2020 dubbed ‘The Year Of Return’.
2019 was an insane year for the music scene in Nigeria as our music and artistes travelled far and wide and stamped their impressions on the world. Many foreign artistes sampled our songs, featured our artistes, and many labels signed record deals with our artistes.
To top it all off, 2019’s edition of the usual drove of concerts, now known as “Detty December” saw quite a number of foreign artistes visit Nigeria to perform and interact with their fans here. Usually, it is our artistes going out to shut down venues like the O2 arena and introduce foreign fans to our sound, but last year showed that Nigeria is now a force to be reckoned with as far as music and pop culture is concerned.

Notable among the artistes who visited Nigeria in December is Cardi B, who literally couldn’t get enough of Nigeria during her brief stay. So much so that she went back home and keeps referencing Nigeria in her tweets, Instagram posts and Instagram live videos.
Recently, the US President Donald Trump, ordered the killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, and this has also elicited a reaction from Cardi B who stated that she wants to become a Nigerian, fearing the aftermath of the strike by the US Government on Iran.
Soleimani was killed on Thursday 2 January, 2020 by US forces in an air raid at Baghdad International Airport, Iraq, an action which has generated a global conversation on social media, including jokes about a potential World War III.
Cardi B, reacting to the development, sent out the following tweet:
“Naaaaa these memes are fuckin but shit ain’t no joke! Specially being from New York. Its sad this man is putting Americans live in danger. Dumbest move Trump did till date …I’m filing for my Nigerian citizenship.”
She further tweeted that she’s picking a tribe to belong to and trust Nigerians on Twitter to run amok in the tweet’s comment section.
Cardi B, while in Nigeria, literally advertised the whole country to her millions of fans across the world and influenced how many see the country. Her Instagram stories told of how beautiful the country is, how hype her people are and how great the food is – ending the jollof wars between Nigeria and Ghana once and for all.
However, what’s worth mentioning is the impact that her visit will have had on other artistes such as herself, as well as music bigwigs who run the international scene who may or may not have turned down an opportunity to host a show here, or visit here for tourism purposes.
Cardi B was also seen spending time with some of our artistes and much future collaboration was teased.
Following the success of that visit and its ripple effects, and of the entire year generally for our artistes both locally and internationally – Burna Boy is in the running for a Grammy, along with Wizkid who features on Beyonce’s “Brown Skin Girl” – there is little or nothing stopping Nigeria’s music from taking over the airwaves internationally.
A big reason why 2020 could be our year is the news that’s circulating round both social and other online media, about Nigeria’s Diaspora Committee declaring 2020 the year of return, tagged “The Door of Return – Nigeria 2020”.
The reports state that Nigeria has earmarked this year to try and reintegrate diaspora’s back into the Nigerian society, help them learn about their history and the rich culture of their homeland. If this is true, it could see some big acts with Nigerian heritage show more interest in Nigeria and her entertainment scene.
The onus now lies on our music execs to, in Chioma B’s words, “make money moves” and get more of our stuff out there, as our artistes continue to hone their craft.
2020 may just be the year of the Nigerian sound. That Grammy which 9ice promised can come home – even if he isn’t the one who delivers it.