Munachi Abii (born Munachi Gail Teresa Abii Nwankwo) is a Nigerian rapper/hip-hop artist, songwriter, television presenter model, and actress who performs under the name Muna. She is the winner of

Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria – often abbreviated as MBGN – is a pageant organised by Silverbird Group with the main purpose of sending representatives to international competitions. Originally known as Miss Universe Nigeria, it was ren ...

(MBGN) 2007. She is an Igbo lady who hails from

Imo state Imo State ( ig, Ȯra Imo) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its name from the Imo River which flows al ...

Early life

Born and raised in Port Harcourt and Owerri Nigeria. Muna was encouraged by her family and friends to pursue her passion for music and arts. After obtaining her O'Level qualifications from

Federal Government Girls' College, Abuloma Federal Government Girls' College, Abuloma is a girls' secondary school in Abuloma, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, established in 1975. History Federal Government Girl’s College, Abuloma was set up in 1974 and opened in 1975, in Bokokiri, Port ...

, she studied International Relations and Diplomacy at

Benson Idahosa University Benson Idahosa University (BIU) is a private, Christian university in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. Previously named Christian Faith University (CFU), it was renamed in honor of Archbishop Benson Idahosa, a Charismatic Pentecostal minister f ...

Career

Pageants

While she was 20 years ol

during her second year at University in 2007, Muna won the

pageant. Her platform as reigning queen was

Polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sy ...

and

Sickle cell Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of blood disorders typically inherited from a person's parents. The most common type is known as sickle cell anaemia. It results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin found in red blo ...

Awareness, and she represented

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss In ...

in China later that year. In 2009, Muna worked with

MBGN Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria – often abbreviated as MBGN – is a pageant organised by Silverbird Group with the main purpose of sending representatives to international competitions. Originally known as Miss Universe Nigeria, it was ren ...

2000 winner Matilda Kerry on a project to raise awareness for

cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later symptoms may include abnormal ...

Music

Prior to winning

, Muna had performed as part of Port Harcourt-based rap group The Specimen A and collaborated with Terry da Rapman on the critically acclaimed ''My PH Girl''. Contrary to popular belief, Muna did not start her music career with rap group Ijaw Boyz, although she did perform with them as a guest artist. As a solo rapper, she performed as ''Babyrella'' before changing her stage name to Muna, and as a songwriter, she has written songs for artistes such as J Martins and

Waje Aituaje Iruobe, known professionally as Waje, which is the first letter from each word from the phrase "Words Aren't Just enough" is a Nigerian singer. She first gained recognition after being featured on the remake of P-Square’s "Omoge Mi". Wa ...

. She also appeared in several music videos, most notably in

P Square P-Square is a Nigerian music duo consisting of the twin brothers Peter Okoye and Paul Okoye. They produced and released their albums through Square Records (now Square Root Entertainment) In December 2011, they signed a record deal with Akon' ...

's "Ifunanya". In June 2010, after years of collaborating with various artistes, Muna signed a multi-year management contract with

Ayo Shonaiya Ayo Shonaiya is a filmmaker and lawyer, he was also a music talent agent who has managed many of Nigeria's artists. The list include Fuji musician Wasiu Ayinde Marshall (K1 De Ultimate), pop star D'banj, music producer Don Jazzy and rapper Eldee ...

's RMG company and started working on her debut album ''The Goddess, The Hustler'', which will include the singles ''I Feel Real'', and ''Killer Queen''. Muna continues to collaborate with other hip hop artistes; in early 2011, she wrote the lyrics and featured on

's hit single ''So Inspired'' and also appeared in rapper Suspect's video for ''I No Send You''. Muna was one of the female rappers to feature and represent Nigeria on the globally televised

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

Cypher for the

BET Awards The BET Awards is an American award show that was established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy. The awards, which are presented annua ...

in 2011, and in April 2012, Muna released two singles ''Here To Stay'' and ''Down Down Low''.

Acting

In 2019, Muna featured in the Nollywood movie '' Living in Bondage: Breaking Free''. In 2020, Abii co-starred in the romantic drama film, ''

Finding Hubby ''Finding Hubby'' is a 2020 Nigerian romantic drama film directed by Femi Ogunsanwo and starring Ade Laoye, Kehinde Bankole, Munachi Abii, and Charles Etubiebi. It is a screen adaptation of a blog series of the same name written by Tunde Leye. A ...

'' and in 2022 she featured in Obsession

Other work

In 2011, Muna signed an endorsement deal with

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...

as a model for

Lux The lux (symbol: lx) is the unit of illuminance, or luminous flux per unit area, in the International System of Units (SI). It is equal to one lumen per square metre. In photometry, this is used as a measure of the intensity, as perceived by ...

and featured in a commercial for the brand, following in the footsteps of

Patti Boulaye Patricia Ngozi Komlosy OBE (née Ebigwei; born 3 May 1954), known professionally as Patti Boulaye, is a British-Nigerian singer, actress and artist who rose to prominence after winning ''New Faces'' in 1978 and was among the leading black Brit ...

and

Genevieve Nnaji Genevieve Nnaji (; born on 3 May 1979) is a Nigerian actress, producer, and director. She won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2005, making her the first actor to win the award. In 2011, she was honoured as a ...

. In April 2011, after shooting the video for her feature on Michael Word's ''Pop Sugar'', she co-presented the television series '' Malta Guinness Street Dance Africa''. Muna also presented the Mr Nigeria Pageant and in 2012, The

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...

Don't Break The Beat multi-city Rap Battle contest.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muna 1987 births Miss World 2007 delegates Living people Igbo beauty pageant contestants Igbo rappers Rappers from Port Harcourt Women hip hop musicians Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria winners Nigerian female models Nigerian women rappers 21st-century Nigerian musicians Nigerian hip hop singers Television personalities from Rivers State Songwriters from Rivers State Port Harcourt hip hop Beauty pageant contestants from Rivers State Benson Idahosa University alumni 21st-century women musicians Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria contestants Nigerian beauty pageant contestants Nigerian television personalities Igbo actresses Nigerian television presenters Actresses from Imo State Nigerian film actresses