MTV Base Names Olamide As The Hottest Naija Artiste For 2015! (See The Top 10 List List)

If the question, “ Who is Nigeria’s hottest artist of 2015?”
had been posed to anyone on the street over the past few
weeks, the answer would most likely have been
“Olamide”, and with good reason.
The panel on the MTV Base TV special
#BaseNaijaHottestArtist however, needed two days of
intense debate to be absolutely sure before adding the
flourish on top of Baddo ‘s wonderful year.
2015 has seen Olamide release several singles that topped
the MTV Base Official Naija Top Ten for many weeks, in
addition to his successful promotion of protégé, Lil Kesh,
and the recent surprise release of his fifth studio album,
“ Eyan Mayweather” which has been topping charts.
Newly acclaimed MTV Base hottest artiste, Olamide
commented on the announcement, “It’s a great feeling to
know that my work has made so much impact on
Nigerians and i’m humbled by this announcement. Thank
you MTV Base.”
On the panel that ranked ten of the hottest artists in
Nigeria for the year 2015 were, OAPs Omalicha, Do2dtun
and Sade Ladipo. Joining the trio were showbiz
entrepreneur Olisa Adibua, entertainment journalist
Osagie Alonge, DJ Spinall and VJ Ehiz.
Commenting on the reason behind the selection, Senior
Vice President and Managing Director, Viacom
International, Alex Okosi stated, “ Nigerian music has
evolved from where it was ten years ago and with the aid
of the panelists we have chosen, we hope that the Base
Naija Hottest Artist 2015’ will spark up the kind of
conversations we need among music fans, thought
leaders and critics in order to improve on the type of
music we put out there and produce some of the best
talents globally and not just Africa alone.”

Making a surprise appearance at number 2 on the list
was Wizkid who had a big year in 2015 with his single
“ Ojuelegba ” getting remixed by superstar grime artist
Skepta and American superstar, Drake. Davido sneaked
in at number 3 ahead of Patoranking after a year that
saw him tour extensively and release a hit collaboration
with Meek Mill.
Yesterday’s number 2 and 3, Korede Bello and Yemi
Alade dropped to number 5 and 6 on the final list after
being displaced by Patoranking who made the list at
number 4 after a year that saw him scoop several hit
features and a bumper distribution deal with VP Records.
Yesterday’s number 9 Harrysong drops off the final list
alongside Cynthia Morgan to be replaced by Lil Kesh and
Kiss Daniel. Making up the rest of the list are Burna Boy
and Phyno at number 8 and 10 respectively.
Speaking after the panel session, Olisa Adibua remarked,
“It was a very robust discussion and debate because
there are probably 15 or 20 Nigerian artistes who had a
decent chance of making it onto the list this year, but
there were only 10 slots. I’m happy that MTV Base has
created this platform not just because it promotes
Nigerian music which obviously is a good thing, but also
because it fosters a spirit of healthy competition. I’m sure
that a number of artists who were perhaps a bit unlucky
not to make the list this year will work their socks off
next year to make it onto the 2016 list, and that is good
news for all of us whether we are involved in the music
business or we just like good Nigerian music.”
The show ranks the year’s ten biggest performing artists
in Nigeria using a list of six criteria namely: Style,
Impact, Sales/Success, Buzz, Music and Intangibles.
See the full list below:-