Nigerian Music: Nigerian Entertainment Present Best Nigerian Albums of 2015 The year has been an interesting one for Nigerian artistes in the music industry, and a lot of music was released this year. Some had us listening earlier in the year while others decided to catch our attention towards the last quarter of the year. Either way, albums were released and here at Nigerian Entertainment we decided to do a countdown of ten albums we really liked this year in no particular order and not necessarily everyone’s favorites, but hopefully you agree with us. Falz – Stories That Touch Falz’ sophomore album was released in November and even though so many people thought he couldn’t have the same impact as his debut, Folarin Falana decided to prove us wrong with Stories. Though, he worked with a completely new producer, Sess on this, we can easily say this was one of the best albums that dropped this year. The album has something for everyone from his pre-released singles Ello Bae, Celebrity Girlfriend, Karashika to songs for the ladies and gentlemen Soldier, Chardonnay Music while still maintaining his comedic persona on his songs. Lyrical content, Production and arrangement on the album are really top notch, and Falz strategically promoted himself this year with the various endorsements and singles from the album that kept him up there and in our faces all year. Darey – Naked Dare Art Alade better known as Darey released his fourth studio album this year and it was a breath of fresh air compared to the usual sounds circulating the radio and we love it. Darey takes us back to our roots while still keeping it as urban as possible, from the usual RnB style, to highlife, juju and gospel tracks. He got the Soweto Gospel Choir on the popular Pray For Me track, featured Olamide and Asa on two different tracks, remixed an old highlife track Delilah and worked with producers that knew his sounds and what he wanted Naked to sound like. Cobhams Asuquo, Oscar Herman-Ackah, Vtek all brought their magic and made beautiful sounds with this. Seyi Shay – Seyi Or Shay Seyi Shay released her debut album last quarter of the year and she has been able to prove to the industry she’s not just a flash in the pan with the endorsements, record label signing and putting out an album that had big weights like Femi Kuti, D’banj, Wizkid. Ms Seyi had a great year in the industry with her single Right Now that did pretty well, production on the album was good and some singles if well promoted with videos will help boost are already soaring career. The album cemented her spot up there with the other ladies in the industry. Reminisce – Baba Hafusa The rap genre wasn’t totally left out as Reminisce dropped his third studio album with the record label Edge Entertainment in April with controversial hit singles like Tesojue and Local Rappers. Reminisce showed us he still had the bars while still keeping it street enough for his fan, even though the album was named after his daughter but didn’t exactly reflect it. He had good production on this, and he was able to garner more fans, create a balance between the traditional rap he has been known for, and Afro-pop. Baba Hafusa topped the I-tunes chart the week of its release, brought endorsements and took Reminisce to the throne literally. Chocolate City – The Indestructible Choc Boi Nation With Ice Prince dropping his Trash Can EP early in the year, Chocolate City after their restructuring and signing of new acts the Choc Boi 2.0 (Milli, Koker, Dice Ailes), and return of Jesse Jagz to the label all came together to give us the TICBN album which is a compilation album. Mostly a rap album since majority of the acts are rappers, Pryse dropping one of her best tracks yet Ricochet, M.I, Ice Prince and Jesse Jagz on Summertime, and Loose Kaynon with Go Hard. They got new producers to work on the album also recently signed to the label and they made it work. Personally, I feel TICBN was an album showcasing and promoting all the talents on the label and it did the job as Do Something by Koker was one of the biggest songs on the album which had airplay at clubs, owambes and on the radio. Leriq – The Lost Sounds The Aristokrat in house producer Leriq released his album after signing to Sony Music Entertainment Africa this year and it was one of the best albums this year. As a producer, he experimented with different genres and found the right people to execute this lyrically, with features from Cassper Nyovest, 2face Idibia, Wizkid, Burna Boy, Wande Coal, Seyi Shay and so much more. It’s different and cuts across genres like rap, pop, RnB, and had Wande Coal dropping one of his best songs in a long time on Wish List. Wande Coal – Wanted After being away from the music scene for a while, Black Diamond came back this year with his long awaited sophomore album that had people anticipating. Not quite sure it was what we wanted, but it was able to hold our attention for a while. The album had its moments and aimed for the mainstream audiences which he was able to pull off. He moved away from his comfort zone a lot and the arrangement of the album could be better. Olamide – Eyan Mayweather Arguably the hottest rapper and artiste this year, Olamide Adedeji who recently concluded his concert, released his fifth album in the space of five years in November. It is definitely not Olamide’s best effort but the consistency is admirable. Working with his in house producers Pheelz, Young Jon, he was able to cater to his rap fan base, still keep it mainstream, and create more slang for the streets. Singles like Lagos Boys, Melo Melo, Bobo and Don’t Stop rocked the radios, parties, clubs and they had the dance theme too! More importantly, Olamide was able to let his new acts, Kesh, Chinko Ekun, Adekunle Gold all signed to his YBNL label shine while he was still holding it down, not many people can do that successfully. He had an amazing year with the music industry not forgetting the endorsements. Olamide And Phyno – 2 Kings Olamide and Phyno came together earlier in the year to give us the collaborative album 2 Kings after their chemistry was made obvious following the hit single Ghost Mode. 2 Kings did what the fans wanted, both artistes on tracks even though it could have been better. The album wasn’t well promoted but it had Ladi and Confam Ni featuring Wizkid and they made playlists all over the entertainment scenes. Much attention wasn’t paid to the Production and arrangement on this album, but the fans loved it still and it’s a first of his kind. The Collectiv3 – The Collectiv3 LP The Collectiv3 comprises a group of creative’s that came together to give us something different this year. I was a bit skeptical adding this to the list mainly because it was given out for free at first before being put up for sale on ITunes and other platforms, but it definitely does qualify to be here. The rap duo Show Dem Camp, Poe, with some relatively new artistes Nsikak, Temi Doll Face and Funbi teamed up with producers extraordinaire Kid Konnect and Ikon to create this beauty. With features from Loose Kaynon, Nneka and Ghana’s M.anifest, The Collectiv3 was one of the best albums we heard this year, giving us an alternative vibe. The production was top notch, the guitars, bass, drums, vocals, and arrangement all came together perfectly. Notable Mentions Burna Boy – On A Spaceship Naeto C – Day 1 Runtown – Ghetto University Skales – Man Of The Year Illbliss – Powerful