Olamide did not blow overnight, but instead his success can be credited to hard work, mature business savvy, being in the right place at the right time, and a little bit of controversy. Olamide remained patient and learned the music game while awaiting his moment in the spotlight. His sacrifices proved to be worth it when he finally was given the chance to exhibit his potential. Olamide is now one of Nigeria’s top performers! Whether it’s catching the attention of rapper, Wale, never failing to impress viewers with his fashion trends, or releasing music videos that showcase Nigeria’s beauty, Olamide can be associated a high echelon of quality. Although plenty of effort has been put forth by Olamide to reach his superstar status, below are the top 40 instances that have defined his career.
1. Hanging Out at Coded Tunes Studio
Date: Between 2007 and 2009
It is not news to most Olamide fans that he was a frequent visitor to ID Cabassa’s Coded Tunes studio, even though Cabassa did not have the time to record any of his songs; there were a few artists such as 9ice, Reminisce, 2Phat and more ahead of Olamide on the priority list. This did not deter him from frequenting the studio and attempting to learn and record music.
2. ID Cabassa’s Confindence in Olamide’s Talent
Date: Between 2007 and 2009
The majority of the people around Coded Tunes studio back in the early days did not believe in Olamide’s talent, but somehow ID Cabassa was a believer. According Olamide, ID Cabassa pulled him to the side at one point and told Olamide that, “Guy you are good o.” These words boosted his morale and validated him to focus on working harder and getting better as an artist.
3. Changing his stage name from G-Dogg to Olamide
Date: Between 2007 and 2009
There is no way of telling if Olamide would have been bigger or less popular if he continued to use the stage name G-Dogg. However, G-Dogg is not a Nigerian friendly name even for a rapper in Nigeria. Olamide made a wise decision by changing his stage name from G-Dogg to Olamide, his legal name.
4. Signing to Coded Tunes and Toni Payne Management
Date: 2010
Finally, ID Cabassa was able to focus on Olamide as an artist and signed him to Coded Tunes, a successful label/production company that had successfully created 9ice’s “Gongo Aso” album. Olamide also penned a management agreement with Toni Payne’s management company. This was a very smart move as both ID Cabassa and Toni Payne were dominant members of 9ice’s team when he released his most successful album til date.
5. Releasing a Dagrin Tribute Song
Date: 2010
For those who were not into Nigerian music between 2009 and 2010, Dagrin was one of the hottest rappers in the Nigerian music scene. He passed in 2010 after a tragic car accident.
It only made sense for Olamide to show respect and give tribute to Dagrin, who in 2010 was the biggest indigenous rapper. Years later, Olamide, who started out as an indigenous rapper himself would surpass the popularity of Dagrin and become Nigeria’s hottest artist in 2015.
6. Recording “Eni Duro” Over Lil Wayne’s “A Milli” Beat
Date: 2010
After not getting enough attention from ID Cabassa, Olamide used what he learned a lot about the recording industry from Coded Tunes studio, and took matters into his own hands. He recorded the first version of Eni Duro, over Lil Wayne’s “A Milli” beat. The song was recorded with his friend at the time, Uche (Am Goin In) and B-Banks.
7. ID Cabassa Reproducing “Eni Duro” and Releasing It
Date: 2010
ID Cabassa was quite impressed with the original Eni Duro version recorded over Lil Wayne’s “A Milli” instrumental and believed it had great potential. This moved Cabassa to create an entirely new beat and production for Eni Duro, which would become Olamide’s first single off his debut album, Rapsodi.
8. Releasing His Debut Album “RAPSODI”
Date: April 2011
After Eni Duro got popular with the help of Nigerian radio, Olamide and Coded Tunes dropped his debut album, RAPSODI, in April 0f 2011. Back in 2011, releasing an album was a big milestone to check off as an artist and also one of the ways to make money from Alaba marketers; the marketers would pay an advance to the record label in order to distribute the album for the artist/label.
9. Releasing The Video to “Omo To Shan” ft Wizkid
Date: Sept 2010
After the album was released, the momentum continued by pushing the most obvious commercially viable track, featuring Wizkid, the fastest RISING star in 2011. From a label/management perspective, putting a record out featuring Wizkid benefited Olamide and his debut album massively.
They both decided to shoot a video for the single and the rest is history. This is likely where Olamide caught the POP bug, but he wouldn’t reveal the symptoms until much later.
10. Dropping the “Young Erikina” Single and Video
Date: September 2011
This is when many non-believers of Olamide started paying attention. Young Erikina was a catchy track by itself, but gained more attraction because of the simple and minimal feel of what ended up being the official video.
To focus even more on the track, it came across as a true freestyle and many of us gained appreciation of the nonchalant rap style, flow, and lyrical content that Olamide displayed. Audiences started to yearn for more music from Olamide, especially most of the music consumers on the Internet.
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