth-pop elements.
Victony has never been one to shy away from experimentation and his debut album is a great showcase of his mentality as an innovator. Whilst some might opine that it’s this innate nature of his that alienates larger audiences from getting into his music, one can’t argue that there isn’t a great balance of experimentation and accessibility on this project. It just needs more time to grow on most people and sadly in today’s saturated market, that might be asking a lot.
