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Midway into 2022, the industry saw steady album releases with a notable improvement in quality. This revived the interest of listeners in anticipating new projects from their favorite artists while also inspiring the "album(s) of the year" conversation.
From pop to hip-hop to alternative, the Nigerian music industry ended up receiving quality projects in 2022, and picking the best of the bunch is no easy task.
In selecting the top 10 albums in the year in review (December 1st, 2021–November 30th, 2022), the Pulse Music Desk considers the following.
- Quality
- Impact
- Acceptance
- Success (In its targeted demography and projected)
Curating a list like this affords us the opportunity to celebrate some albums that may not enjoy mainstream success but stand out for their quality. It's also our driving metric to consider projects holistically, as it takes more than just a handful of hit singles to determine the success of a body of work.
Below are the top 10 albums of 2022 as selected by Pulse Music Desk:
10. Seyi Vibez - ‘Billion Dollar Baby’
Pulse rating - 8.1
In 'Billion Dollar Baby', Seyi Vibez combines street music cadence with pop appeal for a project as he makes a bold play for the mainstream.
The mainstream of Nigerian music for over a decade has had dominant sonic elements that underscore what constitutes mainstream appeal. In the current climate what constitutes mainstream appeal are Amapiano, crowd vocals, and an eclectic delivery with simple, catchy, and repeated lyrics.
These mainstream markers are on full display in Seyi Vibez's 'Billion Dollar Baby' as he turned to Amapiano, street vocals, and tiny vocal tracts that carry significant street elements.
'Billion Dollar Baby' retains sufficient identity that carries along existing listeners while providing the gratification needed to bring new listeners into the fold.
9. Erigga - ‘The Lost Boy’
Pulse rating - 8.6
In 'The Lost Boy', Erigga shares the story behind the struggle while holding up his success in an attempt to permanently silence his critics in a display of vanity and reality.
'The Lost Boy' is a bragging right for Erigga who wishes to pass an emphatic message, and to achieve the desired result, he opts for unabashed showmanship. Rappers talk up themselves when they want to highlight their status in the game, and Erigga assembled a talented collection of artists with whom he explores different hip-hop sounds to pass the message of his vanity and reality.
8. Vector - 'TESLIM'
Pulse rating - 8.3
In 'TESLIM', Vector showcases different facets of his personality and artistry by combining glossy Afrobeat elements with hip-hop elements and delivering them in a fancy box.
'TESLIM' which is the acronym for 'The Energy Still Live In Me' is somewhat of a mantra for Vector. The mantra conveys his class, grace, talent, and maybe even his ego. And on this new project, he explores basic Afrobeats sounds that employ catchy elements while remaining within the Hip Hop territory, and this is what makes this project his most enjoyable yet.
7. Burna Boy - ‘Love Damini’
Pulse rating - 7.9
'Love, Damini' is Burna Boy's fourth album in five years, and his sixth studio album. This album comes at a point in Burna Boy's career where he has seen it all, done it all, and won it all.
With nothing left to assert, It's my opinion that Burna Boy set out to do something for himself with 'Love, Damini'. To create an album in which he asserts his desires, vulnerability, and ultimately his style.
6. CKay - ‘Sad Romance’
Pulse rating - 8.0
In 'Sad Romance', CKay taps into his emotions and makes bold confessions about his many complications with love and relationships. All this he did through a deeply cloudy sound that the average Afrobeats consumer must be consciously willing to enjoy.
Overall, 'Sad Romance' is a nice album created with the intention of consolidating CKay's success abroad and reinstating his status as a sound connoisseur in Afrobeats. However, as far as Afrobeats goes, Afro-Emo is not a mainstream sound, and it’s uncertain just how much this project can change that.
5. Blaqbonez - ‘Young Preacher’
Pulse rating - 8.9
Blaqbonez desires a level of commercial success that will rocket him to the next level of his career, and he puts together an album that can achieve this. He goes all out to make an album that, even in the absence of massive commercial success, might make for a classic.
In 'Young Preacher', Blaqbonez documents his ideology as a man whose perspective of love is built on wanton philistinism shaped by his many experiences. Like a stoic, Blaqbonez appears to have endured pain (romantic, family, and career) and he uses his success as a way to fight the pain.
While the album appears to be carefully crafted for commercial appeal and it might even pass off as a bit too glory-gleaning, it comes together perfectly.
4. A-Q & Brymo - ‘ETHOS’
Pulse rating - 9.9
Collaborative albums are rare in the Nigerian music industry. The inability of artists of like mind and similar artistry to combine forces and create art has robbed the industry of timeless music. This disappointing trend has however ended with 'ETHOS' the brainchild of two of Nigeria's finest artists A-Q and Brymo.
In 'ETHOS', A-Q and Brymo reflected on the subject of self, love, and loss. The project started on a reflective note of the success earned through hard work and a refusal to kowtow to set standards. It streamed into a musing of a desire to love and be loved in a time when love is complicated. And it notably petered out on a sober note that reminds us that success is never sufficient consolation for lost times.
3. Obongjayar - ‘Some Nights I Dream of Doors’
Pulse rating - 9.3
Obongjayar’s fourth album is a two-part diary of the artist's realities. The opening five tracks lean towards darkness, struggles, uncertainty and conflict. Some might color those tracks as subtly pessimistic. In fact, the album’s eponymous track reflects pessimism, fear and loneliness, as Obongjayar embodies a character who resigns to depressive fate.
All in all, ‘Some Nights I Dream of Doors’ is a warrior's tale of healing and hope after darker days.
2. Omah Lay - ‘Boy Alone’
Pulse rating - 8.4
In the end, this is a commendable debut album, which plays like a slow burn Tarrantino movie. Not for its cinematic effects, but for how a listener might reach climax after experiencing the whole album. The only thing that stands between 'Boy Alone' and 'that album' perception in two years, is great marketing that sustains it via singles and visibility.
This is an album that gets better with every listen; an album which has at least five things for everybody. It is filled with deep cuts, commercial hits and cult favorites.
1. Asake - ‘Mr. Money With The Vibez’
Pulse rating - 8.8
To the average consumer, Asake’s music is simply feel-good party music. But when you check its fine lines, he just documents his reality, through carefully crafted narratives and personas. It just happens that his reality makes us dance.
On every track across his debut album, Asake is either a dreamer or an achiever. And sometimes he is both, expressed through his belief in God.
The only common denominator on the album is that it’s essentially a grass-to-grace story, that mostly crests on the ‘grace’ part. Asake has a strong understanding of himself, his personality and his audience, and it reflects in his approach and lyrics.
There is something for everybody on 'Mr. Money With The Vibe.'
Special Mentions
- Asa - 'V'
- Brymo - ‘Theta’
- Adekunle Gold - ‘Catch Me If You Can’
- Boj - ‘Gbagada Express’
- Moebelieve - ‘Odu’