Top 5 Performing Acts In Nigeria |@360rhymez

As a musician or entertainer,
your performer act would
involve bringing to full bear, a
totality of your musical
showmanship. This will entail
various forms of creative arts
including a live vocal rendition
backed accordingly with live
instrumentation, stage theatrics
which is not restricted to dance
alone and largely, the need to
communicate with your viewing
audience.
As a matter of fact, there are
principles and ethics that govern
the performing art generally but
here in Nigeria, a good majority
of our superstars are quick to
adjudge themselves as
entertainers simply because they
can carry a crowd with their
brazen confidence on stage and a
reckless show of energy. Some of
them suck at dancing, others
might turn out terrible actors if
they dared try and worse off,
more of them cannot belt out
their raw vocals to sound
anything like their studio
records.
It is on these afore-mentioned
premise that we would be
profiling a select few who have
been found worthy to grace our
list of Top Performing
Sensations in Nigeria. It is not
for everybody so your
sentiments are allowed, they are
very welcome. Also note that the
intention was to keep the list
short and as such we deeply
regret the other names that had
to be cut. Doesn’t mean their
inputs aren’t recognize nor their
efforts unappreciated.
5. P-SQUARE
Some of y’all may dispute with
very tenable reasons why the
alingo brothers shouldn’t be on
this list, I’m quite indifferent too
but I mean you gotta hand it to
them if not for anything but for
the spark they put into any
show. When you watch Peter
and Paul live, it’s like reliving
moments from their music
videos – you find confidence, co-
ordination, energy and finesse in
their stage routines. Although
they are guilty of singing to
backing tracks but they usually
have a acoustic set where their
drummer, Papii J sends the
audience into a thrill frenzy with
riveting renditions from his
percussion kit. Whatever the
case, you can bet on P-Square to
keep you entertained and I’m
not just referring to feats like
waking up a slumbered audience
or Peter falling off stage because
of overdo. As such, it’s not much
a wonder why they’re one of the
first to consider when it comes to
headlining shows in and out of
Africa seeing as they’re the only
Nigerian music group left,
they’re actual dancers with very
technical choreographic routines
of a contemporary nature (the
likes of Usher and Chris Brown)
and they’ve stayed winning
since the year 2000!
4. FLAVOUR
Before owning his vocal talent,
Flavour was first a multi-
instrumentalist and on
professional levels. He is
impeccably skilled at beating
drums, stringing on a guitar and
striking keys on a piano. He
complements his act with a local
dance craft which entails
rigorous wriggling of the waist
in a very sensually seducing
manner. His genre of music –
high life, is one that requires an
unusual effort to keep a crowd’s
attention on lock down and
we’re yet to fault him in this
regard because his musical
background had him well-
prepared for this. Flavour hails
from an Igbo-speaking tribe
which derives one of it’s cultural
beauties from live music, already
known to be a special joy and
reverie of it’s people. He
graduated from being a local
church drummer at 13 to lending
his vocals as backup singer for a
variety of musicians and now, an
Africa-wide celebrated artiste
that he has become. Flavour
relishes his on-stage moments,
belting out his Igbo language
hits and with his raw vocals. He
does so with an admirable poise
and a high sense of flair. He
remains one of such singers who
hasn’t caved to the ills of lip-
synching or performing shabbily
to a backing track. Even, I highly
doubt that we’d ever catch him
red-handed in the act. Oh, you
remember he won the award for
Best Live Act at MTV’s MAMA
last year? ‘Nuff said!
3. TIMI DAKOLO
Timi Dakolo is one act whose
artistry is yet to be seconded by
any. Even better, the soul and
R&B genre continues to do him
perfect justice every time he gets
up on a mic to belt out notes
from his belly embodiment. I
dare say, if you’ve never seen or
heard Timi perform, then you
perhaps can’t know what the
true experience of a live
performance feels like. From
facial expressions to
gesticulations, stage emotion…
and that voice, Timi Dakolo is IT!
He is the whole package. Unlike
some artistes who can’t perform
their studio enhanced materials,
every song ever written and
recorded by him, he has the
wherewithal to light up a stage
with it. And he does it to relish,
giving all of himself while
enjoying himself at the same
time. One time, I saw him
perform while he was under the
weather and regardless of the
fact that he was having a bad
voice day, one wouldn’t have
noticed at all with how much
vocal effort he put in to
delivering the classic piece that
eventually moved everyone to
tears. Talk of vocal emotion.
2. YEMI ALADE
Could we ever have a list like
this without a Yemi Alade on it?
Not a chance in hell! Incase y’all
didn’t know, the one feat that
brought Ms Alade to deserving
success was winning the maiden
edition of Peak talent hunt
where she had to perform her
way to the top. Even at that, she
didn’t start counting her fame
until after she had done volumes
of shows for free, seizing every
opportunity to hone and perfect
her craft. Guess it paid off
because she’s the hottest chic on
the block as of now. On-stage,
Yemi unleashes herself with an
unusual vim and vigour. And boy
does she love to sing! When she
opens up her vocal power, the
melodies hit hard leaving chills
on the skin. She condiments her
act with a playful, witty persona
that breaks any form of disjoint
between her and the listening
audience. She is just fun to
watch as equally a sight to
behold; her outfits often times
inspired by colour mash-ups and
pan-african-ness, come in
beautiful sophistication. These
feats in addition to her
undeniable skill, has seen her
heating up stages in more
countries than the African
continent can boast of. We don’t
call her the King of Queens for
nothing. She’s a slayer!
1. OMAWUMI
What a man can do, Omawumi
has proven by clinching the
number one spot that a woman
can do better. In her wonder
woman frenzy and armed with a
collection of hits from her lasso
of truth, the megbele queen has
continued to wow audiences
with her show-stopping
performances. No doubt, she is
quite the singer and actress too
but there’s always that extra
special something she brings
that gives her the edge over all
others. First off, all that
electrifying flavour you get to
hear in her voice on all her
records, she brings the treaty to
you LIVE! The vocal pitches that
run into the zenith of her
impressive range, dramatic riffs
that swivel into marathons, the
scats, vocal fries and growls,
then she spices that with
interludes of comedic
monologues not forgetting her
energetic dance routines of a
cultural nature. Her performer
profile is one of the strongest
and it is unconnected with the
fact that she has maintained an
image – one which she rocks her
signature boojee ‘fro while
donning modish pieces with a
touch of African. Omawumi is a
performer per excellence who
serves herself in appropriate
doses to her audience… and
whether it be a soulful rendition
or a fast-paced dance track,
she’s sure to keep it 100.
Notable:
FEMI KUTI
Can you think of anyone else
better deserving of this spot
than him? I guessed so too.
Infact, this list would have been
heavily unfair if it didn’t have
find him fit for a worthy
mention. Before this present
time of artistes collaborating
with international big weights,
Femi Kuti had long featured top
shots like Common, Mos Def,
D’Angelo, Macy Gray amongst
others. The nature of his vocal
artistry married with his
technical intelligence of musical
instruments like the saxophone,
trumpet and keyboard had seen
him launch and run a successful
recording/performing career till
date. He started out
internationally the year 1988 and
has since been a regular feature
at exclusive gigs and Western
tours in various continents of the
world. His style of music is easily
relatable and has remained the
only genre to break the barriers
of age, race and culture as
pioneered by his late father, the
legendary Fela Anikulapo-Kuti,
of whom expatriates and visiting
tourists paid top dollar to watch
perform. Femi continues in
promoting a lasting legacy and
his works have been recognized
on a global scale by nominations
via the Grammy platform, the
last four years.

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