Old School Thursday: Legends of Nigerian Hip Hop Music – Junior and Pretty
Nigeria hip hop has indeed come along way, but little is known about the origin of hip hop in Nigeria. We will bring to you the legend icon of Junior and pretty whose songs rule the Nigerian air waves in the early 90s. See more details below.
The First Music in Nigeria emanated in 1981 from the mind of a protesting On-Air personality who decided to throw a dagger at the disco rap trend which suddenly became the rave of the moment. With the release of “The way I feel Rap”, Ron “Ronnie” Ekundayo became the proponent of hip hop and rap music in Nigeria. His Album, the way I feel consisted of similar Kris Okotie’s pop tunes, just like Run DMC jumped on rock tunes in 1983 and beyond.
Sound on sound (1988) was the first Hip-Hop and rap group that I came across in Nigeria due to their accrued popularity. The group includes Mr. Kool, Ebony Laoye, Monica Laoye, Monica Omorodion, TROY “Jedi” Williams and Ron “scratch” McBean. So this song group pioneered Nigerian Hip-Hop and Rap Music.
However in this post we shall be talking about the legend duo of Junior and pretty.
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Among the few earliest Nigerian rapper are the duo of Okechukwu Azike and Pretty okafor, better known as “Junior and Pretty”.
At the time when most artistes were copying the American hip hop culture, the duo stood out by popularizing their unique style of rap, which was animated and delivered in Pidgin English.
They thrilled the Nigerian music fans with all-timers like “Monica” and “Bolanle” from their album titled “Fufu Flavour”, which was released in 1991. These songs became some of the biggest hits of the 90s to come out of Nigeria, enjoying massive airplay.
Junior and Pretty produced their hits songs under the storm productions label, now Storm Records, and were the toast of every party in the mid 90s, performing in shows around the continent.
So sad as it maybe, the group was brought to a halt with the news of Junior’s death following a motorcycle accident. The only surviving member of the group (being Pretty) is currently an evens consultant based in Lagos and has been an active executive of the Performing Musicians Employers Association of Nigeria (PMAN).
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