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Thanks to some extensive support from his producer brother, Reekado Banks became a commercially successful pop singer and songwriter in his native Nigeria in 2014, the year he made his commercial debut and won a Heady award as a part of the Mavins, the all-star group offshoot of Don Jazzy's Mavin label. Banks' debut solo album, Spotlight, followed two years later and also won a Heady, affirming the artist's high rank in the Afropop realm.

Born Ayoleyi Hanniel Solomon, Reekado Banks was raised in a religious and musical household. The Lagos native started recording in his early teens with support from his brother, who offered knowledge regarding singing, writing, and producing and also worked with him on early recordings. Banks' brother submitted some material to an online talent competition that resulted in a deal with Mavin. Banks debuted in 2014, releasing a handful of singles and appearing on tracks such as the Mavins' "Dorobucci," a group effort that also featured Jazzy, Tiwa Savage, and other label affiliates. That year, "Dorobucci" was nominated for a handful of awards at the Headies -- an annual ceremony that celebrates the Nigerian music industry -- and won in the category of Best Pop Single. Additional singles highlighted by "Katapot" arrived through 2015, the year Banks won Headies for Next Rated and Video of the Year, and led to the 2016 album Spotlight, which won that year's Heady for Best Album. Subsequent singles, including the Duncan Mighty collaboration "Bio Bio," arrived across 2017 and 2018. ~ Andy Kellman

Adekunle Gold is an award-winning Nigerian highlife singer, songwriter, and graphic designer. A household name in his home country, Gold calls his music "urban highlife" because of its conscious intersections with contemporary pop, electronica, folk, and R&B. His debut solo single, "Sade," in 2014 and a cover of One Direction's "Story of My Life" set radio stations in Lagos buzzing. Mixed by top Nigerian singer and songwriter Simi, he won an award for it at Nigeria's Headies the very next year for Best Alternative Song. He signed to Olamide's YBNL Nation label (and designed its logo), and issued two Simi-mixed charting follow-ups in "Orente" and "Pick Up" before releasing Gold, his debut long-player in 2017 that peaked at number seven on the World Albums Chart, while his sophomore outing, 2018's About 30, peaked inside the Top Ten. He continued pushing further into a more accessible Afropop style with releases like 2022's Catch Me If You Can and 2023's Tequila Ever After on Def Jam.

Gold was born Omoba Adekunle Kosoko into the royal family of Lagos State, Nigeria, in which he holds the title of prince. He is the nephew of globally acclaimed "Nollywood" actor Prince Jide Kosoko. While Gold's parents were Muslim, they allowed their four children complete religious freedom. Gold, the only male, began his singing career as a member of a local church's junior choir. He penned his first song at 15 and joined a boy band called the Bridge, who issued a couple of singles before splitting. Gold, who derived his stage name in a fit of inspiration after a pastor's sermon, attended Lagos State Polytechnic in the arts and design department where he studied graphic arts, painting, and sculpture. After earning his degree, he continued his music career solo.

In 2014, he issued "Sade," mixed by Nigerian star Simi, setting first Lagos', and then Nigeria's and West Africa's, radio stations aflame with requests and airplay. It became a national hit. Gold had a longstanding relationship with singer and YBNL Nation label CEO Olamide (Adedeji) because he had designed the label's logo. Olamide signed him and issued two more Simi-mixed singles in quick succession: "Orente" and "Pick Up." Both charted. He was nominated for Most Promising Artist of the Year at the City People's Entertainment Awards and won Alternative Song of the Year at the Headies for "Sade," as well as Revelation of the Year at the continent's AFRIMA awards.

The singer issued his debut album, Gold, near the end of 2016 in Nigeria and globally in early 2017 as he issued four more singles in quick succession: "Work," "Only Girl," "Call on Me," and "Money." The album was picked up for airplay by state-run radio throughout the African continent, as well as European stations in Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, and England; it eventually reached public and college radio, and streaming in the U.S., and peaked at number seven on the World Music Albums charts. In addition to his first three singles, the album included the hits "No Forget (feat. Simi)" and "Work."

In 2018, Gold was a featured collaborator on the hit single "Original Gangster" with SESS and Reminisce and released the self-penned hit "IRE" (a year later the track was remixed and re-released twice, by DJs Pheelz and El Mukuka). Gold's sophomore album, About 30, was released to international fanfare and featured guest spots by Dya on "Down with You," Seun Kuti on "Mr. Foolish," and Flavour N'bania on "Yoyo." The set peaked at number nine on the World Music Albums chart. Gold wasted no time. He toured the nation, then the continent, and issued a handful of charting singles through 2019, including "Kelegbe Megbe," "Before You Wake Up," "Adiza," and "Promise." He also married his longtime collaborator Simi. In early 2020 he released the streaming hit "Jore" featuring Kizz Daniel. His third album, Afro Pop, Vol. 1, appeared that year. Fourth album Catch Me If You Can arrived in 2022, with collaborators including Ty Dolla $ign, Fatoumata Diawara, Stefflon Don, and DaVido.

Gold signed a distribution deal for his eponymous label with Def Jam. In July 2023 he released the long-player Tequila Ever After, melding South African amapiano, soul, and R&B, and a complex mix of Nigerian and American rhythms. In early February 2024, an acoustic version of the album track "Look what You Made Me Do?" was released as a duet with Simi. Two weeks later, Gold released the beat anthem "The Life I Chose." ~ Thom Jurek

Whether the tracks are made for himself or for others, nearly everything produced by Maleek Berry is highly percussive and melodic, made for dancing and romancing. Active since the early 2010s, the British-born Nigerian artist became an in-house producer for Wizkid's Starboy Entertainment in 2013. After work for the likes of Wande Coal, Iyanya, Runtown, and Wizkid, as well as a slew of solo singles, Berry released his debut EP, Last Daze of Summer, through his Berry's Room label in 2016. Another single, "4 Me," along with a collaboration with Mafi B titled "See My Baby," were issued the next year. Though the vast majority of Berry's output has been squarely Afro-pop, some of it has ventured into booming and relatively skeletal trap sounds. ~ Andy Kellman