What makes a star is its ability to shine and beautify the sky. The truth is , show biz stars don’t shine forever! Like fallen Angels, stars fall and are forgotten by the same people who celebrated them. This is the case of some of the once-Upon-a-time stars in Nigeria’s music industry. In Nigeria’s music sector, there are a couple of stars who have fallen off the sky and have been forgotten by their fans. Pas Chikero brings you a compilation of the Fallen Stars. Enjoy. 9ICE: 9ice (born Alexander Abolore Adegbola Adigun Alapomeji Ajifolajifaola, on 17th of January 1980) is a Nigerian musician. 9ice is a south-westerner from Ogbomoso in Oyo State but he grew up in the district of Bariga in Lagos. At the March 2008 edition of the Hip Hop World Awards held in Nigeria, 9ice won the Revelation of the Year award and the Best Male Vocal Performer. A month later at the first SoundCity Music Video Awards, 9ice was nominated in the category of Best New Artiste. 9ice’s biggest single titled “Gongo Aso”. After recording his first demo, 9ice joined a group called Mysterious Boys with whom he did a couple of tracks before going on to form his own, now defunct, group Abinibi. Having recorded his first demo titled Risi De Alagbaja in 1996 and his first solo song, Little Money in 2000, 9ice had to wait till 2005 before himself and his music started gaining recognition in the Nigerian music market. The first major break for 9ice came from his first single titled Little Money and not long after then he did collaborations with different Nigerian artist that immediately prompted the release of another hit single title Ganja Man which was produced by ID Canada. Ganja Man was released with other songs in March 2006. The reggae tone and playful style of the song made it an instant hit. He later found his own record company and release all other album under his label Alapomeji Records. Other hit songs like Street Credibility ft. 2face Idibia followed. Show after show poured in. He declared in one of his songs that he will bring home the Grammy but his controversial separation with his wife and then Manager, Toni Payne, kind of completely dried the ‘oil’ on his star. Since then, 9ice have not seen his ‘period’. It has been a case of too much effort without results. BLACKFACE: Blackface was a founding member of the Nigerian band Plantashun Boyz that he formed in 2000 with Tuface (also known as 2face Idibia) and musician Chibuzor Oji (better known as Faze). Blackface and Tuface had met in 1996 when they were studying at the Institute of Management Technology (IMT) in Enugu. Faze joined a brief while later. The band released two successful albums Body and Soul in 2000 and Sold Out in 2003. The band broke up in 2004, to be briefly reunited in 2007 for just one more album Plan B. Although he kept sustainable relations with Faze, his rift with Tuface (2face Idibia) widened, particularly over the rights to the song “African Queen” Solo career After the Plantashun Boiz split up in 2004,. Blackface led a solo musical career. He released the hip hop album Ghetto Child in May
2007 collaborating with a number of artists. The album contains “Hard Life” featuring Alabai as the first single. He also recorded a full album for his crew D Tribunal called What We Are. After Ghetto Child, he released Evergreen, Jungle Fever, Me, Musiq and I, Dancehall Business and the prospective Defender. In 2013, he made a collaborative album 200 with Maine Eazz. Personal life Blackface was married with Dayo for eight years and has two children, Caroline and Alex. The couple agreed to separate pending divorce procedures. Unfortunately he couldn’t become a big solo star like 2Face. FACE: Chibuzor Oji better known by his stage name Faze is a Nigerian musician and actor. He is a member of the defunct Nigerian hip hop group Plantashun Boyz, along with BlackFace Naija and TuFace (better known as 2face Idibia. The group splitted in 2004 and each member of the group has gone on to launch successful solo careers. Faze is a best-selling Nigerian artist. His first album Faze Alone sold over one million copies, while his second album Independent has sold over 3 million copies. His third album Originality went platinum in its first month of release. He is the first Nigerian artist to have three consecutive platinum albums. Faze is known for his ability to sing the highest vocal note out of Nigerian contemporary male musicians . His collaborations include a recorded single with Wyclef Jean titled “Proud to Be African”. In 2011 Faze made his acting debut starring in the lead male role of ‘Lovechild’ in the critically acclaimed Nigerian movie Alero’s Symphony. He also provided the movie’s soundtrack for which he won an African Movie Academy award in 2012, in the category of Achievement in Soundtrack. Chibuzor Oji was born in 1977 in Festac Town,
Lagos. Oji is the fourth of a large family of nine children. All family members are said to possess good singing vocals perfected by the long time spent singing praises during prayers. Oji made his first attempt to gain publicity when he won the 1994 DBN Karaoke contest. He performed as a rap musician under the name ‘Lyrical Orge’ until he joined the Plantashun Boiz. Plantashun Boyz Main article: Plantashun Boyz Upon joining Plantashun Boyz as a trio with BlackFace Naija and Tuface (2face Idibia), he changed his stage name to Faze. The band released two albums in the process: Body and Soul in 2000 and Sold Out in 2003. The period was marred by a developing beef about “Faze versus 2Face” in the band that led to the eventual break-up of the band in 2004. The band reunited in 2007 just for one more album Plan B. Solo career After the split of the Plantashun Boyz in 2004, Faze signed to Solomon Arueya’s Westside Music Label of Lagos, Nigeria, to produce his first solo album titled Faze Alone. The album achieved platinum status with sales of 1.2 million units in its first month. It featured the single “Faze Alone”, a song seen by many as one of the most inspiring and motivating classic Nigerian songs of all-time. The single “Faze Alone” did enormously well on Nigerian music charts, reaching number 1 on music charts of notable radio stations like Rhythm FM, Cool FM, and Ray Power FM. The singles “Miss U” and “Angel Gabriella” from the Faze Alone album were also well received. The album introduced Faze’s signature vocals including his ability to sing the highest note by a
