10 Nigerian rappers that would defeat MI Abaga ‘bar for bar’

There’s so much ado about M.I Abaga being the greatest rapper in Nigeria.
Before M.I released his Illegal Music 3, the expectations of the true followers of Hip Hop
were as high as an eagle in full flight.
M.I, whose last body of work, The Chairman was thoroughly over-hyped, had boasted to
his fans and all who cared to listen that IM3:
The Finale would be the mother of all mix- tapes.
The masterstroke. His mixtape magnus opus.
IM3 was ‘supposed’ to be that unbeatable choke slam from the Undertaker before the
Chairman takes a bow and exits the ring, leaving his haters and critics sprawled lifeless and barely breathing.
But, it stopped at ‘supposed to be’ and never really made it into the ring.
To add salt to the injury of disappointment,
there have been series of arguments flying around about IM3 being a classic rap project.
Agreed, M.I is a successful rapper, his record
sales and countless endorsements over the
years speak for him but one thing is sure- his
bars don’t always do.
Perhaps, Talk About It did a little bit but after
that, our honorable chairman just continued
to slide down the castle.
As opposed to his brother, Emperor Jesse Jagz,
whose lyrics cannot be touched by anyone in
the Nigerian rap scene, M.I is undoubtedly just living off the pseudo-glory of his
commercialization (which he became so good at, that he forgot how to be dope).
Set aside the commercial success, set aside the record sales, set aside the endorsements, set aside the horde of senile fans who cannot distinguish between a good line and a wack,
out-of-the-loop, I’m-a-washed-up-rapper line just because its from their African Rapper
Number One.
Set aside all that and focus on the lyrics, focus on the essence of the message, just
zone out all the social media noise and FOCUS!
You would need more than your fingers to count how many Nigerian rappers would rip our dear Chairman apart, bar for bar.
Here are 10 of them:
10 & 9. Ghost and Tec of SDC.
Before you start wondering why the Show Dem Camp fellas are on this list, have you
really listened to these guys?
In fact, scratch that.
Listen to M.I’s Heart of The City on Illegal
Music 2 and you’ll see how SDC took M.I to
school. If you are a real fan of rap and depth,
you would agree that M.I’s verse was nowhere
near these guys.
8. AQ the Son of John
A very controversial rapper he is, yes but that’s partly because he’s refused to blend-in with the other rappers who forsake the art in their desperate search for ephemeral relevance and endorsements. Every time AQ
gets on a verse, you are guaranteed an inferno
and you can be sure this son of John will match Oga M.I any-day, anytime on wax.
7. Khali Abdul
Khali, though not half as widely accepted and
popular as M.I, is undoubtedly at the top of
his game when it comes to lyricism.
He murked M.I even when the Chairman was
in his ‘drop it like its hot’ phase.
Khali’s verse on Loopy Ballers, a joint
featuring M.I, Ice Prince and Jesse Jagz, puts
his inclusion on this list, into perspective.
6. Boogey
Run! Run! If the Boogey man is coming for
you! That includes you too- M.I.
Boogey, with just a few songs to his credit,
has already cemented his place as one of the
dopest rappers Nigeria has ever seen.
Once you listen to Ridiculous on M.I’s Illegal
Music 2, you’d agree there’s no way M.I is
matching that.
5. Olamide
Yes. Olamide made this list!
Now, bear in mind that we are focusing solely
on the quality of lyrics here and not who runs
the street, mainland or the island. Olamide’s
lyrics, when he actually decides to rap and
not invent slangs and catch-phrases for the
streets, are top notch to say the least.
If it comes down to a bar for bar contest,
Olamide would most definitely best M.I.
You can take that to the bank!
4. Vector
No need to elaborate.
Nobody in their right senses would argue that
Vector does not deserve to be in the top shelf
of this list.
Moving on.
3. Terry tha Rapman
Now that the ace rapper is desperately trying
to break into the commercial market, he has
toned down on his witty and hard hitting
lyrics but it still doesn’t change the fact that
when called upon to deliver, he shows up with
top notch and mindblowing flows- just the
way he went pound for pound with Mode 9
on their Otis remix.
MI Abaga, you think say na beans to burst 16?
2. Jesse Jagz
Even M.I said it- in the beginning- before we
all knew the lyrical rampage Jesse Jagz was
capable of.
The short black boy had said“even Jagz doesn’t
f**k with me, and Jagz is the greatest!” .
Well, we now know what MI what’s talking
about all along.
1. Mode 9
Say you didn’t expect Mode 9 to be number
one.
There is no Nigerian rap list (except it has to
do with record sales and endorsement) that
Modenine doesn’t sit at the top.
He has the innate ability to make your
favorite rapper’s best verse sound like an
unprepared freestyle.
He really is the original chairman and the king
of the streets.
You disagree?
Know any rapper that should have been on
this list?
Holler.