The Year 2020 has been perhaps the hardest year for artists across the globe. The flare-up of the dangerous COVID-19 pandemic hit the world hard and almost shut the expectations of everybody on this planet. Airports, Schools and simply all the other things was shut down as the world went in search for vaccine and control of the COVID-19 virus.
Most artists were appreciative for the fact that music didn’t reach a halt because of the internet and the digital space which helped in the delivering of music around the world. Some artistes utilized their aptitudes and ability to produce tunes during the lockdown and quarantine, while others also used their platform/melodies to educate the masses on the lethal infection.
The presence of the Nigerian Music industry was heavy and visible and almost all their mainstream acts utilized the occasion to deliver amazing singles, albums, EP’s, joint efforts. The likes of Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido and many more unleashed monster projects during the year under review.
In this article, we bring to you the Top Naija Albums released from January to December that performed well on DCLeakers as well as in the country.
Below is our Top 20 Nigerian Albums that dropped for this year.
Burna Boy – Twice As Tall
Grammy Awards nominee – Burna Boy gave us his fifth studio album, ‘Twice As Tall‘ after chalking up an impressive record with his ‘African Giant‘ Album in 2019. The International artiste teamed up with American rapper and Business mogul – Diddy as the executive producer on this discography.
‘Twice As Tall’ is a 15-track masterpiece which features the legendary Youssou N’Dour, Naughty By Nature, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Sauti Sol and UK Ghanaian rapper Stormzy.
Davido – A Better Time
Amidst all the challenges the world faced so far this year, Davido gave us a new project tagged ‘A Better Time’. He followed the likes of Adekunle Gold, Simi, Tiwa Savage, Wizkid and Olamide who blessed us with amazing projects also.
‘A Better Time‘ was David’s third, just like his previous album, it housed 17 tracks which include collaborations with American stars, the likes of Nas, Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown, Young Thug, Hitboy and Lil Baby. It also features Tiwa Savage, Mayorkun, Bella Shmurda, CKay, Mugeez, Sho Madjozi and Sauti Sol.
Olamide – Carpe Diem
Rapper cum singer and YBNL Entertainment top dog – Olamide has been consistent in the African music scene for over a decade. Over the years, Baddo has released many gripping projects making, an evidence to his consistency and why he’s one of the most successful African music acts.
Olamide released his long-awaited new album dubbed, “Carpe Diem” After dishing out the highly acclaimed “999” extended play with a couple of follow-up singles to spice it up, the yet is not done yet for the veteran.
The new album houses 12 tracks, including collaborations with Phyno, Omah Lay, Bella Shmurda, Fireboy DML and Bad Boy Timz. On the production fronts, was Pheelz, ID Cabasa, Young Jonn, P. Prime and Vstix.
Wizkid – Made In Lagos
Award-winning Nigerian International music superstar, Wizkid successfully released his highly awaited “Made In Lagos” album. Made In Lagos is the singer’s fourth studio album with the previous ones being Ayo , Sounds From The Other Side & Superstar.
Amid the pandemic and the fight against #EndSars, Wizkid was able to deliver this star-studded album which comprises of 14 perfect-looking tracks including collaboration with the likes of Burna Boy, Skepta, Damian Marley, H.E.R, Ella Mai, Tay Iwar, Projexx, Tems and Starboy Terri.
FireBoy DML – Apollo
YBNL Entertainment hitmaker, Fireboy DML also released his highly anticipated album entitled “Apollo,” a follow-up to the critically acclaimed “Laughter, Tears & Goosebumps.”
The album featured 17 tracks, including collabos with Olamide, Wande Coal and American rapper, D Smoke. Most of the tracks were produced by Pheelz, others were produced by IamBeatz, P.Prime and Type A.
Ever since Fireboy DML broke out and got accepted after the release of his “Jealous” song, off the YBNL Mafia album, he has made giant strides over the past years with many massive singles to his name.
Omah Lay – Get Layd
In the year under review, Omah Lay was one of the newest entry in the Nigerian music industry. The highly rated singer dropped a 5-tracklist solo EP titled ‘Get Layd’ of which he bagged smash hit songs like ‘Damn‘, Ye Ye Ye , You, Bad Influence and Lo Lo.
A tale spun in that fashion makes for an entry into a sex playlist, surely. Its boldness, both in idea and execution, paints Omah Lay as the confident artist. And he does have a knack for description, a pen many artists should tap into.
JoeBoy – Love Light
With ‘Baby‘, ‘Beginning‘ and ‘Don’t Call Me Back‘ doing huge numbers already, Joeboy gave us his new EP tagged ‘Love & Light‘.
‘Love & Light‘ is Joeboy‘s debut project which houses five wonderful tracks including the three smash hit songs and two new songs titled ‘All For You‘ and ‘Blessings‘. The EP comprises of four solo singles and only one feature on ‘Don’t Call Me Back‘ which he did with DMW singer, Mayorkun.
Adekunle – AfroPop Vol 1
Nigerian songwriter and performer – Adekunle Gold resurfaced with a bigger and better studio album titled, “Afro Pop Vol. 1” album.
Regardless of the unfortunate incidents, 2020 was an amazing year for Adekunle Gold having served quality music from left to right. The new album is just another propellant to the AG’s formidable movement. “Afro Pop Vol. 1” is the third album in AG’s discography thus far, it houses 10 sublime records including collabos with Patoranking, Nailah Blackman, Tenko and Olayinka Ehi.
Patoranking – Three
Nigerian afro-dancehall superstar PATORANKING gave us his third album, Three, via his own Amari Musiq imprint and US-based indie powerhouse, EMPIRE.
Eclectic and wide-ranging, ‘Three’ features collaborations with some of contemporary African music’s most essential acts all across Africa. The Album birthed, Patoranking’s biggest song of 2020, ‘Abule‘.
Tiwa Savage Celia
Many were left wondering as to when Tiwa Savage’s long-awaited album was dropping. However, she did come out to explain the reason for the delay in releasing it and obviously we know it’s due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In spite of this, Tiwa Savage drew a new roll out and successfully launched her album.
“Celia” is the third studio album in the singer’s discography, and houses 12 beautiful tracks including star-studded collabos with big names, the likes of Sam Smith, Davido, Stefflon Don and others.
In the year under review, other classic album like, Terri’s ‘Afro Series, DJ Cuppy’s ‘Original Copy’, ”Empress’ by Yemi Alade amongst others made the list of the Top 20 Naija Albums in 2020.
See Full List below:
