Artist: scottyolorin

 ALBUM: OLORIN PACK

 Label: scottyolorin

 Guest Stars: ytboutthataction , R33NZO , Egertton , surinzza , ARTSALGHUL

 Producers: Awful Daniel, Semzi Bond, Professor U, R33NZO, Ad3_mybp, JTRN, Joeyxcv, Bube, Oche, 3cb, Elemen3

  Release Date: March 27, 2026

This year’s Homecoming heralded the new wave of cool kids on the block, boldly operating outside the polished machinery of the Nigerian mainstream. At Grace Ladoja’s ninth edition of the ultimate cultural exchange festival — five days of music, fashion, art and sport that took over Lagos from April 2 to 6 — the underground showed up dripping with avant-garde intent.

The headline group shot captured it perfectly. Scotty Olorin stood front and centre in a sharp green-and-black striped jersey, his oversized circular pendant swinging with every bit of presence.

To his right, Egertton brought quiet confidence in a bold patterned top. On the left, Luwa.MP4 owned the frame with his signature Mohawk and graphic black t-shirt. These weren’t safe, mainstream looks — they were raw, personal statements of rebellion draped in Mowalola.

Compared to the alte wave of 2015/2016, this fresh crop sits firmly at the forefront of what music netizens on Twitter now call the “UG” movement. But UG is more than just a sound. It’s a complete positional identity — built on independent infrastructure with no major label middlemen, grassroots circulation, direct fan access, their own merch drops , and the freedom to sell out their own shows without chasing radio rotation.

Their sonic style leans deeper into Nigerian DNA than ever. Think Scotty Olorin, Egertton, Luwa.MP4, Deela, Zaylevelten and the rest. Deela experiments boldly with Nigerian pop sounds and Nollywood aesthetics from the 2000s. Zaylevelten injects raw local lingo into his trap/opium sound in ways predecessors like Psycho YP and Maison 2500 never quite managed. Scotty Olorin glides between singer, rapper and hyperpop territory — his avant-garde production borrowing from anime and video game textures (think electronic music OG Porter Robinson or UK counterpart fakemink), laced with unmistakable Afrobeats drum percussion that keeps it unmistakably homegrown.

This UG wave sits comfortably within a larger global shift. Around the world, a new generation of hip‑hop artistes is leaning hard into hyperpop aesthetics. In the U.S., there are Slayr, 2Hollis, Lucy Bedroque, and Molly Santana — even Ye’s daughter, North West, whose fashion aesthetics & new single “Piercing on My Hand” echoes the sonics of this new shift. The UK has fakemink. China has jackzebra and FOUR4444, africakid. South Korea has Effie & The Deep , while SA has JayKatana & Brotherkupa. Most of them were teens when Lil Uzi Vert dropped “XO Tour Life,” Playboi Carti unleashed Die Lit and Whole Lotta Red, and the 2020 hyperpop buzz took over. They refuse to be boxed in — as our own Nigerian artistes would say, “I can’t be put in a box.” Instead, they embody a new cool kid aesthetic: avant-garde aesthetics fused with hip-hop swagger, echoing the chaotic intensity of 80s peak rock era in youthful rebelliousness and experimentation. Their lyrics don’t flinch from the popular vices of the youth — fraud, drugs and that celebrity hedonism lifestyle.

At Homecoming 2026, with its landmark Nike Air Max Plus collaboration — the “Pan African” and “African Sunrise” colorways designed by Grace Ladoja herself, the first African woman to do so — the energy of the performances by these “ug” stars was palpable. These artistes aren’t concerned with going mainstream on someone else’s terms. They’re building something that truly belongs here — independent, stylish, and impossible to ignore.

And that’s exactly where Scotty Olorin steps in with his project…