CKay

Real name Chukwuka Ekweani, CKay was born on July 16, 1995 in Kaduna, Nigeria. He developed his musical formula around Afrobeat, R&B and pop, after learning the rudiments of music from his father, a choirmaster in a local church. He first tried his hand at the piano, then immersed himself in music production, experimenting with a number of creative software programs before taking to the stage in several bands. However, it was in 2014 that the first real turning point in his young career occurred: he moved to the Nigerian capital Lagos, where two years later he signed with the Chocolate City label. In 2017, he finally released his first EP, Who the Fuck Is CKay? and seduced local radio stations with the single "Container", which increased his notoriety. This enabled him to follow up with a new EP, CKay the First, released in 2019. After a new single, "Love Nwantiti", he teamed up with singer Bianca Costa for the track "Skoin Skoin", which kept his growing fan base waiting for his third EP. The third EP, Boyfriend, was released in 2021, just as "Love Nwantiti", remixed with the help of Joeboy and Juami Eugene, entered the charts worldwide, reaching number one in several European countries such as France and the Netherlands. On the strength of his new status as one of the world's leading Afrobeats revelations, CKay releases the album Sad Romance (2022), featuring collaborations with Ayra Starr, Davido, Ronisia and Mayra Andrade, followed by a deluxe edition with Joeboy, Tekno and Blaqbonez. His new hit, "Emiliana", reaches No. 1 in the UK Afropop charts. In 2024, together with his childhood friend Joseph Salubi, he set up the Boyfriend Music label to promote African artists. He also set about recording the album Emotions, featuring Olamide on "Wahala".