We must commend Nigerian artists for putting so much effort into their craft in the year 2021. Almost every musician brought their A-game to all their projects and singles.
The energy was contagious and we all could feel it. Also, lots of collaborative efforts were recognized, and to be honest, Nigerians are thankful for keeping them sane despite the hurdles of the year (Pandemic inclusive).
However, not all songs turned out as Hit. This is why we have carefully curated a list of the 21 biggest songs in Naija in the year 2021, putting into consideration songs and music video that dropped late December, 2020 – late November, 2021.
MTV Europe Music Award’s Best African Artist, Tiwatope Savage, the acclaimed queen of Afrobeats employed the services of American singer and songwriter, Brandy, who came through with the video to her most anticipated song of the year, off the EP – ‘Water And Garri‘.
For a music video that dropped in the later months of 2021, 15 Million views is in fact hooge we must say. The video premiered on the 12th of October 2021, and immediately had people jumping on its viral challenge. The video for the official single ladies’ anthem of the year hit 6 million views on YouTube in its premiere week.
20. “Bling” by Blaqbonez Feat. Buju & Amaarae
Multi-Talented Nigerian singer and stage performer, Blaqbonez comes forth with another impressive tune tagged ”Bling” featuring Amaarae and Buju, both talented artists from Ghana and Nigeria respectively.
The song is equipped with good Afrobeat flows, vocals, and high-quality lyrics. In May 2021Bling took over the number one spot on the Nigerian Apple Music Top 100 chart.
Kicking off from where he left off in 2020, Chiké drops a refix for one of “Boo of the Booless” fan-favorite. Teaming up with the vocal prowess of diva, Simi, Chike serves up a fresh and delightful serving of musical goodness on “Running (To You)” in 2021.
Running is a beautiful song by Chike x Simisola and the music video is one of the most-watched back in the year 2021, with over 34 Million views on YouTube.
Dr. Dolor Entertainment signee, Teni joins forces with Afrobeats star, Davido on the hit single; an emotion-tinged slice of Afrobeats titled ‘For You.’ In just a few hours of its release, it became number one on Apple Music and Billboard charts.
For You is a story of crime, love, and loyalty. The music video was premiered back in February 2021 and it currently has over 16 Million views on Youtube. Directed by Dammy Twitch, For You is on Teni’s debut album, WONDALAND.
Understand served as Omah Lay’s 2021 debut single. Omah Lay is one of the most loved new generation artists, mostly because he understands the needs of his generation – Gen Z.
This song dominated the Nigerian turntable top 50 charts and topped Nigerian Apple music charts for weeks. Understand video premiered on the 28th of June, 2021, has over 29 Million views on Youtube.
Reekado resurfaces In the music industry with a thoughtful tune, Ozumba Mbadiwe, a song dedicated to the ever-disturbing October 20th, 2020 incident. Aside from the 20-10-20 message that the song carries, it also has this vibe and melody for a good feeling.
This song may be a song dedicated to the memories of the ones we lost in the massacre, but it also has the ability to double as a club banger, owing to its firm Amapiano vibe. In the first week of November, Ozumba Mbadiwe hit the Apple Music top 100 charts in 5 different African countries. STREAM HERE
Olamide Adedeji gave his fans something light to water down their thirst with his latest single “Rock”. On his Eskeez produced track, Olamide succeeded in catching us all off guard as no one expected to hear the lover boy vibe from Olamide Baddo. I guess this is because we all are you to his street style of rap.
Rock was the 2nd highest-charting Nigeria/African song on the Audiomack top 100 songs of 2021.
Marlian record signee, Mohbad captivates the hearts of thousands of music lovers across the globe with his single, ‘Feel Good’. The song generally speaks good vibes and indirectly passes a message to haters letting them know he’s unstoppable.
This song is officially a vibe, and the month of October would have been a tad bit incomplete without Mohbad’s Amapiano laced tune. Niphkeys takes production credit for the song.
Marlian Record signee, Zinoleesky proved his strength when he dropped a follow-up to his viral hit song, Ma Pariwo. With Kilofeshe, Zino gained momentum as he experimented with a different sound. Kilofeshe topped charts on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, and YouTube.
“Lie” is Kizz Daniel’s 2021 third official single, A follow to the records; ‘Flex‘ and ‘Currently‘ featuring Olamide, Falz, and LK Kuddy. He dropped the single, “LIE“… Produced by @philkeyz and @iamblaisebeatz before premiering the music video on the 2nd of September, 2021.
Lie became the 1st song to spend its first 6 weeks at No. 1 on the TurnTable Top 50. This cemented the fact that Kizz Daniel is one of Africa’s highly sort after Afropop/Afrobeat kings!
Considering the chaos created by lovers of this tune on social media, ‘Alcohol’ definitely ought to be saved a spot on this list. The multi-talent, Joeboy almost got in trouble due to the manner in which his fans abused the #Alcoholchallenge.
