10/12/2015
If the question, “Who is Nigeria’s
hottest artist of 2015?” had been
posed to anyone on the street over the
past few weeks, the answer would
most likely have been “Olamide”, and
with good reason.
The panel on the MTV Base TV special
however,
needed two days of intense debate to
be absolutely sure before adding the
flourish on top of Baddo ‘s wonderful
year.
2015 has seen Olamide release several
singles that topped the MTV Base Official
Naija Top Ten for many weeks, in
addition to his successful promotion of
protégé, Lil Kesh, and the recent surprise
release of his fifth studio album, “ Eyan
Mayweather” which has been topping
charts.
Newly acclaimed MTV Base hottest
artiste, Olamide commented on the
announcement, “It’s a great feeling to
know that my work has made so much
impact on Nigerians and i’m humbled by
this announcement. Thank you MTV
Base.”
On the panel that ranked ten of the
hottest artists in Nigeria for the year
2015 were, OAPs Omalicha, Do2dtun and
Sade Ladipo. Joining the trio were
showbiz entrepreneur Olisa Adibua,
entertainment journalist Osagie Alonge,
DJ Spinall and VJ Ehiz.
Commenting on the reason behind the
selection, Senior Vice President and
Managing Director, Viacom International,
Alex Okosi stated, “ Nigerian music has
evolved from where it was ten years ago
and with the aid of the panelists we
have chosen, we hope that the Base
Naija Hottest Artist 2015’ will spark up
the kind of conversations we need
among music fans, thought leaders and
critics in order to improve on the type of
music we put out there and produce
some of the best talents globally and not
just Africa alone.”
Making a surprise appearance at
number 2 on the list was Wizkid who
had a big year in 2015 with his single
“ Ojuelegba” getting remixed by
superstar grime artist Skepta and
American superstar, Drake. Davido
sneaked in at number 3 ahead of
Patoranking after a year that saw him
tour extensively and release a hit
collaboration with Meek Mill.
Yesterday’s number 2 and 3, Korede
Bello and Yemi Alade dropped to
number 5 and 6 on the final list after
being displaced by Patoranking who
made the list at number 4 after a year
that saw him scoop several hit features
and a bumper distribution deal with VP
Records. Yesterday’s number 9
Harrysong drops off the final list
alongside Cynthia Morgan to be replaced
by Lil Kesh and Kiss Daniel. Making up
the rest of the list are Burna Boy and
Phyno at number 8 and 10 respectively.
Speaking after the panel session, Olisa
Adibua remarked,
“It was a very robust discussion and
debate because there are probably 15 or
20 Nigerian artistes who had a decent
chance of making it onto the list this
year, but there were only 10 slots. I’m
happy that MTV Base has created this
platform not just because it promotes
Nigerian music which obviously is a
good thing, but also because it fosters a
spirit of healthy competition. I’m sure
that a number of artists who were
perhaps a bit unlucky not to make the
list this year will work their socks off
next year to make it onto the 2016 list,
and that is good news for all of us
whether we are involved in the music
business or we just like good Nigerian
music.”
The show ranks the year’s ten biggest
performing artists in Nigeria using a list
of six criteria namely: Style, Impact,
Sales/Success, Buzz, Music and
Intangibles.
See the full list below:-
