by Otolorin Olabode Gideon
There was a time precisely in the year 2014 when we were all tired of the pieces of shit Olamide and his cohorts were feeding us. Music filled with slangs, obscene and lewd lyrics, Olamide was singing for the streets and this time we were not buying it. We were still listening to it, though, since he was the regular guy always dropping hits. Three albums in a row since 2011.
The only alternative we had was Ice Prince. Ice Prince was starting to fill in for Young Denzl then. M.I was busy with business stuff, recording his third studio album and most importantly managing Chocolate City since he was the vice-chairman. The label was in turmoil then, Jesse Jagz and Brymo had left, new signees were not living up to to the billing, so all eyes were on Ice Prince. He didn’t disappoint, though. He dropped cool music, soothing to the ears. High-quality rap devoid of slangs and lewd language. He released N-Word which was produced by Don Jazzy. Damn! We felt it on a spiritual level. There was a point where Ice Prince said, “I made it to the top, they said it’s ILLUMINATI, I’m hanging in your city in my new BUGATTI”. Too much sauce!
He later engaged the services of South African rapper, AKA on the remix who threw shots at the then President, Goodluck Jonathan when he said “It’s going to take more than Goodluck to bring the girls back”(Referring to the Chibok girls saga). We were happy Ice Prince had rediscovered his form. It was also good news as we expected Ice Prince to represent Nigeria well when MTV Base draws out its list of Best African Rappers. Ice Prince showed off his versatility on his next single “That Could Be Us”(produced by Legendury Beatz), a hit track that resonated well in the hearts of music lovers.
In 2015, Ice Prince made the news when he met Jay-Z. It was the biggest move then when everyone was seeking to go international. Waoh! That picture with Jay-Z surprised everyone. Nobody saw it coming. One of the biggest influencers in World Music! Ice Prince felt on top of the World. A record deal with ROC Nation was milling, he would be the first African to totally do a crossover to the International Music World. He would also spearhead Jay-Z’s project to Africa to unearth more talents. Everything was falling in place for Ice Prince. However, few years after, it seems that picture with Jay-Z was a photoshop trick. The deal with ROC Nation hasn’t happened yet, Tiwa Savage got signed ahead of him and to make matters worse, Ice Prince has gone off the radar, his album didn’t make waves as expected, no hit songs. An all-time low which has seen fast-rising acts like Lil Kesh go above him. There was a case where at an Event, Ice Prince was asked to perform before Lil Kesh which is a big insult considering the fact that the bigger artiste performs last and closes the show. Recently, during the Mr Eazi controversy, a Twitter user tweeted of Ice Prince decline by saying “Someone said you can blow in Nigeria, unblow and go back to upcoming artiste. Lmao, and it’s true oh. Mr Eazi should ask Ice Prince.”
[In case you missed it]: “TwitterNG uses Mr Eazi for barbecue”
So what made Ice Prince fall from the ladder? The controversy with his girlfriend, Maima? Ice Prince still using the regular old sounds that brought him fame then? Ice Prince not evolving and exploring other genres/sounds like the “pon pon sounds”? What other factor might have led to Ice Prince’s fall? Have your say in the comment box.
Op–ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija
Otolorin Olabode Gideon is a creative writer, web designer and a freelance writer. He writes on Entertainment, Lifestyle and Politics. He blogs at latestnig.com and can be followed on Instagram:@viewsfromthebod.
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