The New Benin Wave
Three brothers who grew up in one house. A DJ who became a co-writer by accident. An optometry student with six No. 1s this year. All from the same few streets in Benin City — and all, right now, bigger than the city that made them.
Article one traced the royal drum through Uwaifo's gold record to this year's biggest Nigerian hit. This one stops the timeline and meets the people living it right now — who's related to whom, who's really behind the slang going viral on your feed, and which songs you should actually press play on.
Every name below is checked against a real source — a Wikipedia page, a music-press profile, an artist's own quote, a credited feature. Where something couldn't be confirmed, it says so, plainly, instead of guessing. That's the house rule for this whole series. Read part one, "What Is Edo Music?", here ↗
One block.
One empire.
Shallipopi, Zerrydl and Famous Pluto are brothers — not a marketing story, an actual household. Everyone else here is connected to that household by a feature, a stage, a remix, or a credit. Tap a name.
Scroll sideways to see the whole web, then tap a name.
Tap any name on the web above
Each one unlocks a short, sourced bio and how it connects back to the Uzama brothers.
Zerrydl
Born Divine Uzama, 4 December 2002 — Shallipopi's younger brother, Famous Pluto's older brother. The twist: he started making music in 2015, a full year before Shallipopi did. "Little brother" undersells it.2
"Back to Back" (2024) became his first Billboard entry, charting on the U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart and the UK Official Afrobeats Chart. He won Rookie of the Year at The Headies 2025.2
Famous Pluto
Born Osahon Grandeur Uzama, the youngest of the three. His debut EP, Uzama The 3rd (2025), is framed as a tribute to all three brothers by name — not just an introduction, a coronation.3
"I'm not here to follow. I'm here to stamp my lane."11
Mavo
Oseremen Marvin Ukanigbe, from Ekpoma, Edo State — final-year optometry student at Afe Babalola University, still finishing his degree while landing six No. 1 songs on Apple Music Nigeria in 2026 alone.4
"My music is my real story... when people vibe with it, they're really connecting with who I am."15
Outsyd DJ
Victory Osadolor started as a general Benin City nightlife DJ in 2021. By 2024 he was credited alongside Famous Pluto on "Feel D Mood" — the TikTok-viral track that launched Pluto's career. Party DJ to co-writer of a national hit, on the record.12
Now Shallipopi's official touring DJ.
Influence Akaba
The same Akaba family from part one — Akaba Man's son. "Akugbe" credits Influence Akaba, Akaba Man and Famous Akaba together on one track: three generations' worth of Edo-funk lineage, still recording as a unit.17
Honest gap: we could not find any 2025–2026 press coverage of him — his footprint is real but older. If you know more, tell us.
Bizzylingua.
Mavo invents his own slang almost every release — fans call the style Bizzylingua. (One correction up front: we went looking for a "Bur Bur Dictionary" and couldn't confirm it exists under that name — his own terms are Bizzylingua for the style and, per one profile, "Bizzypedia" for a printed glossary of it. Worth asking him directly.)13
Five of his words actually have a sourced, spelled-out meaning. Match each word to its real meaning — tap one, then tap the meaning you think goes with it.
You cleared Bizzylingua. Four more of his words are confirmed real but their exact meaning never made it into any interview we could find: Escaladizzy, Gallorizzy, Kilo Kan Kan Mi, Knack Appointment. If you can crack one, you know more than our sources could tell us.14
Spin for your
next Benin banger.
Seven real, verified songs from this piece. Spin the wheel, whatever it lands on is what you listen to next.
Nothing spun yet.
Make your Benin
Wave card.
Pick a name. Download a card for your own story or feed. This isn't an official King of Men graphic — it's yours to post.
Two names
to watch — carefully.
Tibey
A real, active Benin City artist (own channel, own fanbase calling themselves the "Bey Tribe"), best known for "Yawa Dey." But the only press coverage we found was a single, openly promotional profile, and his official videos sit at 1,200–1,700 views. His own Edo origin is self-described, not independently confirmed by a third party.21 Worth a listen. Not yet worth calling a rising star.
2Rymce
Named by one respected culture-criticism outlet as "the newest voice on the block," blending traditional Benin drumming with synths. We could not find a second source, a real name, or a streaming profile for this name anywhere else.18 One credible mention is a lead, not a confirmation.
This is the same reality check as the client behind this magazine applies to himself: an early scene deserves honest tracking, not inflated hype.
Tune Your Frequency
Every preset below lights up once you've actually used that part of the piece.
Before you go
Is any of this officially endorsed by the artists?
No. This is independent music journalism published on King of Men's Afrobeats Magazine, built from public sources — press, Wikipedia, official artist posts and credited features. None of these artists commissioned, reviewed or approved this piece.
Wait — is Buju (BNXN) from Edo State?
No. This comes up a lot, so: his Wikipedia-listed state of origin is Akwa Ibom, born in Lagos. The rumor traces to a November 2024 tweet where he described a difficult hometown without naming it — people read an "Edo reveal" into it that was never actually there.1920
What's "Afro-Pluto"?
Good catch if you'd seen that term floating around attached to Famous Pluto — in every source we checked, it's actually Shallipopi's own name for his own sound, not his brother's.10
Why isn't [an artist you expected] on this list?
Because we couldn't confirm the Edo/Benin connection, the facts, or both, to a standard we're willing to publish. Ayra Starr is the clearest example from part one — a brilliant artist, genuinely not from Edo State. We'd rather have a shorter, accurate list than a longer, shaky one.
- Shallipopi — Wikipedia
- Zerrydl — Wikipedia
- Famous Pluto — Wikipedia
- Mavo (musician) — Wikipedia
- Shallipopi reveals star-studded tracklist for AURACLE — NotJustOk
- Shallipopi drops new single "Allergies" — Interspace Music, 15 Jun 2026
- Shallipopi urges Headies to recognise "real rappers" — GazetteNGR, 28 Apr 2025
- Shallipopi reveals how he got his stage name — NotJustOk
- Oba of Benin requests "Laho" as Shallipopi visits palace — Blueprint.ng, 4 Apr 2026
- Beyond Plutomania: The Rise of Shallipopi — Clash Music
- Famous Pluto claims space with "Uzama The 3rd" — Culture Custodian
- Outsyd DJ is revolutionizing Afrobeats one beat at a time — NotJustOk
- Mavo breaks down the meaning behind "Shakabulizzy" — NotJustOk, 22 Oct 2025
- "No more way for poor people" — a street slang with a dose of reality — Culture Custodian
- Mavo is building his own lane — Okayafrica, 20 Jul 2026
- Mavo named Billboard African Rookie of the Month — NotJustOk, 26 Nov 2025
- "Akugbe" — Influence Akaba, Akaba Man & Famous Akaba — Shazam credit listing
- The resurgence of Benin sound — Africa Is a Country, 3 Jun 2025
- Bnxn (Buju) — Wikipedia
- BNXN on his place of origin — NotJustOk, 21 Nov 2024
- Tibey: the next Benin boy to blow after Rema, Shalipopi — ThisDayLive, 31 Aug 2024
- Zerrydl — "Back to Back" — NotJustOk
- How Shallipopi Bent Culture To His Will — The NATIVE
Companion pieces: What Is Edo Music? · What Is Afrobeats? · Plan a night with King of Men