Top 2021 Nigerian songs
2020 was a feast of sounds. Covid-19 gave artists time to make albums- quality albums. Albums like Burna Boy’s “Twice as Tall”, won a Grammy Award; making it the first Nigerian album to win a Grammy award. Wizkid’s “Made in Lagos” has the highest possible chart for a Nigerian album and has been nominated for two Grammy Awards.
Oh, and also, 2020 ushered in a new rookie who is now making Big girl moves and hits in the industry- Ayra Starr.
Therefore, we present to you, the top Nigerian songs of 2021. These songs are chosen based on songwriting, reception, quality, impact, airplay and Sound Engineering.
Months in review: January 2021-December 1, 2021
Top 2021 Nigerian songs
20) “Bling” Blaqbonez Ft Amaarae, Buju
Blaqbonez made his entry into the music industry not long ago, and after being signed to chocolate city, he has been making his own waves and garnering attention and fans.
In fact, he has even landed a collaboration with Tiwa Savage on the remix of his song: “BBC”
“Bling” is about how the singer’s lover adores his jewelries and money almost more than him. This is the first time the writer is hearing Amaarae’s voice and it is beaut! She makes the song take a different nice tune that makes it near perfection.
19) “Holy Father” Mayorkun ft. Victony
Mayorkun delivers this song with passion and makes it very convincible. It’s a song about adulation of his lover; how she is beautiful to see and how the singer desires her.
The song was a hit upon release and it proceeds on how the singer would like to get to know the lady more and probably marry her…
18) “Rock” Olamide
Off his Uy Scuti album, the song is about a lure to enjoyment with a babe he is engrossed with. The song is a hit becomes it not only comes from Olamide, but it comes with some new sounds and the voices of a lady testing Olamide’s sincerity. He says
‘Girl…I just want us to chill…girl I just want us to chill like Ice Water”
17) “Cold Outside” Timaya Ft Buju
Nice collaboration. It’s a song about living one’s life carefree and not bothering about every single thing cos…
“It’s so cold outside my brother”
It’s also a song about being calm about life’s troubles and not hating on each other. This song was even more exalted by Buju’s contribution. It makes the song more powerful and perfects the delivery especially since Buju sings this type of songs.
16) “Woman” Simi
One of the best revolutionary Nigerian songs out there. It has that Fela and Falz jazz and vibe that adequately portrays the mood of the singer and her intention on the song. Simi says
“Na so so submission, shey we get assignment?”
She analyzes how woman are berated, how they can’t seem to have everything, or even have anything in comparison to men.
It is a very nice listen and it certainly does justice to not only encouraging women, but categorically state that they are in the position to make their own choices.
Kudos to Simi on the song art cover and music video.
15) “Lie” Kizz Daniel
Wow. This song is a big hittttttt. It had been released ahead Kizz Daniel’s “Barnbabas” Ep and it has made wavesss. It has a unique tune that sets the song on a roll of patterned stages . Listening to it is like being on a subtle roller coaster, with the way Kizz Daniel works his lyrics once more. It has a catchy line of:
“Everybody know say omo me I no dey lie”
14) “Sinner” Adekunle Gold ft. Lucky Daye
“Sinner” came as a surprise to a lot of people because it’s not entirely Adekunle Gold’s style.
If you have listened to his music well enough, the likes of “Orente”, “No Forget” and “Fame” were more of romantic “good boy songs”. But now, his music is taking a turn, and everyone is loving the turn it’s taking.
This is actually because Adekunle Gold has the trust of his fans and as long as he still makes good music, he’s fire.
13) “Feeling” Ladipoe ft. Buju
“Feeling” resonated a lot with Nigerians upon its release, especially with it’s catchy hook:
“I love the way I’m feeling now…no come use your raggae spoil my blues”
Ladipoe and Buju “finish work for this song”. Nigerians face a looot of things and we actually don’t want anybody to “pour palm oil in our water”
I don’t actually think it’s possible for anyone to listen to this song and not feel relaxed or lose tension for a while.
