Seven Times Nigerian Songs Have (Re)Gained Popularity Thanks to Social Media
From Gentleman Mike Ejeagha and K1 De Ultimate, to CKay and Wande Coal, social media has shown its power at reviving and strengthening the popularity of songs years after their release.
If there’s anything the ongoing success of Gentleman Mike Ejeagha’s “Ka Esi Le Onye Isi Oche” reinforces, it’s that music is indeed timeless. While the charter around the relationship between social media and music often centers on how the attention span for most new releases is criminally short, one of the more wholesome aspects is that older music finds younger audiences.
On TikTok, more than a handful of songs from previous decades have been brought back to renewed popularity, a global situation with parochial, yet pronounced impact. Ejeagha’s 1983 classic is the latest example of social media’s influence in bringing back older songs in Nigeria. There are several of them, and they follow below.
Abass Akande Obesere - “Egungun”
Before there was alté, there was Obesere, arguably the edgiest superstar in the history of Fuji music and an incredibly prolific artist at his peak in the mid to late ‘90s. Circa 2019, Obesere gained renewed attention by a generation that was barely lucid at the time he was most popular, due to a retrospective on his irreverent songwriting and liberal style for those times. That led to “Egungun Be Careful,” his hit song and album of the same title, becoming popular, and it even led to a feverishly anticipated remix with Nigerian rapper Zlatan.
Stanley Okorie - “Billionaire”
Stanley Okorie owns one of the most popular voices in Nigeria, thanks to a catalog of soundtracks for Nollywood films. Between late 2022 and early 2023, “Billionaire (Onye Ji Cash),” created for the film Return of the Billionaires, became a favorite for users and content creators across TikTok and Instagram. The premise was simple, everyone likes nice things that radiate opulence, and Okorie’s infectious folk-pop jam served as the fitting soundtrack.
Melvitto & Wande Coal - “Gentility”
For much of the late 2010s, Wande Coal was coasting, dropping hits on a semi-frequent schedule while generally laying low. In 2022, “Gentility,” one of his less popular songs from that period, went viral after a sped-up remix became the soundtrack for a vigorous dance trend on TikTok. Helmed in collaboration with producer Melvitto, the single is a party-ready cut but at a mid-tempo speed. The viral remix increased the pace and turned Wande Coal’s supple soprano into a helium-tinged delirium, and thousands of people were quick to get their moves off to it.
CKay - “Love Nwantiti”
For a time, Ckay’s “Love Nwantiti” was the biggest ever hit song from Africa. In September 2021, the soft and groovy blue-eyed romance bop peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, previously alien territory for Afrobeats. That was two years after it was initially released on his debut EP, CKay the First, and it was the crowning achievement for a song that worked its way into global ubiquity. Thanks to a few remixes and an acoustic version gaining popularity, “Love Nwantiti” reached millions of ears across the globe and inspired a viral dance trend that was done by thousands of social media users all over the world.
K1 De Ultimate - “Vivid Imagination”
You can call it being delusional, there are many Nigerians who would rather call it “vivid imagination.” K1 De Ultimate’s “Vivid Imagination” was widely known around the time it was released in the 2000s, but it’s become a social media era staple. Its usage has gone beyond the song being played, you can type the words vivid imagination in any apt setting and everyone’s minds goes to K1’s classic. It’s the precursor to the popular parlance, “Imagination wan wound me,” a term that’s something of an equivalent to “Staying delulu is the only solulu.”
Gentleman Mike Ejeagha - “Ka Esi Le Onye Isi Oche”
A lot has already been written about “Ka Esi Le Onye Isi Oche” and its newfound popularity 41 years after its release. Adding to that are the several tangible achievements that have followed in recent days. “Ka Esi Le Onye Isi Oche” made its way into the Apple Music Top 100 songs in Nigeria, and the album, Akuko N’egwu Original Vol. 1, is on Spotify’s top albums charts in Nigeria. These are indicators that, beyond the viral trend, younger people are tuned and intentionally listening to music from four decades ago.
Dekumzy - “Who Get Dat Thing (Remix)” feat. Stormrex & Slowdog
The Nollywood aesthetic of female actors in the 2000s is one of the most influential style gimmicks amongst many young Nigerians. It’s not difficult to link that gimmick with the renewed interest in Dekumzy’s “Who Get Dat Thing (Remix),” originally released in 2009. The part that has caught — and continues to catch — the most attention is Stormrex’s seductive third verse, where the singer references Desperate Chicks, a short lived girl group that included Stormrex, Barbie and Ursulla Ice. The catchy verse, set to a groovy, electronic beat has led to hundreds of solo and group dance videos filled with waist-whining and nimble, choreographed steps.
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