•Burna Boy, Ayra Starr and Asake
As the year rolls to an end, we take a look at the entertainers who were on top of their games during the year, reports Saturday PUNCH.
Burna Boy
Damini Ogulu, aka Burna Boy, is no doubt one of the biggest artistes of 2023.
He released his seventh studio album titled, ‘I Told Them’, in August 2023.
According to 2023 Spotify Wrapped (an annual data review on how people listened to music and podcasts on the app), Burna Boy is the most streamed artiste in Sub-Saharan Africa.
He also won the ‘Best International Act’ category at the 2023 BET Awards, while his hit song, ‘Last Last’ won the ‘Afrobeats of the Year’ category at the 2023 Headies Awards.
Meanwhile, he bagged four nominations for the prestigious Grammy Awards 2024— ‘Global Music Album’, ‘Melodic Rap Performance’, ‘Global Music Performance’, and ‘Best African Music Performance’.
Asake
It was no surprise when Ahmed Ololade, professionally as Asake, emerged as the ‘Next Rated’ award winner at this year’s Headies Awards.
He had made a notable mark with his numerous hit songs, such as ‘Lonely at the Top’, ‘Basquait’ and ‘Sunshine’ off his album titled, ‘Work of Art’.
Mr Money also joined the list of Nigerian artistes that had sold-out concerts at the popular 02 Arena in London, United Kingdom. He also made history on September 8, 2023, when he became the first African artiste to headline and sell out a show at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, United States of America.
Davido
It was indeed a year of immeasurable blessings for star singer, David Adeleke, aka Davido.
His fourth album titled, ‘Timeless’, was well-received by fans. With 4.91 million streams on its first day of release, the album broke the record for the biggest first-day streams on Spotify Nigeria.
For the first time ever, he was nominated in three Grammy Awards 2024 categories, including ‘Global Music Album’, ‘Global Music Performance’ and ‘Best Africa Music Performance’.
He also had his sold-out concert, A.W.A.Y fest in November 2023 at the Farm Arena in Atlanta, USA.
This was even as he was specially recognised by some US cities. Fulton County, Georgia, proclaimed November 21 as ‘Davido Appreciation Day’, while the city of Atlanta, Georgia, declared November 18 as ‘Davido’s Day’.
Rema
This year, Divine Ikubor, aka Rema, rose to the peak of his career on account of attaining several feats.
The ‘Dumebi’ singer had a sold-out show at the 02 Arena, London. He also won numerous awards, including the ‘Best Afrobeats Award’ at the 2023 MTV EMAs; ‘Song of the Year’ for his smash hit record, ‘Calm Down’, and ‘Best Global African Artiste,’ at the 2023 Trace Awards.
Kizz Daniel
Oluwatobiloba Anidugbe aka Kizz Daniel is known to be a trendsetter. 2023 marked the 10th anniversary of his music career, and he celebrated it with the release of his fifth studio album titled, ‘Maverick’, and which was well received by fans.
Several streaming platforms and sound engines, including Google and Spotify, ranked him as one of the most streamed artistes of the year.
His bouncer, Kayode Atobiloye, aka Kelvin Power, also went viral and became an internet sensation when he participated in one of the dance challenges for Kizz’s song titled, ‘My G’, off the ‘Maverick’ album.
He also won the award for ‘Best RnB/Pop Album’ at the 2023 Headies Award.
Odumodu Blvck
A rapper and singer, Tochukwu Ojogwu, aka Odumodu Blvck, was one of the artistes that hit the limelight this year. Despite his recent entry into the music industry with his first single, ‘Pikanto’, released in November 2022, Odumodu has endeared himself to many music lovers with his unique style.
The singer got a new home when he clinched the ‘Rookie of the Year’ category of the Headies Award 2023.
Portable
Habeeb Okikiola, popularly known as Portable, took fans on another interesting ride with his different controversial acts. However, that did not stop him from dishing out different songs.
His controversies also ensured that he was regularly in the news. In the course of the year, he performed at different countries, including Italy and the UK. During his recent trip to the UK, he was spotted with a popular rapper and singer, Skepta, and he attended the British Fashion Awards. The singer was also elated when his picture at the event was posted on social media by the British automobile maker, Land Rover.
In June, he was honoured with the West Africa Icon Award.
Ayra Starr
A fast-rising singer, Oyinkansola Aderigbigbe, aka Ayra Starr, definitely built on her international network this year as she collaborated with artistes such as David Guetta (US), Kelly Rowland (US).
She also emerged as the most streamed female singer in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Funke Akindele
In addition to the different movies she starred in, Funke Akindele released two of her productions this year. ‘She Must be Obeyed’, a Prime Video Original Series, and ‘A Tribe called Judah’, started showing in cinemas on December 15, 2023.
Earlier in the year, she ran as the Lagos State Deputy Governorship candidate on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 elections.
Bimbo Ademoye
An actress, Bimbo Ademoye, starred in many blockbuster movies this year including, ‘Gangs of Lagos’, ‘Jagun Jagun’ and ‘Big Love’.
