Abiola Ahmed Akinbiyi (born 27 January 1996), known professionally as Bella Shmurda,[1][2] is a Nigerian singer and songwriter.[3][4] He rose to prominence in 2019 with the release of the song "Vision 2020", and a follow-up remix which featured Olamide.[5][6] He is also the leader of Dangbana Republik; a collective of creatives in Lagos providing community and humanitarian contributions.[7]
Early life and career
Bella Shmurda hails from a polygamous family in Ikorodu and is the last child from a family of 10 children. His journey in arts began in his early days through being a part of his elementary school band and cultural dance troupe. He grew up in Ikorodu, proceeded to have his secondary school studies in Badagry, and earned a bachelor's degree in History and International Relations from Lagos State University.[8]
He gained public attention after his debut single "Vision 2020", caught the interest of Nigerian rapper Olamide who did a follow-up remix of the song.[9] Poco Lee, who is a dancer and close friend to Bella Shmurda made a video with the song which made it viral and earned the interest of Olamide, who invited the latter over to his studio for a remix. The support Bella Shmurda got encouraged him to release his first EP "High Tension" in January 2020.[10]
He released several other songs in 2020, one of which rapper Zlatan was featured in, titled "Cash App".[11] In 2020, he was nominated for the Next Rated Award at The Headies 2020.[12] He won the awards "Next Rated Male" and "Street Music of the Year" at the City People Entertainment Awards, and was also nominated for the "Revelation of the Year" Award Category in 2020.[13]
In 2021, at the Global Music Awards Africa which held virtually in Ghana, he won in two award categories, Global Collaboration of the Year and Global Most Popular Song of the Year.[14]
Also in 2021, he was the only Nigerian beneficiary among twenty-seven acts, across fourteen countries who were inducted into the YouTube Foundry Programme facilitated annually by YouTube Music[15] to access and leverage resources aimed at artistes development to launch their music to a wider reach globally, create greater impact and promote a broad spectrum of musical heritage.[16]
Following his breakout in the Afrobeat music industry in 2021, Bella Shmurda was featured in an episode on the African music interview series "This is Africa" by BBC.[17] Also, in 2021, Bella Shmurda was nominated for the "Next Rated" award at the Headies Awards.[18] In June 2021, his single, "Cash App" featuring Zlatan and Lincoln was nominated for "Most Played Song - Street Pop" at the NET Honours.[19]
Bella Shmurda made his debut performance at The O2 Arena in the United Kingdom, as a guest performer at Wizkid's Made in Lagos Concert in November 2021.[20][21]
In March 2023, he released his first single of the year, "Ara (Gen Gen Tin)" after his album project rollout.[22] His single "Philo" which featured Omah Lay was released off his debut album "Hypertension" in October 2022 and received global attention, causing South African rapper Nasty C to make a remix of the song which dropped in March 2023.[23] For his third release of the year, he collaborated with Tiwa Savage on a single titled "NSV" which dropped in May 2023 and was produced by Krizbeatz.[24]
Philanthropy through Dangbana Republik
In October 2021, Bella Shmurda reacted to a viral video of a pre-schooler performing a song by Olamide and himself titled “Triumphant” off Olamide's “Carpe Diem” Album, by choosing to sponsor the kid with an elementary school scholarship. This scholarship came into effect in November 2021.[25]
Also on his birthday in January 2022, he declared that through his collective, he would begin a program to feed a thousand destitute persons in the Ojo community where he grew up every year his birthday.[26]
