Nigeria’s Music Industry Leading Ladies - ACADA Cover Story

We are always at awe whenever we see them on stage doing their thing, they have all blessed our ears with beautiful music, some are still riding on the success of their chart-topping singles, a few has fallen off the radar but the beauty of their music still lingers. Here is a list of the leading ladies in the Nigerian music industry based on their mainstream acceptance, vocal dexterity and consistency and commercial value.

TIWA SAVAGE

Multiple award winning Tiwatope Savage retains the top position even after taking a maternity leave off the music scene to give birth to her child, Jamil. Tiwa Savage has been the beloved queen of Afropop from her debut single “KeleKele Love” to her latest “All Over”. She has never rested on her oars after two albums “Once Upon a Time” and “R.E.D”. She is one of the few female artists who can stand neck to neck with her male counterparts.

She did backup vocals for George Michael at the age of 16, and lent vocals to other musicians such as Mary J. Blige, Chaka Khan, Blu Cantrell, Emma Bunton, Kelly Clarkson, Andrea Bocelli, and Ms. Dynamite, amongst others. Furthermore, she has performed on stage with Sting,50 Cent, The Black Eyed Peas, Eminem, Robbie Williams and Destiny's Child, to name a few.

With many endorsements from telecommunications company MTN to Pepsi, Pampers and Forte Oil to mention a few. Tiwa sits at the top as the leading female figure in the music industry based on her huge followership beyond the shores of Nigeria, she commands a huge performance fee that runs into millions and above all, she is the first and only female Nigerian Singer to sign an international deal with Roc Nation, an affiliate of Sony Music International.

As a singer, her achievements include one MTV Africa Music Award, two The Headies Awards, one Channel O Music Video Award, one Nigeria Music Video Award, and two City People Entertainment Awards, among others.

YEMI ALADE

She gained prominence after winning the Peak Talent Show in 2009 and broke into mainstream acceptance with “Johnny” in 2013 and dropped the album “King of Queens” afterwards.  Yemi Alade sits atop the African music landscape as the modern day Miriam Makeba who is credited with bringing Afropop to the western audience. Fans love the ways she spoon-feeds them in her mothertongue and Pidgin English, even without a national hit since 2015, Yemi Alade enjoys open love within Africa and in diaspora beyond the rate she is being celebrated at home performing to sold-out concerts in many African countries. She dropped her sophomore album “Mama Africa” with the lead single “Nagode”,  “Tumbum” to mention a few in 2015, plans are  already in the pipeline for her third album entitled “Black Magic” which is set for an October 2017 release.

Alade joined M.I, Waje, Timi Dakolo, and Burna Boy in singing the theme song for Port Harcourt, the UNESCO 2014 World Book Capital, as part of a project urging young people to read and stay in school. Shortly after that, Alade released a new single entitled "Tangerine", featuring Selebobo; the critically acclaimed track charted across Africa. 

With over 100 million views on YouTube, Yemi Alade remains the self-acclaimed King of Queens of African music. Yemi is a brand ambassador for ABC hair relaxer, Nairabox, Closeup, etc. She won MTV African Music Awards Best Female back to back in 2015 and 2016.

OMAWUNMI

Omawumi Megbele has been  in the music circle since she rose to prominence in the Idols West African Talent Hunt in 2007 where she was voted as the 1^st runner-up and she has never looked back ever since. Her sophomore album “Lasso Of Truth” was believed to be a commercial success judging by the love and acceptance she enjoys since her debut single “In The Music” and a flew of other successful singles. She later released “Wonder Woman”.

Omawumi is touted as one of the most successful female musicians of our time  with so many brand endorsements to her name from Globacom to Malta Guinness and a huge performance fees et al,  a music show is incomplete without Omawumi on the list. She is respected for her energetic stage performance and vocal dexterity.

Her most recent body of work “Timeless” was released a couple of months ago.

CHIDINMA

Chidinma Ekile popularly known as Miss Kedike is a toast of music lovers, a stellar singer, who shot to limelight after emerging the winner of  MTN Project Fame West Africa season 3; being the first female to cart home the star prize of the music competition. Having emerged winner she instantly became everybody’s celebrity crush when she dropped “Jankolikoko” a single featuring Sound Sultan and sensuous “Kedike” which has further thrust her into mainstream media, and earned the name Miss Kedike.

She has worked with a crack team of producers and songwriters including Cobhams Asuquo, Tee Y Mix, Jay Martins, Tha Suspect, eLDee the Don, Omolara Ayodele and Oscar Heman Ackah amongst others. She has also featured hosts of wave making artistes such as Wizkid and others and boasts of several awards such as the Nigeria Music Video Awards (NMVA) and International KORA awards amongst others.

SHEYI SHAY

Sheyi Shay is one of the leading ladies in the Nigerian music scene, who started doing music at the age of 6 as a member of her secondary school choir and performed with the London Community Gospel Choir during their world tour, which included 13 cities in Japan where she received applauds for her brilliant performances.

Sheyi Shay, on coming to Nigeria in 2011 released two promotional singles ‘Loving Your Way’ and ‘No Le Le’, that helped launched her singing career in Nigeria.

The energetic artist has since released several hits such as ‘Killin Me Softly’ featuring Timaya, followed by ‘Ragga Ragga’ and ‘Chairman’. ‘Ragga Ragga’ peaked at number 7 on MTV Base's Official Naija Top 10 chart from 15 March through 19 March 2014, ‘Jangilova’, ‘Right Now’ amongst others.

She boast of a debut album ‘Seyi or Shay’ and the album features some of the biggest musicians in Africa, the likes of D’Banj, Olamide, Wizkid, Timaya, Sound Sultan, Phyno, Cynthia Morgan, Boj, and Banky W.

WAJE

Waje Iroube who hails from Edo State has been making waves since her days with P-Square and Mr. Incredible where she was the vocal sensation behind their music hits Do Me and One Naira respectively. Waje’s beacon has continued to burn the brightest as she drew inspiration from music legends Beyoncé, Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin to showcase on her self-styled singles Oko Mi, Onye, Grind, I Wish, Higher, No Be You, and Black & White all housed on her debut album, W.A.J.E (Words Aren’t Just Enough). 

The female singer is known for her vocal prowess headlined the song ‘Strong girl’ which is the theme song for ONE Campaign’s ‘Poverty is Sexist’ in 2015 and also joined Bono in Lagos, Nigeria for the Lagos campaign in 2015. She was nominated four times at the 2014 World Music Awards: World Best Album, World Best Live Act, World Best Female Entertainer and World Best Entertainer.

Waje is currently affecting the youth’s life positively in her own community through the “Waje's Safe House”. With the organization, Waje teams up with other Not For Profit Organizations on quarterly basis to help fight for the youth’s cause. One of the projects carried out by Waje's Safe House was the Mental and Environmental Development Initiative for Children, she assisted the Project “HELP” (Help Educate the Less Privileged) which has the goal of raising funds that enabled children to continue their studies in the school at Makoko . 

Waje is among the judges for music reality show franchise The Voice Nigeria.

WORDS: SUNDAY OBEMBE