Michael Ovie Hunter (born 21 October 1999), known professionally as Thisizlondon (pronounced as London, and formerly stylised in

all caps In typography, text or font in all caps (short for "all capitals") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book co ...

), is a Nigerian-British

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

and DJ. He is best known for co-producing the 2022 global hit single, " Calm Down" for Rema before

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, producer, and businesswoman. Gomez began her career as a child actress, appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), a ...

hopped on the remix. It reached number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaked atop the IMI International (becoming the second song by a Nigerian artist to do so) and remains the most internationally successful

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 ...

song. Signing with Blowtime Entertainment in 2019, he's produced for other notable artists including

Crayon A crayon (or wax pastel) is a stick of pigmented wax used for writing or drawing. Wax crayons differ from pastels, in which the pigment is mixed with a dry binder (material), binder such as gum arabic, and from oil pastels, where the binder is a ...

Ayra Starr Sarah Oyinkansola Aderibigbe (born 14 June 2002), known professionally as Ayra Starr, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter born in Benin Republic. She achieved mainstream international recognition in 2022, with the release of her hit song "Ru ...

, Rema,

Wizkid Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990), better known as Wizkid, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. Born in the Ojuelegba suburb of Surulere, Lagos, Wizkid is a voice in the emerging Afrobeats movement. His music is a blend of Afrobea ...

6lack Ricardo Valdez Valentine Jr. (born June 24, 1992), known professionally as 6lack (stylized as 6LACK, pronounced "black"), is an American R&B singer and songwriter. Born in Baltimore, Maryland and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he gained recognitio ...

, Yseult, and

Ladipoe Ladipo Eso popularly known as Ladipoe or Poe, is a Nigerian rapper and singer. On 28 February 2017, Ladipoe signed a record deal with Mavin Records. He rose to prominence with the song "Feel Alright" where he got featured by Show Dem Camp, SDC "Sh ...

. His other successful productions include Rema's: " Calm Down" and "

Ozeba "Ozeba" is a song by Nigerian singer and rapper Rema. Released on 10 July 2024, as the seventh single from Rema's second studio album '' Heis''. Lyrics and composition Rema's "Ozeba" features lyrics about his party lifestyle, romantic conques ...

's "Fashion Killa" and "

Bloody Samaritan "Bloody Samaritan" is a song recorded by Nigerian singer-songwriter Ayra Starr. It was released on 30 July 2021, as the lead single from her debut studio album, '' 19 & Dangerous'' (2021), through Mavin Records. Prior to its arrival on streaming p ...

Tiwa Savage Tiwatope Omolara Savage (born 5 February 1980), known professionally as Tiwa Savage (), is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and actress. Savage sings in English, Nigerian Pidgin and Yoruba; her music is a blend of afrobeats, R&B, afropop, p ...

's "Koroba", and

Johnny Drille 'Johnny Drille (born John Ighodaro; 5 July 1990) is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and music producer. He rose to prominence in 2015 after releasing a cover of Di’Ja’s song "Awww", which attracted the attention of Don Jazzy, the founder of M ...

's "Mystery Girl". In 2022, he signed a publishing deal in a joint venture with

Sony Music Publishing Sony Music Publishing LLC (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is an American music publisher. Responsible for publishing the largest quantity of music, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021, it is part of Sony ...

France and Bluesky Music Publishing.

Early life

Michael Ovie Hunter was born in

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade center and a major transportation hub as the gateway to northern state ...

, to a Nigerian Mom, from Isoko and a British Dad. Michael grew up in the sub-division of the

Northern Nigeria Northern Nigeria (or Arewa, Arewancin Nijeriya) was an autonomous division within Nigeria, distinctly different from the southern part of the country, with independent customs, foreign relations and security structures. In 1962, it acquired t ...

state,

, where he rounded up his high school named Christ Ambassadors College, Kaduna in 2016. Michael's musical career began in the church as a drummer and soon took personal lessons on beat making. He tells

Tush Magazine Tush Magazine is a Nigerian-based glossy full colour magazine which is released quarterly both in print and digital versions of the magazine. It targets the youth market and its contents include articles, coverage and interviews which focus on mus ...

