Abdulsalam Suliyat Modasola well known as Liya, is a Nigerian singer, and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

. She came into the music scene with the release of her first single under

Davido Music Worldwide Davido Music Worldwide (commonly known as DMW) is a Nigerian record label owned by Afrobeats singer and songwriter Davido. The label is home to singers Morravey Logos Olori, and Boi Chase; producers Fresh VDM and Speroach Beatz are also signe ...

, titled "Melo", shortly after signing a record deal with the label in 2020. The accompanying music video for "Melo", was released on 8 December 2020, starring

Davido David Adedeji Adeleke (born November 21, 1992), known professionally as Davido, is a Nigerian American, Nigerian-American singer, songwriter and record producer. Davido was born in Atlanta, U.S, and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. He made his mus ...

, and directed by Dammy Twitch for DMW. She was formerly signed to

from 2020 to early 2023. She began releasing songs independently in 2023.

Early life

Abdulsalam Suliyat Modasola was 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 ...

around Ketu in 1999 and raised between Ketu and Alapere, then relocated with her parents to Ikorodu in 2011, where she attended Arabic school for her secondary education. This was before gaining admission into the

University of Ilorin University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) is a federal government-owned public research university in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. The university's main campus sits on an expansive area of land, about 5,000 hectares in the ancient city of Ilorin; making ...

in 2014, to study

Yoruba Language Yoruba (, ; Yor. ) is a Niger–Congo languages, Niger-Congo language that is spoken in West Africa, primarily in South West (Nigeria), Southwestern and Middle Belt, Central Nigeria, Benin, and parts of Togo. It is spoken by the Yoruba people. ...

, and bagging a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics. Speaking with Wale Oloworekende, she said "I go to church with my parents sometimes because they had a lot of Christian friends. There was a Cherubim and Seraphim church behind my house, so I grew up around a lot of music. There were music classes at the Arabic school too. Subconsciously, I picked a lot of melodies from there."

Career

In 2020, she was introduced to the public through

's tweet, 5 hours after their meeting in a club through

Peruzzi The Peruzzi family were bankers of Florence, among the leading families of the city in the 14th century, before the rise to prominence of the Medici. Their modest antecedents stretched back to the mid 11th century, according to the family's gen ...

. On 14 September 2021, in an interview with ''

OkayAfrica OkayAfrica (stylized as okayafrica) is a digital media platform dedicated to African culture, music and politics. Founded in 2011 by Vanessa Wruble and Ginny Suss as a sister site to The Roots frontman Questlove's Okayplayer, the site has become ...

'', Liya said "I played Davido a couple of my songs, including "Melo" and he was hooked, then he asked me and my manager to travel with him the next day to Abuja. During our trip, he started saying "first lady way", then took it to twitter." On 2 October 2020,

officially signed Liya, as the first female artist under his imprint

. On 27 December 2020, Liya was cited as one of the 10 Nigerian Artistes To Watch by '' Guardian Life Magazine'' in 2021, curated by Chisom Njoku, and

Asa Asika Asa Asika (born 14 August 1990) is a Nigerian talent manager, best known as Davido's manager, also the co-founder of The Plug (subsidiaries; Plug Entertainment, Plug Live, The Plug Music, Plug Films, Plug Publishing, and Plug Sports) and The Bloc ...

for '' Guardian Life Magazine''. On 28 July 2021, she announced her first extended play ''Alari'', to be released officially on 20 August 2021, through DMW. On 21 August 2021, music critic Motolani Alake said "her debut track titled "Melo," the mercurial singer flipped a sample of

Angélique Kidjo Angélique Kpasseloko Hinto Hounsinou Kandjo Manta Zogbin Kidjo (; born July 14, 1960) is a Beninese- French singer-songwriter, actress and activist noted for her diverse musical influences and creative music videos. Kidjo has won five Grammy A ...

's "Agolo" into a pop ditty pulsatin with regal grace.” during his first impression on the extended play, and called the project an "impressive debut EP". On 24 May 2022, she was nominated for

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 ...

in the Best Vocal Performance category for females, for the song "Alari". On 25 August 2021, she released the music video for "Adua", directed by Dammy Twitch, and went on to release "Adua (Remix)" with a guest appearance from Simi in 2022.

Artistry

Liya described her music genre as Afro-Fusion, and tells ''

'' It consists of a variety of influences that just comes out beautifully", she said. She also revealed her stage name Liya, which was picked out of her middle name Suliyat. Liya cited

Aṣa Bukola Elemide (born 17 September 1982),"There's 'Fi ...

, and Shola Allyson, as her musical influence or inspiration while growing up.

Discography

;Studio album and EP *''Alari'' - EP (2021)

Singles

Guest appearances

Accolades

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liya Living people 1999 births English-language singers from Nigeria Nigerian women singer-songwriters 21st-century Nigerian singer-songwriters University of Ilorin alumni Musicians from Lagos