She also won the ‘Best Actress in a Comedy’ category of the African Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards 2023 for her role in the hit series, ‘Selina’.
Timini Egbuson
An actor, Timini Egbuson, has undoubtedly kept his brand consistent. In 2023, he featured in many movies, including ‘A Tribe Called Judah’, ‘Big Love’, ‘Something like Gold’, and ‘The Bloom Boys’.
Tobi Bakre
A former Big Brother Naija contestant, Tobi Bakre, undoubtedly had a great run this year.
He starred in different movies, including ‘Slum King’, ‘The Bloom Boys’, and ‘Gangs of Lagos’.
His efforts were crowned with him winning the ‘Best Actor in A Drama, Movie or TV Series’ category of the prestigious AMVCA 2023.
Lateef Adedimeji
Actor, Lateef Adedimeji, evidently did well in the movie industry this year. With his roles in movies such as ‘Jagun Jagun’, ‘Different Strokes’, ‘The Last Man Standing’, and ‘She Must Be Obeyed’, he kept his fans well entertained in the course of the year.
Femi Adebayo
Femi Adebayo’s profile went up several notches with the release of the movie, ‘Jagun Jagun’, which he produced. The movie was met with positive reviews, and garnered massive streaming numbers on Netflix.
He also acted in other movies such as ‘Ijogbon’, and ‘Orisa’. His 2022 movie, ‘King of Thieves’ bagged eight nominations at the 2023 AMVCA. He was also honoured at the 12th edition of the Africa International Film Festival in November 2023.
Omowumi Dada
Omuwumi Dada continued to wow movie lovers with her appearance in movies such as ‘The Origin: Madam Koi Koi’, ‘Ada Omo Daddy’ and ‘Here Love Lies’.
She was also named this year’s Global Artist in Residence by the African Studies Center and the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies of the University of Michigan, United States of America.
Odunlade Adekola
Actor, Odunlade Adekola, produced and starred in movies such as ‘Orisa’, ‘Arinola’, ‘Dabira’, and ‘Apata’.
His movie, ‘Orisa’ won him his first international award at the 2023 META awards.
After screening across cinemas nationwide for 14 weeks, ‘Orisa’ was listed as one of the top five highest grossing movies of 2023 by the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria, with a total gross of N127.89m.
Chidi Mokeme
Chidi Mokeme made a huge comeback into Nollywood with his role in the movie series, ‘Shanty Town’, which was released on Netflix early this year.
Since then, he has taken on other notable movie roles, such as in ‘Merry Men 3’.
He was also among the actors that were honoured at the 2023 Africa International Film Festival. This was even as he clinched the ‘Actor of the Year’ award at the fifth edition of the PINK Awards.
Broda Shaggi
A content creator and comedian, Samuel Perry, aka Broda Shaggi, was not missing in action this year. Aside from his online content, which he kept dishing back to back, he acted in a couple of films, including ‘Love in a Showroom’ and ‘Something like Gold’. He also featured veteran fuji musician, Wasiu Alabi, aka Pasuma, on his latest single titled, ‘Ijo Loka’.
Earlier in the year, he had won the ‘Best Actor in a Comedy, Drama, Movie or TV Series’ at the 2023 AMVCA.
Nasboi
Nasiru Lawal, aka Nasboi, took a bold step this year by going outside his comfort zone in comedy to return to his first love of music.
His song, ‘Umbrella’, on which he featured Wande Coal is one of the trending songs on social media at the moment.
He also won the 2023 Eko Heritage Awards as ‘Eko Social Content Creator of the Year’.
Ilebaye
Ilabaye Odiniya took many by surprise when she won the Big Brother Naija (All Stars) season some months ago.
The self-acclaimed ‘Gen Z baddie’ beat the likes of Mercy Eke and Cynthia Nwadiora (Cee C) to clinch the highly coveted 120m naira grand prize.
She had competed in the Season 7 ‘Level Up’ edition in 2022, but was evicted after a few weeks.
Kiekie
A TV personality and content creator, Bukunmi Adeaga-Ilori, was one of the few female hosts and skit maker that was on top of her game this year.
Kiekie and Elozonam Ogbolu’s ‘Back from the Future’ won the 2023 Best Online Content of the Year at the 2023 AMVCA.
Kamo
Many were endeared to a social media comedian, Ayoola Akinyoola, popularly known as Kamo, after he took the initiative to solicit money for veteran actors, such as Lalude, Alapini and Iya Gbonkan. Through this initiative, he helped some veteran actors achieve their dreams of owning cars and houses. He also took care of some of the hospital bills of some of them.
Layi Wasabi
A content creator, Layi Wasabi, became well known for his comic presentation of a lawyer character, ‘the law’, this year.
Wasabi, who is a lawyer, said he got inspiration for the character during his National Youth Service Corps scheme days at the Ministry of Justice in Ibadan, Oyo State.
He also won a N1m cash prize following his win as the ‘Revelation of the Year Award’ at the maiden edition of the Nigeria Comedy Awards 2023.
