10 most anticipated albums by Nigerian artistes in 2022

By Wisdom Deji-Folutile

Although Nigeria has long been the destination for music thrill-seekers seeking to bless their ears with the best of Afrobeat, Nigerian artistes had seldom been known for putting together formidable bodies of work capable of garnering worldwide attention on the merit of the whole rather than the parts.

This was until Wizkid and Burna Boy, arguably the two biggest names in Africa’s music scene, broke that barrier over the last three years. This year, Burna Boy scored his third Grammy nomination in succession after winning the best Global Music Album Grammy award for his 2020 album ‘Twice and Tall’. Following closely, fellow Grammy winner Wizkid earned multiple nominations in 2022 for his work on his mega-hit classic, 2021’s ‘Made in Lagos’.

The successes of the two icons have shown that the game of album curation has forever changed Nigeria’s music scene, with artistes now meticulously planning their releases to perfection.

Below, AF24NEWS has identified some of the most anticipated projects from Nigeria’s best musicians. Although artistes like Davido and Wizkid are expected to drop new music, the article only focuses on confirmed Long Playlist projects.

Adekunle Gold

Album name: Catch Me If  You Can
Release Date: February 4, 2022

AG Baby has been very consistent in his album releases, dropping a new LP every two years. His latest project has been picking up steam since last year, with three singles—’Sinner’, ‘High’, and ‘It Is What It Is’—enjoying great playback on airwaves last year. The album ‘Catch Me If You Can’ will be his fourth and drops on February 4. The artiste’s switch from singing soft-hearted melodious Ballards to producing bumping, hard-hitting tracks has been greatly appreciated by most music listeners, and fans can expect to hear more of the artists experiment with his versatility from this new project.

BOJ

Album name: TBD
Release Date: TBD

Although the alternative singer has seemed to fly under the radar since his 2017 album, he has made several guest appearances on very successful projects since then. He appeared on ‘Make E No Cause Fight’ (1 and 2), two collaborative five-song EPs released alongside Ajebutter 22 in 2018 and 2019.

The alte cruiser also featured on Basket Mouth’s critically acclaimed ‘Yabasi’ album and most recently featured on 2021’s stellar hit, Lazarus, a track on UK rapper Dave’s chart-topping album.

BOJ has kept information on his upcoming album scarce but teased in September 2021 that the album is on the way.

Ajebutter 22

Album name: Soft Life
Release Date: TBD

Ajebutter has been busy since his last major project, 2017’s ‘What Happens In Lagos’, acclaimed by the public and critics upon its release. He has featured in multiple EPs, and his latest single, ‘Feeling Funky’, came in November last year.

The artist teased an album in June 2021, supposedly titled ‘Soft Life’.

“Everywhere burst for Naija so, you are all welcome to ButterNation. Welcome to soft life. Welcome to unlimited enjoyment and freedom. Welcome to my world. This is more than an album, it’s a lifestyle, it’s an institution,” he said.

Santi

Album Name: Subaru Boys: FINAL HEAVEN
Release Date: TBD

Santi, Nigeria’s alte golden boy, has been incommunicado in the music scene since the release of his last project, ‘Mandy & The Jungle’, which came three years ago. The artist, who recently changed his stage name to Cruel Santino, last appeared as a feature on the single ‘Poison’, which he recorded alongside American songwriter Take A Daytrip and Nigerian singer Obongjayar.

M&TJ came three years after his first project, ‘Suzie’s Funeral’, and the artist already announced in 2021 that his album would be coming on October 22 of the same year. However, four days before its planned release, Santi took to Instagram to tell fans that the project would be delayed. “When it comes to dropping music. I believe in trusting my gut and being organic. If it feels right. I’m gonna drop, but now my label and management say they need more time put things in place to get the album to the height it needs to get to,” he wrote.

The album has not gotten a new release date, but the artist will definitely see that it drops in 2022.

Chike

Album Name: The Brother’s Keeper
Release Date: January 28

Chike released his debut album ‘Boo of the Booless’ to critical acclaim in 2020. Although the album had many sleeper hits, the songster established himself very quickly as one of Nigeria’s most visceral vocal performers in recent history. The artist has only grown even more acclimatised with his craft since his 2020 hit album, releasing multiple singles and garnering wide airplay. His biggest track of 2021 was Running (To You), which he sang featuring singer/songwriter Simi. The official music video of the successful track has since racked up 35,000,000+ views on YouTube.

Chike has teased multiple tracks from his upcoming project to fans via his social media accounts. Already, fans are expecting a more dicey, dynamic sound from the deft songwriter as he teased a track featuring rap star Olamide.

Omah Lay

Album Name: Boy Alone
Release Date: Between January and March

Omah Lay exploded into the music scene in 2019 with his single titled, ‘Do not Disturb’, and quickly followed the success of his debut with two EPs—‘Get Layd’ and ‘What Have We Done’—which topped charts on various streaming platforms over the last three years. Since then, the artist has gone into semi-hibernation, scarcely dropping any new music barring a couple of singles. However, all those signs of recluse tied up perfectly with what Valo, the CEO of KeyQaad (the label to which Omah Lay is signed) said earlier in January.

Omah Lay’s boss had said the label was working on two projects slated for release in the first quarter of 2022, and seeing as the young Headies winner is the recording house’s brightest star, it’s hard to expect that Omah’s album is not one of them.

Asa

Album Name: Five
Release Date: January or February

Asa has a penchant for flying under the radar, which is categorical of most of Nigeria’s most talented alternative artistes. Nevertheless, the singer has consistently put out music over the last decade, endearing herself to fans both home and in the diaspora.

