Four Icons That Changed The Face Of Nigerian Entertainment In the Last 20 Years

Ali Baba – Comedian

Acknowledged as the ”Oga at the top” of Nigerian comedy, Atuyota Alleluya Akporobomeriere is the catalyst that brought respect and (ahem!) the big bucks into the humour industry, paving the way for the likes of Basketmouth, Julius Agwu, AY and many others making a decent living today off their jokes.

Ali Baba was among an amazing troupe of pioneer funny-men that took their jokes as serious business. His early contemporaries in the early nineties were the late Mohammed Danjuma, Yibo Koko, Alarm Blow and Basorge Tariah. He started telling jokes for a fee as a student of the then Bendel State Univerrsity, Ekpoma in 1987 and moved to Lagos for greener pastures in 1990.

This writer had the opportunity to watch a then lean Ali Baba dismantle an audience at an open mic session in then Yaba arts hub – Jazzville in 1996.  By the end of the 1990s he was the 1^st choice Comedian/Master of Ceremony for top government officials and corporate organisations and was charging fees never before heard of for comedians in Nigeria. The comedy industry is thriving today thanks to the recognition he helped bring to it.

Nuff respect to naija’s King of Comedy.

Kenny & D One – Kennis Music Bosses

By the late 1990s Kenny Ogungbe and Dayo Adeneye, both American schooled Radio Dj’s with Raypower FM set up a record label and left the employment of DAAR communications to fill a vacuum  and set up a record label that would breathe life into a music industry that was at an all time low and struggling to contain the assault of foreign hip-hop and Makossa/Soukouss that had swept across Africa and was dominating the airwaves at the time. Both men set up Kennis Music to harness the immense talent that they felt could compete for ears of the Nigerian fans.

By 1999 the die was cast with their first act, hip-hop trio “The Remedies” whose breakout hit “Shakomo” drew our attention and forced us all to look inwards. With the collapse of dwindled relevance of older and more established record labels like Polygram, CBS and Tabansi records who failed to move with the times and engage hip-hop Kenny and D1 were free to choose unchallenged from a pool of amazing talent and by 2004 they had signed anybody who was anybody. Including Tuface, OJB Jezreel, Baba Dee,  Azadus, Sound Sultan, Eedris Abdulkarim, KC Presh and lots of others. They inspired many to go into the music business and sparked the renaissance that has put Nigeria on the world musical map. 

DJ Tee – Video Director

Music videos in Nigeria had reached a plateau by the late 1990s with very little creativity or new concepts coming into play. Maestros like Philip Trimnell were making more money from corporate accounts and had little motivation to cater to the eccentricities of new kids on the block after creating iconic stuff for the likes of Mike Okri, Ras Kimono and so many others. Out of this vacuum, Adetokunbo Odubawo aka DJ Tee, a German born graduate of the New York Film Academy, unleashed his brand of lights, colours and animated fonts on our senses and turned the game upside down. Before he showed up, artistes who really wanted to make good videos had started looking at spots outside Nigeria like South Africa. He trained current masters like Clarence Peters and practically reinvented the Nigerian music video. Olu Maintain’s “Yahoozee” video (below) is testimony to the brilliance and uniqueness of DJ Tee’s craft. 

Ruggedman – Rapper

In 2003, talented but struggling and unsigned rapper Ugochukwu Michael Stephens had just finished recording an angry diss track which he used to air his distaste for wack rappers who appeared to be making a killing from poor quality rhymes and gullible audiences while the better rappers (like himself) couldn’t get a record deal or shows. He got super-producer OJB Jezreel to produce the track he called “Ehen” featuring Nomoreloss on the hook to address this burning issue. The track lampooned a number of stars including Kennis Music super acts Eedris Abdulkareem and Maintain. What looked like the ranting of a frustrated artiste made Ruggedman an underground then mainstream hero and inspired previously underground rappers to shout their way into the accepted hip-hop sound we have today. Let’s not forget that Ruggedman who was never signed by anyone, also inspired rappers to stand on their own and set up their own management outfits, though not all got it right.

These four men set the stage for the success of many others and will be relevant for as long as they choose to be.