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MAIN STREAM NIGERIAN ARTISTS

INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS OF NIGERIAN ORIGIN

KING SUNNY ADE
EBENEZER OBEY
BOBBY BENSON
FELA
FEMI KUTI
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Tunde Emanuel Baiyewu (born November 25, 1968) is a vocalist who gained fame as part of the Easy Listening duo Lighthouse Family. In 2004 he embarked on a solo career, releasing the album Tunde.

Baiyewu was born in London, UK, but moved to Nigeria at the age of five after the death of his father. Ten years later he moved back to England, attending the University of Northumbria in Newcastle upon Tyne, and obtained a degree in accounting. He saw posters advertising for a singer and subsequently met Paul Tucker – their partnership began, and they formed the Lighthouse Family.

In 2005, he appeared on the one-off special, Strictly African Dancing. He came last, but he learned the Bata dance in the process.

In 12 November 2006, Tunde appeared in an ITV documentary called Faith in Music. This documentary charted the life and music of Tunde, from his roots in Africa, through the Lighthouse Family and into his current solo reincarnation. It also showed Tunde performing an acoustic set featuring tracks from his latest album.

In January 2007, Tunde held his first tour for the first time in over four years (the last time being with the Lighthouse Family). He did four concerts from 13th-16th January 2007 in Edinburgh, Manchester, Wolverhampton and London respectively. He combined his solo material with Lighthouse Family hits.

In March 2007, Tunde married Tope Adeshina, a young Nigerian model in Lagos, Nigeria.

They live in the UK presently.

His mother went on to marry former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo.

Dr. Alban (born August 26, 1957 as Alban Nwapa in Enugu, Nigeria) is a Stockholm, Sweden-based musician and producer with his own record label dr-records. His music can best be described as a Eurodance/hip-hop reggae with a dancehall style.

Alban Nwapa grew up listening to Fela Kuti and James Brown. At age 23, he began studying odontology. In order to be able to finance his university studies the music-loving odontology student started making his own music. During this time Alban worked as a DJ in the well-known Stockholm club 'Alphabet Street'. Very quickly his name became widely known, especially since Alban often sang to the records he put on the turntable as a DJ. DJ Rene couldn't help but notice him and so he was discovered. Alban finished his studies and even opened his own dentistry practice, keeping his disk jockeying as a lucrative sideline.

In 1990, he met Denniz PoP from the SweMix label. Alban laid aside his dentist's drill and realised his dream. Together with Denniz and Rap-Queen Leila K, his first record, "Hello Africa" - his declaration of love for his African home - broke all records. Alban Nwapa took the stage name Dr. Alban, a nod to his dental studies. His debut album Hello Africa sold roughly 1 million copies world-wide.

One year later this success was surpassed by the second album One Love. 1.6 million singles of the song "It's My Life" were sold (the single was even used as background music for a Tampax advert). It was #1 in the Netherlands, Israel and Germany and #2 in the UK. The following single "One Love" was #5 in Israel. The album immediately sold over 1.7 million units.

Then followed the albums Look Who's Talking and Born In Africa. All in all, Dr. Alban has racked up world-wide sales of over 5 million albums and over 6 million singles, which resulted in 7 times Silver, 30 times Gold and 30 times Platinum. His hit single "No Coke" was used to illustrate an anti-drugs campaign in Sweden. The single "Sing Hallelujah" reached #5 in Israel.

After a re-release of "No Coke", Dr. Alban confirmed his Euro dance style with his hit "Look Who's Talking Now", which reached #4 in Israel, #6 at MTV Europe, and #54 in UK. "Let The Beat Go On" was #12 in Israel, and #12 at MTV9.

He created his own record company 'Dr. Records', on which he released Born in Africa, the first CD recorded completely in his Dr Records studios. He had production credits on projects by artists such as La Cream and Daddy Showkey.

