A LOST ART FORM:  WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MUSIC GROUPS?

music groups

Join me on a journey into “A Lost Art Form,” a series where we take a trip down memory lane, delve into a world of nostalgia, and re-open conversations about pop culture elements we miss and long to see more of…or not.

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A few nights ago, some guys in my neighborhood hosted a street party that involved blocking off a few streets and playing music so loud that a bomb could have gone off next door, and we wouldn’t have heard it.

As an introvert through and through, you must know that this is my worst nightmare – Unnecessary noise that makes me wish I wasn’t home, and that’s something I never wish for.

But alas! As it neared midnight, the DJ must have taken a sip from the miraculous bottle of water that turned into wine because he started playing Nigerian music from the late 90s to early 200s to 2010s. And then, my day, well, night, was made.

Imagine my excitement when I heard the beginning of “Choc Boyz” from MI’s Illegal Music 1 album. If you are a fan of Choc Boiz, then you already know what I’m talking about. The moment I heard the trumpet, followed by these lines:

“It’s dem boyz again. Dem rock boyz? No, man. Dem choc boyz!…

I represent the Choc Boiz crew!”

I knew what I had to do. I got on my knees and prayed for everything good to befall that DJ. Maybe I’m exaggerating, but you must understand my excitement because the DJ didn’t stop there. All night, until almost 3 am, he thrilled us with beat after beat from top musical groups and crews of that era. Everything from Mohits All Stars ‘Pere’ to the Remedies ‘Shakomo’ and Styl Plus’ ‘Call My Name.’

I went to bed a fulfilled woman that night. But when my alarm rang in the morning, I jolted up and the first thought on my mind was…Whatever happened to music groups and crews?

Before we get into that, I feel I owe you some of the excitement I felt that night as that DJ, drunk or high on something good, kept spinning his magical wheel and sending me waves of nostalgia that made me shed tears of joy.

In the late 90’s and early to mid-200s, musical groups and music crews were a big deal. Not just in the Nigerian music scene. But also abroad. Groups like Westlife, Destiny’s Child, Back Street Boyz, Pussycat Dolls, Boyz II Men, TLC, and N Sync, to name a few, were ruling the world.

So, it wasn’t far-fetched that in the Nigerian music scene, we would have the likes of The Remedies (Eedris Abdulkareem, Tony Tetuila and Eddy Remedy),  Plantashun Boiz (Tuface, Faze, Black Face), which produced two of the biggest artistes to come from Nigeria – Tuface Idibia and Faze, and Styl Plus whose love songs like ‘Olufumi’ would go down in history. I will definitely tell my children Michael Jackson sang that.

Styl Plus even went ahead to sing a song titled “4 Years’ which talked about how even though musical groups were breaking up, they were still going strong. But just like it was inevitable that Beyonce would leave Destiny’s Child and Justin Timberlake would leave NSYNC, it’s almost as if all musical groups and crews were built to break or fizzle out.

There are a few of these groups we never imagined would join the list of defunct groups, like One Direction – My poor teenage heart couldn’t take that break up. I still listen to every single one of them and follow their journeys. Niall Horan is still my favorite with a voice from God, but Harry Styles is by far the most exciting in his musical explorations.

Like One Direction, Nigeria had a couple of these groups we were sure would last forever because these guys were not just music buddies. They were actually friends. It was in those days that Don Jazzy barely said two words, as a Don that he is; and hearing Don Jazzy on a song was as golden as seeing a rainbow on a sunny day.

Two of those groups were Mo’ Hits and Choc Boiz.

These Groups were more than just record labels. They were a crew – meaning they had a pilot or sailor, or whichever word you’d prefer – Don Jazzy and M.I, in this case; and they had crew members who all had specific purposes and played different roles, and all were successful in their individual musical careers. But together, they were a force to be reckoned with. Together, as a crew, they gave us hits too numerous to mention.  

Choc Boiz rocked the rap and hip-hop scene while Mo’ hits rocked the then-burgeoning Afrobeats and pop scene. All was well in the world because as far as Mo’ Hitz (Don Jazzy, D’ Banj, Wande Coal, D’ Prince, Dr Sid, K Switch, Ikechukwu) and Choc Boiz (MI, Ice Prince, Jesse Jags, Brymo) kept making good music, we were fine.

