LADIPOE

On a cover of Olamide’s monster hit “Who You Epp”, Mavin Records rapper Ladipoe said, “I think we have over 180 million people so whatever music we do there’s going to be some people out there that love it.” It was an introduction to what would be a masterful flip to Olamide’s original but it was perhaps also a reminder to himself. Rap is not an alternative genre but Ladipoe’s brand of it is alternative to what is mainstream in Nigeria. Sonically his music doesn’t speak to a niche but his lyrics might even though they shouldn’t. He bucks the admittedly appreciable trend of singing entirely in local languages. He fills in instead with sharp turns of pidgin and the occasional sprinkle of Yoruba. This is what he means by ‘whatever music we do’ or perhaps the music that we do that is not the trend. But his talent is hard to deny. When he says he makes ‘chardonnay’ and / or ‘palmwine music’, smooth, intoxicating, it is not at all an exaggeration. Active in the music scene since 2012, it might be taking forever to become an overnight mega mainstream success (and you can suspect he wants it) but Poe is the man already... that we all should be listening to.