Did Niniola fall off, or was she miles ahead of everyone?

A quick dive into Niniola‘s discography shows a wide catalogue of banging hits.

Some songs you know or have heard but you do not know the genius behind it. Some you’re so familiar with, that you could get injured by nostalgia if you listen to them again.

A queen of the genre in every right, I believe she has contributed immensely to the sound development of the genre.

There was a time when Niniola was the freshest kid on the block. There was a time when Niniola had the streets on excessive lockdown.

There was a time when Maradona was a drug, and Addicted was alcohol ( see what I did there? Hm).

Niniola was the sound pattern. Her chemistry with Sarz is arguably yet to be replicated by any female artist and producer.

In the same way Mr Eazi, Runtown and Tekno laid the foundation for Omah Lay, Fireboy and the likes to slow down the tempo of Afrobeats, Niniola laid the foundation for the current movement.

She was one of the first to tamper with Amapiano and House music and bring it to us with our own flavour.

Fresh off MTN Project Fame, Nini burst onto the scene with back-to-back hits. Her range of topics and raw approaches to songs made her stay on the lips of fans and listeners. Her ability to be sexy with her lyrics and delivery was out of the world, and her stage performances took it to a whole new level.

One can only give credit when credit is due. A lot of OGs and long stayers in the game have come under heavy fire and criticism for ‘falling off’. Did Niniola fall off? I do not think so.

She currently has about 320k monthly listeners on Spotify. She has a lot of songs in the million-streaming range. If we’re judging her by the now, she’s doing okay. Judging her by her era, she’s amazing. She was ahead of the game and running the show.

Niniola has managed to transition to the streaming era and stay active and present while being ahead of the game for a long time. If anything, she is a victim of her own standard and success.

While setting a direction for sound development, she set a standard for female artists dropping consistent up-tempo hit records, and she did it in style. If she ever makes a comeback to the top, we should prepare for trouble.