35 Culturally Impactful Nigerian Rap Songs

Everyone loves (hates) a good list.

I have seen the debates and arguments, and instead of a Twitter thread, I decided to write a list. It is a mega list of 35 culturally impactful rap songs.

What is cultural impact?

Culturally impactful songs are songs that transcend entertainment. They influence, reflect, or shape the values, beliefs, conversations, or collective emotions of a society at a particular moment in time, or over a longer historical period.

Time is important when evaluating cultural impact. And that is why rap songs released after 2019 are not on this list. In our knee-jerk, ADHD raddled society, we are quick to anoint albums and/or songs as classics or culturally impactful.

Time will tell, not bottom-barrel content aggregators who don’t know the culture and push Mungo Park agendas.

You can argue or you can learn. The choice is yours.

The list is in no particular order. Let’s celebrate rap, whether it's ‘Declan Rice’ or ‘Like Ice Spice.’

1. Ehen Part 1 by Ruggedybaba - A four-letter word describes Ruggedy Baba’s magnum opus, B-E-E-F. With the venom that would make Pusha T look like a primary school bully, Ruggedy Baba reset the industry by attacking the big rappers of the day. The vitriol is more comedy than hate, and there lies its potency. Ruggedy humiliated his opps and belittled them. ‘Ehen’ started a trilogy that sliced its way through a battalion of haters and the final bosses of the industry.

2. Shake Bodi by Trybesmen - Trybesmen were 100% Nigerian curators of the Hip-hop culture permeating Lagos suburbs. They weren't high-end, and neither were they pedestrian. Their sound was polished but middle-class, accessible to both ends of the divide. Trybesmen made sense of the world we lived in. They weren’t just dropping bars for the sake of it, but painted a world that was accessible to us. ‘Shake Bodi’ is perhaps the finest example of sublime lyricism and pop culture appeal in Nigerian rap. Mixing pidgin with ridiculous English flows, Trybesmen set the bar and created a template still used today.

3. Elbow Room by Mode 9 - Possessing the frame of an NFL bruiser, Mode 9, knocked, bumped and tackled his way into the scene with a punch-line heavy song. Modo bludgeoned listeners with urgent delivery and jaw-dropping punchlines. The ghostly hook by Callen (Jeremiah Gyang) heralded the reign of Nigeria’s greatest bar-smith.

4. Safe by M.I Abaga featuring Djinee - Have you ever seen Diego Maradona’s goal against England in the Mexico ‘86 World Cup match? No, not the Hand of God goal. I am referring to the one where the diminutive football god, skips, bends, twists and turns, leaving half of the English team dead. Listening to "Safe" by M.I. is like watching Maradona score that goal. With the creative license to pick pop culture references, M.I melded them into one stunning particular track to usher in a new era of rap music.

5. Pon Pon Pon by Dagrin - Hard. Gritty. Concrete. Immortality. With a beat by Sossick which sounds like a Dr Dre scorcher for 50 Cent, Dagrin opened a portal for the impoverished ghetto youth to bumrush the pristine and fancy mainstream. Armed with ghetto tales, trauma and angst, Dagrin composed an indigenous anthem that even the most conservative hip-hop heads could not front on.

6. Local Rappers by Reminisce featuring Olamide, Phyno - Pounds of Flesh. Indigenous rappers had been fighting for respect for a hot minute. Tired of being perceived as ‘gimmicky’ by Nigeria’s hard-to-please Hip-hop audience, Reminisce alongside the other two hottest rappers at the time mocked puritan Hip-hop tastes and gave a middle finger to the rap establishment. Rebellion.

7. Ghost Mode by Phyno featuring Olamide - It was lightning in a bottle. Hot off his hit sophomore album, Olamide jumped on Phyno’s ‘Ghost Mode.’ After bubbling in the East and getting a guest look on Ill Bliss’ ‘Anam Achi Kwanu,’ it was Phyno’s chance to make a statement. Perhaps there is no bigger statement than Ghost Mode, a relentless song that shows two hungry rappers who want the world at their feet. Ghost Mode was a Blitzkrieg that caught the culture pants down.

8. Oleku by Ice Prince featuring Brymo - If Wizkid ushered in the new pop generation, Ice Prince ushered in the rap generation. What better way to do this than with an earworm called ‘Oleku.’ While the title means ‘hard as fuck’, Oleku is a smooth song that seduces you. It captured a new generation that was about to begin its ascension.

9. Kini Big Deal by Naeto C - With a composure that rivals James Bond (any of them), Naeto C’s cold charisma constructed a song too hot to ignore. When you are listing classic rap club bangers, Kini Big Deal is likely going to be at the first spot of your playlist. The flow? Messy. The hook? Deadly. This was club culture at its finest and most elegant.

10. Durosoke by Olamide - In movies, when a character looks into the camera and addresses the audience, it is called breaking the fourth wall. In music, this is difficult. Olamide lands this perfectly. After the first verse, he tells the audience to put their hands down and wait for the next verse. The verses on Durosoke are not just verses; they are rap-alongs that showcase a rapper at the peak of his creative powers. It is a master class on flow, humour and delivery.

