Crayon, Ruger, Shallipopi & Others – These Nigerian Artistes Dropped Their Debut Albums This Year

Every year, the Nigerian music scene witnesses a new surge of artists and singers willing to raise the musical bar. Presently, Nigerian Afrobeats is one of the most dominating genres in the world and this is due to the contributions of Nigerian artists in the past decade. Now, a new era has emerged and new artists are also contributing to elevating the work of the pioneers by releasing ingenious debut songs and albums. This year was no exception. 

Earlier this year, I predicted that a couple of artists would drop their debut albums, and while some of them didn’t release any albums, some did, including those who were not included in my predictions.

These are some of the debut albums that dropped this year:

Ruger

One of the best dancehall musicians in Nigeria is Ruger. Since he came into the limelight, Ruger has proven he is an important figure in the modern Afrobeats movement. After dropping two EPs, Pandemic, The Second Wave, with a deluxe, he decided to go all out with an album. This year, he released Ru The World, confirming his readiness to rule the world.

Shallipopi

Shallipopi is one of the industry surprises that emerged this year. Since he released Elon Musk, gaining a remix with Fireboy DML, Shallipopi has made himself a resounding success in the industry. As an artist, once Nigerians get familiar with your sound, the next step for you is to find how to bank on familiarisation. Shallipopi banked on his presence by first releasing an EP, Planet Pluto, followed by a full-length album, Presido La Pluto.

Crayon

Crayon is not new to the music industry. He has been around as far back as five years ago but he was taking his time to release his debut album. Although he released an EP in 2019, this year, after having successful songs like Ijo Labalaba and The One, he decided it was time to release an album. Often called Captain Hook, Crayon’s Trench to Truimph documents most of his life in the trenches before breaking through. For a debut album, Crayon delivered! Words won’t do justice to how brilliant this album is.

BNXN

Formerly known as Buju, BNXN is one of the most vibrant and talented artists in the new generation of Nigerian music who has been consistently solidifying his talent with solid projects. Two EPs – Sorry I’m Late and Bad Since ‘97 –  later, BNXN dropped a complete studio album, Sincerely Benson. As the title implies, BNXN is truly sincere in the album as he shares everything about himself in it.

Another year, another rain of albums in the Nigerian music industry. This year, Burna Boy, Davido, Adekunle Gold, Asake, Olamide, Seyi Vibez, Kizz Daniel, Blaqbonez, Joeboy, Mr. Eazi, Teni, and others added new albums to their catalogues of albums. Next year won’t be an exception and we look forward to timeless music, especially from the likes of Tems, Lifesize Teddy, Morravay and other new seeds in the industry.