The Hip Hop African

The second episode of our month of Nigerian hip hop is a conversation with hip hop legend, Modenine. Modenine’s hip hop career began in the 1990s, and he has produced over 10 albums and mixtapes. Currently based in England, he talks about the early days of hip hop in Nigeria, as well as the experiences that influenced his entry into hip hop culture.

Modenine discusses the history of hip hop in Nigeria and the diversity you find across Nigeria. He also has strong views on the direction that hip hop is going in, as well as the music industry in Nigeria. This includes an interesting discussion on how Nigerian artists are treated compared to U.S. artists, and how some U.S. and Nigerian artists have handled that unequal treatment. 

Modenine also retells his experience in Nigeria with WaPi (Words and Pictures), a program through the British Council that promoted hip hop culture through the British Council in several countries.

He also explains grime music! Grime a genre of music related to hip hop, which emerged among African and Caribbean migrants in England. Grime music is very similar to hip hop, and many grime artists are also hip hop lyricists. 

You can find the new album, Esoteric Mellow, by Modenine and producer Teck-Zilla on iTunes music, Amazon music, and Bandcamp (https://str8buttah.bandcamp.com/album/esoteric-mellow)

Modenine is on social media at

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/modenineofficialpage
• Twitter @modenine
• Instagram @modenine_polimaf

Nigeria has the largest Black population in the world, and has the 7^th largest population in the world. The country’s music and film industries are two of the largest in the world. In the series of episodes on Nigerian hip hop, we get several different perspectives on hip hop in one of Africa’s powerhouses.