But again, It seems crews and groups were only created to be broken, much like rules. The heartbreak that swept across fans when we heard D’Banj and Don Jazzy were splitting up was too heavy for most of us to carry. And even though by this time, we had had experience with these splits by watching groups like Resonance split up after hits like  ‘Chinwe Ike’ and ‘Lee lee’, it didn’t make this split any less painful.

Even the Christian/ Gospel music scene had its fair share of heartbreak in this regard, with groups like Infinity, who gave us the nation-wide hit,  ‘Olori Oko’ and Kush (TY Bello, Lara George, Emem O. Emma, Dapo Torimiro.) splitting up.  

Apart from that big Mo’ Hits split, there were others – KC Presh splitting up, but giving us KC who has been churning out hit after hit for over a decade,  Lil Kesh leaving a close-knit family like YBNL to start up his own record label, and other duo groups like P Square and Bracket of ‘Yori Yori’ splitting up and not exactly doing better as single artistes.

But what happened? Why did these groups disband? I asked a few people, and the most common answers were greed and ego. Could that really be it?

Well, I did some research on my own and found some interesting things.

You know the saying, “Knowledge and truth set you free”? Well, that’s exactly what happened in Nigerian music. As musicians began to understand the business side—owning their record labels, controlling their music, getting their royalties, and having full ownership of their creative wealth—the game changed. No longer were they content to share a portion of their earnings with a label head simply because they were signed to their record company. The industry evolved, much like the story of the Garden of Eden.

Once one artist had eaten the apple of knowledge and seen the truth, it was impossible not to share it with others. Soon enough, even if you weren’t handed that apple, you went out to find it for yourself. Before long, every major artist was leaving their record labels to start their own. Some people call it greed, but is it really?

I prefer to look at the bigger picture. Sure, had Mo’hits stayed together, we might have gotten even more hits from them. But I truly believe that each artist did what was best for themselves—and, in a way, for the fans too. As heartbreaking as it was to see these groups dissolve, it paved the way for new record labels and helped shape the music industry we see today.

Now, we have an industry built not just on friendships and camaraderie but on serious business. Record labels sign artists with clear terms. Your record label head may be your friend, but he’s still your boss, and that’s well understood. Who knows, if Mo’hits had stayed together, we might never have gotten Mavin, a label that continues to bring in fresh talent like Reekado Banks, Magixx, and Bayanni, and Ayra Starr who now represent Nigeria on the global stage.

So no, I don’t believe greed is the only reason these groups broke up. Yes, it’s a factor, but having a solo career and the freedom to make decisions about your brand and sound is just as important as an athlete competing in a singles event. Every artist, and their fans, naturally wonder: can they make it on their own? It’s simply a natural progression in an artist’s journey. For instance, Wizkids’s departure from E.M.E allowed him to fully explore his unique sound, solidifying his status as a powerhouse in the Nigerian music scene.

Furthermore, the current business structure in Nigeria’s music industry might be the very reason the country is better suited than ever for all the global attention Afrobeats is receiving. With artists owning their music, running their labels, and controlling their brands and sound, Nigeria has created an industry that thrives on independence and innovation, positioning itself perfectly to lead the Afrobeats movement on the world stage. The autonomy artists now have is what fuels their creative expression and global impact, making the Nigerian music scene a force to be reckoned with.

So, am I sad that the music group era has phased out? Yes. Do I on rainy days sometimes wish that the original Mo’Hits would make a record together and I would hear ‘It’s Don Jazzy again’? Absolutely!

But do I wish to change anything about how our music industry has progressed over the past few years? Nah. Never. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Besides, if things don’t change, how can we truly appreciate the way they were? And how would this music keep me awake till 3 am, crying, singing at the top of my lungs, and yelling to the street party DJ, who I’m sure didn’t hear me from my balcony:  “Play ‘Ten Ten’ again!”

Did I miss any of your favorite musical groups?

Is there any other lost art form you’d love me to revisit?

Tell me in the comments!