These Are the Top Artists Who Attained Greater Heights: Thanks To Olamide

Olamide Gbenga Adedeji, known professionally as Olamide, Baddo, or Baddosneh is a Nigerian Hip Hop recording artist. He is an indigenous rap artist and he records in Yoruba and English. Olamide is the CEO of the famous YBNL Nation Music Record Label and he was the first Nigerian artist to sign an endorsement deal with Ciroc. Olamide started his music career in 2011 and since then, he has continually blessed his fans with his creativity, unique style, catchy songs, and smooth delivery of songs which proved that he is worthy of the accolades given to him as well as the recommendations and awards given to him. One of the things Olamide is renowned for is the way he paved paths for those coming behind him and how he pulls them to the top. He is responsible for the growth of so many artists and has paved the way for several indigenous artists to get to the top and including Lil Kesh, Naira Marley, and Zlatan.

Here are some of the artists Olamide has helped to attain greater heights over the years.

Lil Kesh

Keshinro Ololade known professionally as Lil Kesh

is a Nigerian singer, rapper, and songwriter who rose to the limelight after releasing the hit single ‘Shoki’. He began his musical career in 2012 when he started rapping among his colleagues. Not long after, he released his debut single, ‘Lyrically’, which went viral within Nigerian universities. This caught the attention of many music artists including Olamide who later signed him to his ‘Yahoo Boy No Laptop’ record label. Olamide paved the way for Lil Kesh who also seemed to be an indigenous rapper like Olamide. The versatility and musical style of Lil Kesh is similar to that of Olamide, who raps and sings in his local dialect.  Many people refer to him as Olamide’s protége because they see more of Olamide in him. Under the label, Lil Kesh released some noteworthy street hop songs that made his career in the music industry. Some of those hit singles are

‘Shoki, Efejoku, Gbese’ and lots more. ‘Shoki’ is however the song that registered him as a talented singer and rapper as the song made his career. In 2016, when Lil Kesh’s contract expired at YBNL, he left the label to form his label known as Young And Getting It. However, Lil Kesh was at the peak of his career when he was still being groomed by Olamide who nurtured him in his light and there can be no mention of his music career without the impact Olamide made on it.

Adekunle Gold

Adekunle Almoruf Kosoko known professionally as Adekunle Gold is a Nigerian highlife singer, songwriter, and graphic designer. He became known after the release of his 2015 hit single ‘Sade’ and a highlife cover of One Direction’s ‘Story Of My Life. He was signed to Olamide’s record label where he officially started his Music career

and released lots of incredible songs. He released his 2015 debut studio album ‘Gold’, which debuted at number 7 on the Billboard World Albums chart and was preceded by the release of three singles: ‘Sade, Orente, and Pick Up’ which are Adekunle Gold’s popular timeless songs. Adekunle Gold revealed to Nigerian Entertainment Today that before signing with YBNL, he designed the label’s official logo and completed other designs for Lil Kesh, Viktoh, and Olamide. He left the label after making wonders and making a name for himself to start his record label in 2018 known as ‘Afro Urban’ Record Label. He has been breaking new ground since he started his record label and has released quite some incredible songs but Olamide is still given the credit for bringing him to stardom.

Chinko Ekun

Oladipo Olamide Emmanuel known professionally as Chinko Ekun is a Nigerian rapper and songwriter. Chinko Ekun officially started his musical career in 2011, posting videos of his freestyle on

Instagram. In 2013, he released ‘Ekun’ as his first official track. In 2014, Chinko Ekun featured in Olamide’s Street OT music album, on tracks ‘100 To Million, Bang, and Usain Bolt’. He appeared on Olamide Live In Concert (OLIC) 2014, where he did a freestyle performance and he gained recognition then. Chinko Ekun sings in English, Pidgin, and Yoruba, focusing solely on hip-hop music. In 2015, Chinko Ekun joined Olamide’s YBNL Nation where he released the singles ‘Emi Na Re and Alejo Oran’. Barely a year later, he exited the record label after his contract expired, alongside fellow label mates Adekunle Gold and Viktoh. In 2017, he joined Dek-Niyor Entertainment, a Dubai-based record label. Chinko Ekun’s music career can also not be complete without the impact Olamide made in making him attain greater heights.

Fireboy Dml

Adedamola Adefolahan professionally known as Fireboy is one of the incredible and talented musical acts in the Nigerian music industry. He came into the music scene with his viral hit song ‘Jealous’ which first appeared on YBNL Nation’s collaborative album, ‘Mafia Family’ and since then, we can’t have enough of him. Fireboy is currently signed to YBNL which is owned by Nigerian rapper, Olamide. His debut album, ‘Laughter, Tears, and Goosebumps’ was released on 29 November 2019 with no guest artist feature and amassed over 6 million streams on Spotify three days after its release. Since then, Fireboy has been gaining ground and dominating the Nigerian music industry with hit songs like ‘What if I say, As I do, I Feel, Energy, Scatter, Vibration’ amongst others. He has received several awards including lots of awards at the 2020 Headies Awards. He has also maintained consistency since his debut and has been dominating the Nigerian music industry for a while. Recently, he received international recognition for his music and was featured in Madonna’s hit song ‘Frozen’. He has become a force to be reckoned with in the music industry and we are all for his growth and consistency. Fireboy who is being nurtured under the label is achieving greater things than his predecessors in the label thanks to his talents, performance and

Olamide. Only greater things await him as he progresses under Olamide’s tutelage.

