Urhobopiano: Vwederian’s Blueprint for a Distinct Sound

By Patrick Ezema

Oghenevwede Obiuwevbi, also known as Vwederianbeats or Vwederian, does something strange. Why would you sing in a language not widely spoken by the world? That is what he does. He created Urhobopiano, which is the mixture of Urhobo dialect and the South African Amapiano.

Among the minority groups in Nigeria, the Urhobo is found. Before now, artists like Pius Bill, O’fresh, Henry rank etc have tried infusing Urhobo into songs, but the idea fell apart because of the brand and the delivery. With the Urhobo people rapidly becoming represented in strategic places in the Nigerian entertainment industry, they still lack footprints in the modern-day music scene in terms of using the Urhobo language.

Vwederian thought about the idea in 2021, when he served as a producer and songwriter for Voice Up Delta Talent Event. This same show featured big stars like Teni Makanaki, Efezino, Victor Thompson among others.

The emerging artists in Delta State ignored their Urhobo dialect and embraced the Yoruba and Igbo languages in a bid to be regarded as urbane. Disappointed, Vwederian conceptualised an idea that would rely solely on the use of the Urhobo dialect in songs, aiming to make it an accepted genre like Afrobeats and Amapiano.

The idea became a reality in 2024, when Vwederian created Evolusion by collaborating with Tudac, a fast-rising Delta State artist who is based in England, to spread the idea of Urhobopiano to the world. “It has happened / The crowd is here / Look at it, Urhobo sons and daughters have arrived, come out,” Vwederian writes in the Urhobo dialect for the chorus of “Oshekure”.

Understanding that music is a universal language that must reflect who its creator is and where they are coming from, Vwederian uses Evolusion as a cultural album where local languages, melodies, and phrases support each other to stand out on the global stage.

Tudac’s performances of ‘Evolusion’ in some European countries were critically acclaimed, earning praise for their energetic fusion of Urhobo musical identity with the contemporary Afro-pop rhythms.

After working with Vwederian, who produced and wrote most of the songs in the album, Evolusion, Tudac released Epicfany, another Urhobo-centric album, to further broaden the Urhobopiano concept. On the 7-track album, he intentionally titled 5 of the tracks in Urhobo words and phrases, singing in Urhobo while mixing it with Nigerian pidgin English.

What once seemed like a risky artistic decision to place a minority Nigerian dialect at the centre of contemporary sounds has gradually begun to look like a cultural awakening. Since the success of Evolusion, other Delta State artists like Otacha, King Enakpodia, and Kayfrizy have embraced their Urhobo identity and are singing in the dialect.

Urhobopiano continues to spread everywhere, even with the relationship of the rhythm structure with modernity. With this move, there’s a correction to the belief that because one doesn’t speak one’s language. It is audacious.

With this belief, Vwederian is following the legacy of legends like King Sunny Ade, Angelique Kidjo, Salif Keita, and Bad Bunny, that move on the path less travelled. They believe that global musical sounds can also be of local dialects.