12) “Celebrate me” Patoranking
Patoranking is a hit factory. With hit releases like “Girlie o” and “Abule”, making hits comes easy with this guy. “Celebrate me” is a song of request for eulogy and appreciation of the Artist from his fans. It has a memorable line of
“Celebrate me…now when I dey alive…”
Read: Most Streamed Nigerian Artists on YouTube
11) “Kilometre” Burna Boy
Grammy Award winning King- Burna Boy released his first single of the year. Most likely from his forthcoming studio album. Even though “Kilometre” was met with mixed reviews. It was still a hit. I think we can all agree that anything Burna Boy releases now is going to be a hit.
The song has a body-moving upbeat tempo to it. The songwriting is not disappointing as Burna Boy asserts his Big Boy status and shows that he has in fact, gone far ahead others. He says:
“I don tey for the game Shina Peters”
It might not actually be wrong to compare himself with Shina Peters right now.
The song engineering? Sweeet.
10) “Essence” Wizkid ft. Tems Ft Justin Bieber
Even though “Essence” was not a single ahead Wizkid’s “Made in Lagos” album. It kinda found a way to single itself out and became a global anthem.
I mean, you have Kevin Hart dancing to this song for crying out loud, and that was before Justin Bieber got featured on it. Now, with Justin Bieber dropping his own heat on the song. It just became a more terrific hit; making it both a 2020 and 2021 hit, and in fact, the no 10 spot of top 2021 Nigerian songs
9) “Crazy Tings”
Though the delivery on “Crazy Tings” reduces the kind of effect the song is supposed to have, it still doesn’t reduce the fact that it’s a hit. It’s about how a guy tries to deceive the singer. She is so surprised that she says:
“Crazy things are happening”
Tems has come a very long way in the industry and she is still establishing her presence. With meeting Rihanna, Meeting Adele, making “Fountains” with Drake and most importantly, making “Essence” with Wizkid.
8) “Sip (Alcohol)” Joeboy
#nobadsongz!!! So, the reason he’s sipping alcohol gently is to forget bad things and probably overcome negative things. He says:
“I don’t wanna reason bad things no more”
Read: Nigerian artists with highest monthly listeners on spotify (December 2021)
He says there are too many problems, too many bad “friends” and enjoyment is the only way out. Joeboy actually did his best on the song, and it’s a big hitttt!
Although it may sound like it encourages people to actually drink alcohol,Joeboy insists, in an interview with the Recording Academy that that is not the purpose of the song.
7) “For you” Teni ft. Davido
“All my ego na for you…”
“For you” is the first single off Teni’s debut album and it is a song about unconditional love. It was released with its accompanying music video and debuted as No 1 on YouTube Nigeria.
Many would say it’s a hit because Davido got featured on it. That is not a fact that can be ruled out, still, it made waves because it presented a kind of “undying-love scenario” where Davido and Teni were breaking out of “jail” for each other.
6) “Somebody’s Son”- Tiwa Savage ft. Brandy
A hit! Funny thing is, this song was not even a single, it was just released alongside Tiwa Savage’s “Water and Garri” EP. But you know what they say, a good song can never be hid.
We all know the catchpharse:
“Somebody’s son go find me one day..”
This song found its way out of the EP, stood out, and was the song used by millions on Tiktok and Instagram, and even positioned Tiwa into a more respectable position in the Nigerian music industry. She does know how to make hit.
5) Ayra Starr “Bloody Samaritan”
We all know Ayra Starr has ushered in such dynamic sounds, but “Bloody Samaritan” is such a perfect song that the songwriting leaves so much desire to listen to the song over and over again.
It has a RNB vibe, but Kudos to her for making it still retain some original Afrobeat sound and songwriting. It is not just a song about haters or naysayers, it posits a stance that not only undermines the various negative attitude of people but exalts Ayra’s own power to determine her mood and her lifestyle
“I’m a ticking dynamite” -She says.
