Bigiano, Klever Jay and five unforgettable one-hit wonders

While some artistes can boast of music industry longevity, the career of many others can be likened to a flash in the pan.

One-hit wonders are artistes who release hit singles, put together a decent album, stay in the limelight for some time and poof, they are gone – like they never came.

For some, it’s a gradual disappearance into the oblivion of music obscurity and for the relentless, they are consigned to the sidelines and are forced to settle for ocassional crumbs of success.

Here are some of the people we thought would stay longer in the spotlight but they didn’t.

In 2008, Bigiano had Nigeria dancing to his major hit song Shayo and owing to the success of the single, he named his album Shayo Master.

The album, which was released under T.Joe Records in 2010, contained minor hits such as Iwofa, True Story and One and Only.

At what was possibly the peak of his success, Bigiano disappeared from the scene. In a recent interview, he explained why he went off the radar.

He said: “I decided to take a little break to re-brand myself . When  the fame of  ‘Shayo’ came, I couldn’t handle it. I deliberately made the decision to go off the scene in 2011 to re-position my brand.”

A few years later, he returned with a new single, Tonight, but it failed to gain any traction and subsequent releases have followed the same path.

When you hear her name, the song that comes to mind is Ijo ya.

Although Weird MC released an album “Simply Weird” in 1996, she didn’t hit the limelight till 2006 when she released Ijo ya.

The song and was commercially successful but her album After The Storm failed to make a strong statement.

Not much has been heard from Weird MC since then, in spite of her ocassional releases.

Rumour has it that she has her eye on politics.

Soul E Baba Dey Here was an extremely popular tune in 2006 and Soul E built on the success of the song with the release of an even more commercially successful single, E be like say featuring 2face Idibia.

Subsequently, Soul E released his debut album, Naija is Blessed, which performed relatively well at the time.

All his releases after that album fell flat and failed to garner commercial appeal.

Any hope of getting another hit from Soul E was dashed when he announced that he was leaving music for the gospel.

Emmanuel Okose, now a prophet, says he made the life-changing decision in Singapore when a man told him he would become a cripple should he fail to do God’s work.

Jodie released Under the Mango tree and Kuchi Kuchi (Oh Baby) in 2010 and both songs achieved widespread popularity and impact.

Two years later, the singer released her debut album African Woman, but ever since, she’s been quiet.

While Jodie has not entirely left the music industry, she appears to have taken a back seat to start a family.

Pass me your love was a club favourite and one of the best singles of 2009.

The hit song which was produced by Terry G caused a serious rift between both artistes.

Over time, many have argued that perhaps, AY got caught up in the beef that he became distracted and struggled to release anything on the level of Pass me your love.

In June 2016, AY attempted to make a comeback with Capital G.O.D featuring Oritsefemi and 9ice, but the single never enjoyed radio rotation.

Samklef attained prominence for his extensive production work on Wizkid’s debut album, ‘Superstar’.

Unsatisfied with staying on the sidelines and helping make music stars, Samklef pursued his own music career and early on, he hit gold.

In 2011, Samklef released Molowo noni, a successful song which featured D’Prince, Wizkid and Ice Prince.

The release of his Gift of God album was perhaps the sign of things to come as the record was poorly received by fans and music critics.

In spite of subsequent releases and features, Samklef has failed to receive the attention commensurate to his effort.

In 2008, Klever Jay’s Koni Koni Love was a massive hit in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.

His follow-up single Igboro ti daro enjoyed a similar level of success after which it all fizzled out.

Klever Jay, in a 2015 interview, acknowledged that the song changed his life.

“I won’t lie to you, ‘Koni Koni Love’ remains my most memorable song. The track was a turning point in my life; it turned everything around for me, and till date, I can proudly say that the song did a lot for me.”

Sadly, he has failed to produce any life-changing songs ever since.

He released several songs after his first album but none has thus far placed him on the same pedestal as the first batch.