William Orioha (born 3 March 1979), known professionally as 2Shotz, is a former
Nigerian rapper and songwriter who is now a US-based photographer and filmmaker.
He won the award for
Best Collaboration at
The Headies 2006. His debut studio album ''Pirated Copy'' was released in 2004. It was supported by three singles: "Carry Am Go", "Odeshi" and "Delicious". 2Shotz's second studio album ''Original Copy'' was released in 2005. He released his third studio album ''Commercial Avenue'' in 2007. His fourth studio album ''Music Business'' was released in 2008. 2Shotz released ''I am William'' and ''Loud Silence'' as his fifth and sixth studio albums in 2010 and 2016, respectively. He is a hip hop artist who raps in
English,
Pidgin
A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from s ...
and
Igbo.
Early life and education
2Shotz was born in
Surulere
Surulere is a residential and commercial Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Local Government Area located on the mainland of Lagos in Lagos State, Nigeria, with an area of . At the last census in the year 2006, there were 503,975 inhabitants, wi ...
,
Lagos State, Nigeria, to a family of three members. He is a native of
Umuahia,
Abia State
Abia State ( ig, Ȯha Abia) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, it is bordered to the north and northeast by the states of Enugu, and Ebonyi, Imo State to the west, Cross River State to the east, Akwa Ibom State to the ...
. He went to
Government College Umuahia for his secondary education. 2Shotz graduated with a degree in industrial relations and personnel management from
Lagos State University (LASU).
Music career
2Shotz started singing while in secondary school and decided to pursue a career in music prior to enrolling at LASU. In 1999, he teamed up with 2Ply to form the group Foremen. They signed a record deal with
eLDee's
Trybesmen in 2000 and released their debut album ''Men at Work'' under the label. The album was supported by the single "For the Men". 2Shotz signed a solo deal with Trybe Records following the group's disbandment in 2000. He later joined the group The Trybe and recorded the 2001 song "Oya" with them. In 2005, he launched his record label Umunnamu Music.
[ He joined ]Obi Asika
Obi Asika (born October 3, 1968) is a Nigerian creative industries entrepreneur. He is known for his involvement in the growth of Nigeria's music industry, as the founder and CEO of Storm 360 - an indigenous music label. Storm 360 has spawned a ...
's record label Storm Records a year later, but exited the label to focus on Umunnamu Music. In 2016, he quit music to pursue a career in photography and filmmaking and said he was under-appreciated in Nigeria.
Personal life
2Shotz married his girlfriend, whom he met on Twitter, at the Ikoyi Marriage Registry on 12 April 2013. They have a daughter who was born in Ireland on 12 March 2015. 2Shotz separated from his wife in December 2015 after she accused him of domestic violence.
Discography
Studio albums
*''Pirated Copy'' (2004)
*''Original Copy'' (2005)
* ''Commercial Avenue'' (2007)
*''Music Business'' (2008)
*''I AM William'' (2011)
* ''Loud Silence'' (2016)
Singles
*"Delicious" (2004)
*"Odeshi" (2004)
*"Carry Am Go" (2004)
*"Make Dem Talk" (2006)
*"Which Level" (2007)
*"Incase U Never Know" (2008)
Awards and nominations
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2Shotz
1979 births
Living people
Igbo musicians
The Headies winners
21st-century Nigerian male singers