Forget Tiwa Savage & Yemi Alade; 5 Reasons Simi Might Become the Queen of Nigerian Music in 2018
At the end of 2017, Mavin Records first lady, Tiwa Savage, and self-proclaimed Mama Africa, Yemi Alade, were the leading divas of the Nigerian music industry without a doubt.
BET, MTV EMA and MOBO awards nominated (all in 2017) Yemi Alade all but owned 2017 with the release of her 15-track third album, ‘Black Magic’, which featured hits such as ‘Single & Searching’. She also took home four awards at the African Entertainment Awards USA last year.
Soundcity MVP reigning Best Female and AFRIMA 2017 Best Female Artiste in West Africa, Tiwa Savage, also had a fantastic 2017. Her 6-track EP, ‘Sugarcane’, featured the likes of Wizkid and Maleek Berry, and contained hits such as ‘Ma Lo’ and ‘All Over’.
With the accomplishments above and so many more, it’s not so difficult to understand why Tiwa and Yemi seemed to dominate the industry last year. We however believe 2018 might not exactly be the year 2017 was for these prima donnas, and we have our reasons.
29 year old Simisola Bolatito Ogunleye might not have won any awards for Best Female last year, but her multiple award nominations, which culminated in her receiving the coveted Songwriter of the Year award at AFRIMA 2017, are definitely indicators that there’s so much more to come from Simi, especially this year.
These are 5 reasons why we think Simi might reign as the queen of Nigerian music in 2018:
- Simi is all about the music
If there’s one thing people have criticized Simi for, it’s her fashion sense. The general opinion seems to be that the songstress could pay some more attention to what she wears to events and for performances. Although we’ve seen Simi rock some more glamorous looks of recent, the singer has repeatedly made it clear that she has no intention of dressing a certain way simply because that’s what’s expected of her.
Why do we think this a good thing? Well, just like Adele and Sia, Simi is all about the music, not the glitz and glam. Unlike Tiwa Savage and Yemi Alade whose sex-appeal is definitely an intricate part of their brands despite their undoubted musical ability (a la Beyonce), whatever fans Simi has earned herself so far, she has earned almost completely for the quality of her music.
- Everything Simi puts out is gold
From ‘Love Don’t Care’ to ‘Smile for Me’ to ‘Joromi’, every song Simi has released since her career kicked off – especially these past few years – is nothing short of genius. Her collaborations with Falz on ‘Chemistry’, Bez on ‘Breathe’ and Adekunle Gold on ‘No Forget’, amidst so many others, are testament to that incontestable fact. And how can we forget her stellar remix of Drake’s massive hit, ‘Controlla’, which – in all honesty – some of us actually preferred to the original?
The truth is that Simi brings it every time. Since her eponymous album, ‘Simisola’, was released last year, we honestly still can’t decide which of the songs is our favourite. What’s more? None of the 15 tracks looks like it was put on the album just for the sake of it, which is much more than we can say for most of the bodies of work that were commissioned last year.
- Simi is versatile
Since we’re still talking about the musical masterpiece that ‘Simisola’ so effortlessly is, we just have to express how unbelievable it is for one album to contain so many songs of essentially diverse genres and themes. It’s definitely rare to find an album in Nigeria’s music industry today that contains songs that are as different as ‘Gone for Good’, ‘Hiphop Hurray’, ‘One Kain’ and ‘O Wa N’bę’ are from one another. But that’s something Simi did brilliantly.
If we took a sample of the music Simi has put out since her career started, we’d see just how versatile she’s proven herself to be. Simi’s music, while being referred to primarily as Alternative, seamlessly cuts across the genres of Afropop, Soul, R&B, Alternative Rock and Juju, and it’s rather impressive just how easily her songs address such a broad range of themes and evoke such a myriad of emotions.
- Alternative music is fast gaining traction
Alongside artistes such as Bez, Brymo, Johnny Drill and her frequent collaborator, Adekunle Gold, Simi is one of the musicians who are fast taking Alternative music mainstream.
Of course, Nigerians will always enjoy songs they can get their groove on to and show off their latest dance skills on. However, more and more people are beginning to also appreciate music that’s more than just a great beat and a catchy chorus.
- Simi’s music is timeless
Simi released her breakout single ‘Tiff’ in 2014, but we’re pretty sure you can play that song in 2034 and it would sound just as good as it does right now. That’s how timeless Simi’s music is. Songs such as ‘Remind Me’ and ‘Take Me Back’, both off ‘Simisola’, especially have that same quality about them.
Unlike many commercial songs which lose their relevance barely a year after they have been released – thus leaving fans of the artistes who have released them anticipating new music in no time – Simi’s songs are evergreen, and will definitely be relevant for decades to come.
We have our eyes on Simi this year. We think you should as well.