Thursday 16 July 2015

M.I - Chocolate City | The Journey So Far

Nigeria's multi-talented hip hop recording artist Jude Abaga  better known by stage name M.I. is the current CEO of Chocolate City Music.

He was born in Jos, Plateau State on  October 4th,1981 into a Christian home. His Parents
Pastor and Mrs Abaga from Takum, are visionaries and citizens of Nigeria.
Jude attended attended Baptist High School, Jos. His mother discovered he had musical inclinations and bought him basic music notations and later, a 7-key mini piano which further motivated him to think music.

 At his adolescent age, he loves listening to tracks from Lauryn Hill, Bob Marley, Sarah Maclachlan, Pablo Neruda, Jay-Z and DMX which updated his lyrical abilities. As early as in 1998 he tried copying musical works from these musical giants as he ventured into he hip hop world.

He performed regularly at the school's ( Calvin College, Michigan, US,)major hip hop shows and concerts
 where his impressive rap flows and attitude gained him a third-place finish at the Calvin College show tagged
'HipHopera' in 2003.


Jude began his music career when he returned to Nigeria in 2003. With the scare of hip hop heavyweights in an industry dominated by the likes of Modenine, Ruggedman and Eedris Abdulkareem, Jude thought he had no chances but had courage enough to quickly commenced the production of mixtapes with his friend Djinee.
This led to the critically acclaimed single "Safe"which gathered impressive airplay by African radio and music video stations.



 
With the hype surrounding the release of "Safe" he later released anotheraward winning first studio album titled Let's Talk About It.
The album earned him awards such as Musician of the Year (Mademen Awards in 2008), Best Hip Hop Artist (City People Awards).
M.I was later signed to the Chocolate City company, a renowned music label in Nigeria after hearing of his exploits.

And Ever since M.I,  has continued to dish the best of Hiphop and rap punchlines further boosting his recognition
 both locally and internationally with popular Channel O music Award, MTVbase Awards and also the American BET Awards

M.I has been described as a proficient producer, lyricist, songwriter and instrumentalist, and perceived as
the future of African hip-hop.

In 2013 he was appointed by Nigerian telecommunication company Glo Mobile as a brand ambassador alongside other Nigerian artistes like Omawunmi, Burna Boy etc.
He has also featured as judge in Glo X-Factor, the Nigerian version of the reality singing show in 2013.

His collection of musical works are Talk About It (2008)
    Illegal Music (2009)
    M.I 2 (2010)
    Illegal Music 2 (2012)
    The Chairman (2014)

Bad Belle 2015 (music video).

M.I has bagged nominations and won awards such as :
Best Rap Album 2009 –HipHop world Awards, Hip Hop Revelation 2009 – HipHop World Award,  Best New Act of the Year 2009 – Nigerian Entertainment Awards, Best Rap Single 2008 – HipHop World Awards, Musician of the Year– Modemen Awards 2008, Best Hip Hop- MTV Africa Music Awards 2009, Best New Act- MTV Africa Music Awards 2009,
etc...

And was nominated for these categories :

Best Rap Album-Hip Hop World Awards 2009, Lyricist on the Roll-Hip Hop World Awards 2009, HipHop Revelation-Hip Hop World Awards 2009, Musician of the Year-Modemen Awards 2008, Lyricist on the Roll-Hip Hop World Awards 2008, Best Rap Single-Hip Hop World Awards 2008, Next Rated- Hip Hop World Awards 2008
Best Mainstream HipHop Video- Nigerian Music Video Awards 2009, Best Director(Mex)- Nigerian Music Video Awards 2009, Video of The Year-Nigerian Music Video Awards 2009 Best Use of Special Effects in a video-Nigerian Music Video Awards 2009, Musician of the Year-The Future Awards 2009, Face of Hope Ambassador- Face of Hope Nigeria Project, Best Rap Single-Hip Hop World Awards 2010, Lyricist on the Roll-Hip Hop World Awards 2010
 Best International Act- BET Awards 2010, Artiste of the Year – The Headies 2011, Album of the Year (Mi2) – The Headies 2011


His greatest songs are "God bless you", "Get together", "chicken song".
M.I was appointed a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador in 2012

Truly M.I from has earn his place as the Chairman/CEO of Chocolate City Label haven tenaciously
given his best to his homeland and the world.



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