Nigeria is the African Giant of music within the continental borders. Music that comes out of the country always goes beyond and establishes firm spots in various countries across the world; most especially African ones. There are a lot of gifted in-built artists as well as artistes-in-diaspora who have cemented their place among top artists in different genres across the world.
Many fantastic albums were released in 2022 by dynamic and gifted artists who originated from Nigeria but not all of them can make this top best review list. Spoiler alert: shockers are present in this review. You would definitely be shocked not to see some albums in the top spots of this review but I believe you would understand this is ranked based on their uniqueness, diversity, and lyrical game.
Having scrutinized and analyzed various albums released between January and November, – ranking in descending order – here is the list of the Top 10 best Nigerian albums of 2022 brought to you by The Trybe City.
10. The Brother’s Keeper – Chike
The album which was released on August 25 made this list of the best 10 in 2022. Dropped by the mighty ‘boo of the booless’ crooner, Chike, this album portrays some dynamic sounds and is a host to some hits such as ‘God only knows’, ‘Moving on’, ‘Hard to find’, and ‘You deserve’.
9. Outlaw – Victony
Victony, the raging new act who burst into the scene last year after a sonorous feature on ‘Holy Father’ with Mayorkun, dished out ‘Outlaw’, a very deserving 6-track album which made this list. Victony is known to be diverse with his sound and this album features hit songs such as ‘Soweto’, ‘Kolomental’, and ‘All power’.
8. More Love Less Ego – Sir WizKid
Popsy who has been a consistent Afrobeats god for the past 12 years dropped ‘More Love Less Ego’ on November 11. This album which features some sonorous amapiano, RnB, and Afrobeats tunes such as ‘Bad to Me’, ‘Frames’, ‘Wow’, and Everyday, is a very dynamic album that popsy WizKid put forward after the success of highly rated ‘Made In Lagos’. This is a top 10 worthy album of the year and sir WizKid is _notoriously_ dishing out a supposed new sound of music that many GenZ artists are bound to emulate.
7. Catch Me If You Can – Adekunle Gold
AG baby, the baby of many Nigerian girls as well as a huge fan favourite, has been consistent for years with sounds that appeal to the music audience. ‘Catch me if you can’ was released on February 21, and it features hits which include ‘High’, ‘Mercy’, and ‘Sinner’. The genre of the tracks in this album varies from RnB to Afropop to Alte and they have a huge positive following and fans’ appraisal. AG baby is no doubt a contender for the Artiste of the Year in the coming ceremonial awards.
6. Sad Romance – Ckay
Ckay, who broke into the scene in 2019, had a fantastic year after a successful outing of ‘Love Nwantiti’. This album features hits such as ‘Watawi’, ‘Emiliana’, ‘Lose u’ and the mighty ‘Love Nwantiti’ which shattered records in several countries in the world. Ckay is a big game artist whose touch on any music will definitely result in success.
5. Rave And Roses – Rema
Mavin’s top gun, Rema since his emergence in 2019, has been a force to reckon with amidst new acts in the industry. Divine Ikubor is a fantastic and dynamic artiste with ever-blazing sounds and a lyrical game. His first album ‘Rave and Roses’ was released on March 25 and featured hits such as ‘Soundgasm’, ‘Divine’, ‘Time n Affection’ as well as ‘Calm down’. His biggest hit on the album ‘Calm down’ even earned him a remix from top female US artiste, Selena Gomez, who jumped on the track and further delivered a more sonorous tune.
4. Love, Damini – Burna Boy
African Giant released Grammy-nominated ‘Love Damini’ on July 8 and some songs on this album have been topping the charts since then. Although this is a 19-track album, it has top, incomparable hits such as ‘Common Person’, ‘Its Plenty’, ‘Different Size’, ‘For my hand’, and ‘Roller coaster’. Damini Ogulu has been at the top list of a few artistes dominating the music scene for the past 3 years and his consistency has been unmatched.
3. Playboy – Fireboy
YBNL main act, Fireboy DML, released his third album ‘Playboy’ on August 4 after the success of ‘LTG’ and ‘Apollo’. This album has a very positive appraisal and features hits such as ‘Peru’, ‘Ashawo’, ‘Playboy’, ‘Bandana’, and the Ed Sheeran-featured ‘Peru’. Fireboy is a dynamic artiste who knows how to cut his onions and satisfy his audience. He has been at the forefront of YBNL since 2019 and his hard work earned him a deal with the renowned Empire Label.
2. Boy Alone – Omah Lay
Omah Lay, since his entry in 2020, has maintained a consistent run of dishing out hits and songs that portray a touch of what the majority of the music audience wants. ‘Boy Alone’ is a reflection of his personal life and struggles which were of recent. He took his time to pour his feelings and came up with hits such as ‘Understand’, ‘Woman’, ‘Attention’, ‘I’m a mess’, and ‘Soso’ which seemed to be the biggest off the album. Omah Lay is one of the few extremely gifted artistes in the industry and this fantastic album earned him the semi-top spot in our review.
1. Mr Money With The Vibe – Asake
Undoubtedly the biggest and best album of the year, ‘Mr Money with the Vibe’ contains a lot of hits and killer songs that is unending in the mouths of listeners and music audience. Asake’s ability to dish out tunes that satisfy audiences with different tastes in music has to be applauded. Hit tracks such as ‘Joha’, ‘Peace be unto you’, ‘Terminator’, ‘Dull’, ‘Sungba’ with Burna boy, and the biggest of them all, ‘Organise’. Songs in this album spent weeks topping the charts and have earned him performances outside the country where listeners vibe effortlessly. Asake had a big entry to the scene and a great debut year; if this consistency is maintained for years, he could turn out to be one of the biggest artistes this country has produced.
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Love Is Not Enough – Young Jonn
To Be Honest – Simi
These two albums are also fantastic as they portray a work of pure art and dynamic sounds in their track lists.
