estrelas rap ou hip-hop na Nigeria

It is a country where every other youngster wants to be a rap or hip-hop star. And for those who make it in Nigeria these days, the rewards can be greater – and certainly more international – than ever.

Take singer-songwriter D'banj. Kanye West just did, signing him up for his GOOD (Getting Out Our Dreams) music label. Then there is Wizkid, recently named best African act at the Mobo awards in Glasgow.

All this has come in a year in which Trace Urban, a French-owned international music TV network, has begun broadcasting in Nigeria.

D'banj is living the new Nigerian Dream – superstardom beyond what anyone could have imagined in the late 1990s when Kennis Music, a local record label, took the first steps towards a revival of mainstream Nigerian music culture.

As D'banj steps on stage in a stadium in Lagos in a sparkling black shirt and blue trousers, the large space transforms into one huge mass of excitement, with kicking, screaming, shoving and frenzied mobile phone recording. He stops then throws both hands in the air in a salute.