Olamide – Biography, Career, Awards & Facts
4 min readOlamide Adedeji (born 15 March 1989), known by his stage name Olamide but popularly called Olamide Baddo or BaddoSneh, is a Nigerian hip hop recording artist. He records mostly in Yoruba, his native tongue. In 2011, he released his debut studio album Rapsodi while signed to Coded Tunes. YBNL, his follow-up album, was released under his label imprint YBNL Nation.
The album was supported by the singles “First of All”, “Voice of the Street”, “Stupid Love”, and “Ilefo Illuminati”. On 7 November 2013, he released his third studio album Baddest Guy Ever Liveth. The album’s singles include “Durosoke” and “Yemi My Lover”.
On 17 July 2013, Olamide became the first Nigerian to sign an endorsement deal with Cîroc. Olamide has been nominated and won several music awards, including multiple Nigeria Entertainment Awards and The Headies Awards.
Childhood and musical beginning
Olamide was born in Bariga, Lagos State on the 15th of March, 1989. In 2000, he decided to pursue a career in music. When asked why music, he said: “I found out I was gifted in it so I had to explore it, it’s my life, my hustle, my world”. In 2010, Olamide released ‘Eni Duro’ under the Coded Tunes record label which he was signed unto at the time. The song received wide critical acclaim and instantly shot Olamide to limelight. In 2010, Olamide performed at The Hip Hop World Awards. He studied at Tai Solarin University of Education . In 2011, he released his debut studio album titled Rapsodi.
Music career
He was signed to ID Cabasa’s Coded Tunes record label and was managed by Toni Payne. In 2012, he left Coded Tunes and started his own record label YBNL Nation. Olamide has more than 120 songs to his name since the inception of his career
In May 2013, it was reported that Olamide signed a record deal with DB Records. Olamide took to Twitter to debunk the reports. In an interview with Toolz on NdaniTV’s The Juice, he said that it is too late for anyone to sign him.
Discography
- Studio albums
- Rapsodi (2011)
- YBNL (2012)
- Baddest Guy Ever Liveth (2013)
- Street OT (2014)
- Eyan Mayweather (2015)
- The Glory (2016)
- Lagos Nawa (2017)
- Compilation albums
- 2 Kings (2015) (with Phyno)
- Singles
- Science student (2018)
- Motigbana (2018)
- Criteria (2018)
- Logba Logba (2018)
Notable awards and nominations
| Year | Event | Prize | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | The Headies | Best Street-Hop Artiste | Wo | Nominated |
| Best Rap Album | The Glory | Nominated | ||
| Artiste of the Year | Himself | Nominated | ||
| Song of the Year | Wo | Nominated | ||
| Headies’ Viewer’s Choice | Nominated | |||
| 2016 | Nigerian Entertainment Awards (NEAs) | Album of the Year | Eyan Mayweather | Won |
| Rap Act of the Year | Himself | Won | ||
| 2015 | City People Entertainment Awards | Rap Artist of the Year | Himself | Won |
| The Headies 2015 | Best Street-Hop Artiste | Won | ||
| Artiste of The Year | Won | |||
| Best Pop Single | “Bobo” | Nominated | ||
| TooXclusive Awards 2015 | Certified Banger of The Year | Shakiti Bobo | Won | |
| Video Wonder of The Year | Melo Melo | Won | ||
| Artiste of The Year | Himself | Won | ||
| Male Artiste of The Year | Himself | Won | ||
| Best Street Hop Track | Shakiti Bobo | Nominated | ||
| ‘Reggae Blues’
(HarrySong featuring Olamide, KCee, Iyanya & Orezi) |
Nominated | |||
| ‘Ladi’
(Olamide & Phyno featuring Lil Kesh) |
Nominated | |||
| Best Hip-Hop Track | ‘Local Rappers’
(Reminisce featuring Olamide & Phyno) |
Won | ||
| Mixtape of The Year | ‘2 Kings’
(Olamide & Phyno) |
Won | ||
| Album of The Year | Street OT | Won | ||
| 2014 | The Headies 2014 | Artiste of the Year | Himself | Nominated |
| Best Rap Album | Baddest Guy Ever Liveth | Won | ||
| Album of the Year | Won | |||
| Best Rap Single | “Dope Money” (featuring Phyno) |
Nominated | ||
| 2014 Channel O Music Video Awards | Most Gifted West | “Turn Up” | Won | |
| 2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards | Best Rap Act of the Year | Himself | Nominated | |
| MTV Africa Music Awards 2014 | Best Hip Hop | Nominated | ||
| City People Entertainment Awards | Musician of the Year (Male) | Nominated | ||
| Rap Artiste of the Year | Nominated | |||
| Most Popular Song of the Year | “Eleda Mi” | Nominated | ||
| Rap Album of the Year | Baddest Guy Ever Liveth | Nominated | ||
| World Music Awards | World’s Best Male Artist | Himself | Nominated | |
| World’s Best Live Act | Nominated | |||
| World’s Best Entertainer of the Year | Nominated | |||
| 2013 | Nigeria Music Video Awards | Video of the Year | “Durosoke” | Nominated |
| Best Afro Hip Hop Video | Won | |||
| The Headies 2013 | Song of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Best Street Hip-Hop Artiste | Won | |||
| Best Rap Single | Nominated | |||
| “Ghost Mode” (Phyno featuring Olamide) |
Nominated | |||
| Artiste of the Year | Himself | Nominated | ||
| Lyearicist on the Roll | “Voice of the Streets” | Nominated | ||
| Best Rap Album | YBNL | Won | ||
| Album of the Year | Won | |||
| 2013 Nigeria Entertainment Awards | Best Album of the Year | Won | ||
| Best Rap Act of the Year | Himself | Nominated | ||
| Music Video of the Year | “Voice of the Street” | Nominated | ||
| Best Indigenous Artiste | Himself | Won | ||
| Best Collabo | “Ghost Mode” (Phyno featuring Olamide) |
Won | ||
| 2012 | The Headies 2012 | Hip Hop World Revelation of the Year | Himself | Nominated |
| Best Rap Single | “Young Erikina” | Nominated | ||
| Best Rap Album | Rapsodi | Nominated | ||
| 2011 | The Headies 2011 | Next Rated | Himself | Nominated |