, “I when, out of curiosity, I discovered the FL Studio software From a close friend in the company I worked for in Kaduna as a graphics designer.”

Career

In 2018, he produced "Turn Up" for

DJ Tunez Michael Babatunde Adeyinka, also known as DJ Tunez, is a Nigerian-American disc jockey. In 2015, DJ Tunez signed to Wizkid's record label Starboy Entertainment. DJ Tunez's first production was in 2016's "Iskaba", a "contagiously upbeat track" fea ...

featuring

and

Reekado Banks Ayoleyi Hanniel Solomon (born 6 December 1993), who is better known by his stage name Reekado Banks, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. He was signed to Mavin Records between 2014 and 2018, and went by the stage name Spicy before his record d ...

. In 2019, he decided to move to Lagos, to stay with Mavin's in-house producer BabyFresh, who eventually signed him to Blowtime Entertainment, a division of Mavin. His production tag was first introduced to the public on 12 July 2019, following the release of

debut EP "Cray Cray", on the opening track "So Fine", produced by London, and BabyFresh. In October 2019, he had his solo production breakthrough with Rema's debut EP ''Bad Commando'', named after the opening track "Bad Commando", which he produced. Then went on to work on

project Soundman Vol. 1, on the track "Electric", in which he was featured. London served as the executive producer on Rema's debut studio album ''

Rave & Roses ''Rave & Roses'' is the debut studio album by Nigerian singer Rema. It was released on 25 March 2022 through Jonzing World and Mavin Records. The album included guest appearances from 6lack, Chris Brown, AJ Tracey, and Yseult. The deluxe versi ...

'', producing 14 songs out of 16 tracks on the album. On 22 April 2022, while speaking with Notion magazine, he disclosed being the primary producer of the studio album ''

'', and almost gave up on working on the album because he got scared at some point following the deadline date to meet up with, he says. On 14 July 2022, he tells

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...

writer Shirley Ahura, “Working on Rema’s album is one of my proudest achievements, honestly. To see how people are accepting it and vibing to it gives me more motivation to keep going, to keep doing what I know how to do best.”, he says. On 5 March 2021, following the release of ''

Coming 2 America ''Coming 2 America'' is a 2021 American romantic comedy film that serves as a sequel to the 1988 film ''Coming to America'' starring Eddie Murphy in various roles and directed by Craig Brewer, from a screenplay by Barry W. Blaustein and Davi ...

'' soundtrack album, he did a re-make of the song "Koroba" by

for

Amazon Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

, and

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

. In 2024, London signs with LVRN.

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

journalist Heran Mamo says London is currently working on his debut project to be released under LVRN. Following the announcement, London went by Thisizlondon. On 15 August 2024, he released " Pinacolada", featuring Nigerian singer

, and American rapper

. "Pinacolada" earned Thisizlondon his first chart entry on Nigeria's Official Top 100 songs, Nigeria Top Afropop songs and Nigeria radio. "Pinacolada" also earned him his first Afrobeats chart entry by the UK

Official Charts Company 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 ...

and America

Billboard charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ' ...

Artisty

Notion Notion or Notions may refer to: Software * Notion (music software), a music composition and performance program * Notion (productivity software), a note-taking and project-management program from Notion Labs, Inc. * Notion (window manager), the ...

described his sound as a blend of “weaving church influences and R&B elements”. He cited

Sarz Osabuohien Osaretin (born 17 March 1989), better known by his stage name Sarz, is a Nigerian record producer, mixing engineer and musician. Born in Benin City, Edo State, he is popularly known for the tag "Sarz on the beat" or "Really", at the b ...

, OVO 40, Bursbrain, Killatunez, and

Don Jazzy Michael Collins Ajereh (born 26 November 1982), known professionally as Don Jazzy, is a Nigerian music executive, record producer, singer, songwriter, businessman, and philanthropist. He founded the record label Mavin Records in 2012, as a sub ...

Early life

Career

Artisty

Production discography

Albums/EPs

Singles produced

Awards and nominations

References