Music has been paying heavily in Nigeria for the past ten years. No wonder average Nigerian youths sees music as the quick means to wealth and fame. Why not! When a good number of artistes have risen from nothing to something over the years, enjoying wealth that can only be imagined by average people. The question is Who is the richest among these musicians and how much are they worth?
In music, your popularity determines your worth, you don’t make poo if you are not popular. How do we determine the popularity of an artiste? Do not let their noises or that of their fans deafen your ears, some aren’t worth that much, while some worth so much.
The number one means of knowing how popular a musician or music is, is by checking out it’s YouTube stat. If you are popular, it will show on your YouTube views, no manipulation. And if you have a great stat on YouTube, you are a great artiste, making good money.
Another means is through awards but since most music awards are heavily manipulated, we are going to skip awards and use other means such as endorsement and ability to pull crowed and command good appearance fee. Self promotion isn’t gonna count in this rating.
Here I present to you the top 20 richest musicians in Nigeria and their estimated net worth. This list is the most detailed and most accurate you can find anywhere on the internet. Enjoy!
20. Patoranking – This guy is making name for himself in the music industry in Nigeria and it’s not surprising that he made the top 20 richest musicians in Nigeria despite that it’s not been quite long since he breaks into the limelight.
His hit song (Girlie O) featuring Tiwa Savage has grossed over 4 million views on YouTube as the time this article was being written. Patoranking’s net worth is estimated to be – N350,000,000
19. Olamide – One of the craziest rapper in Nigeria and Africa. So crazy he called himself Badoo. Olamide has built name and fortune for himself in the music industry in Nigeria. Right from the first day I heard him first song, I knew he was gonna make it in the music industry.
His song with the highest YouTube views is “Eleda Mi” with 1.2 million views. He was able to over take Patoranking due to the fact he has multiple single with collective views of more than 5million. He is believed be to be the mastermind behind the rise of Shoki. Olamide’s current net worth is put at – N560,000,000
18. Chidinma Ekile – Chidinma has one thing going for her – she is extremely likeable. That alone has skyrocketed her take home performance fees and worth to an enviable position. From a mere contestant in MTN Project Fame to a household name in Nigeria, Chidinma has created wealth that her peers could only dream about.
Her biggest video to date is “Kedike” with 1.2 million YouTube hit, followed by “Oh Baby” featuring Falvour with 600,000 views. And collective views of about 5 million. Chidinma’s net worth is put at – N572,000,000
17. Duncan Mighty – He has refused to step an inch away from the Niger Delta oil. With unique beats, superior voice quality, and dance step to match, Duncan Mighty is considered one of the most successful artistes ever come out of the Niger Delta.
He most popular song on YouTube.com is “Obianuju” and “Port Harcourt Boy” which has collective views of 3.1 million. With strong affiliation to the Niger Delta politicians, Duncan mighty is estimated to worth – N700,000,000.
16. Yemi Alade – How she made it? I don’t know, but she is currently the biggest female musician in Nigeria after Tiwa Savage and may overtake Tiwa in a couple of years if not months. The first day I heard “Jonny” played in my car by one of the Nigerian F.M Station, I knew something serious was about to hit us.
Yemi currently has the most successful and most popular music video by any African female artiste on YouTube. The total views for “JONNY” as at this time is 13,435,171. Yemi Alade’s current net worth is N820 million.
15. Ice Prince – He broke into the limelight with “Oleku” featuring Brymo which currently has 3.1 million views on YouTube. Ice Prince Zamani is one of the finest rapper in Nigeria. To me, he is better than M.I in terms of flow.
Few days ago, the picture of when he was younger and hustling hit the internet and you can see how far she has been transformed from a naive young boy to a world class superstar! Ice prince net worth is – N870,000,000.
14. Phyno – The only hardcore rapper I’ve ever seen in Africa. He does it like no other, providing new dimension to rap music in Nigeria. Phyno is to the Igbos what Olamide is for Yorubas but he does it in a completely different fashion. So good that rap haters like me is forced to like rap music.
Phyno is a genius. Everyone wants to collaborate with Phyno for good reasons. He is hot in the market. Phyno’s net worth is put at – N900,000,000.
13. Tiwa Savage – Welcome the queen of music in Nigeria, the sexy mama, the first lady of Mavins Record! Tiwa Savage is among the very few Nigerian artistes whose average video is grossing over 1 million on YouTube. She currently has about five videos with more than a million views each. Eminado is currently doing 7+ million.
Her net worth is – N970,000,000 and may soon crossover to billion in this rating within the next couple of months.
12. KCee – Currently making serious wave in the Nigerian music scene, KCee, formerly a member of the KCPresh is one of the most fortunate guys in the industry. He picked the right beat at the right time, and the rest has become history.
His hit songs “Limpopo” and “Pull Over” are currently on 14.5 million views collectively on YouTube. KCee net worth is – N983,000,000
11. M.I – Regarded as the most successful rap artiste ever in Africa, M.I has built a reputation that will be too difficult for anyone to surmount. He is among the major stakeholders in Chocolate City Records and is credited with the rise to fame of Ice Prince Zamani.
