Adewale Mayowa Emmanuel (born 23 March 1994), known professionally as Mayorkun, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, pianist and dancer. He released a cover of

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 ...

's "The Money" single and was discovered by the singer on Twitter. Mayorkun was signed to Davido's record label DMW from 2016 to 2021; his debut single "Eleko" was released under the label. Mayorkun released his debut studio album '' The Mayor of Lagos'' in November 2018. After his exit from DMW in 2021; he released "Let Me Know" and his second studio album '' Back in Office'' in October 2021, under the Sony Music West Africa division.

Early life

Mayorkun was born on 23 March 1994 in Lagos, Nigeria. He is the first child of three. He is

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Music career

Mayorkun decided to leave his bank job to search for another job due to bad pay, when his cover video was spotted by

in February 2016. Davido followed him on Twitter and Instagram, after which Davido asked him if he could do more than play the keyboard. He got a call from Davido the same day he wrote his resignation letter and sent Davido some of the songs he already recorded. Davido decided to sign him to

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 ...

. Mayorkun released his first single under the label called "Eleko" in 2016. The song debuted at number 9 on the Nigeria Playdata charts, on 1 May 2016, and reached number 5, on 28 May 2016. The video of the song gathered a million views in the first 10 days. To his name, Mayorkun has several singles including Yawa, Sade, Che Che, and Mama. In October 2018, he released singles "Posh" and "Fantasy" featuring

Olu Maintain Olumide Edwards Adegbulu (born September 1976), known by his stage name Olu Maintain (sometimes called Mr. Yahooze), is a Nigerian singer. He co-founded the musical group known as Maintain with his cousin, Tolu Ogunniyi. Adeboye Bammeke, popul ...

in antici''pation of his first studio album titled The Mayor of Lagos''. ''The Mayor of Lagos'' was released on the 16th of November, 2018. On December 1, 2018, it appeared on the

Billboard World Albums 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'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart, peaking at number 15. In 2020, he was among the artistes scheduled for performance at the Convention center of the Eko Hotel and suites,

Victoria Island Victoria Island () is a large island in the Arctic Archipelago that straddles the boundary between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the eighth-largest island in the world, and at in area, it is Canada's second-largest i ...

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 ...

for the 2020 vanguard personality awards. Other scheduled artists included Tekno,

Timaya Inetimi Alfred Odon (born 15 August 1980), known by his stage name Timaya, is a Nigerian singer-songwriter. Being from Odi, Bayelsa State, Nigeria, Timaya is known for combining Nigerian pop with elements of dancehall, hip-hop, and Soca music, s ...

and several others.

''The Mayor of Lagos'' concert

Mayorkun embarked on a nationwide tour in 2017 that saw him perform in over 35 schools. He ended the year 2017 with his first headline concert in

called "The Mayor of Lagos". The Mayor of Lagos concert continued in 2018 with a show in the city of

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

and the federal capital territory,

Abuja Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...

. Additionally, a date for a Lagos edition was announced. In 2018, Mayorkun did a tour of the UK alongside label mate Dremo, where he performed in approximately six cities. He also performed alongside label boss Davido at the

Wireless Festival ''Wireless'' Festival is an annual rap and hip-hop music festival that takes place in London, England, which is owned and managed by Live Nation Entertainment, Live Nation. Debuting in 2005, the festival's earlier years primarily featured rock an ...

Exit from DMW, and Back In Office

In 2021, during the release party of his second album ''Back In Office'', Mayorkun disclosed his departure from DMW. In an interview with

Ebuka Obi-Uchendu Chukwuebuka Obi-Uchendu (born 14 July 1982) is a Nigerian media personality. He is known for hosting the reality show '' Big Brother Naija'' (also known as BB9ja), the long running ''Rubbin' Minds'' talk show on Channels TV as well as co-hosti ...

, both Davido and Mayorkun revealed the news to fans at his album launch event. The studio album ''Back In Office'', was released through

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

's West Africa division in Nigeria on 29 October 2021.

''Love For Free EP''

On October 13, Mayorkun released his new single "Low Key", following the release of "For Daddy", and served as a teaser for his EP titled ''Love For Free''.

Discography

Studio albums and EPs

*'' The Mayor of Lagos'' (2018) *''Geng'' (EP) (2020) *'' Back in Office'' (2021) *''Still the Mayor'' (2025)

Selected singles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.mayorkun.com/index.html 21st-century Nigerian singer-songwriters 1994 births Living people Yoruba musicians Yoruba-language singers of Nigeria English-language singers from Nigeria Musicians from Osun State University of Lagos alumni Nigerian Afrobeats musicians Nigerian dancers The Headies Award for Next Rated