When an artist decides to title his album Sex>Love, it doesn't just speak to his confidence but also his creativity. These traits make Blaqbonez an artist the world should seriously watch out for.
Emeka Akumefule was born on the 29th of January 1996 to a mother who was a pastor and a huge fan of formal education. At 13, the Imo state rapper fell in love with rap and immediately knew that he would pursue a career even if it meant he would have to go against his parent's wishes.
In an exclusive interview with NATIVE magazine, the rap star stated that his journey was not easy, and he almost quit music at 15 after he broke a studio microphone worth $120. After that event, he left rap and focused on scribbling rap lines in his little rhyme book instead. He got admission to study Computer Engineering at the Obafemi Awolowo University. It was there he grew fond of the music culture and decided to pursue music on a full scale.
With no proper backing and a burning desire to become a rap star, he began to enroll in underground rap battles, beating 3000 rappers to the throne in the Terry Tha Rapman's Zombie Competition in 2012 and earning himself a spot in the veteran's rapper mixtape "World Domination." He went to release several projects and collaborated with several underground artists but was yet to find mainstream success.
The rapper has stated that he thought of quitting music again in 2016 after he felt his style of music wasn't cut for the Nigerian music scene. However, a meeting with rapper/producer Alpha and a successful show at the OAU and the University of Lagos gave the rapper a glimpse of hope and pushed him to try again. Meeting Alpha led him to Nigerian singer "Oxlade," and they released one of Blaq's most influential songs: Mamiwota.
From Mamiwota to the release of his debut album "Bad Boy Blaq" and his sophomore album Sex>Love last year, the 2021 Headies winner has become one of the most important characters, templates, and blueprints in the Nigerian music scene. In 2019, The New York Times magazine named him on their 5-man list of the new guards of Nigerian music fueling his ego and solidifying his self-acclaimed stance as the Best Rapper in Africa.
With over a dozen released projects and his recent album still making waves across Africa, the rapper is still putting the work in and has announced the coming of his third album titled the "Young Preacher," with a single "Commander" recently released.
Though the Bling crooner still has a lot to work on, music-wise. His creativity, confidence, complex personality, and ability to experiment with new sounds have set him on course to become one of Africa's biggest stars. In the words of Pulse magazine critic Motolani Alake "He's not always perfect, neither has his music always worked. But he represents the efficacy that ambition can mean to success; he is heading to the top."