Dagrin
Oladapo Olaitan Olaonipekun, known as Dagrin, rapped in a raw mix of Yoruba and Pidgin that made him the breakout voice of Nigerian street-hop, culminating in his 2009 album C.E.O. (Chief Executive Omoita) and its single 'Pon Pon Pon.' He died in April 2010, at 25, from injuries sustained in a car accident, but the template he set for indigenous-language rap directly shaped the Lagos street-pop generation, Olamide chief among them, that followed him.
the sound in question
2009
Pon Pon PonDagrin
we haven’t charted Dagrin yet
this stretch of the river isn’t mapped. we trace the watershed one artist at a time — and we’re always heading further upstream.