Picazo Rhap

Omogbolahan Sodiq Ilabode popularly known as Picazo Rhap is a Nigerian rapper, singer, and songwriter. He started his music career at a very early stage of his life; he was always doing covers to popular songs and uploading them on his social media platforms in turn gathering his fan base. He subsequently achieved the attention of YBNL boss Olamide on October 15, 2018, after creating a cover of ‘Able God’, a song originally owned by Chinko Ekun which highlighted the raves of that moment Zlatan Ibile, and ex YBNL star Lil Kesh. After he was signed to the label and made waves, he left not long after to join another record label. However, YBNL was the starting point of his musical career.

Viktoh started his musical career when he got acquainted with Olamide who was impressed by his talent, and he immediately offered him a music contract. In April 2014 Viktoh joined the label. Before joining the label, Viktoh already had some recorded material. Being with a large label means that the artist has to work twice as hard to succeed and become even more popular. Olamide helped Viktoh by having him feature on his album ‘Street OT’. Viktoh also proved his worth on the label but much hasn’t been heard from him since his exit from the label.

Yomi Blaze

Yomi Blaze is a talented Nigerian rapper and songwriter known for being another indigenous rapper who records his songs in Yoruba language. He had been doing music and dropping freestyles for about three years before he was signed to Silicon Entertainment and later YBNL Nation when he got the attention of Olamide who decided to sign him into the label. He is a talented artist that is being reckoned with in the industry. He was featured on YBNL

‘Mafia’s single ‘Juju, Guns and Roses’ alongside Davolee, Picazo, and Limerick.

Davo Lee

Davolee is born Shokoya Oluwasegunfunmi a Nigerian rapper, singer, and songwriter. He started his music career at a young age because he couldn’t go to school due to a lack of funds thereby giving Music his full attention. While he was doing manual jobs, he was always freestyling and uploading them on his Instagram page and luck shined on him when he did a cover on Designer’s hit song ‘Panda’. He also did a popular freestyle ‘Festival Bar’ which gave him lots of recognition from Music artists including Olamide who signed him to his YBNL record label. He amassed lots of fans and captured their hearts after he featured in one of Olamide’s hit singles titled ‘Pepper Dem Gang’. He became so popular for his delivery, catchy and fun lyrics, and creativity. The song gained lots of attention and airplay and it further pushed Davolee into the limelight. However, not long after that came the news of his exit

from the record label because he was not on good terms with the CEO of the label. He was later signed to New Nation Muzik and he has released songs like ‘Way, Play, Happiness, Lock Up’ etc. All of his songs are amazing records but unfortunately, none of them gave him the kind of recognition he initially got when he emerged into the music scene. Many thought Davolee could have been the next big thing had he not parted ways with Olamide who aside from Davolee’s talents, brushed him up and gave him a good platform to mount his music career

Temmie Ovwasa

Temmie Ovwasa popularly known as YBNL princess is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and artist. Temmie came into the limelight when she was signed to the YBNL record in 2015. According to her, she started her career at a young age and she was recruited by Olamide, head honcho of the Yahoo Boy No Laptop (YBNL) record label. He liked all of her songs and sent a DM to her on Instagram where he later recruited her. There, she earned the name YBNL

princess and many fans of the record label expect more delivery from her. Unfortunately, she had a fallout with the label in 2020 after she disagreed with the label owner. Her fallout wasn’t expected and she faded from the limelight the moment she came into the music scene. She became a star even before she dropped her debut song ‘Jabole’ in 2016. She dropped another single the same year titled ‘Afefe’ but she gained little or no recognition for the song. She released a couple of other songs too but her situation didn’t change. After she departed from the label, she claimed that Olamide didn’t allow her to work as hard as she wants to and he prevents her from going to public shows. She’s still calling Olamide out on social media but still, she doesn’t seem to be coming back to the limelight. Nonetheless, Olamide gave her the platform she is standing on today.

Lyta

Opeyemi Babatunde also known as Lyta has been an admirable street hop artist over the years. He was signed to Olamide’s record

label in 2018 and he had his breakthrough single ‘Time’ under the label. However, Lyta left the label in 2019 due to some unresolved issues. Undoubtedly, his emergence in the music industry wasn’t a successful feat at first but he picked the pace when he got signed to Marlian Music record Label where he has released many hit songs under. He has proved his worth on so many occasions with swoon-worthy songs that rack up the street from ‘Are You Sure’ featuring his label mate Zinoleesky and his boss, Naira Marley to ‘Monalisa’. His sound is unique and dynamic, it’s easy to spot and his songs are highly entertaining with juicy lyrics and melody. Not only is it entertaining, his songs always rock the airwaves and the street making him one of the most recognized and talented street hop artists in Nigeria redefining the sound. However, Olamide laid the groundwork for him when he signed him to his label and nurtured him to have a better and clearer path just as he did to his previous and present signees.