Babatunde Rahim, known professionally as Lyta, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter . He signed a record deal with

YBNL Nation Yahoo Boy No Laptop Nation, popularly known as YBNL Nation or simply YBNL, is an independent record label founded by Olamide in 2012. In 2020, ''Billboard Magazine'' named YBNL as one of "the Gatekeepers" of the Nigerian music industry. Histo ...

in 2018 but left the label in May 2019 after having a disagreement with the label owner

Olamide Olamide Gbenga Adedeji (born 15 March 1989) is a Nigerian rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He is regarded as one of the most influential artists in Nigeria and Africa and has been crucial to the creative and commercial succe ...

. He released the 5-track debut EP ''Id'' in 2019.

Early life and career

A native of

Kwara State Kwara () is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger State, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the international border with Benin. Its ca ...

, Lyta grew up in

Ajegunle Ajegunle, popularly known as "AJ City" or simply "AJ", is a neighbourhood located in the heart of Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria. It is located in the Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local government areas of Nigeria, local government area of Lagos. Ajegunle in ...

and was a member of Ile Kewu, a music group at his local mosque. His record deal with

was made public on 3 February 2018. In 2019, Lyta confirmed that he did not have any written contracts with

. Lyta's breakthrough single with YBNL Nation, "Time", features vocals by

and was released on 14 February 2018. In 2019, Lyta left YBNL Nation due to contractual and personal issues. After exiting YBNL, he signed with Doro Musik Gang and released the

Killertunes Otaniyen-Uwa Daniel professionally known as Killertunes is a Nigerian record producer and songwriter who has produced ''"Manya"'' by Wizkid, "''Motigbana"'' by Olamide, ''"Baba"'' by DJ Spinall featuring Kizz daniel and ''"Bobo"'' by Mayorkun fea ...

produced track "Monalisa" on 12 July 2019. The visuals for "Monalisa", which was directed by Director K, amassed over 500,000 views within a month after its release. A few weeks after the release of "Monalisa",

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 ...

reached out to Lyta about recording an official remix with him. Following their agreement, Davido and Lyta flew to

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

for the remix and video shoot. The remix of "Monalisa" was released on 30 August 2019. Elias Light of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine described the song as a "handsome contradiction, with fierce expressions of yearning". The accompanying music video for the remix was directed by Director K. Lyta gained exposure following his collaboration with Davido on the remix. Lyta released the Afrobeat track "Worry" on 6 December 2019; it was produced by Killer Tunes. The visuals for "Worry" was shot and directed by Simplicity Visual Studios in London.

YBNL exit

Reports about Lyta's exit from YBNL surfaced after Olamide unfollowed him on Instagram. In May 2019, Lyta confirmed his exit from YNBL Nation on

Naijaloaded Naijaloaded is a Nigerian music website founded by Makinde Azeez in 2009. It was nominated for the 2017 and 2018 City People Entertainment Awards City People Entertainment Awards are an annual accolade presented by '' City People Magazine'' ...

TV. He said although he was paid between 50,000 and 80,000 for shows, he never had a written contract with the label. Olamide issued a statement to ''Guardian Life'', saying YBNL has a promotion calendar that Lyta refused to follow.

New record label

In 2020, Lyta was signed to Marlian Records owned by

Naira Marley Azeez Adeshina Fashola (born 10 May 1991), known professionally as Naira Marley, is a British-Nigerian singer, songwriter and rapper. Education At the age of 11, Fashola moved to Peckham, South London, England. He graduated with a distinctio ...

. He also released his first single under the label titled "Hold me Down(Omo Gidi)". The video to "Hold Me Down", which was inspired by

Kpop K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...

boy bands A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands dance a ...

GOT7 and

BTS BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010. The band consists of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook, who co-write or co-produce much of their material. Originally a hip hop group, they ...

, was directed by

TG Omori ThankGod Omori Jesam (born 8 June 1995) known professionally as TG Omori or Boy Director, is a Nigerian music video director and cinematographer. Early life ThankGod Omori Henry, hails from Cross River State, Cross-River State in Nigeria. O ...

. The video is an exact replica of GOT7's "Just Right" music video. However, Lyta did not ask for permission and K-pop fans were furious about the exact copy of the video. Lyta said, "I am not signed with Marlian records. Naira Marley is just showing me love."

Discography

EPs

* ''Id'' (2019)

Singles

* '' Time '' (2018) * '' Self made '' (2018) * '' Worry '' (2019) * '' Monalisa '' (2018) * '' Mama '' (2020) *'' Hold me down '' (2020) *Everybody (2020) *Ramadan (2020) *Birthday Wish (2020) *Hold Me Down (Omo Gidi) (2020) *Are You Sure (2021) ;As lead artist ;As featured artist

Awards and nominations

References

{{Authority control Living people Nigerian male singer-songwriters Nigerian singer-songwriters Nigerian child singers Nigerian male pop singers English-language singers from Nigeria Yoruba-language singers of Nigeria Singers from Lagos 21st-century Nigerian male singers Year of birth missing (living people)