Top 10 Artistes of the Funaab 2023/24 Session

Late last year saw a detailed list of the top 10 performing music artistes from the Funaab Music theater. A data-driven report which starred little controversies and arguments in the comments as some found it out of place that a few names were missing and some undeserving. Music fans and listeners can be prejudicial when addressing matters concerning artistes — an act void of both online and offline information with respect to the participants. With that being said, here is a list of the top 10 Artistes from the last section based on demand, Listeners, highlights, outputs, record shows and overall record quality, put together by Vybecheck Radio.

1. ROJO KORESS

A portrait of Rojo Koress

This will come as a little or no surprise to many. A journey of moving from a place of tiny recognition to recording the most viral unreleased song from last session, Rojo is with a little dispute the most sort after Artiste in the Funaab Music Community. From a steady increase in streams across different platforms, to featuring and in some cases headlining major events, to becoming a mainstay in the Funaab social media discourse, and ultimately winning Rookie of the Year at the 2024 Funaab Outstanding Students Awards.

2. HAYRHYMES

A portrait of Hayrhymes

Despite taking his foot of the gas during the second half of the academic calendar, Hayrhymes showed good music will always speak for itself. The microbiology graduate released one of the most sonically appealing project early in the year, with multiple songs grossing over 10, 000 streams each. Standing as one of the most influential names in the Funaab Music space, Hayrhymes ends his University sojourn as the artistes with the most successful body of work as Music to your soul EP has garnered over 70,000 streams on Spotify alone.

3. ARNOLD TM

A photo of Arnold tm performimg at an event

Known for his distinct fashion style and mantra — “The Red Suit Guy” — the Wetin be this crooner is an actual problem. The 2023/24 Session ushered the rapper into a procession of highlights, starting with the Niphkeys Big Bhang event which introduced his unconventional brand to a great portion of the students — an opportunity he grabbed and never looked back ever since. “Wetin be this” stands as one of the most popular songs by an artistes in the Funaab Music space, a befitting end to a long University stay.

4. RAVINGTON

An image of Ravington

The feats Ravington is able to accomplish with the less popular Alte sound is outstanding. Though making less inroads in his home campus, he, through various means has taken his music to a fairly large audience outside the confines of the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta. His features on Native Magazine, Alte Fest, and an unreleased tape with with Cruel Santino formerly known as Santi indemnifies him as one of the top talents in the just concluded session. Furthermore Ravington’s Tranquil EP stands as the second most successful body of work by any student from the Funaab Music Community, trailing Hayrhymes by a close margin.

5. PINKY WILLZZ

A photo of Pinky Willzz in the kitchen

The outlook on Pinky Willzz have been quite diverging in the court of public opinion. A fairly controversial figure with a highly polished vocal ability, Pinky rubs off on some as the spoilt kid in the class with his usual rants and way of promoting his music. Beginning the year with the release of his Temptation EP and giving the session a ceremonious conclusion with the organization of his own music events featuring hundreds of attendees and artistes outside the Funaab Music Community.

6. GHAFFAR

A photo of Ghaffar

It is unbelievable how Ghaffar joins this lineup of the best performing artistes without recording an original song of his in the last one year. Riding on the compounding successes of professionally created and appealing music covers on different songs, Ghaffar stood unwavering in the ears of both music listeners and stakeholders leading to his featuring in more events than 90% of all Artistes in the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta — a matter of artistic kinesis. Whoever thought Ghaffar, fairly less recognized a year ago, will be one of the most formidable act in the campus’ music space a year later must have been a prophet.

7. DONTIZZ

A photo of DonTizz sitting

The Loaf Entertainment headline artistes seems to be having a great run so far. A ride around the Funaab campus area and one is met with posters and billboards of the artiste and his recently released project — KnowTizz — a satisfying show of the intentionality of DonTizz to not just be heard but to be recognized and remembered. Interestingly the release of Remember visuals from the KnowTizz EP with its artistry and Benevolence is a complementing close to the singers journey this past session.

8. HOLTIE DRIZZY

A photo of Holtie Drizzy

A versatile mix of both English and indeginous rapping, Spiced with raw vocal abilities, Holtie’s range of musical wealth will always set him apart. With a dip in position from last year’s Top 10 Artistes, Holtie seems to be experiencing what may appear to be more or less of a traffic in record output after the release of his highly streamed single, Low. Considering the musical terrain and economic upheavals for the up and coming artistes, it will be unreasonable to pronounce judgements on Holtie for not releasing new music.

9. BUFF LOU

A photo of Buff Lou

One of the major stakeholders of the Alternative music movement in the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta. Buff may not be popular but, it won’t appear to be an unreasonable exaggeration to say everyone loves Buff Lou’s music. It is intriguing to watch how the computer science graduate, with sheer consistency and just an Instagram account grew the Alte Buff single to become a crowd favorite, and further closing the academic year with the beautiful Alte Buff visuals — a masterpiece in its own right.

10. MADISIN!

A photo of Madisin!

Who would have imagined that Alternative music will shine bright in the sky in an Afrobeats-centered ecosystem. Ravington, Buff Lou and now Madisin!. Known more by his moniker “Barbados Boy” —named after his most single —Madisin! like other Alte artistes on the list, through his Project have been instrumental in fortifying the frontiers of the Alte sound in the Funaab Music space.

The compiling of this report was not an activity undertaken with levity, as the Funaab Music Community is native to over 50 student-artistes who in their own ways have been vital in the functioning and further development of the entire state of the music affairs. Despite the many names, these have stood out due to a summation of their work, skill and personal output that is evident in their numbers, results and impact. Thank you for listening to Funaab Music.