Rap Master Lexy Mella – On The Air Rap
From Rap Master Lexy Mella – Special Night 
Released on Ire-Oha-Zim Records, 1985, Nigeria

The first Rap hit in Nigeria – like in many other countries – was Sugarhill Gang‘s Rapper’s Delight, released in 1979. After the release of the song, many wannabe rappers tried their chance at this new form of music, with more or less success.

Amongst them was Lexy Mella, self-proclaimed « Rap Master« , who released his only album in 1985, right in the middle of the first wave of Nigerian rappers, and which contained his « hit », On The Air Rap, whose title explicitly mentioned rap.

On On The Air Rap, you can feel that Nigerian rappers were following what was happening in the US, and were absolutely not behind their times, for – as in stand-out american albums like LL Cool J‘s Radio or Run DMC‘s King of Rock – they experimented with more minimalist instrumentals, highlighting the sounds of the drum machines.

Rapper Master Lexy Mella‘s hit song is not a cheap copy of an US rap song though, it definitely got some amazing elements, sounding quite Nigerian to our ears, that make the song sound so good, and especially this kind of floating, bouncing vibe to it… And there’s just so much warmth contained in this heavy analog jam !