Over the years, the Nigerian rap industry has proven to be one of the best rap industries in Africa and has also produced some of the best rap acts in Africa. Many of these rap acts out of Nigeria are multi-talented and have made a name for themselves in the Nigerian music industry, Africa, and the world in general with many awards to their names.
If you live in Nigeria or you’re interested in Nigerian hip-hop music, you’re probably also interested in the Nigerian rap scene and might be interested in knowing who the best Nigerian rapper is.
This year alone, many hot rap songs have been released by these Nigerian rappers leaving us with the question – which rapper is currently the best in the country? We hope to provide answers to this question and more in this article so stay tuned!
This list is not based on what we think, but rather we’ve compiled this list of the very best Nigerian rappers right now using various polls conducted on social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and some online Nigerian forums where we were able to some data about which Nigerian rappers people think are the best in the industry.
The names of the rappers which will be listed below are also graded according to their relevance, how successful their songs have been this year (and other years too), rap speed, and the quality of their flows.
In this post, we’ll be sharing an updated list of the best rappers in Nigeria right now and other details including the fastest rappers in the country.
Top 10 Best Best Rappers In Nigeria Right Now
1) M.I Abaga
If you’re a lover of rap music in Nigeria, you should and must have heard of this rapper and listened to his songs. Jude Abaga who is popularly known by his stage name – M.I (Mr. Incredible) is a Nigerian-born hip-hop recording artist and record producer.
M.I came into starlight in the year 2008 after releasing his debut single which was titled Crowd Mentality and since then, he has become one of the most respected rappers in the Nigerian music industry.
He also owns the Chocolate City record label and has many other talented artists and rappers signed into it. M.I is known for being able to use various words in composing very fast rap songs and he is currently ranked as the best rapper in Nigeria right now.
M.I also holds a lot of awards to his name and has featured many highly placed musicians in Africa and the world at large. He is also one of the fastest rappers in Nigeria right now.
His 8th (and latest) studio album – The Guy – is one of the trending albums in the country right now and it features some of Nigeria’s finest music acts including Olamide, Wande Coal, and Phyno.
2) Olamide [Baddo]
I know you might be wondering why Olamide is not the first on the list, but as we said above, this post is solely based on a poll conducted on various social media platforms in Nigeria and the lovers of Nigerian rap music have spoken.
Olamide Adedeji who is popularly known by his stage name Olamide, Olamide Baddo, or BaddoSneh is a famous Nigerian rapper, and hip-hop recording artist who records his songs mostly in the Yoruba language.
He became one of the most popular music acts in the Nigerian music industry after releasing his debut studio album – Rapsodi while signed to coded tunes records in 2011.
Also in 2011, he later went on to release another album titled YBNL under his own record label called YBNL Nation. His record label has since grown to be one of the best record labels in Nigeria with many top Nigerian artists including the likes of Fireboy and Asake signed to the label.
To an average lover of rap music in Nigeria, Olamide is referred to as the best rapper in the country and he has not failed to always release quality rap music for his die-hard fans in Nigeria and outside the shores of the country.
3) Falz
Folarin Falana who is popularly known by his stage name – Falz, is a Nigerian singer, rapper, actor, and songwriter. He came into the limelight after the release of his debut studio album which he titled Waz Up Guy in 2014.
In 2015, he released 2 hit songs which are Soldier and Jamb Question with Simi and these songs brought him the needed attention to win various local and international music, comedy, and acting awards.
Falz also has made various hit songs in Nigeria and has featured many top musicians in Nigeria and outside the shores of Nigeria. Some of these hit songs include Bahd Baddo Baddest, Wehdonsir, Baby Boy, Jeje, Something Light, La Fete, and many other hit rap songs to his name.
Overall, Falz is the 3rd on our list of the best rappers in Nigeria and is also known for his unique style of rapping which most Nigerians have come to love.
4) Phyno
With real names as Chibuzor Nelson Azubuike, Phyno is a Nigerian rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor who mostly records his songs in his indigenous language – Igbo language.
Phyno started his career in 2003 as a music producer and since then, he has released many singles (rap and normal songs) to his name in Nigeria. He released his debut studio album which was titled No Guts No Glory which contained hit singles like Ghost Mode, Man of the Year, Parcel, O Set, and other singles in the year 2014.
He is also an actor (though not full-time) and has featured in Genevieve’s hit movie titled LionHeart which was released in 2018 as Obiora.
