Segun Johnson – Datiemo (Song, Music Video)

If you think hype music is just chanting, you have not watched Segun Johnson work a room. The Nigerian live performer and self‑taught drummer built his reputation on turning events into conversations. He does not sing ballads. He leads crowds. He picks a guest’s outfit, a job title, or a dance move and spins it into a freestyle chant that echoes across Lagos lounges, London stages, and Accra parties. Johnson calls his style “hype singing”—a mix of Yoruba praise poetry, street slang, and call‑and‑response that leaves no one in their seat. For years he performed behind local bands. Then he stepped in front. Now Johnson drops “Datiemo,” a street anthem built on the same raw, unplugged energy that sold out his London show at the Broadway Theatre.

segun johnson datiemo

The track runs three minutes. It opens with a percussive loop that nods to the drumming Johnson learned as a child in Oke‑Ira, Ogba, where his mother sold bread on the sidewalk. Johnson layers his voice over the beat in short, punchy phrases. He repeats the title word—a Nigerian street slang that works as a shout, a question, a punchline—until it locks into the listener’s head. Producers are not listed. Johnson keeps the arrangement lean, leaving room for the ad‑libs and crowd cues that define his live sets. This is not a radio single. It is a piece of event music, built for a room of people who already know the rules. Johnson has won back‑to‑back APPOEMN Best Live Band awards. He has performed for Chevron Nigeria, Toyota Nigeria, and Chief Ade‑Ojo at his private golf course. With “Datiemo,” he brings that same interactive energy to a recorded track. The official music video, streaming on YouTube, opens with a series of quick cuts: Johnson in a busy street, a wedding party, a club. The visual keeps the same spontaneous feel as his stage shows. No glossy set. No script. Just the man and the mic.

Segun Johnson – Datiemo