As widely celebrated as Nigerian music is, which has largely contributed to the ‘Nigerianization’ of Africa alongside the sister industry, Nollywood, quality stage performance in the industry is scarce like honesty amongst Nigerian politicians.
Live performance is an integral part of music, similarly to acting as it gives musical exhibitionists the opportunity to dramatize the emotions behind their contents. Today, we are taking a critical look at the number of Nigerian musicians who go the extra mile in delivering top-notch performances bar the conventional ‘DJ Track 1” lip-syncing debacle that often smirches the career of some artists eventually.
We sort of picked it up from where Pulse NG stopped but we can all agree that these are the best stage performers Nigeria can boast of currently.
Tiwa Savage
Strength: Vocal range, endurance and dance skills, Tenacity, show stopper.
The material you keep for the middle of the show to sandwich the Opening part and the ‘benedictionaries’
Highlight: Go through YouTube… Try not to get lost at the sheer amount of great stage performances
Arguably the queen of the Nigerian Music scene, Tiwa Savage has got great vocals… Like the woman is a canary, she can sing. Just like a few others dumping the DJ, roll mix, mama Jam Jam would be below par when it comes to Synergy with a live band. This can be highlighted during her performance at the 2018 Global Citizen Festival in South Africa.
Nathaniel Bassey:
Strength: His ability to dowse all distractions to a point of utmost gaze to heaven and soul penetration is next to none!
Ordinarily, he shouldn’t be on this list but why so serious? Yes! the trumpeter flows with the ambiance of the spirit during worship sessions but you can’t take away the place of mastery, skills and attention to the last details during his ministrations.
Nathaniel Bassey is that musician you would want to watch on stage even if you’re not inclined to his faith. And that alone makes a sterling liver performer. After all, music has no boundaries!
Adekunle Gold
AG baby is a vibe! When Adekunle Gold gets in his bag, he’s like King Sunny Ade without guitar straps around his neck. With a smile on his face, the man breezes through his songs with an unusual synergy with his band members. He can also sing… When Adekunle Gold starts, he doesn’t need you to tell you to do anything, you will just join him. Not to add his recent diversification..You can have a further reading about his metamorphosis by Joey Akan here
Patoranking
Patoranking is the most underrated live performer in Nigeria. If you stopped a random Nigerian and asked him or her to mention the best live performers in Nigeria, his name will rarely – if ever – come up. Yet, everytime he takes to stage – he mixes Seun Kuti-esque expressions with weirdly exciting dance routines with scary energy and endurance levels.
Like Simi, when you see Patoranking perform, you will see that he practices a lot. There’s also this amazing thing he does with his backup singers and his band at the end of every song – it’s like a bridge between vocal strumming and freestyle. It is amazing.
ASA
Asa is a good performer because everything happens at her pace. In-between songs, she even tells stories and gets your heart warm. Watching Asa perform is usually like watching Shreya Goshal with a dash of Chris Martin and a lot of Asa. Nobody can do what she does and it’s always amazing to witness.
Brymo
One of Brymo‘s greatest strengths is his ability to simply keep going and going. His band is a gift and so is that ability to speak through the themes of any song he performs. Like a lot of people, he never jumps around. But when he needs to thrill his audience with one of his faster-paced numbers, he morphs into prime Orlando Julius and shuts everything down.
Asides that, he makes like easy for his band members and his ego shines through his performances.
Femi Kuti
Just pack everything everybody has on this list and put them in the body of vibrant 58-year-old and you’ll get Femi Kuti on stage.
Femi Kuti is unrivaled as Nigeria’s live performance supremo. The man produces joules of energy with his impressive footwork and dance routines alongside his far younger backup dancers. He then gets on the microphone and belts out ranges of his vocal while playing multiple instruments. If he then gets angry, he can hold a note of his saxophone for 30 minutes just to show off.
Simi
Before 2018, people always told this writer that Simi could perform, but anytime he saw her perform, he would feel underwhelmed. If we are being honest, those subpar performances were usually no fault of Simi’s. But over the past 18 months, everytime this writer has seen her perform, he has been totally blown away.
These days, she does something with her band where they go off into medleys of Nigerian folk while performing some of her songs. Other times, she would just flip some of her songs and send her audience spiraling. At Terra Kulture, the woman had everyone in the palm of her hands
Burna Boy
does not have the eclectic tendencies of Nathaniel Bassey or the choreography of Tiwa Savage and Niniola. What he has is a live performance ability that has improved year-on-year. These days, Burna Boy has built on his natural energy levels with dance routines, incredible crowd control – when he’s not sending people out of his shows – and an ability to sing with only a band.’
Credit: Pulse NG, Nigerian Voice
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