More recently, his voice was featured on Sash!'s single "Colour The World". After one year of silence he came back with a new track entitled "Because Of You", followed by "What Do I Do" and a new album, not Euro-dance related. Alban was very satisfied with the new album Prescription. Many hands have been involved in making this new album sound special. There are also guest appearances from Tony Rebell and Anthony B.

Dr. Alban is a cousin of another famous Nigerian musician, Charles "Charlie Boy" Oputa. He is also the uncle of Ricarda Waltken from the German Hip Hip Band Tic Tac Toe.

Information and preview can be found at - Dr albans official

OLA spent his formative years in Nigeria, West Africa. An artistic kid who knew he would be an entertainer of some kind, Seeing the legendary James Brown live in concert in the early 70s removed all doubt in his mind that he wanted be a singer.

OLA returned to Britain, to pursue an education that ultimately should have lead to a degree in Law, However it was not the Bar that had the strongest hold on OLA's attention but the Jazz bars and music venues of London. He dropped out of Law School, enrolled at Art college where he knew there would be music-a-plenty and joined every on campus band he could find!

Soon he was collaborating with other musicians on the london gig circuit and signed to an Elektra US albums deal which ended a year later. OLA spent the next few years surviving in the session wilderness, supplying backing vocals for the likes of George Michael, KD Lang, Simply Red and Michael Ball, amongst others, doing jingle and voice over work for TV and Radio... until he had the bright idea of setting up his own label, Rugged Ram Records. to develop and release his projects.

OLA released his first single "You'd Better Believe" in the summer of '94 to critical acclaim and strong radio support. playlisted on BBC radio 1&2, Jazz FM, Kiss FM, choice FM and many other specialist radio stations across the UK . The track was licensed to several compilations and synchronised to the feature length films (Tres Pas Catholique, Spin) and many UK TV programs including The Bill and East Enders. OLA released his first album "More Soul Than Sense" to equally positive response in 1995. His recording career has since spawned a further five well received albums. "From Meaning Beyond Definition" (1997), "Precious Libations for Silent Gods" (1999), "Ambitions For Deeper Breadth" (2002) and "In Emergency Brake Silence" (2004). In the autmn of 2007 , OLA will release his sixth studio album, THE DEVOURED MAN.

OLA has opened for and guested with artistes such as Roberta Flack, Natalie Cole, Gladys Knight, Diane Reeves, Al Jareau, Patti LaBelle, Tower of Power, Joe Zawinul and Roy Hargrove. He has collaborated with others such as Courtney Pine, NITRO and world event organisers Serious. OLA has composed commissioned Arias for the Royal Opera House. Receives professional music equipment sponsorship from Shure Microphones, Scarbee & Mackie.

OLA's 100 or more live performances a year are second to none. They take in prestigious venues and festivals far and wide such as The Royal Festival Hall & Ronnie Scotts - UK, The Blue Note - New York , The Kenedy Center for the Arts - Wasington DC, The New Morning - Paris, The Arlene Jazz Festival -Germany, as well as many more Theatres, Art Centres and Music venues in Europe & America.

His voice is described by The Voice magazine as "achingly beautiful and passionate in it's every expression" and "a lived in, soul drenched, well mastered instrument". by Blues and Soul Magazine. Versatile enough to be turned into a fully fledged funk tool that can have an audience up on it's feet and grooving in no time at all... Echoes Magazine Of his live performances the BBC say "This guy is amazing, never before have I seen someone so totally connect with their audience, if you only see one soul singer this year, make sure it's OLA".

OLA's songwriting is rich in melody, set to complex yet infectious rhythms. They tinged with the influence of his African roots. His lyrics are incisive and true without contrivance or self-consciousness, yet they tackle subject matter as diverse as socio-political commentary to lovelorn heartbreak as skilfully as the best in the genre. His stage craft replete with effortless charisma and sex appeal.

It is no wonder then that many in the music press and his many loyal fans around the UK and beyond feel that with OLA they are in on what is possibly the best kept secret in British Music!