Promising artists who are yet to get to the Promised Land

The music industry is full of established, promising and upcoming artists. The established ones are the most popular and most successful. The promising are those believed will eventually become established and the upcoming are the newcomers.

Talking about the promising artists, they are very peculiar because they mostly remain promising and never become established. Artists are seen as promising when they’ve released one or two hit songs, performed at prestigious industry events and concerts and their name is buzzing on people’s lips and trending on social media.

Once they’ve gotten to the promised stage, they are expected to go on to become established and those that don’t can be tagged as ‘promising artists who are yet to get to the Promised Land.’ Among them are Mo’ Cheddah, YQ, Soul E, Kween, Sheyman, Alabai, Sean Tero and many others.

Many things have been expected of Mo’ Cheddah since she burst onto the scene about five years ago with If You Want Me. She was so hot then that MTV Base dedicated a whole month to her and she won notable awards.

But she broke up with her label after the release of her debut album, Franchise Celebrity, and she’s been trying to make unsuccessful comebacks since then.

“I am YQ.” People familiar with YQ’s hits would definitely be acquainted with the three-word lyrics preceding this sentence as YQ uses them frequently in his songs to endear himself to his fans and the music-loving public.

YQ became really known and respected when he released the hit, Efimile, featuring Dagrin. Efimile was the song that actually made him and Dagrin into stars. He followed it up with I Like Girls, another big hit, Dress Code, a notable hit, and his debut album, I Am YQ.

So promising was he rated that Obi Asika’s Storm Records went into a partnership with his initial label, 2Koncepts Entertainment, over him. Suddenly, it all fizzled out for him. From being talked about, he went to not really being talked about, and even though he keeps releasing songs, none of them has become as successful as Efimile and I Like Girls.

There are many talented rappers in the country, and there is no doubt that Alabai is one of them. In fact, he stands out amongst them, so much so that big-time artists including Paul Play Dairo and Sunny Neji featured him on their songs.

But when he released his own song, Voice Of God, it was critically but not commercially successful. And after he released his album and it didn’t make much waves, he sort of disappeared off the scene. Then he returned again, as a singer, with Ogbanje, and it became a notable hit. And he continues to make moves so it’s possible that he will finally attain the superstar status that is expected of him.

The name Soul E is one that broke through the unknown barrier and became known when his song, Soul E Baba Dey Here, became a monster hit. Its follow-up, Naija Is Blessed, wasn’t really accepted and when he became embroiled in a legal battle over his contract with his label, Colossal Entertainment, his career just kept descending instead of ascending as expected.

Though he keeps trying his best to get to the next level, it’s just not working out for him. He even switched from secular to gospel at a point in time, still no tangible result. One thing is certain, though, he has all it takes to become a very successful established artist, and it still might happen for him.

Choko master, Sean Tero, is another artist whose failure to have become a big star by now is still astounding to pundits. His song, Choko De Choko, was the biggest hit in town a few years ago and many big things were thereby expected of him as he had even recorded some consistency before Choko’s success.

Yet another artist yet to live up to expectation is Sheyman. An artist and a producer, his success as the producer of many hit songs that include Bigiano’s Shayo and KSB’s Turn Me Around, has led to the expectation that he will also be very successful as an artist. He is however yet to prove that he does have the X-factor required to be a successful music artist as he has released a few notable songs but is not in demand all the same.

Of them all, Kween is probably the one that the most has been expected of. Kween’s case is indeed very peculiar. She is one lady who has all it takes to become a megastar. She is tall, beautiful, sexy, connected and talented. Many good things were therefore said of her, especially as she rolled with the JJC, D’Banj and Don Jazzy clique while she was in London and on her return to Nigeria.

And when three of her songs, Oluronbi, Come Wiv Me and Jebele, became hits, it was taken for granted that she would become very big. She hasn’t however but the industry hasn’t given up on her and she is expected to still prove her real worth.

Though the promising artists are not limited to those mentioned here, those here are some of the most high profile among them and all of them still have a chance at the big time that will see them getting major league endorsements and headlining tours and concerts.