By Obinna Fred
What You Think I Rap For ? To Push A Rav 4 ? / Come in Through the Front Just to Take The Back Door / I’ve had enough Patience , do you think I got more ? / Just to get up on the Score / With my pedal to the Floor – Eva Alordiah { Deaf }
Eva Alordiah is definitely the last of a dying breed. Hip-hop followers in Nigeria would know exactly what that statement means, considering the fact the average lifespan of the Nigerian female rapper is approximately one project (Sasha P – First Lady, Weird MC – Simply Weird, After da Storm , Kel – The Investment , Mo Cheddah – Franchise Celebrity), no female rapper has been able to pull weight commercially or even maintain an underground hip-hop following for a substantial period of time, and in the last 5 years, we haven’t had a monumental album from a female rapper. Eva Alordiah deserves some credit for the way she has been able to strike the right balance and keep real lovers of rap music interested in her while dropping commercially viable tracks and making stellar Guest appearances on tracks by both heavy hitters like P-Square (Shake It Down Low ) and underground stalwarts like Str8buttah ( Make Em Say ) , With three projects out ( The Pre G.I.G.O EP, The G.I.G.O EP And The Eva EP), she already has a richer discography than most Nigerian femcees (her forthcoming album would make her the female rapper with the most projects). That is why we believe it would be a definitive project, not just for Femcees, but for Nigerian hip-hop in general.
Look at all these Bitches with Speeches Trying to do what I Do / They Say Business is Business , I Need a Better View – Eva Alordiah ( Crazy Featuring Sauce Kid )
Eva Alordiah, like most Nigerian artistes that came out in between 2006 and 2009, arrived into the game off the back of inarguably one of Nigeria’s biggest rap albums, Talk About It by M.I Which also coincided with the flourishing of what I refer to as “The Blog Era” and with the help of the blogosphere, she was able to announce her arrival to Fans of Nigerian music. Thus, she announced herself with her freestyle “I Dey Play” over the instrumental of A’Milli By Lil Wayne, She immediately appealed to underground rap heads, and her early collaborations on street favourites like the Owo Ati Swaggar remix with the late Da Grin showed she can hold her own alongside the big spitters and also increased her appeal to lovers of rap music. While refusing to limit her fanbase, she also made songs which could easily be played alongside the best club songs in the land. Tracks like Big Biggie, and ‘Shuga’ (where she experimented with dancehall to a good result) clearly show her versatility as an artist. I hate to compare her to Nicki Minaj, but I cannot ignore the obvious similarities, especially in the aforementioned department of versatility, as both of them can sing when they want to and go hard on the rap tip when they want to. and also meddle with some dancehall if need be. Her performance on The Micworx-produced Mannequin ( The E-Mix ) had me convinced she was special and in the mould of artistes that don’t follow trends but dictate their own pace and are not scared to experiment. That song made me realise how talented she is as she showed off her skills over the dubstep-influenced instrumental (I’ve never heard another Nigerian femcee sing or spit over Dubstep).
She has not been immune to label squabbles herself, having publicly fallen out with Trybe Records C.E.O Eldee in 2012 over a record label situation (the details remain Muddled ) and also Quitting 3UD Management. Last year, after a public Twitter spat with her erstwhile boss , Still, that didn’t deter her from putting out singles, videos and trudging forward with her music career. She also has the “X-Factor”, which is the ability to stir up controversy, as was the case when she released High which a lot of people thought was an ode to marijuana; meanwhile, as she clarified in an interview on MTV Iggy, It was a song written about the struggles of life. Clearly, Eva has mastered the game and how to keep herself afloat as an emcee in the current musical terrain.
Who Gives A Fuck If I Walk Butt Naked / And my Lyrics Over Rated / I’m The Next Top Rated – Eva Alordiah ( I No Send You )
Eva’s reputation has never been higher thanks to the fact that she hasn’t lost her mettle like one of the female rappers I know (Blaise, anyone?) and that she is about to release her debut album, 1960. Her similarities to Nicki Minaj’s most recent album, The Pink Print, would be even more visible when the album, which we believe would serve as a model for female emcees in Nigeria, comes after her (or has been stuck in limbo). Since Tesh Carter, Fefe, Pryse, A.T, Ms Chief, Oluwatipsy, and other up-and-coming female rappers are looking for inspiration from a female rapper in the game, 1960 might just point them in the right direction and solidify Eva’s position on the vacant throne.
I See These dumb Bitches Run around Like they Mini Me’s/And They aint saying shit from now till Infinity/And everybody love me, yeah they say that they feeling this – Eva Alordiah ( Gibberish )