Samuel Onwubiko (born 25 October 1995), known by his stage name Limoblaze, is a Nigerian gospel singer-songwriter and rapper. He is well known for the hit song "Jireh (My Provider)" with

Lecrae Lecrae Devaughn Moore (born October 9, 1979) is an American Christian rapper, singer-songwriter, actor, and Record producer, recording producer and Music executive, executive. Since having begun his career in 2004, he has released ten studio alb ...

and Happi, a reworking of " Jireh" by Elevation Worship and

Maverick City Music Maverick City Music is an American contemporary Christian worship music collective founded by Norman Gyamfi and Jonathan Jay originating from Atlanta. The collective made its debut in 2019 with the release of two extended plays, ''Maverick Cit ...

; the song made it to the ''Billboard'' U.S. Afrobeats Songs of 2022,

Official Charts The Official UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...

No. 15, and won several other nominations including

The Headies The Headies (originally called the Hip Hop World Awards) are honors established in 2006 by ''Hip Hop World Magazine'' to recognize outstanding achievements in the Nigerian music industry. The annual ceremony features performances by established a ...

and

The Stellar Awards A Stellar Award is an award presented by SAGMA to recognize achievements in the gospel music industry.Sagma
The Stel ...

Biography

Early life and education

He is one of eight children born to Samuel and Nkechi Onwubiko in

Abia State Abia is a state in the Southeastern region of Nigeria. The state's capital is Umuahia and its most populous city is Aba. Abia is bordered the west by Imo, east by Cross River, south by Rivers, northwest by Anambra and northeast by Enug ...

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, ...

, and was brought up in Makurdi-

Benue state Benue is a State in the North Central Nigeria, North Central region of Nigeria. It is popularly referred to as part of the Middle belt. It has an estimated population of about 4,253,641 in List of Nigerian states by population, the 2006 census. ...

. Aged 8 years, he discovered the songs of popular rappers such as Tupac,

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

and

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, ...

and later came across Christian rappers such as

, the Ambassador, Andy Mineo, Da' T.R.U.T.H. and

Tedashii Tedashii Lavoy Anderson (born March 8, 1977), known simply as Tedashii, is an American Christian hip hop artist and member of the hip-hop troupe 116 Clique. He also hosted the NGEN Radio show "Serium". Tedashii has released five solo albums, ' ...

. This influenced him to become an Afro gospel, Afrobeat and Hip-hop gospel singer, songwriter, recording and performing artist. He studied

Biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

at the Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi, Nigeria during which he joined the Day Star Church where his professional gospel musical career began. He currently lives in the United Kingdom.

Musical career

He started his career officially as an independent and unsigned music recording artist and started with his first song titled "Memories" which he dedicated to his classmates after graduating from high school. After his first song, he went on to record other songs titled ''Grace'', ''Unconditional, Wrong Ways, For the King'' which features an American rapper Los of (HGA), and So on. He likewise made some collaborations with gospel artists such as Ada Ehi, Travis Greene, Da' T.R.U.T.H. as well as many others with various freestyle sessions. His Debut Album ''Blind'' was released in 2016 while his second album ''Before Now'', was released in 2018, followed by ''Afrobeats Raps & Jesus released'' 2019, ''The Wait E.P'' in 2020 and he released his fourth studio joint album featuring Da' T.R.U.T.H. titled ''Bridges,'' on 20 November 2020, which charted on trending spots on both local and international digital stores. In July 2022, he released the hit single "Jireh (My Provider)" featuring

and Happi. The song made it to Billboard Year-End U.S. Afrobeats Songs of 2022 In October 2022, Christian Hip Hop label Reach Records announced Limoblaze to their roster, making him the first signee to be based outside of America. On 2023 he won the ABGMA Best Afrobeat Award of the year.

Discography

Studio albums

* Blind (2016) * Before Now (2018) * Afrobeats Raps & Jesus (2019) * Bridges (2020) * God's Favourite Baby (2021) * Young & Chosen (2024)

EP(s)

* The Wait (2020) * Sunday in Lagos * Gold Remix Pack

Selected singles

Other appearances

* "Like Water", ''

Child of God II ''Child of God II'' is the eighth studio album by American hip-hop and lo-fi musician Forrest Frank. The album was released on May 9, 2025, through River House Records and 10K Projects. It was made available for CD, LP, and digital downloa ...

'' with

Forrest Frank Forrest Frank (born April 8, 1995) is an American Contemporary Christian music, Christian pop singer, songwriter, and producer from Fulshear, Texas, Fulshear, Texas. He is one half of the music duo Surfaces (band), Surfaces and has a successful s ...

Awards and recognition

He received Crystal award nominations in three categories in 2015. In 2019, Limoblaze was nominated (alongside Tim Godfrey, Todd Dulaney, Osby Berry, Jonathan McReynolds,

Chevelle Franklyn Chevelle Franklyn (born 4 March 1974) is a Jamaican reggae and gospel reggae singer. Early life and reggae career Born in the Tawes Pen area of Spanish Town in St. Catherine Parish, Franklyn was the fourth in a family of ten children. She was ...

, Phil Thompson,

Tasha Cobbs Natasha Tameika Cobbs Leonard (born July 7, 1981) is an American Black Gospel music, gospel musician and songwriter. She released the extended play ''Grace (Tasha Cobbs album), Grace'' in 2013 with the hit lead single "Break Every Chain". The E ...

, Joe Mettle, and Koyrn Hawthorne) in the Premier Gospel Awards for ''Best International Act'' and on 11 May 2019 in London he was announced as winner. Limoblaze was also ''Afro Rap Artiste of Excellence'' in the 2019 African Gospel Music and Media Awards. He has been "Artist of the Week" on Nigeria's

Channels TV Channels Television is a Nigerian independent 24-hour news and media television channel based in Lagos, Nigeria. The parent company, Channels Incorporated, was founded in 1992, a year before the Nigerian government deregulated the broadcast med ...

Personal life

Limoblaze proposed to Favour Emma, his long-term girlfriend in September 2021. They were married on 1 April 2022.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1995 births Living people 21st-century Nigerian male singers Nigerian Afrobeats musicians Nigerian gospel singers Nigerian male rappers 21st-century male rappers Nigerian male singer-songwriters Nigerian performers of Christian music