Formerly one-half of duo Kc Presh, KCee (born Kingsley Okonkwo) made a splash with his 2013 debut solo outing, Take Over. With it, the Lagos-raised singer-songwriter melded his background in gospel, rap and highlife into a sprawling 19 tracks of unabashed, uptempo pop. Anchored by smash hits “Limpopo”, the Wizkid-assisted “Pullover” and the Davido-featuring “Ogaranya”, Take Over would go on to shape the sonic landscapes of Afropop and urban highlife. Helmed mostly by producer Del B and graced by such artists as Don Jazzy, Flavour, Skiibii, Phyno, D’Banj, Mr Songz and Timaya, the album’s catchy pop ditties earned KCee Song of the Year (for “Limpopo”) and Hip-Hop World Revelation of the Year nods at the 2013 and ’14 Headies, respectively. More than making a play for the mainstream, KCee deftly nodded towards his influences—both modern and traditional—by dabbling in synth-laden electro-pop on “Do It”, rolling polyrhythmic strums into “Hakuna Matata” and injecting percussive highlife into the gospel-tinged “Chineke Di Mma”.