11. Fada Fada by Phyno featuring Olamide - Come on, guys, let’s not do this. Fada Fada is a rap song, a melodic rap song with a strong Highlife influence. Phyno’s 2016 Song of the Year proves you can mould two different genres and do it respectively. It’s a total game changer in the composition of Highlife rap songs.

12. Ten Over Ten by Naeto C - When it comes to rap singles, Naeto C was a master at the game. When it comes to creating lingo, nobody did it better than him. And fashion? Yes boss! He was the best. Ten Over Ten is a culmination of Naeto C’s selling points. Naeto was more than a rapper; he was a cultural architect, and Ten Over Ten is one of his finest creations.

13. Baraje by Ruggedybaba featuring C-Mion - They said he was all about beef. They said he could not compose a dance track. Well, Ruggedy Baba shut his critics up by creating this 11:45-inspired party song, proving his versatility.

14. Voice Of The Streets by Olamide - Voice of the Streets was Olamide’s warning shot to the industry that a new challenger for the throne was coming. Backed by Hip-hop’s most powerful constituency, the streets, Olamide flaunted his Yoruba rap skills and called himself king. The YBNL General wanted the throne badly that in the VOTS visuals, Olamide used Illuminati-themed visuals to trick people into thinking he had an alliance with the devil. Ambitions of a Hustler.

15. Mr Lecturer by Eedris Abdulkareem - Yeah, another melodic rap song by the biggest rap villain to exist in +234. When Eedris Abdulkareem was not taunting his foes or coming up with party tracks, he took time out to tackle sexual harassment on Nigerian campuses. His storytelling technique on this song highlighted the sex abuse culture in our universities.

16. Omode Meta N Sere by Tony Tetuila featuring Plantashun Boiz, Ruff, Rugged ‘N’ Raw - Payback is a bitch. Four rappers and two singers were locked in a TV studio in Alagbado. The loose crew of friendly associates were there to premiere a new single. It wasn’t just any other single. After The Remedies kicked out Tony Tetuila, he teamed up with Plantashun Boiz and Ruff, Rugged ‘N’ Raw to diss his former group. Using a popular Yoruba folk song, this set of rappers took turns at dissing The Remedies. The song would start a rap war that would last for years.

17. Obodo by Nigga Raw featuring Kint Da Drunk - What do you get when you mix an Igbo rapper and a village drunkard? You get a classic. Dat Nigga Raw (n/k/a Mr Raw) and Klint Da Drunk were in the same group once upon a time. After their split, Mr Raw released one of the songs. Obodo is an Eastern rap classic that would set the tone for generations to come.

18. Kako Bi Chicken by Reminisce - Fack it! Tired of being overlooked, hardcore rapper Reminisce forgot his Hip-hop sensibilities and decided to mix rap with Fuji. Kako Bi Chicken blew Reminisce beyond his wildest dreams. The song still rings today in beer parlours, clubs and joints. Kako Bi Chicken is one of the finest efforts of the rap-street pop genre in Nigeria.

19. Sample by Terry Tha Rapman featuring Pherwoshuz and Stereo Man - The North had something to say. Two of Kaduna’s finest rappers, Terry Tha Rapman and Pherowshuz, flipped a Stereoman single and turned it into a ravenous anthem for Hip-hop heads. The epic collabo earned them a Headies award for Best Collaboration. Importantly, it is one of the best examples of proper sampling.

20. Aiye Po Gan by Illbliss featuring Terry G - Terry G was an outcast. Despite his rowdy hit singles, Terry G was considered a pariah in Hip-hop circles, especially among conservative rappers. The Igbo MC broke through with his boom bap-influenced clique Da Throughbreds from Enugu. When Illbliss started his solo run, times were different. He knew he had to pierce the culture, and the only way he could do that was to reach out to culture’s loudest talent, Bell-ringing Terry G. ‘Aiye Po Gan’ is proof that sometimes you have to go to an unfamiliar territory to land a classic. This is a teachable moment for rappers afraid to experiment and switch things up.

21. Jaga Jaga by Eedris Abdulkareem - A rap-dancehall hybrid, Eedris Abdulkareem once again proved he was Nigeria’s boldest rapper. In this evergreen song, he took on the political establishment, which attracted the scorn of President Obasanjo and also a personal invitation where he was lambasted. Banned by the NBC, Jaga Jaga remains a rebellious anthem.

22. Delicious Remix by 2Shotz & Big Lo - Do collabos get better than this? Rapper/producer Big Lo and 2Shotz were kindred spirits in the early to mid-2000s. One of their collaborations was Delicious. The song was dope, but it had a problem. The beat was too dark and sinister for a song about chicks. Big Lo (God rest his soul) whipped up a befitting instrumental. The pair revoiced their verses. The result? A classic tune with a Lagos-Igbo aesthetic cherished by future generations.

