Category: Music

Prior to 2019, the knighting of a legendary album took place every second to every third year. This only made sense since there weren’t many albums released, which meant there weren’t many excellent albums, and because the rate at which artists released albums was inadequate in and of itself. Davido, who only put out two albums during the review period but accomplished countless feats to become an all-time great, is a clear example of this. Having a strong discography was only a bonus in this sector, which was mostly a singles market.

Although there were iconic albums that gave rise to the period between 2012 and 2014, such as Olamide’s trifecta of YBNL, Baddest Guy Ever Liveth, and Street OT (all albums won in the Album Of The Year category at the Headies.) In 2016, Simi released Simisola, and in 2017, Kizz Daniel released New Era. However, it wasn’t until 2018 that multiple albums achieved notable success in a single year. Both Outside by Burna Boy and About 30 by Adekunle Gold were commercially and critically successful songs. Particularly Burna’s Outside, which eventually led to his ascent to the pinnacle of the mainstream.

The enormous popularity of African Giant and Fireboy DML’s Laughter, Tears & Goosebumps will intensify the tide the next year. The latter was more of an unparalleled mainstream hit in the business, but the former was a significant record trigger point in the ‘Afrobeats To The World’ movement. We hadn’t experienced this level of popularity on a first album since Wizkid’s Superstar in 2011.

Before starting to prepare themselves for their own individual projects, it was almost as if every artist paid close attention to the rebellious-esque popularity of Fireboy’s debut album and its influence on the soundscape. It’s not unrealistic to believe that even artists who hadn’t planned to release an album that year chose to do so as time went on given the enormous increase in album releases that occurred in 2020. The year 2020 gave us a ton of timeless and soon-to-be timeless songs, including Made In Lagos by Wizkid, Carpe Diem by Olamide, Twice As Tall by Burna Boy, Apollo by Fireboy DML, Boo Of The Booless by Chike, etc.

Additionally, EPs had a tremendous year. Omah Lay had a record-setting breakthrough year thanks to two successful EPs that yielded numerous hit songs. Even though practically every song on Get Layd was a successful single, What Have We Done gave rise to the artist’s biggest solo hit to date, Godly, which came from that album. Bella Schmurda debuted with the very energizing High Tension, following a breakthrough Olamide co-sign in Vision 2020, while Tems also released a strong breakout EP in For Broken Ears.

It was safe to state that the market was back to being an album market at the end of 2020. Moving forward to the third quarter of 2022, we are experiencing a year that is equally crowded and inundated as 2020 in terms of releases. It certainly seem possible that we could witness a flooding album year every two years as a trend.

Nigerian A-list and B-list musicians appear to have an odd preoccupation with the third and fourth quarters of the year. In 2020, the second half of the year saw the publication of 70% of the year’s new albums, while the last quarter saw virtually weekly album releases. For instance, in the week that followed the release of Burna Boy’s Twice As Tall, Cuppy’s debut album Original Copy and Adekunle Gold’s Afro-Pop Vol. 1 were both released on the same day, immediately following the release of Fireboy DML’s Apollo the day before.

Olamide’s Carpe Diem arrived just three weeks before Made In Lagos by Wizkid, Davido’s A Better Time, and Wizkid in the span of two weeks. In actuality, had it not been for the #EndSars protest and internet campaigns that paralyzed the business, the time between CD and MIL would have been shorter. Although their records were released in a short period of time, these three performers were unquestionably the most successful trio of the previous ten years.

In any sector, having a crowded album culture is not ideal. Projects require time and breathing room to reach their full potential, allowing both analysts and non-specialists to assess the project’s true potential for success. The market is currently being oversaturated with projects, which is preventing the one released the week prior from having a chance to establish itself. We have had the same barrage of back-to-back album releases in 2022—since July, to be exact.

Boy Alone, Playboy, The Guy, Bad, Love Damini, The Brother’s Keeper are all albums that were released since 1997 at a period with inadequate breathing room. The longest amount of time between albums was two weeks, and the fact that the current generation struggles with short attention spans and that record rotation is often brisk doesn’t help.

Even performers with respectable fan bases, such as Adekunle Gold, Falz, and Simi, have received lukewarm reviews for albums they released earlier in the year. Talk about breakout performers that put out great initial EPs but never had the chance to fully transform into popular stardom. Only musicians with contemporary momentum have survived in this competitive field.

Wizkid’s More Love, Less Ego is rumored to be set for release in October. Next month also sees the release of Blaqbonez’s Young Preacher and Ayra Starr’s 19 & Dangerous Deluxe Edition. This week will see the arrival of Ckay’s Sad Romance, and there won’t be many weeks between that release and the anticipated influx that will follow. Since a number of musicians, including Davido, Runtown, Bella Schmurda, Show Dem Camp, Zinoleesky, Bad Boy Timz, Lojay, and a host of others, will release albums before the year is up, we can be sure that November and December will be busy as well.

We must learn from other, more advanced businesses and refrain from releasing all of our important albums at once in the second half of the year. In order to maximize each album’s potential and ensure that it achieves its full potential, mainstream musicians should be more willing to release albums in Q1 and Q2. Great albums will continue to slip under the radar until that time, while a select few unlucky ones steal the show. Both audiences and artists profit from an album release schedule that is more balanced and healthy.