For the sake of the record label and the stars that came through it, we are placing MI at number 11 on this list. His current net worth is – N988,000,000.
10. Timaya – Timaya’s vocal power is unmatched in the industry. He is one one the best and probably the most successful music star ever come out of the Niger Delta area. Far more successful than Daniel Wilson and others. He is truly the “Egberi Papa 1 of Bayelsa”.
One of his hit track “Sanko” is about to hit 2 million views while his biggest hit “Bum Bum” featuring Sean Paul has already grossed over 16 million on YouTube. Timaya net worth is – N1.1billion
09. Banky W – Two best music videos ever done in Nigeria to his credit (Lagos Party and Wizkid’s Holla at ur Boy) and a serious record label of his own, Banky W is surely a force to reckon with in the Music business in Nigeria.
From Etisalat to Samsung, he has the knack to land juicy endorsement deals anytime. Started with a copycat of Rihanna’s song, he graduated to international superstar, doing original songs and winning awards. Banky W net worth is – N1.8 billion.
08. Wizkid – From a backup [like] artiste to Banky W, Wizkid was transformed into international mega star by just one music video – Holla at ur Boi! That video created the defining moment in his career and today, he is the Wizkid you and I know.
Widely regarded as the Austine Bieber of Nigeria, Wizkid one of the stars in the industry that many upcoming artistes look up to, to be just like him. What he lacks in vocal talent, he makes up in personality appeal. Wizkid net worth is – N2.3 billion.
07. Iyanya – From a hungry project fame ex-winner to international famous superstar within the space of three years. Iyanya has shown that if you want to be successful in Nigeria, give them what they want and you will be blessed with wealth.
Iyanya’s hit song (“Kukere” complete with it’s one unique dance step) currently has more than 15 million views on YouTube. His net worth is – N2.5 billion.
06. Davido – What he lacks in physical appeal, he makes up with great vocal talent – the twisted version of Wizkid. Davido is one musician in Nigeria that I so much like his vocal talent, he is a singer and song maker extraordinaire.
His two songs “Aye” and “Gobe” are currently having 15 million and 11 million respectively on YouTube. Son of a politician and business man, Davido’ net worth is – N2.9 billion.
05. Tu Face – The one everyone respects in the industry. Tu Face has become the present day legend in African pop culture. By the time he hangs his trumpet, he will be studied in universities across Africa. African Queen remains his biggest hit ever, meaning that this legend lives largely in the past glory
He has not been able to do another song more popular than the famous African Queen or even close to it’s popularity. But what he lacks in hit songs, he makes up in reproduction, building future generation of Idibias. Tu Face net worth is – N4.5 billion.
04. D’Banj – From life in the streets of The United Kingdom to MoHit and one of the biggest superstar Nigeria has ever seen. D’Banj has proved that what you need to become successful is in you. You don’t need to look for it elsewhere, it’s within you.
His biggest song ever is the last song produced by Don Jazzy, Oliver Twist. It dethroned P-Square’s songs temporally in 2013 as the highest viewed Nigerian song on YouTube before Personally from P-Square reclaimed the number one spot. D’Banj net worth is – N5 billion.
03. Flavour – Virtually every artistes in the industry has featured Flavour in the songs. His vocal ability is unrivaled. He is one of the very best the industry has ever seen. From the moment he picked up the guitar, you now he is destined to the top. Flavour Nabalia is one like no other and no one could mimic him successfully no matter how hard you try. He is the one and only Flavour, and after him there may be no other Flavour.
He has everything going for him. His physical appeal, pure vocal talent, and mastery of the music instruments, Flavour is everything others desires to be. His current net worth is – N5.7 billion
02. Don Jazzy – The only musician in this list with no song to call his own. Yet, he command so much respect and money that even the best in the industry dare not ask who is he. Don Jazzy is builder, a producer extraordinaire and industry pacesetter. Whatever thing he lays his hands on becomes gold. He produced D’Banj to international superstar, and when D’Banj left, he produced other superstars.
Dorobucci, Eminado, Sulurere, Banana – these are are some of the major hits he produced after the MoHit saga. Don Jazzy net worth is – N7 billion.
01. P-Square – No one does it like P-Square in the music industry in Nigeria! When you think they’ve done their best, they come up with something completely different. They have no competition, they only compete with themselves. Outside Akon, P-Square is the biggest music stars ever come out of Africa – dead or alive!
You may ask, how about Fela, Ndiaye, Lucky Dube, Blenda Fassie, and Awilo Logomba? Well, they are all legends of music in Africa but when it comes to earning and popularity allover Africa, they are no match to P-Square with all due respect. This is based on facts and figures.
Pick up the all times African top 10 music video on YouTube, P-Square alone has 5, leaving the other 5 for the entire artistes in Africa to share!
Chop my money = 24 million+.
Do me = 14 million+.
Personally = 35 million+.
Beautiful Onyinye = 21 million+.
Alingo = 7 million+.
The only celebrities in the Nigerian entertainment industry that has mansion in Banana Island. They are the Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi of African music. The only artistes in Africa you can not book with less than $100,000. P-Square net worth is – N25.6 billion.