Lost in amazing rhythm and sound, Joeboy, in his lyrics prayed for blessings and explained how he uses alcohol as a medium of escape from his worries. In the final week of November 2021, Alcohol by Joeboy dominated the Nigerian music charts for seven consecutive weeks.
High by Adekunle Gold featuring DMW label boss, Davido became the rave of the moment in its release months and obviously many months after. High propelled AG to make his debut appearance on ‘Billboards Charts stealing the number 7 spot at the time.
The video sees Davido and Adekunle Gold probably heading back from the club, but it seems to have been a dirty night, as they were both high and could barely remember how their night went. High music video has over 11.5 Million views on Youtube as we speak.
Off her debut album, 19 & Dangerous, Mavin’s new vocal powerhouse, Ayra Starr sets social media ablaze with the song “Bloody Samaritan”. Bloody Samarita preaches good vibes and stood as the Gen Z anthem for a long time. Both young and could vibes effortlessly to it.
The song became even more viral after a challenge was initiated. It was literally on everyone’s lips. When talent meets Grace, the rest is history. In September of 2021, “Bloody Samaritan” became the first song solo entry by a female artist to reach the summit of the chart.
Monalisa is a song by Lojay X Sarz off the album, LV N ATTN which serves as Lojay’s debut EP, with features from Wizkid. Monalisa speaks about a lady who has succeeded in catching Lojay’s fancy and the rest is history.
Monalisa got on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, and UK’s Top 10 charts, Week-by-week music charts, peak chart positions, and airplay stats. The talented fast rising singer further captures the minds of Nigerians by releasing an impressive music video. Monalisa was directed by UAX. The video has over 12 Million views on Youtube.
Fine Boi Bella Shmurda came through with this addictive tune, Cash App in the year 2020, and we literally could not breathe without listening to this song. Bella Shmurda, Zlatan, Lincoln created a monster hit that comes with an epic video and Nigerians couldn’t be more thankful.
Cash App was like the average Nigerian happy pill and it did a lot to distract us from our issues. The song took the highest position on Apple Music Chart in December 2020. It also topped the chart on Youtube in 2021.
Bounce became an official anthem in the 1st half of 2021. An addictive tune from one of Nigeria’s most talented newbies, Ruger. It was released in May 2021 and the music video is close to 22 Million views on Youtube.
Bounce video dished out a feel-good vibe, one that gets you in the party mood, no matter your energy level. The song reached a milestone when it took the top spot on the Apple Music top 100 Chart in Nigeria.
YBNL signee and multi-talent, Fireboy DML took the world by storm with his Shizzi-produced track, ‘Peru’. The singer, whose real name is Adedamola Adefolahan dishes out this hit track nearly a year after his successful sophomore album, ‘Apollo’ in August 2020.
Peru created a buzz on social media when fans of Fireboy began to dump on its challenge, and just like that, it went viral. A controversial aspect of the song has to be a line in his lyrics, “I’m in San Fransisco Jamming“, which a lot of people mistook for ‘I’m in San Fransisco Germany… Peru was announced as the top song on the Afrobeats UK chart.
KPK was the official anthem for December 2020, but its success and rave still filled into the year 2021. As we speak, KPK remains a Jam any time any day.
The song was delivered by Marlian Record signee, MohBad, and was produced by the multiple-talented Nigerian producer popularly known as Rexxie.
Feeling Became the rave when it dropped back in the year 2021. A song by the one and only philosophical rapper, Ladipoe, featuring Buju. The tune is a totally feel-good song, that preaches good vibes and positive vibrations. It is about being your own cheerleader, instead of waiting for the world to clap for you.
Feelings Topped Charts in countries like; Belgium, Canada, Hungary, Ireland, Nigeria, Poland, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States.
DJ Kaywise teams up with Award winning rapper, Phyno as they deliver this single, titled “High Way”. High way was the perfect song to wrap up the Detty December tradition of the festive. The song serves as a follow-up to “What Type Of Dance”, one of the songs that rocked 2020.
The Yung Willis produced song stayed at No.1 on music charts for several weeks and helped Nigerians start 2021 with a bang!
Literally, the biggest song out of the year 2020 and 2021, and it’s still trending in the new year 2022, how sleek is that? Essence remains the official song of the summer and the baddest of all time from Big Wiz. The success of this single hit, off Wizkid’s 4th studio album- Made In Lagos cannot be over-emphasized. Wizkid made this joint with Afrobeat/Alte-pop fast rising act, Tems and it was indeed a success.
Essence is a love song that preaches contentment, love, and wholesomeness. “Essence” is the first Nigerian song in history to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard Global 200. It received a nomination at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Global Music Performance and also help Wizkid bagged major Awards and Recognition in 2021.
Super Talented Artist and Producer CKay puts a spin to his Smash Hit Love Anthem ‘Love Nwantiti’ with this soothing acoustic version. This song although released in 2019/2020 went global in 2021 and has gathered millions of streams across all digital platforms.
