Olamide Baddo with the real name Olamide Adedeji is unarguably one of the best music artists Nigerians have witnessed in this generation. After taking over from the Late Da Grin who popularized indigenous rap, Olamide has made Nigerian indigenous rap to be sought for in the music world. Although he’s not in the level of the legendary Afro Beats creator Fela-Anikulapo-Kuti, yet he is a legend on his own when it comes to his achievement in the Nigerian entertainment industry. The once-upon-a-time ‘King of the street’ is now trying to revive his career with a new EP.
Olamide Baddo as King of the Street
Olamide Baddo has paid his dues when it comes to entertainment in Nigeria. He got to limelight when he released the street-rap song titled ‘Eni Duro’ in 2011 which was a major track in his debut studio album titled ‘Rapsodi’. The then skinny Coded Tunes signee was so eager to earn the street. With massive lyrical contents, the rapper killed beats in his native Yoruba language and the street lingua, Pidgin English in style.
The Bariga-born artist has since become a household name in the Nigerian entertainment industry. From creating his own imprints (YBNL Nation); discovering raw talents (such as Adekunle Gold, Lil Kesh, Chinko Ekun, and so on); helping others to stardom (artists like Naira Marley, Peppenazzi, Lyta, and so on); to giving us hits back to back and winning many awards.
You cannot just mention a top 10 album in the Nigerian music industry in the last decade without having an Olamide Baddo’s album in your list. He’s so good and versatile that he does all genre of music from Afro-pop, Afro-Fuji, dancehall, reggae, and so on. He has also given us many dance step and street languages we can all relate to as Nigerians.
Young Erikina, First of All, Voice of the Street, Stupid Love, Durosoke, Ilefo Illuminati, Melo Melo, Shakiti Bobo, Wo, Logba Logba, and several others hits are sounds of Olamide you could relate to even if your earlobes are malfunctioning. Lol!
Having won the Best-Street Hop Artist of the year severally (Headies, and several other Nigerian entertainment awards), Olamide Baddo is the undisputed King of the Street in this part of the world. Many Nigerian artists could tell their success stories with Olamide involved in their biography_ so is his legendary status. As mortal kings don’t live forever, the ‘Shakiti Bobo’ dance creator has been down the pecking order in recent time with the emergence of new street-hop faces.
Olamide Baddo Not as Relevant as Before
Forget the singles he has been releasing in recent times to stay in the game, Olamide is gradually losing his sit on the throne as the King of the street (especially the ‘West’ as stated by MI Abaga). The Yoruba-rap-lord had been inconsistent for the past couple of years.
Although he had few hit songs such as ‘Pawon’, ‘Choco milo’, and several other collaborative works, the ‘Wo’ crooner is rarely talked about these days as he has started. Naira Marley (credited Olamide to be part of his success) and Zlatan Ibile has been the new revelation in the street. The duo have released hits that have became street anthems and got us dancing with their creative dancing steps.
The street at the moment belongs to Naira Marley as many cannot just stop to get over the Marlian fever. Naira Marley alongside Zlatan Ibile are two of the much talked about artists in the Nigerian music industry at the moment and many seem to forget Olamide as a leader of the street music movement.
Olamide To Revive His Career with a ‘Mask-of-The-Devil’ Themed EP
The indigenous rapper aka Baddo announced recently on his Instagram page @Olamide of his about-to-be-released EP titled ‘999’. The EP is made up of 9 tracks and feature 9 artists including Phyno. Jayboi, King Rhatti, and will be released anytime soon.
The title ‘999’ when turned upside down, makes ‘666’; the mark of the beast (anti-Christ). The EP artwork also showed the symbolic head of the Devil. In fact, two of the 9-tracks EP have titles related to the Devil i.e. ‘Dance with the Devil’ and ‘Demons’ which are track 4 and 6 on the tracklist shows Olamide wants to get back his crown and will do that with whatever it takes.
Olamide can’t wait to get back to his best. This new EP title and artwork that portrays the Devil has already got people talking on social media networks especially on Twitter. Having got people’s attention with this cryptic title, we can’t wait to see what the coded ‘mark-of-the-beast’ will bring out for the Nigerian music trendsetter.
Thanks for taking time in reading this piece. Let’s get your feedback in the comment section by telling us what you feel about this latest EP in town.
