Afro-pop, also known as African popular music, has travelled across the world and planted roots in many hearts. Music, Afro-pop music, is one of Nigeria’s biggest exports. Nigerian musicians and entertainers are quickly becoming world superstars. This massive success we’ve gained regarding our music industry wouldn’t be entirely possible without influencers. Here’s a list of the top ten Afro-pop influencers in Nigeria:
- Don Jazzy: Michael Collins Ajereh, known professionally as Don Jazzy, is a Nigerian record producer, audio engineer, record executive, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur and philanthropist. It goes without saying; he is a man with many talents. The record producer went through a significant reinvention of his image and quickly became the accessible ‘uncle’ on social media. He quickly gains engagements; especially with his consistent giveaways. He‘s seen featuring in funny skits and making hilarious videos of his own. His hilarious content has earned him massive influence.
- Bizzle Osikoya: Bizzle Osikoya is a top music and entertainment consultant. He had earlier studied Music Business in England and had always known he wanted to play a music industry role. Just how big of a role he would play might not be what he had envisaged. Bizzle Osikoya is an A&R, music executive, entrepreneur, and social media influencer. His adeptness in these many roles makes him an invaluable influencer in the Afro-pop world.
- Motolani Alake: Motolani Alake is a Pop Culture and Music reporter at Pulse Nigeria. He is known for his cutting reviews on Afro-pop albums. Sometimes his words are received as controversial, but he doesn’t shy away from saying it as he thinks it is. His influence in the music world can’t be understated as people look to him for his comprehensive views of African music.
- Joey Akan: Joey Akan is a multi-award winning writer and music journalist. While a controversial fellow with controversial views, he continually gives his undiluted opinion on African music. He is a podcaster and commentator on African music and pop culture. He owns and runs a weekly newsletter on African music tagged Afrobeats Intelligence.
- YomYom_: Known by his handle name @YomYom_ on Twitter, the content creator has built quite a large following. Boasting of over 29,000 followers on Twitter, the influencer is seen continuously gushing over African music, announcing latest Afrobeats news and engaging with Nigerian music content.
- Tolu Daniels: Tolu Daniels built a solid reputation announcing new music in the Nigerian scene on social media. He provided information to people on music released and those yet to be every Friday. This garnered him an impressive following. He’s quickly graduated to organising music playlists for the public every week.
- Jide Taiwo: Popularly known as The Jide Taiwo, the music personality is regarded as a significant voice in the music industry. He is considered a “streaming storytelling exec.” He works as the Head of Content at the popular streaming platform, Boomplay. Jide Taiwo also possesses a love for telling stories of Nigerian music. For proof, read his recently released, debut book, ‘History Made: The Most Important Nigerian Songs Since 1999’.
- Bankulli: Bankulli is a Nigerian Afro-pop manager-turned-singer. Bankulli is legally known as Abisagboola Oluseun John. His profession as a talent manager has increased his influence across both Afrobeats and Afro-pop across the world. Bankulli is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and Grammy-nominated actor for his work on Beyoncé’s The Lion King 2019, the gift album project.
- Itz Basito: Itz Basito is a writer, content creator and A&R. Known to mostly tweet in support of Wizkid, the influencer has built a sizeable supportive fanbase that is quickly able to set trends and move conversations. With over 38.9K followers, Itz Basito has positioned himself as a go-to influencer for brands in anything music related.
- Obong Roviel: With over 379.9K followers, Roviel consistently tweets all things music. He is mostly a Davido supporter, and he’s followed by a staunch number of Davido and Afrobeat fans.
Visit The Masterlist to source curated data points from our comprehensive database of over 20,000 profiles of People, Places, and Platforms.