Among the many things that many Nigerian mainstream rappers have in common is their struggles from grass to grace, from street hustling to mainstream, and while these stories have over the years inspired other up-and-coming artists, few rappers share close to none of that story.
One Nigerian rapper who you could say didn’t really share stories of him in the hood and hustling to make ends meet is Naeto C – The only MC with an M.sc.
Just recently, Nigerians took a moment to highlight moments where the rapper has inspired them despite not sharing sad stories of how hard it was for him and how he has also had a generational influence on many other Nigerian up-and-coming artists.
Well, the trend goes without a saying that there would be those who would think the exact opposite and say the rapper was nothing more than he was and nothing less than he was when he was still active in the Nigerian rap scene. On Twitter, many music and rap lovers are now comparing Naeto C with MI Abaga as they placed each of their projects side by side.
in our spotlight this week, we take a look at Naeto C and his style of rapping which has generational relevance today even in the pop culture in Nigeria.
Naetochukwu Chikwe, stage name Naeto C, is a Nigerian rapper, Afrobeat artist, and record producer. He was born in Houston, Texas, and is of Nigerian origin.
Education
After finishing his secondary education in Lagos, he moved to the United States for higher education both in SUNY Old Westbury and a year later, George Washington University. It was at this time that he met Uzikwendu and Ikechukwu, who was then an aspiring hip-hop artist out of Washington Heights, New York.
The trio went on to form the World Famous Akademy, a brotherhood of musicians. They planned to grow into an independent record label but could not get their hands on the proper funds. Naeto C graduated in 2004 from the George Washington University with a BSc. in Biology, intending to go study further and become a medical doctor. After some deep self-searching he changed his mind and decided to pursue his dream and develop his talent as a musician.
In 2010 Naeto pursued an MSc in Energy Studies at the University of Dundee in Scotland.
Music Career
Storm Records, (a record company based in Lagos, Nigeria) had been trying to sign the World Famous Akademy for some time, and since Naeto had decided to pursue his career as a musician he agreed along with the rest of the WFA. But they did not return to Nigeria until early 2006, when Ikechukwu released his debut album, Son Of the Soil.
That album laid the grounds for Naeto C and the WFA. Working as an in-house producer with his newly discovered production team “ET-Quake” (consisting of TY Mix and VC Perez), Naeto was able to display his production skills working with Storm artists like Sasha, Dare Art-Alade, GT the Guitarman, Disconnect, Saro-Wiwa and Nkiru. Within a year of working with the aforementioned artists, Naeto had successfully recorded over 60 songs including his most recent album material (a bulk of which he co-produced with ET-Quake).
Naeto C” has recorded over 50 songs for his debut with production that transcends today’s hip hop sound MO HIT RECORD, May 2008 From the Fela inspired “Lagos City Hustla” the most articulate reflection of Hip-Hop/Afro-beat till date to the down-south-melody-stricken first single “Sitting on Top”, Naeto C has broken all boundaries and surpassed more limits than any up and coming artist, lyrically and production-wise according to MO HIT RECORD.