23. Alobam by Phyno - This wasn’t a song. It was Phyno’s victory lap after his stellar debut run. Not only did it establish Phyno as Nigeria’s rap king, but it also brilliantly turned the single into a merch movement in the mould of Terry Tha Rapman’s ‘Boyz Are Not Smiling’ t-shirts and DJ Jimmy Jatt’s ‘DJJ’ snapbacks. Epic.

24. Stylee by DJ Jimmy Jatt featuring 2Baba, Mode 9 and Elajoe - Vilified. Celebrated. Important. Over hyped. Lagos is many things to different people. The city of 20 million hustlers has many songs dedicated to it. None is more commanding than ‘Stylee’ by DJ Jimmy Jatt featuring 2Baba, Mode 9 and Elajoe. Modo dropped his most famous verse. 2Baba sang about his hustling days in Lagos, and Elajoe brilliantly capped the song with a verse about the slave trade and the rise of a new generation of artists. No matter what you feel about Lagos, you are going to raise your fists when Stylee comes on.

25. First of All by Olamide - When a song influences your lexicon, then you know it is gold. When Olamide jumped on the Azonto trend, it could have been a cheap shot at scoring a hit. It was not. Olamide delivered one of the big hits of his career and changed how people responded when they heard someone say “first of all.”

26. Yebariba by Sauce Kid - No rapper. No Nigerian rapper possessed more out-of-this-world swag than Sauce Kid (n/k/a Sinzu) on this track. Fresh from his Yankee return, Sinzu pimp slapped the game with his flip of Remy Ma’s hit song. Sinzu brought the Dipset aesthetic into Naija Hip-hop and glorified fly boy rowdiness.

27. Feel Alright by Show Dem Camp featuring Ladipoe and BOJ - Show Dem Camp did not start its alte-rap journey with Palm Wine Music. It started on this breezy song helmed by BOJ’s laidback vocals. Ghost and Tec perhaps did not know they were foreshadowing their future, where they would be kings of Alte rap. Years before he became a Mavin act, Ladipoe also dropped a solid verse. This song celebrates the laissez-faire mood of the alte subculture.

28. Allen Avenue by Weird MC - In the mid-90s, a bald female rapper sampled Fela to rap about environmental degradation and societal vices. Weird MC was counter-culture when she dropped her hit single, challenging mainstream conformity and dropping observational bars about her once beloved spot in Lagos.

29. Monika by Junior & Pretty - If you don’t know this song, please stop arguing or debating about Nigerian rap music. This was the big bang before the Remedies’ big bang. It also clearly possessed the Afrobeats DNA. Junior & Pretty mixed many genres in their cult classic, which would lead to a wave of similar productions. You can’t talk about rap and Afrobeats without starting here.

30. Love Me Jeje by Seyi Sodimu - The inspiration behind a Grammy-winning song. Seyi Sodimu dropped this Juju-rap song on the game from America. Its production also points to Afrobeats' sonic style. The balance this song effortlessly strikes is very hard to attain even after all these years.

31. Adara by Sasha P - An exquisitely written rap song, Sasha P chronicles her struggles with fame and the pressure of composing another hit song. It is a song about resilience and perseverance. This song proved that a new generation of female rappers could deliver more than sexy singles.

32. Am I A Yahoo Boy? by Naira Marley featuring Zlatan - This is not an Internet fraud debate. In 2019, when Naira Marley publicly supported Yahoo boys, he doubled down on his claim with this song featuring another hot street rapper, Zlatan. This marked a new entry of street indigenous rappers/singers who were not scared to speak about the realities of life in poverty, even if it ruffled our common decency as a society.

33. Carry Am Go by 2Shotz - eLDee started it. 2Shotz perfected it. Nigerian rap gave Afrobeats the blueprint for teaming up with pirates to market and distribute their works. With only a rough plan and hope, 2Shotz went to the hub of Alaba market and struck a deal with one of the reformed pirates. His desperate business move is immortalised by his song ‘Carry Am Go’, which touches on piracy and greed.

34. Esalobade by Lord of Ajasa - Indigenous rap’s golden era was still a couple of years away, but that didn’t mean Lord of Ajasa did not bang hard at the door. The originator of the Odua rap clan dropped this scorching rap banger during the heydays of Coded Tunes to remind us he was the lord of this budding rap movement.

35. Joor Remix by Jahbless feat. Reminisce, Durella, eLDee, Ice Prince and Ruggedy Baba - I don’t think there is a better rap song assembling rappers with different styles to create a more resounding hit. Ice Prince was from the hip-hop crazy cold city of Jos. eLDee was a UNILAG don who grew up in Kaduna. Reminisce and Jahbless represented the streets. Ruggedy Baba was a Lagos rapper who thrilled the middle class. Add a street pop artist who sounds like D’banj (or is it the other way round?), Durella, and what you get is a street bop that uses a humorous rap format that indigenous Yoruba rappers would use for many years.