Love songs: a staple of music from the beginning of time. You think you know how they go: the crooner with the sultry voice tugging at your heartstrings in dulcet tones, slowing down the tempo to coax out every bit of emotion from your heart, chanting masterful poetry to the accompaniment of a demure piano backed by a violin, maybe, and a gently plucked guitar; perhaps a whisper of percussion. In your mind’s eye, you’re seeing a certified sweetie pie like John Legend or Ed Sheeran. Perhaps, from the song title alone, you’re ready to share your life with someone. It’s all a very sweet production, isn’t it?
But trust Nigerians not to follow the formula. Our own love songs directly reflect what it truly means to be Nigerian: the good, the bad, and the hilariously chaotic. Here’s a look into how Nigerian musicians show love.
- Styl Plus: Honey-Coated Lies.
They do exactly what you’d expect from Nigerian men with their sweet mouths, and they do it well. That group knew exactly what to do with words, whether it’s all the English they were speaking on ‘Always On My Mind’, or how ‘Hadiza’ will have you thinking maybe men aren’t actually wicked. However, ‘Olufunmi’ is the standout. Although it’s a lyrical masterpiece from top to bottom, the part that goes, “I’ll pause my heart for you; when you come home, you’d be the one to make it move”, is clear. It will get anybody, even a cardiologist who knows it’s physically impossible.
- Adewale Ayuba: Just A Day In The Life
By listening to ‘Koloba Koloba’, you get a glimpse into our everyday situation. It has everything:
- the title that already suggests not quite chaos but an air of stress and anyhowness,
- ‘coconut head’ behaviour (“Mi o lo si bi kan, ma ba won tatan de le”: loose translation – “I’m going nowhere, I’ll fight to the end”),
- A sprinkle of “do you know who I am” (“Emi gan gan, Mobolaji, Mojibola…),
- The bride’s family stressing him out just because they can, as we see in people with literally any bit of power over others,
- Him quickly yielding to that power to get what he wants (“What matters to me is to become her sugar, I will do what they say”)
That’s just how it works here, whether it’s dealing with the police or trying to get something done at a government office, or in this case, a marriage quest.
- Chidinma: Onomatopoeia
It is scientifically proven that having a crush on someone makes your heart beat differently: the racing pulse, skipping a beat, whatever else you people are always talking about. Other people might describe the sensations in the deepest ways, but only a Nigerian artist would simply sing the sound. That’s exactly what Chidinma did on “Kedike”, and it worked.
- Faze: Societal Mirror
In 2006, he gave us “On A Plane”, the story that many Nigerians face: I love you, you love me, but our families don’t like the fact that we’re from different tribes. It’s 2026 now, and we can’t say the situation has gotten better. On the bright side, it’s a GOATed song. He clearly agrees with me, as he released the music video in late 2025, damn near 20 years after.
He might also have been the prototype that Chidinma followed, with his “Kpo Kpo Di Kpo” from the same album, describing the way his babe makes his heart pound, “you’re my heartthrob” is clearly too soft for his own type of love.
- Teni: Chasing Danger
People say they can do anything for the one they love. Other people might express this with sayings like “I’d go to the moon and back for you”, but that’s not nearly enough for Nigerians. Would your lover actually put themselves in danger? On “Case”, Teni says she would, but is it necessary, though? Slapping police and agberos? Going to war? Starving? Seems a bit much, but maybe that’s how deep the love goes.
- Davido: Blowing Money
Mr Thirty-Billion-For-The-Account gave words to a sentiment shared by millions of Nigerians when he said, “Love is sweet oh, when money enter, love is sweeter” on “Assurance”. Like many of his compatriots, David believes that if you’re truly in love, then money must fall, and that 1 milli bride price must be paid.
- Rema: Food
Food is a bone of contention for many Nigerians; that’s a fact. The endless Twitter conversations that devolve into days-long multi-focal arguments are proof of that. But for Rema, it’s simply a readily available metaphor for the one who has his eye, whether she’s the Lady whose body “sweet pass hot eba” or the girl who “sweet like Fanta” on Calm Down.
- Wizkid: Any Small Thing, Die.
Nigerians are a very dramatic bunch. We like to go for the most sensational thing that could possibly be said in every scenario, and Big Wiz has figured out that laying down your life is the ultimate. It’s a pattern across several songs: “I fit die on top your matter”, “if you leave me, I go kpai” on Kind Love, and even “if I leave me, you go kpai; if you leave, I go kpai” on Essence. Loving a person to death’s door must really be something.
- Burna Boy: Under The Influence
Nigerians love a good metaphor. Sometimes, a person might even find multiple different ways to speak about the same subject. For Odogwu, it seems to be the concept of being love-drunk. Several times, he has compared the feeling of love to substance use. There was “baby your love dey high me like choko” on On The Low, and an entire run of lines on Gum Body: “Got me wondering, am I just drunk or something, or I’m in love….a junkie for your loving, I must be high on something.”
- The Cavemen., Tekno & Kizz Daniel: Not Shakespeare’s Descendants
Nigerians are known for using very flowery language, but we are also really good at passing our point across with plainer vocabulary. Cases in point: Tekno’s Wash and Kizz’s Ada. Some other times, we abandon our usual verbosity and communicate succinctly, like how on Anita, The Cavemen. needed exactly 5 lines only. But they all said everything they needed to, so, fairs.
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