So here we finally have it, after Nigerians watched Black Entertainment Television (BET) introduced Ghana to the highly respected BET Hip Hop Awards Cypher last year, most Nigerians were bitter – envisaging that Nigeria boasts of better and more eloquent rappers, some even claimed Nigeria have the best rappers in the African continent.
So this year, in commemoration of the BET Hip-Hop Awards 2011, the production team found their way to the shores of Lagos to pick a team of six male and five female Nigerian rappers to represent the rest of the country on a global platter.
However, the Nigerian cypher wasn’t aired at the awards show in the US that night making it look like a somewhat wasteful effort, but then again, we could only be thankful for the opportunity for some of the rappers to do us proud. Here’s a thorough breakdown of each rappers cypher, rated on a scale of 10.
FYI: A Cypher or Cipher is the act of freestyle rapping through acapella or on instrumental beats. The rap is ‘free of style’, and can be improvised or previously written.
Going in…
MALE CYPHER
X.O Senavoe - X.O has made his rounds in the online circuit but was he worthy of making the list? The rapper throws off charisma with little experience with his flow as he attempts to outshine his peers. Not a bad attempt but the problem is he overdoes it and leaves everyone perplexed with nothing concrete to hang on to. He would probably have championed the Ghanaian cypher.
Rating: 5/10
Ice Prince - Being as basic as possible is probably the best bet when on a cypher (ask Royce da 5’9; ‘Hi Rihanna‘) and that’s what Mr. Zamani probably tried doing but ironically brings the heat on himself. You can’t kill a cypher with watery lyrics like ‘I’m sitting on their heads, I’m like a basin‘. He’s vocal confidence is high but content was quite poor. Ice Prince’s rhyme pattern is too elementary and borrowing lyrics from a track on his debut album (check ‘End of story’ ft. Samklef) doesn’t help matters – ‘Life is fair, so I’m thinking of how to bleach‘.
Rating: 4.5
Sauce kid: Oluwasaucekibaba made it clear from the get go that he wasn’t on the cypher for jokes. With a starting line like ‘If you expect the unexpected then it becomes expected/so I expect respect or get disrespected ’, the rapper who is well known for his freestyles came through with his delivery and wordplay. We basically didn’t expect less. No Over-the-head’ lines though but the former Storm Records rapper proved his worth just at a time when his rap career was nose-diving.
Rating: 6.5
Naeto C: Firstly, whoever picked Naeto C for the cypher must have been biting a finger or two when watching the cypher. The Storm Records rapper clearly couldn’t make a mark leaving his Fulani cap the only memorable thing about his freestyle. The rapper clearly could not hit the nail on the head and any attempt he made sounded ridiculous. ‘By the time I made my first six million, you were riding Jincheng‘, was the kind of ‘P’ Naeto could offer on a cypher. In no way was this a 10/10 performance.
Rating: 2/10
Modenine: If anybody thought Modenine wouldn’t come through, he/she would have to wait another century to see that. Nigel Benn dominated the cypher with intricate, mind-bending, mind-blowing and straight up bully-type of lyrics. It just shows his years of experience as a lyricist and not just a rapper, surpassing his peers. And to think he was almost not included on the list. ‘My wordplay is incredible fam/to get into my rhyme book you’ll need a retinal scan‘
Rating: 8.5/10
M.I: Mister Incredible stuck to his guns and delivered some of the ‘wittiest lines in the cypher. His styling was impeccable. Mutli-syllabic rhyming and straight up bragging is how M.I planned his style. Delivery- check, versatility – check. The short black boy made sure coming last wouldn’t weigh him down. M.I kept it simple enough for a hip-hop newbie to decipher yet matured enough for ‘hip-hop head’ to nod to. Brilliant.
Rating: 8/10
FEMALE CYPHER
Muna: One word for her – diffidence. Just back from the Def Jam Records auditions in the US, Muna sounded like a nervous young 15-year-old who was sitting for an oral exam. Her lyrics were barely pronounced well and rhyming didn’t hit the average mark. It comes as a surprise judging from her previous works, you would think she would have killed it.
Rating: 3/10
Zee: The youngest of them all, Zee didn’t bring it on the cypher. Should we blame it on her inexperience? Maybe. The confidence in her voice was present but articulation was poor, leaving us to grab her lines while she has moved to the next one. However, her lyrics gives her extra points; with lines like ‘I’m triggered with lines like bullets, let’s call the girl a shooting star’.
Rating: 4/10
Sasha: Sasha couldn’t bring the storm on the Cypher. Even as she tried using a Dagrin-memorial theme in her raps, she sounded terrible. She switched from English to Yoruba language which only made matters worse. Her delivery and lyrics were way below the average and worsened when she tried singing. Poor attempt.
Rating: 1.5/10
Eva: The young newbie’s attempt is quite commendable. Known for high high-pitched voice inflection, Eva switched up the flow of the cypher with her rap style. Her laudable delivery was however setback a little by her not-so-memorable lyrics. But hey, a one-eyed man in the land of the blind is a king right? Commendable effort.
Rating 4/10
Blaise: The veteran rapper must had been having a bad day; Blaise, who is known to slaughter her male counterparts on songs with just a verse kept it too simple with her lines. Yet again, leaving her claim as the number one ‘femcee’ questionable. Her rhyme pattern was just about enough to keep us listening as she didn’t drop potent lyrics to awe us like she is known to do. We’ll forgive you just this once.
Rating: 4.5/10
CONCLUSION
The positive thing is that those who weren’t sure about how Hip-hop has grown in Nigeria will be taken back by the Nigerian BET Cypher. Nigeria presented a collage of different rappers who very well represented in the cypher – a mash up of the veteran and the new age.
However, a few flaws are seen in the video – Why is M.I wearing a shirt with the US flag on it? And out of all the other upcoming female rappers in Nigeria, why is R&B singer Retta prancing in the video?
RAPPERS WHO SHOULD HAVE MADE THE CYPHER
Terry Tha Rapman: Mr. Joe Spazm should have been included in the cypher no matter what. Known for his outrageous, over-the-head lyrics, he sure would have added a lot of colour with his style.
Ikechukwu: Known for his spot-on rhyming, Killz would have done a better job than a few of the rappers on the cypher with his braggadocio lyrics and sharp delivery.
Pherowshuz: Phero the great is known for styling too many punchlines and metaphors in a song, this would have been his opportunity to display his brilliant wordplay.
Dark Poet: If there was ever a freshman rapper to be featured, it would have to be Dark Poet, the former MO’BB underground rapper is well known amongst his peers for massacring rappers with words.
Watch the cypher below…
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