The Hip Hop African

With Hip Hop’s uptempo, base-driven instrumentals catching flames in the United States, it evidently caught flame in Nigeria with artist MI Abaga’s Bad Belle . Jude Abaga aka M.I. Abaga is a Nigerian native popular worldwide for his versatile style in hip hop. Mixing sounds of Rhythm and Blues (R&B) with AfroBeat melodies, with a hiphop structured record. The song Bad Belle expresses personal thoughts on a beautiful woman–hence Belle–and the overall perception of male to female perception of beautiful women. The catchy hook represent the overall message that women are allowed to be the beautiful woman (people in general) they see themselves as saying repeatedly:

Bad Belle… is allowed… Bad Belle… is allowed…

Listen to the song to check out the flow in which MI Abaga uses throughout it. His sound is similar to famous artist like Young Thug, Young Jeezy, even Ludacris the way he speeds/slows the pace of the track with his melodies and verse techniques. This track represent a primary reason why he is as successful as he has been. His confidence, universal message, and global sound attract Hip Hop’s diaspora to topics relative to all. The topic of being beautiful, staying consistent in one’s hustle, and essentially spreading love. Check out some of MI Abaga’s other work on his YouTube stream [type in his name]. MI Abaga is also available on iTunes where his 2014 album, The Chairman, streams. Catch the wave! As hip hop continues to evolve in the US, West Africa seems to be creating the wave itself with a new sound for 2016.