walking upstream…
Olamide
sourcesWikipedia · Grammy.com · WhoSampled · Legit.ng
Olamide Adedeji grew up in the Bariga area of Lagos and broke through in 2010 with the ID Cabasa-produced single 'Eni Duro,' releasing his debut album Rapsodi through Cabasa's Coded Tunes label the following year before striking out on his own with YBNL Nation in 2012. Rapping in a dense mix of Yoruba slang, Pidgin and English over hip-hop-and-fuji-inflected street-pop beats, he became one of Nigerian music's most influential hitmakers and A&R minds, discovering and signing artists including Asake, Fireboy DML and Lil Kesh.
the sound in question
2017
Wo!!Olamide
walk the tributaries ↓
Dagrin2000s · Hip Hop / Yoruba Rap
Dagrin's 2009 breakout 'Pon Pon Pon' proved indigenous-language rap could be a mainstream sensation, and music writers directly credit its success with shaping the trajectory of the Lagos street-rap generation that followed — Olamide foremost among them, breaking through the year after Dagrin's death rapping in that same dense, unfiltered Yoruba-and-Pidgin street register.
listen: upstream & here
2009
Pon Pon PonDagrin
2010
Eni DuroOlamide
listen forPlay Dagrin's slang-dense, rapid-fire 'Pon Pon Pon,' then Olamide's debut single 'Eni Duro' — the same commitment to raw street Yoruba over a hard hip-hop beat, a direct continuation of the lane Dagrin opened.
K1 De Ultimate1980s · Fuji
Olamide built his 2013 single 'Anifowose' around a sample of K1 De Ultimate's fuji recording 'Orin Abode Mecca Medley' — taken, K1 later said, without his permission being sought first, though he said he didn't mind since Olamide clearly looked up to him — folding the fuji legend's vocal directly into the song's foundation.
listen: upstream & heresource: The Guardian (Nigeria) ↗
1980
Orin Abode Mecca MedleyK1 De Ultimate
2013
AnifowoseOlamide
listen forListen to K1 De Ultimate's rolling, praise-singing 'Orin Abode Mecca Medley,' then Olamide's 'Anifowose' — the sampled fuji vocal sits right in the mix, a direct hand-off from the veteran's voice to the street-hop generation's biggest star.
9ice2000s · Afropop / Fuji / Hip Hop
9ice's 2008 Gongo Aso fused fuji's talking-drum swing and proverb-heavy Yoruba lyricism with hip-hop production, opening the commercial lane for the fuji-hip-hop fusion Olamide's street-hop built on; critics writing on Nigeria's fuji-to-Afrobeats lineage name the two artists together as architects of the sound later carried by Asake and others.
listen: upstream & here
2008
Gongo Aso9ice
2017
Wo!!Olamide
listen forPlay 9ice's title track 'Gongo Aso,' with its rolling talking-drum pocket under Yoruba proverbs, then Olamide's chant-hook street anthem 'Wo!!' — the same instinct to build a hit around Yoruba-language rhythm and repetition rather than a conventional pop verse.