My childhood was filled with music. Congolese music by Awilo Longomba. Nigerian songs from Mo’ Hits Records and tracks from artists like P-Square. Igbo music too. Even more so, Igbo gospel music that was mostly sung by women. Some of my earliest memories involved singing along to tracks by Njideka Okeke and Chinyere Udoma on the way to church or randomly at home. My mother who also led the choir at church ensured that the gospel music of my childhood was resolutely Igbo.

Although I grew up listening to gospel music by Igbo women, growing older made me realise that there was a minimal number of Igbo women in contemporary non-gospel music. The few available veterans like late Onyeka Onwenu, Theresa Onuorah and Nelly Uchendu laid a formidable foundation in the early 70s and 80s  — elevating Igbo music to mainstream stages. Onyeka Onwenu, in particular, was a trailblazer who bridged the gap between traditional Igbo music and contemporary sounds, making it palatable and relevant to a broader audience.

 

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Dubbed the “Elegant Stallion,” she stormed the Nigerian music scene during a time when the country was finding its groove.

Her early hits, such as “Ekwe” “One Love,” “Bia Nulu,” and “Iyogogo,” exemplified her ability to fuse indigenous sounds with pop sensibilities, creating music that was both deeply rooted in Igbo culture and universally appealing.

Growing older, however, made me hyper aware that there still is an insufficiency of Igbo musicians in Nigeria’s mainstream music scene. Their successors seem fewer and farther between. The figureheads and popular artists in Igbo rap and Afrobeats are mostly men.

I was about fifteen when I took extra interest in Igbo culture and the language. Invariably, to get better at the language, my mother introduced me to the male Igbo rapper Phyno. I can confidently say that the music of Phyno and Flavour played a fundamental role in me moving from a point of only being able to understand Igbo, to progressing to being an active speaker. But where were the women? Where were the Igbo women singing about love, politics and even sex in my native language?

The young feminist in me kept wondering why I could not see myself as an Igbo woman represented in mainstream Afrobeats. I got my answer when I discovered Igbo female rappers and singers like Splash and Stormrex. The first time I heard Splash rap in Igbo, I was a bit taken aback. It seemed unusual and yet so perfectly normal. I cannot remember the title of the song but what I do know is that it was the representation I needed. With Stormrex, her music had a more visible impact in my life as an Igbo woman. With features on tracks like “Nnunu” and “Bullion Van,” it was clear to me that this was a woman dedicated to highlighting her experiences using Igbo.

In recent times on social media, there’s been the observation that the future of Afrobeats and music in Nigeria is going to rely heavily on women and invariably women’s success. We have female artists, like Tems, who are persistently  putting Nigeria on an even larger global map. We have artists like Ayra Starr whose fanbase is one mostly constituted by feminist women and generally progressive people all over the world. We have singers like Lady Donli who appeals to people who enjoy multiple genres of music from a single artist; women musicians like Fave; women like Qing Madi who recently collaborated  with Chloe Bailey. We also have upcoming women musicians like Lifesize Teddy and Bloody Civillian. The above mentioned women are fast rising stars who through their music are taking the baton from and still collaborating with more established Nigerian female singers like Tiwa Savage, Waje, Simi and Yemi Alade.

When I think of Igbo women who are in this wave of Nigerian female singers who represent the future of Nigerian music, two names come to mind. The first name is Ugoccie, a singer and rapper who rose to stardom when a song of hers titled “Do You Really Love Me” became popular on Tiktok.

Since then, she has released songs like “Cubana” which speaks about Igbo magnates like Obi Cubana. Her most recent EP titled Voice of The East is a more indepth exploration of what it means to be Igbo. With songs like “Maranma,” we see her experiment with genres like amapiano and fusing it with the general Igbo love for highlife. Ugoccie is a multifaceted artist and her EP and music shows a blend of Afrobeats, rap, highlife and rhythm and blues music.

The second woman is Ifé, an Igbo singer who glides across   genres like soul, highlife and RnB. If past Igbo female singers like Onyeka Onwenu, Theresa Onuorah and Nelly Uchendu came together to have a love child, Ifé would be the result. Her music is modern and yet still a throwback to Igbo highlife singers and folklore. With collaborations with artists like Umu Obiligbo on songs like “Ozo”, she shows her expertise and versatility at genres.

As a person, she is someone who uses music to speak on social issues. Some of her songs like “Okwudili” and “Nwanyi” speak on the issues women face as a group in and out of relationships. In her debut album titled Sunsets and Paragraphs, there is the exploration of what Igbo people as a group faced in the Biafran war and a call to action to abandon all forms of injustice.

The future of Igbo women in Nigerian music is still one that needs intentional work. There needs to be dedicated support of the women who are making music and documenting what it means to be Igbo and woman in the 21st century. Until then, it is not only necessary to praise the Igbo women who are doing the work in a male centric music industry.