Abdulrasheed Bello (born 4 April 1977,

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State ** Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries ** Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom betwee ...

) known professionally as Skillz or JJC Skillz is a Nigerian rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and television producer. JJC Skillz earned recognition in Nigeria after the release of one of his single, "We Are Africans," an

afrobeats Afrobeats, not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing, is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Ghana, Nigeria, and the UK in the 2000s and 2010s. Afrobeats is less of a st ...

anthem. Prior to the success of "We are Africans," Skillz was producer for the British hip-hop record company and musical group

Big Brovaz Big Brovaz (pronounced as "brothers") are an R&B and hip hop music group from London, England. In their seven-year career they released two studio albums and eight singles. There were three line-up changes with two of the original members lea ...

. In December 2002, he released his debut album, Atide, an experimental album with lyrics in English and Nigerian languages and influenced by hip hop, African and salsa musical styles. He co-produced with his ex-wife

Funke Akindele Olufunke Ayotunde Akindele (born August 24, 1977) popularly known as Funke Akindele or Jenifa, is a Nigerians, Nigerian filmmaker, actress, director, producer, politician , and realtor.Funsho AkinwaleFunke Akindele gives first glimpse of her tw ...

Industreet, a television show about the Nigerian music industry.

Career

Bello was born in

and left Nigeria for U.K. when he was fourteen years old. He developed interest and appreciation of music; listening to his father's country music records and

juju music ''Juju Music'' is the 1982 major label debut of Nigerian jùjú band King Sunny Adé and His African Beats. It was produced by keyboard player Martin Meissonnier, who introduced synthesizers and Linn drums into Adé's established juju sound. ...

. In U.K., he was drawn to hip-hop music and soon formed a musical group with a friend, thereafter they began performing at talent shows. His stage name, JJC, means Johnny Just Come, a term used by Nigerians to describe naive new arrivals to the city. Bello's first major producing project was co-founding Big Brovas Records and Big Brovas Collective. In 2004, he released Atide, his debut album with 419 squad. His producing credits include

Weird MC Weird MC (born Adesola Adesimbo Idowu on 9 July 1970) is a Nigerian-British rapper, songwriter, and producer. Known for her English/ Yoruba lyrics, Weird MC, who is also known as Shola Idowu and The Rappatainer, is one of Africa’s most popul ...

's Ijoya, Pu Yanga by Tillaman, and Morile by Buoqui. He also came to the African music scene creating projects like Afropean (Afro-European fusion) and Afrobeats. In 2013, he won the best international artist at the Nigerian entertainment award. He created an African super group called the JJC and the 419 squad. This group won the Kora All African music award in 2014.

Personal life

Before his marriage to Akindele, Bello fathered three children from three different mothers. He married

in 2016. In 2018, the couple gave birth to a set of twins. In June 2022, Bello announced on his Instagram that the couple had decided to pursue their lives separately. The music producer secretly married an Ebira bride in Kano state in March 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skillz, JJC 1977 births Living people Nigerian songwriters Musicians from Kano Nigerian rappers Nigerian record producers Nigerian television producers Nigerian film directors Nigerian entertainment industry businesspeople