https://youtu.be/LebLGLm0ltw
Watch
Watch
As the year 2018 petered out, an ambitious, materialistic song wrapped around a Pentecostal, prosperity gospel prayer point became the defacto hit of the holidays.
'Able God' by Chinko Ekun featuring Lil' Kesh and Zlatan played at every street carnival, night club, concert, rave and house party that you could think of.
The line 'no more insufficient funds' became a catchphrase for people praying for the heavens to open up and let Naira notes fall.
In the music video, the three street savvy rappers delicately stomped their feet one leg at a time before crossing their hands to form an 'X' and ending it with a kick in the air. It's called the 'Zanku' or 'legwork' or both.
'Able God' is a direct product of street culture from the bustling city of Lagos. The rappers themselves hail from the streets.
The man of the hour is Zlatan, the hottest rapper on the streets of Lagos. While 'Able God' still has a presence on streaming charts, his collaboration with Burna Boy'Killing Dem' is bound to take over as the first bonafide hit of 2019. Zlatan formerlyZlatan Ibile has also gotten the seal of approval from Baddo. They worked together in 2018 on the track 'My Body'.
Zlatan's dance step 'Zanku' (which he claims is an abbreviation for Zlatan Abeg don't Kill Us') has taken over from the viral 'Shaku Shaku'. It is the latest influence of street culture in Nigerian rap music.
What exactly is street culture or the 'streets' as they say and how has it influenced Nigerian rap music and Hip-Hop culture?
The streets is the mecca, the Garden of Eden, the lifeblood where Hip-Hop culture gets its spiritual essence from. It's the birthplace of the struggle that led to the creation of Hip-Hop as a cultural force to address issues of economic injustice and institutional racism.
The inner cities, the slums, the project housings, ghettos are the streets.
The art of rap, dancing, deejaying, graffiti and beat-boxing, the five elements, were all created from the streets, so as other elements fashion and Hip-Hop philosophy.
What we wear, how we wear what we wear, what not to wear, gesticulations, mannerisms, lingo, slangs all stem from that origin point known as the streets.
Hip-Hop has a culture code which comes from the streets. Street culture has been fueling rap music since the late 70s. In essence, the streets is where Hip-Hop culture comes from.
The streets won't pop up in Nigeria until the 90s with the rise of the galala sound from Ajegunle and the ascent of Fuji music into the mainstream music scene. Both genres were propelled by musicians from impoverished areas.
As for rap music, street culture didn't come into play as a full force until 2009 when a rapper by the name of Dagrin released his classic sophomore effort 'C.E.O'. The album majorly produced by Sossick is the haunting tale of a gifted young rapper trapped in the lower rungs of society.