male in the Nigerian music industry. In 2006 he won the Hip-Hop World award for Best Vocalist. He releases his materials through the record label he owns, Independent Entertainment. Like Blackface Naija, his stardom as a solo artiste didn’t last. Now both of them are better remembered as members of defunct Plantashun Boyz band. DADDY FRESH: Self acclaimed King of Dancehall Music, Innocent Michael Onyemuwa, popularly known as Daddy Fresh is one of the top men on this list. Daddy Fresh, a former partner of Daddy Showky was once a wave making musician but he is no where to be found in the music sector at the moment. His name hardly rings a bell when mentioned to music promoters but back in the days, this Umuahia, Abia State born gifted Singer stormed the music scene with his solo debut on Felin Music Label was a monster hit, ‘Follow Mi Go Dancehall’. He started his solo career after he left Pretty Buiz Boys Band. Fresh became the people’s favorite and the toast of several corporate bodies who kept inviting him to play at their events. When he released his follow up album, ‘Elerugberu’, his fans base tripled over night! Fresh’s grip on the music industry gradually waned as music trend changed. He tried to relaunch his career with his last album, ‘Thank You Jehovah’ but you know when the Annointing dries, it dries everything! AFRICAN CHINA: Sensational Raggae Singer, Chinagorom Onuoha also known as, African China is another gifted Singer you hardly hear his name in the music scene. This is another Abia State born music star who is now musically missing in action. The luck that made him once the centre of attraction in the music industry seems to have faded. The Ajegunle/Orile ghetto brought up as you already know became famous with his debut album in year 2002 titled ‘Crisis’ which was an instant hit . Years later, he dished out another banging album titled ‘Mr. President’ and this album more than the first helped in launching China to the wider world of music promoters’ both in Nigeria and abroad but in no time, scandal dealt a deadly blow on China. While in London, China was accused of rape, after extricating himself from the mess, he released a testimonial album titled, ‘London Fever’, which was meant relaunch him back to the hearts of his fans but due to his two years absence from the music scene the album couldn’t do the magic! To worsen his sorrow, another hot Raggae star rose called Timaya. BABA FRYO: Friday Igwe popularly known as Baba Fryo can not be omitted on this list. He is another once upon a time Ajegunle ghetto music star who is no more on the list of hot artistes. The self acclaimed King of Denge Pose Dance Hall style of music stormed the scene in the late 90s with his hit debut album ‘Denge Pose’ which was released on Ultima Records. With the album, Fryo became the man of the streets, winning several awards too with it. He was so popular that then Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha and wife Mariam, became Fryo’s fans. Years later, as the album was catapulting
this Agbor, Delta State born act to the top, he left the Ultima Records Label for Infinity Music, where he released his second album titled ‘Notice Mi’ Baba Fryo’s popularity began to nose dive gradually as a result of his not being able to come out with another hit song that will match the style and standard he had created for himself. MARVELOUS BENJI: After a five years reign as King of Dancehall, this Ajegunle act , Bayelsa State born, almost 7 feet tall Singer cum producer succeeded in releasing another album he titled ‘Fire Burn Them’, but as if he had been dumped by his guardian angel, the album could not sell up to a thousand copy. With this disappointing figure, local music promoters started avoiding Marvelous Benjy. You would also recall that Kennis Music and Marvelous Benjy parted ways in a rather rough way. STEREOMAN: Another name you can’t but mention here is Stereoman. The Ex Glo Ambassador popularly called Ekwe Sample is from Delta State. Like a flash in pan, he debuted on the Nigerian music circle a decade with “E Dey Pain Me” a dance laced highlife genre of music. He became popular, his name was everywhere! Promoters were falling over themselves because Stereoman, then came the money spinning Glo endorsement deal which he enjoyed for years. But the Annointing suddenly began to dry on him. He released the second and third album albums but they didn’t come out as fans expected . The worst is, once Nigerian fans abandon you….they never go back to their vomit! NICO GRAVITY: Nnamdi Okpala popularly known as Nico Gravity by all standards is one of the most talented song writers to come out if Ajegunle/ Olodi Apapa, Lagos. This is another Abia State born star, this lyricist debuted in the 90s with the album titled ‘Story Teller’ on Felin Music Label and within the month it was released, the song written in English language and Patwa became an instant hit nationwide. His follow up album, Landlord, arrived two years later. Unfortunately, the album couldn’t make the same impact the first one made. From then on, he music kind of became impotent! The Writer, Paschal Oge Chikero, is the Founder and Lead Writer of Chikeroonline.com. He is an Author, wrote Festus Keyamo’s first biography, Lion In Isolation. He is also a Screen Writer, he wrote the script of Arise Africa, a TV series that aired on AIT Network and STV. He is on Twitter as @paschikero
