We can’t categorically say Chocolate City is heaving its last sighs as
a major label with Ice Prince’s recently announced exit. What we can
say however is that at some point in the label’s history, the highlight
of every album released under the label’s imprint was the official Choc
Boy anthem for the record. Here is a definitive ranking of all the Choc
Boy songs released before the label’s problems began in 2012 with Jesse
Jagz’ exit.
5. Chocolate – Brymo, Son of a Kapenta, 2012
If we didn’t know any better we’d say the label had anticipated
problems later that year, hence gave a befitting title to this number
off Brymo’s sole album before announcing his exit via a series of
chaotic tweets. With the addition of Pryse as the label’s first female
rapper, the song didn’t bear the usual ‘(feat. Choc Boys)’ tag, but it
did have Brymo on chorus and Jesse Jagz on the last verse while Ice
Prince and M.I filled everything in between. Between the local Hausa
music infused beat and Pryse’ dull opening, this is unarguably the
weakest link in the gallery of Choc Boy anthems.
4. Thank You – Ice Prince, Everybody Loves Ice Prince, 2011
Ice Prince debut
ELI album may have as well changed the
industry in its own way. Heavy kicks and poppy synths are littered
across the Jesse Jagz produced LP and
Thank You borrows the
same instrumental arrangement to close the album. Ice Prince stumbles
through his verse with occasionally mediocre punches but he is rescued
by a chord progression that does too much even for Jesse Jagz who
unusually mouths cringe-worthy lines like
Life’s a bitch(pause)/me Nyansh tire .
M.I drops a humorous third verse maintaining the basic bars standard
his comrades already set through the song. But the success of this song
was never really in the verse, it was in Brymo’s smooth chorus about
fine boys looking for fine girls. Agreed, none of it makes sense, but boy does it sound good.
3. Represent – M.I, M.I 2: The Movie, 2010
A skit between a cinema attendant and a customer who apparently fell
asleep in the theater while waiting for the post-credits Choc Boy anthem
opens
Represent. Brymo’s voice backed by electronic organ
synths opens the song for Jesse Jagz to spit on the first verse. Save
for his interpolation of the punch lines – ‘ping-pong’ and ‘king-kong’
on the wrong bars, Ice Prince delivers an almost flawless second verse.
M.I comes in briefly for a vocoded refrain, before bursting into a
2-minute long final verse detailing how he set up his Choc Boy crew and
of course reminding us why they will be at the top for a while.
2. Choc Boys – M.I, Illegal Music, 2008
It is general knowledge that M.I’s Illegal Music mixtapes may be the
only representation of his true artistry, and this alternate synth
version of JayZ’s
Roc Boys proves just that. With a minimalist cast of the original Choc Boy formation, M.I, Ice Prince and Jesse Jagz,
Choc Boys
is opened by M.I’s auto-tuned sing-song style. Jesse Jagz, Ice Prince
and the Short Black Boy himself fulfill the role of their places while
the lush instrumental does the rest of the work. This is probably the
smoothest lyricism we will ever get to hear from this three, and not
even Ice Prince’ infamous
flow so bloody/ just me and my menses line did too much to taint that legacy
1. Nobody Test Me – Jesse Jagz, Jag of All Trades, 2009
In what many have referred to as one of the hardest collaborative rap songs to ever come out of Nigeria,
Nobody Test Me came at the peak of the Chocolate City freshman years in the music industry. It’s 2009, M.I’s debut album,
Talk about it, dropped the previous year, Jesse Jags just snagged a hit off
Jargo
and Ice Prince was quickly becoming a household name, these guys were
literally untouchable. With a chorus helmed by Ice Prince,
Nobody Test Me
is a song that comes second to none as a statement of braggadocio. The
braggart premise of the song is further fine-tuned by an M.I second
verse where subtle shots are taken at Kelly Hansome before Jesse Jagz
finishes off with the bar for bar tightrope lines that stay on course
all through the verse. Trust us when we say, this is the best of the
best of the Choc Boys.
SOURCE :
SOUNDS.NGhttps://youtu.be/IpX30PFR1BQ
![Winter Is Coming [Official mixtape art]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_u9aFZe8jhUazNzLvG0JALxPC-IqUa4iVmZ2-tYXvmxHCCat2Qwkf5JEwK9aR-4EvdZKaQRKDtr-Z805Gx0ISgXi8hzTFqrGyFpXGqPfOW5-cfDbcVu5jLgor2MzSHVjlfbunVXSn7-4VygMfiZGDPumz2CBpDwJ2p6ScUglAVWEIzp=s0-d)
![KevinWords - "Levelz" | @kevin_gaiya [Prod by @Stevjazzbeats]](https://i1.wp.com/trendscaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/IMG-20160919-WA0009.jpg?resize=908,817)