As a producer, Phyno has also worked with many top artists in Nigeria and other musicians in Africa and the world at large. Phyno is currently the fastest rapper in Nigeria and the 4th rapper on our list of the best Nigerian rappers.
5) Ice Prince
This list wouldn’t be complete if we do not mention one of Nigeria’s finest rap acts – Ice Prince Zamani. Born as Panshak Zamani, Ice Prince, is a hip-hop recording artist, rapper, producer, and actor in Nigeria.
He became one of the biggest names in the Nigerian music industry after he released his debut hit song – Oleku in 2011 which featured Brymo and this speedily became one of the most remixed songs in the history of Nigerian hip-hop music.
In 2009, Ice Prince won the Hennessy Artistry Club Tour award and has since gotten nominated and won awards in many music categories in Nigeria and abroad.
Ice Prince is currently signed into M.I’s record label – Chocolate City which is based in Nigeria and he is one of the best rappers in Nigeria and the African continent.
6) Reminisce
Remilekun Abdulkalid Safari who is popularly referred to as Reminisce AKA ALAGA IBILE, is a Nigerian singer, rapper, and songwriter who hails from Ogun State, South-Western Nigeria and he performs in both English and Yoruba which is his native language.
In 2015, Reminisce released his third album which was titled Baba Hafusa and this album proved to be his most successful album so far with over 500,000 copies sold in Nigeria in 2 weeks and claiming the number one spot on Apple Music for more than a week.
With the Baba Hafusa album, Reminisce became the only hip-hop artist in all of Africa to have an album debut on the Billboard Charts World Music category at the 12th spot and many believed this happened because of many quality hit songs contained in the album.
Reminisce is one of the best rappers in the country right now and he has also won a handful of awards in Nigeria and outside the shores of the country for many music categories.
7) Ycee
Oludemilade Martin Alejo who is popularly known by his stage name – Ycee, is a Nigerian rapper and songwriter based in Nigeria. He became very popular in Nigeria after the release of his debut single – Jagaban and the song became one of the most popular Nigerian songs ever.
The song – Jagaban, also caught the attention of one of Nigeria’s finest rap acts, Olamide, and they both made a banging remix for that song and it became one of the most played songs at that time.
Ycee also got signed to Tinny entertainment in 2016 and Sony music in October 2016 after they discovered the great talent buried deep down in this Nigerian rapper. He later terminated his contract with the record label (Tinny entertainment) in February 2018.
8) Vector
In the 8th position in this list, we have one of Nigeria’s fastest rappers – Vector. With real names as Olanrewaju Ogunmefun, Vector Tha Viper as he is popularly referred to, is a Nigerian Hip hop artist, rapper, and producer.
Vector released his first official single titled Kilode in the year 2009 and dropped his debut studio album titled “State of Surprise” on October 29th, 2010. This album featured many top Nigerian artists like 2Baba, General Pype, Chuddy K, Ade Piper, Emmsong, Sistah Soul, and more.
Vector has so many hits and awards to his name and has been releasing some songs on a low key this year.
9) Erigga
With real names as Erhiga Agarivbie, Erigga is a Warri-born Nigerian hip-hop recording artist, rapper, and songwriter. He became a very popular musician after he released his debut album titled A Trip to The South in 2017.
Erigga is known for talking about the suffering and hustle of the people of South-Southern Nigeria through his rap songs in Nigeria. He has also released a big number of singles and collaborations with various Nigerian artists like Victor AD, Orezi, Skales, Ducan Mighty, and other notable musicians in Nigeria.
He is one of Nigeria’s best rap acts and the 9th rapper on this list of the top 10 best Nigerian rappers this year.
10) Ill Bliss
Ill Bliss AKA Oga boss is a Nigerian rapper/ hip-hop recording artist, rapper, stage performer, businessman, and owner of the talent managing company – The Goretti Company, a company responsible for launching the careers of many successful Nigerian musicians like Chidinma and Phyno, amongst others.
He is a veteran rapper and has been around for a very long time in the Nigerian music industry. Illi also has many hit songs and music awards to his name in Nigeria and outside the shores of the country.
Wrapping Up
This post has been about the very best rappers in Nigeria this year and as mentioned earlier, this list is not based on the personal opinion of any writer here but on results of polls we conducted on various social media platforms like Facebook Instagram, Twitter, and even Nigeria’s biggest online forum – Nairaland.
What did you think? Is there any rapper missing from this list? Are there rappers you would love to see on this list? Make sure to let us know what you think!
