According to the ever-correct and ever-current Wana’s Dictionary of Music, a one-hit wonder is someone who has a single so big, everybody expects him or her to become the next big thing in the industry. Then they find the path to Oblivion, and begin to walk, or sometimes run, along it.
Three of the biggest flashes in the pan of Nigerian music.
1. Kas: Born Kas Lionheart Jonathan, Kas’s ability as a producer was never in doubt. He studied music production at Islington College in the United Kingdom. What ultimately let Kas down was his ability to write actual music.
Kas’s second single, Fimile, was his one hit, and is arguably the biggest of all one-hit wonders. Fimile was so big, it brought together two of Nigeria’s biggest artistes at the time, D’banj & 2Face to do a remix. It was that big.
Kas’s follow-up single though, Wine For Me, was quite popular, but was never played outside the four walls of a club thanks to it being devoid of any lyrical quality. The singer had tried many avenues to get back into music, including working with Tonto Dikeh, but mediocrity has refused to fi Kas le.
2. Bigiano: If music is the life of a party, then alcohol is its heart. In fact, it has been tested and proven that individuals, when infused with the right amount of alcohol, do not even need music to dance. Bigiano knew this, and he went on to produce what will be one of the greatest alcohol tributes in Nigerian music ever.
Shayo was so big, it earned the University of Ife graduate an MTV Africa Music Award nomination. With a video shot in South Africa and a stellar remix featuring the likes of Vector and Ill Bliss, it was assumed that the Shayo Master had arrived.
After the release of the Shayo Master album which had some good tunes like No Lele and One & Only, Bigiano went on a 3-year hiatus which he said was to spend more time with his family. He planned to release another album in 2013, but the year is past already, and Bigiano is still hungover from all that Shayo, and is nowhere to be found.
3. AY.com: AY.com is arguably the most active of the people on this list. The Yoruba singer continues to put in work, still releasing his last single about 2 months ago. But like every single of his after 2010, it has been slept on like a Vitafoam mattress.
AY.com’s ability as an artiste had never really been in doubt, with good songs like Baba Kunle and his popular feature on 2Shotz’s Fast Money. AY.com finally hit the big one with his Terry G produced and featured hit, Pass Me Your Love. The song was a huge success, and coupled with the fans’ love for his speech impediment, AY.com was everywhere.
The fairytale ended when AY.com heard reports that Terry G was collecting money to perform Pass Me Your love at shows. Naturally, AY was pissed and asked Terry G to stop, which the latter refused. The matter even resulted to blows at Terry G’s birthday party, but the Ginjah Master denied such an incident. The matter later died out, but AY.com never recovered from it. He is still waiting for someone to pass him a hit song.
Other notable mentions who missed out on entering the top 3 include Deebee (who couldn’t collabo his way to another hit), K9 (he’s just starting out so I believe he hasn’t Kokoma’d his career away), Jazzman Olofin (whose babalawo could only jazz out one hit), and W4 (who couldn’t kontrol the fame he got).
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