Asa’s last major project, ‘Lucid’, was released in 2019. The artiste has left the album to marinate in the souls of her listeners for three rather quiet years—quiet only for those waiting on new music, though, as the ‘Eye Adaba’ crooner has been performing across Europe since then. However, the singer whet the appetite of her faithful followers with ‘Mayana’, a single she released in December last year.

Asa told Ebuka on the Bounce interview program that she will be releasing her fifth studio album early in 2022.

Rema

Album Name: Rave & Roses
Release Date: TBD

If any artiste on this list is overdue for a major project release, it is Rema. The Mavin-signed rapper seems to be sitting on a pile of gold, releasing multiple EPs with banging, chart-topping tunes on every release. However, although the Bounce crooner has come a long way since his freestyling days in a parked vehicle, many believe he is yet to make his leap to worldwide superstardom due to his lack of a major LP.

However, if there is anything legendary producer/Mavin record boss Don Jazzy is known for, it’s producing timeless projects with new and upcoming talents. Rema’s latest project, delayed more times than the NIN/SIM registration deadline, will finally come in 2022. However, the artiste himself is expected to resume school at the University of Lagos later this year.

Naira Marley

Album Name: God’s Timing is the Best
Release Date: TBD

President of the Republic of Marlians seemed to leave his citizens to be led by new rulers in 2021, releasing multiple singles but not bothering to bundle them up into any playlist, signifying that he was gearing up for something bigger.

And he was. Although his singles have been successful among his crowd, The ‘Am I A Yahoo Boy” singer is coming back to take all the attention back from his contemporaries with ‘God’s Timing is the Best’, which is the artist’s first-ever studio project.

Naira Marley released the official video for ‘First Time in America’, the first single off the new LP, on YouTube in December 2021. The video, an ode to his experience touring, has since garnered almost 2,000,000 views. In true Naira fashion, the artiste made sure to use the first minute of the single to establish that he disturbed America throughout his first trip, repeating the lines in an oddly satisfying bopping pace. If the song is a foretelling of what is coming in his new album, Marlians will definitely be pleased.

Fireboy DML

Album Title: TBD
Release Date: TBD

Nigerian singer Adedamola Adefolahan, popularly known as Fireboy DML, has been nothing short of sensational since his debut LP ‘Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps’. Although many Nigerians initially did not expect the singer to maintain his brilliant streak, he relentlessly pursued greater heights by releasing Apollo in 2020 to critical acclaim. Sleeper hit ‘Peru’ seemed to peak at several points of 2021, with an Ed Sheeran feature further cementing the song as a huge contender for the track of 2021.

In November 2021, the artist again teased another major project, saying, “my third album is loading”. He then mentioned that fans should expect a feature from the beloved Asa on his upcoming project.

With the announcements, the YBNL signee seems to be following the footsteps of his mentor and label boss Olamide by releasing consistent projects in quick succession.

Honourable Mentions

Simi

Album Title: TBD
Release Date: TBD

Singer Simi has steadily blossomed into a heavy-hitting songstress with her consistency across her multiple projects, features and singles since her more conservative early days.

Now, the singer’s confidence, backed by a crowd of loyal listeners, seems to be at the best level possible for a new release. Although Simi made appearances on multiple tracks in 2021, both as a singer (Running to You) and as a sound mixer (Adekunle Gold’s High and Sinner),  fans were expecting her to make a major appearance on her own, which she offhandedly teased would happen in 2022.

In August 2021, the singer said, “I’ve used all the songs I should have put on my album to do lullaby for Deja (her one-year-old daughter). So no album until 2022”.

Her fans will hold her to that promise, no matter how nonchalant the circumstances of the declaration were.

Burna Boy

Album Name:  TBD
Release Date: TBD

Odogwu ended a three-year-long marathon of releasing back to back albums in 2020. The singer’s hard work was rewarded with critical acclaim and worldwide fame. The singer has scored multiple Grammy nominations in the last two years, snagging a win in 2021 for his last major project, “Twice as Tall”.

In light of this, it made sense for the Afrofusion star to put the brakes on and create more music for another project. And that he did.

However, although the artist had planned on releasing a new album every year, he put to bed any speculation of a new album any time soon, saying in September last year that “he might not be dropping an album for a long time”.

“In fact, you know what, no album till further notice,” he wrote.

Olamide

Album Name: TBD
Release Date: TBD

Olamide has remained the most prolific Nigerian A-list artiste since his first LP dropped in 2013. In fact, since his debut album, the rapper has only failed to drop a major project in 2 years, providing albums, sometimes multiple, every other year.

Although Olamide began his career as an unabashed indigenous rapper, the artiste has become a shapeshifting genius in recent years, taking any and every form required to take a single or feature over the line. Even though the dynamic rapper is trying to go international like his contemporaries Burna Boy and Wizkid, he has no problem rolling up his sleeves to hop on a track and make it an anthem with his whimsically lackadaisical vocal prowess or heat-packed lyricism. Olamide’s latest of such victories came in December’s ‘ZaZoo Zeh’ single, which he hopped on alongside Poco Lee and newcomer Portable.

The single reminded fans that Olamide, coming off the back of three successful albums in two years, is still one of the people to see if one is attempting to make a rave track for the streets.

Although there is very little information concerning when the artist will drop another project, no one would bet against the hardworking rapper releasing something to remind the people who forgot him that he’s still around.