By Born Olamide Gbenga Adedeji, Nigerian rapper and recording artist popularly known as Olamide Badoo, is a force to be reckoned with in the music industry.
His name certainly rings a bell in the minds of every listener of Nigerian music. Olamide’s illustrious career could be likened to a smoke — which cannot be concealed.
Finding music in the late 90s, the rapper has risen through the ranks to become one of the most successful and prolific in the game, and by extension, a legend in the Nigerian music scene.
As he turns 32 years of age today, here are five things you should know about the rapper.
1. He was born on March 15, 1989 in Bariga, Lagos State, as the second of the three children of Pa Adedeji and his second wife, Ronke Osisanya Adedeji.
2. Olamide decided to become a musician in 2000, and he started his career a decade later when he released the debut single, “Eni Duro,” in 2010.
3. Like many Nigerian artists, his music career had a church background. In a 2020 interview with Pulse, Olamide said “My parents loved music a lot. My popsy was steady blasting it; Barrister, Obey, Sunny Ade and all that. Then, our neighbours attended different churches, but they were all members of the choir, I swear. Till today, I don’t understand how that was possible.”
4. He was signed to ID Cabasa’s Coded Tunes record label and was managed by Toni Payne. There he released his debut album “Rapsodi” in 2011. He would later leave Coded Tunes to start his own record label, YBNL Nation, in 2012.
5. Olamide has 11 works to his credit, 8 studio albums — Rapsodi (2011), YBNL (2012), Baddest Guy Ever Liveth (2013), Street OT (2014), Eyan Mayweather (2015), The Glory (2016), Lagos Nawa (2017) & Carpe Diem (2020) — two collaborative albums: 2 Kings (with Phyno) (2015) & YBNL Mafia Family (2018), and an extended playlist (EP) 999 released in 2020.
