We bring you a list of top 10 Gen Z Nigerian musicians that regularly come up during conversations, trend online, and have some of the most popular songs in recent times. In this article, we place the age range of Gen Z between 1995 and 2009.
While several other study research study publications may place the starting birth year for Gen Z at 1993, there are debatable variations. Some reputable publications do favour 1995 as the starting birth year with the ending birth year being 2009 instead of 2010.
It is important to also point out that some publications even place the starting year of birth for Gen Z, also called Zoomers, in 1997. So it makes sense to go with 1995 because it is an average of both ranges 1993 to 1997 and is also the most popularly agreed to date.
In this list, we look at the top ten Nigerian artists that were born between 1995 and 2009. Note that this list does not consider their artistry or talent but rather, their popularity on commonly used social media platforms and their most successful works.
10. Tems – Temilade Openiyi
Temilade Openiyi is a Nigerian Alternative R&B and Afro beats singer born in 1995 and she closes off the list of top ten Genz Nigerian artists in the tenth position. The talented songwriter and record producer uses the stage name Tems and one of her early singles, “Try Me” has been her most successful works to date.
“Try Me” music video currently has 5.6 million views on YouTube and balancing this with her 990K followers across Twitter and Instagram places her at the bottom of this list.
9. Oxlade – Ikuforiji Olaitan Abdulrahman
The professional Nigerian singer and songwriter born Ikuforiji Olaitan Abdulrahman, popularly called Oxlade, was born on 22 April 1997. He comes ninth on this competitive list.
Oxlade has a total following of 1.3 million across Twitter and Instagram and his most successful music video on YouTube “Away” has garnered 2.8 million views so far. The Lagos-born singer is highly regarded for his great vocals.
8. Lyta – Opeyemi Babatunde Rahim
At number 8 is 23-year-old Opeyemi Babatunde Rahim, known by his stage name Lyta, who found fame after Olamide signed him to his YBNL Nation record label. Despite leaving amidst song controversial circumstances, Lyta is still doing quite well.
He has 1.8 million followers across Twitter and Instagram. About one year ago, he put out the music video for his single “Worry” and it has more than 1.7 million views on YouTube and counting. He has other popular songs and recently featured Zinoleesky, Emo Grae & Naira Marley on “Are You Sure?” which many expect to outperform his earlier songs in the future.
7. Bella Shmurda – Akinbiyi Abiola Ahmed
With a real name as melodious as Akinbiyi Abiola Ahmed, one would think Bella Shmurda would pick any as his stage name, but that is not the case. The singer draws inspiration from different realms it would seem and at just 24, he is cementing his name in the Afrobeats history books.
He has over 1.6 million social media followers with 1.4 million coming from just Instagram alone. He has been delivering masterpieces since he debuted with “Vision2020”, yet, it is still his most successful song with 8.2 million views on YouTube.
6. Omah Lay – Stanley Omah Didia
Nigerian singer Omah was born Stanley Omah Didia on 19 May 1997 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He entered the Nigerian scene with the earworm “Bad Influence” and has since acquired his own cultlike following with only a nametag missing for now.
His social media followers have grown to 1.9 million but his high ranking on this list has to do with his highly successful song “Godly”. It currently has more than 20 million views on YouTube.
