By Bisola Bello
Some of the greatest hits to come out of Nigeria came with signature dance styles. They range from the insane to the sublime. Here are some iconic dance styles made popular by Nigerian male artistes.
- Shakiti Bobo – Olamide
Olamide’s Shakiti Bobo is the latest dance in the country right now. The song is undeniably topping all charts, but the dance is what makes the party fun. We are not unmindful though of claims by an up and coming singer, Olowu Taiwo aka LT, that Olamide stole the dance from him.
- Shoki – Orezi, Lil Kesh
Lil Kesh and Orezi are contesting who originated Shoki. They both released individual tracks with the title. While the two are still having a go at each other, the rest of the world is busyy dancing away.
- Skelewu – Davido
OBO, as Davido is famously called, released the track, Skelewu, in 2013 and accompanied it with a dance that went viral.
- Limpopo – Kcee
After the break with Presh, Kcee released Limpopo in 2013 and quickly gained nationwide recognition with the song and the interesting dance that came with it.
- Azonto – Wizkid
Although Azonto wasn’t invented in Nigeria, Wizkid provided a song and video that featured the dance and made it popular. Nigerians embraced it as if their lives depended on it and everyone conveniently forgot the dance has its roots in Ghana.
- Kukere – Iyanya
After winning Project Fame in 2010, Iyanya blew up the charts with ‘Kukere’. The most interesting part about the song was the dance. Everybody wanted to do Kukere all of a sudden. Children danced it at birthday parties and adults did to at various gatherings.
- Yahooze – Olu Maintain
Olumide Edwards Adegbolu of the Maintain fame caused a diplomatic storm when he got former US Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powel, to do his Yahooze dance on stage at a show organised by ThisDay in London in October 2008. The poor man did not know the song was about Nigeria’s notorious internet scammers. The distinguished former military commander was however not the only one who caught the bug while it lasted.
- Suo – Mad Melon And Mountain Black
The early 2000s was when the Suo dance took over. The musical duo known as Mad Melon and Mountain Black introduced Suo in the video of their hit song, Danfo Driver.
- Alanta – Artquake
Adx and Ice K, the duo known as Artquake, gave a new name to dancing with every part of your body when they released Alanta. They made everybody dance tirelessly not minding that it made people look like they were epileptic.
- Galala – Daddy Showkey
Daddy Showkey’s Galala is one of the most endurance legacies of the legendary Jungle City of Ajegunle in Lagos. It originated in the ghetto as seen in the video of the song Somebody Call My Name but found its way to elite dance floors. That was before Showkey began sayin “shame to bad people”.
