[Artiste Review] Do You Think Solidstar Is Currently The Most Underappreciated Pop Musician Of Our Time?

The Nigerian Afro-Pop singer whose style is described as a mix of Reggae, R&B and Pop music, consistently received praise for his style of music, and contributions to some indisputable playlist-topping songs. But for many pop fans there is the feeling that his contributions to the scene is mostly overlooked.

It’s the same type of feeling that has plagued fans of Rayce, Nosa, Orezi and many others for for years. As soon as these singers create new work, the content is fawned over, but the creator is dismissed.

To the credit of sleepers and detractors, Solidstar recently did suffer from being outshined by another artiste on a hit song he championed and owned. His collaboration with Timaya on ‘My body’, had the dancehall singer receiving all the credits, props and accolades, rather than him. But that was unavoidable, Timaya owns the genre, and so found a way to own the song.

But for many fans who do listen to full albums, Solidstar released his debut album in 2010 titled “One In A Million” which spawned the hit “One in a million” which became a hit featuring one of the Africa’s biggest stars, 2face Idibia. Back then 2face was enamored by the young music maker, professing that “his ability as a singer, producer and performer is rare especially or someone as young as him, when he asked me for the duet, I was very excited to be a part of the song”.
There’s also the credit Solidstar deserves for taking chances musically. He’s transitioned between genres, working with EDM on his hit single ‘Skibo’,  which still stands out as one of his brightest moments, produced by Slim Beats. He took on Eastern Highlife and made ‘Oluchi’ with Flavour. He’s also tried traditional sounds, making two records with Tiwa Savage – ‘Baby Jollof’, and ‘Wait’ refix, and throwing Patoranking on the latter. Solidstar takes on new ideas regularly, and he has struck gold with at least one hit at every time.

On the flipside of all the highlights there are also songs that are relatively forgettable but still good enough to enjoy throughout, such as ‘Good Woman’ and the budget feature song ‘Super Eagles’.

Solidstar has never gone more than a year without releasing a hit song, but his music is widely disregarded in light of his lukewarm persona, as a cool dude, but lacking in the stardust and power  that defines true pop stars. It seems to be a conscious decision to ignore him, as he pretty much leaves the mind once the DJ stops playing his song, or you click the next button. Nothing special has been seen from Solidstar off the mic, with no huge statement, affiliation or controversy bearing his name.

Maybe this is the way it should be, though. If the attention paid toward Solidstar was not focused on his music, would he still be as focused as he is? Would he still be making reggae or Highlife fusion sounds if he didn’t have the time to give him that freedom?

It’s reasonable for casual and enthusiastic fans to have missed passed over Solidstar due to his personality, or lack of it. But he has released a mind-boggling amount amount of hit songs. But anyone who considers themselves a follower of the music industry needs to revisit all his works and better familiarize themselves with a discography and a singer that doesn’t seem to get the credit they deserve.