The motive here is to provide a little insight into the background of the selected artistes. These selected artistes are not all from the same part of Nigeria, although, most of them built their musical career in Lagos. Lagos is a part of Nigeria where almost all the Nigerian secular artistes goes to, in search of limelight. A lot of information about these artistes are public and can be assessed by almost anyone with an internet connection. Therefore, the information given about these selected artistes in this research work was gathered from the internet, mostly from Wikipedia and few from other websites.
2.12:1 ADEKUNLE GOLD
Adekunle Kosoko also known as Adekunle Gold is a Nigerian Urban-Highlife and pop singer, who got signed to YBNL records in 2015 and hit spotlight the same year after releasing several hit singles.
Adekunle Gold, who is a graduate of Lagos State Polytechnic with a degree in Graphics, formed a band "The Bridge" with best friend, Seyikeyz, in 2010 and they released four songs "No
sleeping on a bicycle", "Norm Breaker" featuring Skales and "All of me" (John legend cover). In 2013, he Left 'The Bridge' to debut as a solo act. Having identified his style of music, he released a song titled "Let it stop", a song about peace for the nation.
He linked his success to his dad who used to play classic songs by King Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey while he drove them to school every day. He developed interest in music from listening to those men. He wrote his first song at the age of 15 and started out singing in his early teens as a member of the junior church choir. The popular singer is quite known for his
Photoshop skills in the social media back in 2013. In 2014, he released his version of One Direction's 'Story of My Life", which he titled 'SADE'. This song enjoyed massive airplay and got him signed to YBNL.
Later in 2015 Adekunle released another single under YBNL titled "Orente", the song was quite accepted by fans and was quite a hit same year.
Adekunle‘s two singles were heavy on storytelling. They both take listeners through a tale of romance, which has been instrumental in the success of both singles. The singer believes that there is a connection between his genre and indigenous rap. In same year 2015 Adekunle Gold beat others to top the ―Beat of Lagos 2015 Award.
Although Adekunle is single, there were sayings that the popular artiste is romantically involved with fellow singer "SIMI", there are several pictures of them on the internet they are said to have been together even before fame.
2.12:2 DIJA
Hadiza Bell, better known by her stage name Di'Ja, is a Sierra L eonea n - Nigerian singer, visual artist, fashion designer and songwriter. She is currently signed to Mavin R eco r ds. In 2009, she released her first single "Rock Steady" which was nominated for Best Urban/R&B Single at the
2009 Canadian Radio Music Awards. Moreover, she won the Best New Artist award at the 2008 Beat Music Awards. In 2014, she was also nominated at the N i g e ria En t ert a in m ent Awards for the ―Most Promising Act to Watch.
Di'Ja has lived in N i g e ria, Sierra Leone, the United States and Ca n ad a . Her mother is from No r thern Nigeria and her father is from Sierra L e one. At a young age, Di'Ja committed herself to academia and earned a doub l e d e g ree in B iolo g y and P s y c hol o g y . After earning the aforementioned degrees, Di'Ja became passionate about music, art and philosophy.
Her music career started in 2008. In 2012, Di'Ja released several singles including "Dan'Iska (Rude boy)", "Hold On (Ba Damuwa)" and "How Can We Be Friends‖. Her first official single under Mavin Rec o rds was also released on February 14, 2014.
The song, which is titled "Yaro", is an up-tempo celebration of love and commitment against all odds. It infuses H a usa and K r io dialects in honour of her Nigerian and Sierra Leonean roots.
In May 2014, Di'Ja was featured on " Do r obu c ci" alongside label mates Don Jazzy, Dr Si d , Tiwa Savag e , D'Prince, Kore d e B ello and Reek a do B sank . In May 2014, an animated video was released for "Dorobucci‖ As of 21 June 2014, "Dorobucci" has received over 12 million downloads since its release. Di'Ja was featured on "Arise" alongside Don Jazzy and Reekado Banks.
2.12:3 FLAVOUR
Chinedu Okoli (born 23 November 1983), better known by his stage name Flavour N‟abania or simply Flavour, is aNigeri a n si n g e r, son g w r it e r, mult i -
ins
t rumentali s t and per f ormer. He began his musical career as a d rummer for a local church in
his hometown of An a m b ra State. Flavour is popularly known across A f r i ca and the world for his hit song "Nwa Ba b y ‖ . He is currently signed to 2nite Entertainment.
In 2005, he released his self-tit l ed debut album N ' abani a . In 2010, Flavour released his second studio album Upli f ted . It was supported by the singles "N wa Ba b y " , "Adamma", and " O y i Remi x " . The album's success made Flavour one of Afric a 's most sought out artists. Flavour was booked to perform at numerous concerts and social events following Uplifted release..
