Nigerian singer Johnny Drille needs little or no introduction as since his emergence on the scene a few years ago, he has gone on to carve a spot for himself in the Nigerian music industry and that spot has continued grown on a daily basis.
Here are 10 things you should know about Johnny Drille.
1. He was born John Ighodaro in Edo state Nigeria in 1990. John was born into a clergy family and has four siblings.
2. He bagged a degree in English and Literature from the University of Benin in 2012.
3. He started his musical career at a very young age in his father’s church. He also participated in the 6th season of popular talent hunt show, MTN Project Fame in 2013. He was however evicted in the tenth position.
4. He first hit the limelight after he covered Di’Ja’ song “Awww”. John went on to release his own song called “Love Do not Lie” in June that year.
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5. He released the song “Wait For Me,” on 12 August 2015
6. On 28 February 2017, Johnny Drille snagged a recording deal with Don Jazzy’s Mavin Records.
The first time [Don] Jazzy called me to over to the Mavin studio and I got there, once I opened the door, I saw Tiwa sitting on this chair, saw Dr Sid on the other end, saw Korede on another chair, I think I blanked out for like two to three seconds because it was like these guys were the people I used to watch on TV. I would be like oh God, superstars.
It took me some time to settle in and be around Mavin, but I am gradually getting used to it. Sometimes, especially when Tiwa comes in and she is talking to me, I am like is she really talking to me or some other guys, but it feels great. Korede, Tiwa Di’ja, Dr Sid, D’Prince, Don Jazzy and Reekado [Banks] are established musicians, so it’s like inspirations for the new signee’s to aspire to do great stuff like these guys.
7. He has workd with top acts to include Cobhams whom he revealed he got his call while in a keke. “I was on a Keke Napep in St Saviour road in Benin trying to get home, it was quite noisy and then a call came in. The voice said is this Johnny Drille, and he was like this Cobhams… I was like who? He said Cobhams Asuquo, I just wanted to scream.”
8. He loves live performances.
A lot of people are scared of singing live.I have decided that I would do live music, a different vibe. A new interpretation of songs that people have already heard and make it sound fresh because you can’t do the same live performance twice. It is always different.
9. He has revealed he would love to work with Ed Sheeran, Brymo, Adekunle Gold amongst a few other acts.
10. He started out a producer.
It got hard at some point, it got really hard, but thankfully I introduced my own music. A lot of times, I had to travel to Lagos [from Benin]. I made lots of sacrifices. I used to work commercially as a producer; I work, make some money and spend everything on transport and accommodation. One or two times, I was like ‘ah can I do this?’, but it paid off eventually. I have never gotten to the point of saying I am done with music.
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