Dice Ailes, born Shasha Damilola Alesh, is a Nigerian singer whose musical style blends

Afro-pop African popular music (also styled Afropop, Afro-pop, Afro pop or African pop) can be defined as any African music, regardless of genre, that uses Western pop musical instruments, such as the guitar, piano, trumpet, etc.Olabode, O. (2023, J ...

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

, and R&B. Born in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

, Nigeria, he began his musical career in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada. He began creating music at the age of 15. His debut single, "Fantasy," released in 2014, garnered his position within the Afrobeat scene.

Early life and education

He schooled in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

at lagooz college, Republic of Benin, and

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

then relocated to Canada where he studied at

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

and also started his musical career before relocating back to

after his record deal with Chocolate City in 2014.

Career

He started out in a church choir. He started out too with Hyce- age, coker, Millie and Reihnard while in the

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

. He achieved recognition in 2016 for his CKay-produced single "Miracle" featuring

Lil Kesh Keshinro Ololade (born 7 March 1999), known professionally as Lil Kesh, is a Nigerian rapper, singer and songwriter. He rose to the limelight after releasing the hit single "Shoki" in 2014. Early life and education Ololade was born and raised ...

. On 21 December 2016, Dice Ailes shared stage with the likes of

WSTRN WSTRN (a disemvoweling of the word Western, which is also pronounced) are a British hip hop/ R&B group from West London consisting of Akelle Charles, Haile (born Ras Haile Alexander), and Louis Rei (born Louis-Rae Beadle). Their debut single, " ...

Krept and Konan Krept and Konan is a British hip hop duo from London, consisting of Casyo Valentine "Krept" Johnson BEM (born 4 February 1990, Gipsy Hill) and Karl Dominic "Konan" Wilson BEM (born 3 September 1989, Thornton Heath), the son of Delroy Wils ...

Migos Migos () were an American hip hop group founded in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in 2008. The group was composed of rapper Quavo, his nephew Takeoff, and their "cousin" friend Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia, while Offset and Takeoff were bo ...

alongside

at the "

Beat FM Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of inte ...

Xmas concert" 2016 in

. In an interview with ''

Tush Magazine Tush Magazine is a Nigerian-based glossy full colour magazine which is released quarterly both in print and digital versions of the magazine. It targets the youth market and its contents include articles, coverage and interviews which focus on mus ...

'', Dice Ailes describes his style of music as "Afro-pop RnB". In his words:

Discography

Singles

Compilation singles

Compilation albums

Cover

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Dice Ailes profile on Chocolate City
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ailes, Dice Living people Nigerian male singer-songwriters 21st-century Nigerian singer-songwriters Yoruba-language singers of Nigeria Yoruba musicians Nigerian male rappers Nigerian hip-hop singers 21st-century Nigerian musicians Nigerian songwriters 1996 births 21st-century Nigerian male musicians York University alumni