The $ound of Originality: Why Plateau State Music is Nigeria’s Untapped Goldmine.

In Plateau State, Music began long before anyone knew what a studio was. It really began when the hills first rose, when the Berom ancestors hit their drums like hearts learning to heal, when the Ngas ancestors created masterpieces with their flutes, when Jarawa dancers tell stories with their feet too light for words, when Mwaghavul kids clapped with their palms to match their beautiful traditional melodies. But these drums didn’t just entertain, they kept time like a heartbeat saying, we are still here, we are still dancing, we are still Plateau. Music is not learned here because it flows in our veins like a river that never dries up. It’s in us, it has always been in us.

Before the P-Square brothers started shutting down arenas across the world, before phones started streaming music, our mountains hummed like they’ve got hearts. Music wasn’t created but found. It’s just like finding water, you just have to dig.  The moment the world discovered the twin brothers, they became stars. This shouldn’t be a surprise because they were born and bred in the town where music originated and still lives.

Long before the world called him 2face or Tubaba, Innocent Idibia walked the streets of Jos with his barefoot. He grew up hearing the hills singing lullabies to his ears. Little wonder when he sang the song “African Queen“, it exploded like the mountains thunderously cracking open. In every lyric, you’ll feel the originality, inspiration and beauty of Plateau State.

For Jesse Jags, he doesn’t just rap, he exhales. Our mountains taught him how to breathe and he translates that energy into beautiful poetry. The air in Jos is thick and refreshing, just like his bars. His elder brother MI Abaga once said, Jesse is the superior rapper. This is a great compliment when you realize that MI Abaga is one of the greatest African Rappers of all time.

MI Abaga raps like the plateau state cold; verified, original, and impossible to fake. The mountains never fade and so are his bars. MI gives you headlines and when you carefully read between the lines, it spells Plateau State.

Ice Prince Zamani wasn’t just born in Plateau State, this is the land of his ancestors. Little wonder, he became the first black rapper to snatch the BET Awards in 2013. Plateau State raised him, not studios. Ice Prince’s lyrics are likened to smoke that travels to time square, cool enough to freeze Africa, and sharp enough to cut silence. Ice Prince’s exploits made it cool to admit, being Jos born is not a limit but a lunch pad. When you listen to  Ice Prince, you’re not only listening to good music but you’re looking at Plateau exhale.

In Jos, most kids learn how to rap before they learn how to lace their shoes. When you dig deep in Jos, you’ll find real diamonds. You’ll find original rappers, they may be underground but their lyrical prowess and creativity supercedes that of the rappers you stream. These rappers are not hidden, but patiently waiting for their time. They know how good they are and it would take something as little as a Spotify Algorithm glitch to announce them to the world. When that happens, the world would realize that Plateau State is the origin of music itself.

Music production is also on another level here in Jos. Producers like Suka Sounds, Mistake Kleb, and Elmore are as good as any top music producer in the country (if not better). It is evident in the fact that the trio have produced top musicians like Wizkid, Burna Boy, Vector, and lots more. Underground, there are other top Plateau producers that are equally as good. For instance, Gombit, Padrebeatz, Haskebeatz, Noble Icon, and a host of others. This is not surprising because music flows in the veins of a Plateau man.

Remember when YN Ashad dropped Shalipopi’s Laho Cover? He flipped it and made a masterpiece that got the whole influencers in Nigeria talking. Many Nigerians believed that his verse deserves to be on the remix even more than Burna Boy’s verse on the remix. This is a huge compliment, considering the fact that Burna Boy is one of the biggest Artists in the world.

Remember when 20 years old Teeblaize in 2021 claimed he can murk the legendary MI Abaga if they’ll be on the same song? It wasn’t out of hate but huge confidence in his ability. It was like screaming to the industry, “Watch out, I’m next!” I believe if that collaboration had happened, Teeblaize would have been one of the shining lights in the Nigerian rap scene.

Have you heard Krisskillz sing before? The first time I listened to him I wondered how he’s not blown yet.  His lyrical prowess matches his beautiful voice. When the spotlight finally shines on him, the world would surely be forced to pay attention to musicians coming out of Plateau State.

I remember when Promphizy’s song “Loyal” made Jos trend on X (formerly Twitter). The song is still generating streams organically and it got reposted by many top celebrities in Nigeria. This clearly proves that our local talents can actually feed the entire country and world at large with beautiful and original music.

Dicekid SOS is also another star waiting for his turn he’s turning into a hybrid of traditional and contemporary plateau musician. His forthcoming Ngas Demon album is not only rich in melody but it also showcases our cultural heritage.  All songs in the project start with the sound of Ngas Masquerade call. The cries sound like masquerades waking up from 300 years of sleep.  In his songs, the Plateau culture doesn’t just echo but exhales with great force, like it’s been holding its breath for way too long.

Plateau State’s gold mine might not be underground, but on the streets of Jos walking around with headphones. They aren’t just seeds but ripe fruits awaiting harvest, they are like bullets already loaded,  just waiting for the barrel, you can call it a mic. When it explodes, the world will surely hear the boom. When you look closer, you’ll discover you’ll realize that our Artistes aren’t begging for love, they are selling futures in these 3 minute bursts.

Invest in these creatives; I don’t mean the billboards, just sign these talents and press record then watch how the whole world dances. This is because, in Jos, music is not just entertainment, it’s Oxygen, it’s really the air we breathe, don’t let the lungs rot. This should be a wake up call to the Government and other investors to invest in our music, because if we don’t, the world would one day bottle our music and sell it back to us like we never owned the rhythm.

So, we should build the factories, not for mines but for mics, turn these mountains into echo chambers, turn the vallies to subwoofers, and every fog or dew drops to mixtapes. It’s only in Plateau State that you’ll attend a music event and discover that more than half of the audience are also musicians. This is not a problem but an opportunity and I believe if we intentionally invest in this industry, Plateau State will rightfully be the headquarters of music in the world.