Top 10 Nigerian Albums of 2019

Compliments of the Season to you, my people. I hope and pray that this season brings Joy and blessings to all of us.

Even as the year rolls to an end, it’s important we reflect on what projects made our 2019 beautiful musically.

Like I always say, we prefer hit singles to album/EP projects. Therefore we have to appreciate Nigerian artists that took the time and creativity out to make an album which isn’t as simple as it sounds.

An Album is one of the deepest forms of art. You tell your story through an organization and cascade of tracks in such a way that the next track paints the story you’re telling or trying to tell better.

Okay, straight to it, I’m going to be dropping my top 10 albums of the year. If you don’t agree with this, feel free to drop your top 10 in the comments box below👇👇👇

10.) CHULO VIBES – Timaya

Timaya is an icon in the Nigerian music industry. This is a man that had attained ‘Legend‘ status and we all thought he was done. Timaya proved to us that he still knows what Nigerians want when it comes to mainstream music when he dropped Chulo Vibes after 5 years without an album.

Timaya has always been versatile as an artist. He dabbles in different Afro Genres and does well. The 9-song album puts you in a kind of Melodius Groove with an ‘I can’t kill myself’ vibe. Hehe.

Hit bangers like ‘I can’t kill myself’, ‘Pull up’ with Burna Boy(my personal favorite), ‘Balance’ have become more like national anthems in every part of the country.

9.) A GOOD TIME – Davido

This album stirred up mixed feelings in the mainstream world. I’m going to tell you why; Davido switched up and did something different, he did a fusion of highlife, afroRnB and Pop, he expanded his pallette without sacrificing the Afrobeat essence.

This album had a whole range of songwriters, amazing international features and producers who brought forth a well-packaged 17-song album. Amongst the top 10, this album probably had the most people working on it, this shows the album was overflowing with creativity and quality. We all waited 7 years for an album, and Davido gave us That album.

8.) CLONE WARS, VOL IV (THESE BUHARI TIMES) – SDC

Falz ‘Moral Instruction‘ album was the only rap album better than CLONE WARS this year.

People might think because of its sub-tag, it talks only about Buhari, but it doesn’t. It is an album that addresses all-round personal and society issues.

With Publicity/PR being the only real blemish, it is one of the albums of 2019

7.) OMO CHARLIE CHAMPAGNE, Vol. 1 – Simi

The Queen of highlife music just doesn’t know how to drop a average/bad album. After dropping debut album ‘Simisola‘ in 2017(which I feel is better than the current album) , she set an example of what an album should feel and sound like.

Made known for her Highlife abilities, it’s no surprise there’s a fair share of Highlife songs like ‘Ayo’ ‘Love on me’. A beautiful album that dabbles in highlife, Afro Pop, Afro Dance hall, and AfroRnB.

6.) SUMMER’S OVER – Bella Alubo

I heard the name ‘Bella Alubo‘ from a friend, I’ve been stuck since then😅. This album and the artist on a whole is being slept on. I like the fact that the new generation of artists are showing that other sub-genre of Afro music can be brought to life.

This are one of those albums that can be tagged as a ‘no bad song‘ album. Hit Banger ‘Agbani‘ with Zlatan is still being blasted by DJs nationwide. Album also gives an amazing feature list that includes Mr Eazi, Zlatan, LadiPOE, Ko-jo Cue, Dice Ailes, Ajebutter 22 and others.

This is pretty brilliant for a new-comer.

5.) I LOVE GIRLS WITH TROBUL – Sarz X Wurld

Sarz has been in the game for as long as I can remember but we’re slowly entering the age where even producers and non-singers do their own albums. He dropped a beat mixtape titled “SINYM” which features hit single ‘Good Morning my neighbor Riddim‘.

Sarz is a beast when it comes to music producion, arguably the best and most consistent in the country, but he still needed an awesome talent in WurLD to deliver an ‘Afro-Fusion‘ based 8-track EP. This EP slaps and was definitely one of the best projects of the year.

4.) ENJOY YOUR LIFE – Lady Donli

Before this album dropped, Lady Donli was undergoing a necessary evolution from an act who made good, but inaccessible music to someone who gets it. From the first single titled, ‘Cash,’ the roll-out commenced. Donli created a money-based campaign for an album titled, Enjoy Your Life. How do you enjoy your life? Money.

The album traveled through different sonic eras to give us an experience. At one time, she’s the Northern Girl. At another point, she is an R&B artist from the early 2000s. Some other time, she becomes a Nigerian folk singer with the incredible ‘Corner Corner.’ At will, she also becomes a Galala artist from the mid-2000s.

3.) LAUGHTER, TEARS & GOOSEBUMPS – Fireboy DML

We all wondered what Olamide saw in Fireboy when he made his first musical appearance in the YBNL record label album. He would get massive recognition months later after the album when ‘Jealous‘ finally hit the mainstream market hard.

LGT focuses on portraying love, lust and attraction with an ‘Afro-life/Afro-fusion‘ sound.

The fact that this album was 100% original. All songs written and composed by Fireboy just shows us how much of a talent the man is. I’m in love with all the songs on this album, the whole Nigeria is in love with Fireboy. Definitely one of the most Natural albums we’ve seen in decades.

2.) MORAL INSTRUCTION – Falz

Just a few artists have the courage and time to design a whole 9-song album that targets at tackling the direct issues we face in the Nation. The rapper, Falz, is a socio-politically conscious artist and he’s made that known to the world.

The Headies’ Album of the year winner contains 9 highly informed songs that while having different directions, focuses on the socio-political issues being faced in the country.

First single off the album ‘Talk‘ caused the internet to break with a lot of groups having issues with it. Nevertheless, it tells a message that the country has got to be better. An equally interesting and impactful album.

1.) AFRICAN GIANT – Burna Boy

Burna Boy told us earlier he was the ‘African Giant‘. We didn’t listen so he went on to prove it. He dropped a uniquely amazing album.

Grammy-nominated ‘AFRICAN GIANT‘, yes, don’t adjust your phone or whatever you’re reading this on, I said “GRAMMY NOMINATED!“. This album took Afrobeat to the rest of the world and now because of Burna Boy, a whole lot of international acts and the world at large know more about Afrobeat.

I get wowed every time I listen to this album. AFRICAN GIANT talks about everything, love, national issues, power, attraction, money, turn up, Gbese, club bangers.

I really could go on and on about this album but let me just stop here 😂. Best album we had in 2019 and by a distance too.

Honourable Mentions

LUCID – Asa

CHVMELEON – Alpha Ojini

DEAL WITH IT – Phyno

ILLOSOPHY – IllBliss

LOVE AND LIGHT EP – JOEBOY

SOUNDMAN EP, VOL. 1 – Starboy/Wizkid

WILMER – Patoranking