Flavour, which is well known for his ability to sing fluently in the I g b o lan g uage, was born in Enu g u S tate, Nigeri a . His family is originally from Umun z e in O r umba S outh LGA, A n ambra State, Nigeria. Flavour began his music career at the age of 13 when he started playing the drums for his church choir in E nu g u. The resident pastor at his church introduced him to a friend, Chris Ordor, the CEO of Sound City Communications. Mr. Ordor had just started a musical company aimed at training young musicians on the basics of music and nurturing them all the way to a professional level. In 1996, Flavour was invited to join the company on an educational scholarship to study music. After three years of playing the drums, Flavour started playing the drums professionally. In 1999, Flavour moved on from playing the drums and started playing the keyboard. At the age of 19, Flavour emerged unto Nigeria's musical scene as a drummer and p i anist for a local En u g u band. After learning to play drums professionally, Flavour received an offer to perform at City Centre, Enugu. The massive crowd at City Centre inspired him to gain new grounds and reach great heights. Flavour's educational background in music enabled him to learn mus i c produ c tion from Dekumzy, Isi Charles and Nnachie.
In 2005, Flavour released his debut album N'ab a nia through Obaino Music. The album's success was relative and limited to Eastern Nigeria, particularly Enugu State. Flavour collaborated with Mr. Raw on the album's lead single titled "N'abania". The song was recorded at Kingsley Ogoro's
studio in Lagos, Nigeria. Following the relative success of his debut album, Flavour released Upli f ted in 2010. While working on the album, Flavour believed the album would surpass his previous works. Flavour's projection came true when the album broke national barriers. Lollipop Records, an established r ec ord label in South Africa, released the album after popular demand. The album's top singles include " N wa B a b y " , "Adamma", and " O y i Remi x "
featuring Tiwa Sa va g e.
Blessed was released on 18 October 2012 through 2nite Entertainment and iROCKING LTD.
The album is the successor to Uplifted. It is arguably Flavour's biggest album to date due to the amount of producers that worked on it. It was launched on the same day of Flavour's 2nite Club grand opening. Flavour is the first son of a large family consisting of four siblings and seven step siblings. Flavour currently dwells in Lagos, Nigeria. Flavour's family wasn't very fond of his musical ambitions; they often dismissed it as a pipe dream. His mother in particular believed that his musical ambitions wouldn't amount to anything.
2.12:4 MISH
He is Misheal Mesach and that is where the name Mish came from. Mish is from Ibiono-Ibom Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State. The first son of his family, he studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Port Harcourt. Mish is an entrepreneur and into oil and gas. That is what he is doing for a living but to him music is more or less a hobby‖. He is from a-not-too- wealthy family, a family of four, two boys and two girls. He is currently based in Abuja while his family is at Port Harcourt. He shuttles between Uyo, Port Harcourt and Abuja.
When asked about his inspiration in writing the song, ‖Akwa Ibom Ayaya‖, he said,‖ The inspiration came when I met a young lady at the Heathrow Airport, London, she was telling me about her home and stuffs like that. She said there are white sand and blue waters in her home.
The lady is not from here. I think she is from Jamaica or so. She was telling me all that and I told her that I'm from Akwa Ibom. We got talking and I told her the things I was missing about my home, Ekpang Nkukwo, afang (native foods) etc as you heard in the song. I had to educate people, Nigerians and people all over the world about my language. I used a bit of my language when I said 'Di mi‟ means come here' and stuffs like that. As I was writing the song, more inspiration came in. Just like using good entertainment or piece of arts to inform people, so I married all that together and we had 'Akwa Ibom Ayaya' ”.
Mish seems happy that he could offer something however small to his motherland and believes that good music is here but that the only thing we lack is good representation. He felt appreciated and this has spurs him on to do more. Governor Godswill Akpabio, mentioned him at a public event, he said, ―ha…where is that young man that sang this nice piece‖.
Mish in an interview about the Governor‘s comment on his song, he said,‖ I was very excited. I felt a sense of belonging that someone could appreciate what I have done. I was happy that I have been able to reach the heart of the number citizen of my state. It meant a lot to me and I was absolutely happy”.
Mish have been listening to music all his life, he write tunes and instrumentals to communicate his feelings. He does all kinds of music for the listening pleasure to touch different people.
2.12:5 NIYOLA
Eniola Akinbo, professionally known by her stage name Niyola, is a Nigerian recordi n g artiste, sin g er, so n g w r iter and a perform e r.
She is the last child in a family of 12. She had a beautiful upbringing and her father was a disciplinarian. She studied English Language at the University of Lagos and studied some
courses in Travel and Tourism. She also studied Journalism at the Independent Journalism Center owned by PM News. She has also worked with an outfit called Podium International
where she was the editor, presenter and researcher.
Her sojourn into music began in 2000, when she emerged runner up at the Amen Starlet Competition. In 2005, Niyola began her professional music career and was briefly affiliated with e L D e e ‘ s Trybes Records, following that she put pen to paper on a production deal with Freestyle‘s Make Sum Noise Entertainment.
Niyola‘s first three singles; ―Me n U (In da club)‖, ―No more and Dem say‖ were released under this imprint. Niyola was signed to Empire Mates Entertainment in 2012 as the first lady in the house. On 22 May 2013 Niyola released her first single, "Toh Bad", under the Empire Mates Entertainment label.
About her first single she said, ―My song Toh Bad is not a reflection of my personal experience.
It is a situation which I believe every female has been through and can identify with. I had a similar experience but it is not exactly the way it was portrayed in the video‖.
To Niyola, music is more or less a passion.