There are some foreign songs that have been a deep ocean of inspiration to a lot of Nigerian artistes, and we can say that was how some Nigerian hit songs were made back then and we love it.
In music, sampling is the reuse of a portion (or sample) of a sound recording in another recording.
Samples may comprise elements such as rhythm, melody, speech, sounds or entire bars of music, and may be layered, equalized, sped up or slowed down, repitched, looped, or otherwise manipulated.
There are some foreign songs that have been a deep ocean of inspiration to a lot of Nigerian artistes, and we can say that was how some Nigerian hit songs were made back then and we love it.
Let’s take a look at 5 NIGERIAN SONGS THAT WERE SAMPLED FROM FOREIGN SONGS.
- REMEDYIES: SHAKO MO
Shakamo was one of the biggest songs in Nigeria in the 90’s no doubt, led by the trio, Eddy Montana, Eedris Abdulkareem and Tony Tetuila laid this song to rest .
They were said to be the people that paved way for the D’banj’s, Wizkid and the likes.
This trio group lead by example in sampling songs, as their first hit single ‘Shako Mo’ sampled the sultry energy of the instrumental arrangement of American rapper MC Lyte’s ‘Keep On Keepin’ On’, transforming it into a club jam.
The tempo of the beat for ‘Shako Mo’ was taken up a notch, with the addition of bubbling talking drums, which made it easier for many Nigerian to relate with.
REMEDYIES: SHAKO MO
- P-SQUARE: BIZZY BODY
This popular duo was one of the front-liners of the sampling culture in the early 2000’s.
Bizzy Body” is a hit track from the albulm “Get Squared”, second studio album by Nigerian recording artist “P-Square” featuring “Waje”.
Their songs borrowed heavily from RnB and Hip-hop groups, and one of these song is ‘Bizzy Body’ which heavily sampled American Hip-Hop group Fugees ‘Ready or Not.’
Bizzy Body was one of the biggest hit in town back then that rocked Nigeria, in-fact Africa at large. If you are not a music buff, you would not have known it was sampled.
REMEDYIES: SHAKO MO
- FUNKE: TO BA JOUN TOGBA
Many music lovers will recall with nostalgia how ‘To Ba Joun Togba’ made waves back in the days.
The song was the Yoruba version of Celine Dion’s hit song ‘If That’s What It Takes,’ and it was well accepted with fans because of Funke’s smooth voice and Yoruba lyrics.
Just so you know, she was popularly known as the African Celine Dion, however, the singer abruptly disappeared from the radar.
- SAUCE KID: YEBARIBA
“Yebariba Samboribobo” was a national anthem, and it was later on used as a common slang amongst Nigerians back then.
The song was sampled from Remy Ma’s ‘Conceited.’ Word before was that Sauce Kid owned ambassadorship of the African rap music.
SAUCE KID: YEBARIBA
- MAINTAIN: CATCH COLD
Tolu Maintain and Olu Maintain showed their wholesome embrace of sampling culture through their playful reworking of Ludacris’ ‘Area codes’ and repurposing his tale of partying with women to fit their reality as Nigerians.
Singing “I Catch Cold (Pele)/Ase Party Won Fo” over a stripped-down remake of the same beat Luda rapped on, they infused Yoruba and pidgin English to make the track even more relatable to their Nigerian audience.
See the video below for more!
