You could say this is what you’d get if you crossed 50 Cent with King Sunny Adé. Tracks range from relatively straightforward American-style hip-hop to tracks that combine African female vocals with raps and hip-hop beats, there are some tracks that have strong reggae and dancehall infusions too. A very mixed set, all thoroughly enjoyable.
Many of you will be thinking, ‘Nigeria – the land of Nigerian scammers!’ and don’t worry there is a song that addresses this – and a band name: JJC & 419 Squad – Modenine featuring OD contribute a track called, “419 State of Mind Pt 2”. 419 is the legal term for Nigerian scammer advance-fee fraud and this track derides these Nigerian scammers in a manner both cutting and comical. Another track, Terry tha Rapman’s “I Am A Nigerian” parodies Eminem. These bits of humor helps bridge any cultural gaps here and makes the music warmly inviting.
Lagos Stori Plenti is an excellent album start to finish with music that is much stronger than you might expect from a country who have not yet seen worldwide recognition for their hip-hop. This is a great introduction to Nigerian hip-hop and hopefully will help kick the start the international careers of some of these artists. Highly recommended for fans of hip-hop and African music.