Girl, you right!
4) “Love Nwantiti” ft. Joeboy and Kuami Eugene
You listen to this song and it seems like you taste honey in your mouth. The rhythm, the patterned beats and the “ah ah ah”. The music video has more than 140 million views on YouTube, and the North Africa remix has about 30M views in just 3 weeks.
The song went viral, and very global. I’m not very sure Ckay himself knew this song will go so viral. I mean, the song has charted in UK, US, Australia, Switzerland, Netherlands, Germany, France…the list is endless.
I think the realistic thing Ckay did was to remix this song as many times as possible, to keep the fire alive. The song has been remixed two times now and each version is still making waves and bearing the heat.
3 “Running to you” Chike ft. Simi
“Running to you” is literally everywhere. I mean, there is nowhere you get to that it is not being played. It is arguably one of the greatest 2021 hit in Nigeria and holds the record for the 2021 most watched Music Video in Nigeria-yet.
Even though it doesn’t have an upbeat Tempo or unique lyrics, it is a hit because it was sang by two great vocalists- Simi and Chike and that is why it is topping our list!
2) “Peru” Fireboy
This song was a bomb upon release, and garnered even more attention after months of its release. The unique thing about “Peru” is its fresh sound. It sounded so new upon release.
It’s usually very hard for established artists to release fresh hit songs like “Peru” by “Fireboy”. One would have guessed that this song was by a rookie that just broke into the industry. It is so devoid of poor writing, unneeded sound and rather presents a vibe through rhythmic patterned beats that span over 2 minutes.
1) “High” Adekunle Gold Ft Davido
I don’t think there is any Nigerian that has not heard this song. I mean, even if you don’t have it on your gadget, you hear them playing it everywhere! The lyrics sound like they invite people to actually get “high”, but it invites more to dance and be merry than what the lyrics may actually portray.
Honorable mentions
“Thunder Fire You” Ric Hassani
The fact that this song was banned by the NBC for its vulgar lyrics does not still mean it wasn’t a hit. The singer goes on about unrequited love and how a lady he loved so much and showered affections on, used him and cheated on him.
He seems to be appaled by the whole thing and claims the affection he showered on her was totally underserved.
This song was actually a hit because of its lyrics and undeniable relatability.
“Ova” Johnny Drille ft. Don Jazzy
It’s a song of apology to a lover and it implores the lover that they start all over again and forget whatever happened between them that caused the fight. This song is a bomb mainly because of its catchy chorus;
“Ova-o, Ova-o, over over ooo”
It depicts Johnny Drille as a hopeless romantic, but mennnnn, when Don Jazzy comes in, it shows that he still has music in the bag, and if he were to come back tomorrow making songs again, he’d be topping the charts.
This song has perfection on lockdown and that’s why it’s making the list of our top 2021 Nigerian songs
Top 2021 Nigerian songs
1) “High” Adekunle Gold ft. Davido
2) “Peru” Fireboy
3) “Running to you” Chike ft. Simi
4) “Love Nwantiti” Ckay ft Joeboy, Kuami Eugene
5) “Bloody Samaritan” Ayra Starr
6) “Somebody’s son” Tiwa Savage ft. Brandy
7) “For you” Teni ft Davido
8) “Sip (Alcohol)” Joeboy
9) “Crazy Tings” Tems
10) “Essence” Wizkid ft Tems, Justin Bieber
11) “Kilometre” Burna Boy
12) “Celebrate me” Patoranking
13) “Feeling” Ladipoe ft Buju
14) “Sinner” Adekunle Gold ft Lucky Daye
15) “Lie” Kizz Daniel
16) “Woman” Simi
17) “Cold outside” Timaya ft Buju
18) “Rock” Olamide
19) “Holy father” Mayorkun ft Victony
20) “Bling” Blaqbonez ft Amaarae
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