2021 would be recorded in history as the year Afrobeats took over the world and got the attention of all and sundry but more importantly it was also a year of comebacks for some already known music stars.
After a few tough years, Here are 3 stars who made a triumphant return to the scene last year—and what we can expect from them going forward. From timeless icons making a long-awaited comeback, to newer artists shaking up the industry, these musicians kept us entertained all year long. So strap in and keep reading.
1. Reekado Banks
The consensus among music fans for sure is that Reekado Banks had quite a rough spell after parting ways with Mavin Records. Since then, there have been some songs released though not bad but none of them performed at their peak level – until 2021!.
When he first released “Ozumba Mbadiwe”, Ozumba Mbadiwe was a masterpiece in more than one way. Not only did it help Reekado shoot back into the limelight, but this body of work goes long to show that peak A-list levels are still within reach for him!
He didn’t let the fire turn cold before he graced us with a body of work in OTR Vol 2, and this EP was charting simultaneously in various countries adding to the already established Afrobeats dominance that spun the world in 2021. We hope to see more of Reekado in 2022 and even hopefully an album because we’re definitely loving his new sound.
2. Lil Kesh
Lil Kesh the former YBNL youngster has definitely been absent in major conversations over the last few years. This resulted in other names filling his dominant position in the streets, although his 2020’s “Love like this” (ft Fireboy DML) did quite considerable numbers for him – it remained a poor outing from an artist who delivered Shoki and No fake love in his early career days.
He hopped on the Amapiano wave featuring Zinoleesky and he seems to be making up for lost ground with this latest release, he’s gone and modified his style and paired with the perfect artist for an Amapiano song in Zino. We hope to be seeing more of Lil Kesh in 2022 and hopefully a project to remind everyone of the Lil Kesh Olamide defended on the Headies stage back in 2017.
3. Ice Prince
“Kolo” , Ice Price’s smashing hit single that featured Oxlade was definitely one record afrobeats lovers won’t forget so easily. The song was a perfect riddim with a rapper and singer pairing that produced hits like “Feeling” and “Early Momo”. Surely Oxlade being a man of the moment and one of the hottest RnB vocalists in town did a great job on the hook and Ice Prince gave us a good glimpse of the “Oleku” era.
He joined in on the list of artistes that made their comeback in 2021 and we hope he’s cooking up a project in the studio already for his expecting fans.
In the past couple of years, we’ve seen a number of music stars make career comebacks. From Duncan Mighty to Reekado Banks, these artists have all been able to successfully reinvent themselves and continue their success in the industry. We can only speculate what might happen next year with so many talented musicians coming off a successful run in 2021. What artistes are you hoping will be making a comeback?