Augustine Miles Kelechi Okechukwu (born 17 December 1992), popularly known as Tekno, is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

singer, songwriter and record producer. His song “Enjoy” was the closing song in an episode of the Emmy-winning TV series

Ted Lasso ''Ted Lasso'' ( ) is an American sports film, sports comedy-drama television series developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence (TV producer), Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly. It is based on a character Sudeikis portrayed in a series ...

(Season Three, Episode Seven).

Background and early life

Kelechi is from Ivo Local Government Area,

Ebonyi State Ebonyi () is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north and northeast by Benue State, Enugu State to the west, Cross River State to the east and southeast, and Abia Stat ...

, southeastern

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. He was born in

Bauchi State Bauchi (Fula: ''Leydi Bauchi'' 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤦𞤢𞤵𞤷𞥅𞤭) is a States of Nigeria, state in the North East (Nigeria), North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria. It is bordered by Jigawa State, Jigawa to the north, Yobe State, Y ...

into a family of six — five boys and one girl. He was raised in several parts of the country including

Nasarawa State Nasarawa is a States of Nigeria, state in the North Central Nigeria, North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the east by the states of Taraba State, Taraba and Plateau State, Plateau, to the north by Kaduna State, to the south by the states ...

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 ...

(the capital city of

Kaduna State Kaduna (, جىِهَر كَدُنا; مدينة كدونا; , ; ) is a States of Nigeria, state in the northwest geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The state capital is its namesake, the city of Kaduna (city), Kaduna, which was the List of Nigerian ...

) and

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 ...

(the federal capital territory of Nigeria) due to the fact that his father was a member of the

Nigerian Army The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land force of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is the largest component of the Nigerian Armed Forces. The President of Nigeria is the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Army, and its professional head is the Chie ...

. At the age of 8, Tekno Miles was enrolled in a

music school A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

where he learned and mastered the rudiments of playing the piano and guitar. He is the elder brother to another Nigerian musical act, ''Spotless''.

Musical career

Tekno Miles was first signed under K-Money Entertainment. His breakout single titled "Holiday", was released under the imprint. With featured vocals from

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 ...

, "Holiday" was positively accepted and gained massive airplay. In 2012, Tekno Miles was spotted by renowned Nigerian comedian Julius Agwu at an event in Abuja, after Tekno Miles received a standing ovation following the performance of a song titled "Onye Ne Kwu", his remix of

Ice Prince Panshak Henry Zamani (born 30 October 1986), better known as Ice Prince Zamani or just Ice Prince, is a Nigerian rapper, singer and songwriter. He rose to fame after releasing "Oleku (Ice Prince song), Oleku", one of Nigeria's most remixed son ...

's "Oleku". It was at the same event he met

Iyanya Iyanya Onoyom Mbuk (born 31 October 1986), better known as Iyanya, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Calabar, he rose to fame after winning the first season of ''Project Fame West Africa''. In 2009, Iyanya released his de ...

and Ubi Franklin, the manager of Made Men Music Group and they became friends. Ubi and

eventually encouraged Tekno Miles to move to

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 ...

to further his music career. On 5 October 2013, he signed a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

with Made Men Music Group ''(MMMG)'', under which he released singles like "Dance" and "Anything". These singles earned him a nomination in the "Best New act of the Year" category at the

2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards The 2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards took place on 31 August 2014, at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The eligibility period was from March 2013 to March 2014. In April 2014, the NEA reviewing committee began collec ...

. On 18 June 2015, Tekno Miles released his hit single titled "Duro", which was produced by

DJ Coublon Akwuba Charles Ugochukwu (born November 4, 1989), professionally known as DJ Coublon, is a Nigerian record producer and sound engineer. He is best known for producing hit songs with several prominent artists in the Nigerian music industry, includ ...

. "Duro" was positively received both in Africa and in the US. A remix which featured

Phyno Chibuzo Nelson Azubuike (; born 9 October 1986), who is known professionally as Phyno, is a Nigerian rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Phyno was born and raised in Enugu State but is a native of Anambra State. He started his musi ...

and

Flavour N'abania Chinedu Okoli (born 23 November 1983), better known by his stage name Flavour N'abania or simply Flavour, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. He began his musical career as a drummer for a local church. Flavour is popularly known across Africa ...

was released on 16 November 2015. It topped several charts in Nigeria and on the international scene, it peaked at number 5 on

Capital XTRA Capital XTRA (formerly Choice FM) is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Global. It broadcasts on 96.9 and 107.1 FM in Greater London, and nationally on DAB, Global Player and television platforms. It specialises in hip ho ...

's Afrobeats Chart: Top 10 for September 2015. On 20 November 2015, Tekno Miles released a single titled "Wash". The song was produced by

with the video directed by AJE Filmworks. On 27 December 2016, Tekno was named one of the top ten hip-hop and R&B talents to watch in the United States in 2017 by

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 ...

. tekno also known as the Pana master has changed his name t
Big Tek
In 2016,

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

played Tekno song titled 'Diana' on one of his episode of Rocket Hour radio show on

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

. However, On 13 October 2017, Tekno was featured by DJ Cuppy on a song titled ''Green Light'', which was officially DJ Cuppy's first single. On 12 December 2017, Canadian rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

posted images of himself with Tekno to his Instagram page, captioning them, "Tekkk time." On 10 August 2018, American singer Ciara, has teamed up with Tekno, for a collaboration titled "Freak Me." Tekno announced the song's release and revealed the cover art on his Instagram account @teknoofficial on Friday. On 15 August 2019, Tekno was announced as one of the producers of ‘Won't Be Late’ by Swae Lee featuring Drake In June 2018, Tekno signed a distribution deal with Universal Music Group Nigeria (UMGN), a division of Universal Music Group in charge of West Africa, as well as the UK-based Island Records. In July 2019, Tekno was featured on

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

's '' The Lion King: The Gift'' soundtrack on the song "Don't Jealous Me". On 6 December 2020, Tekno released the tracklist for his long-awaited debut album, ''Old Romance''. In 2022, he featured in Kizz Daniel's '

Buga Buga may refer to: * Buga (surname) Places * Mount Buga, an inactive volcano in Zamboanga del Sur province, the Philippines * Buga (barangay), a barangay in San Miguel Municipality, Bulacan, Philippines * Buga, Valle del Cauca, city and municipa ...

', a track that became the No. 1 shazamed tune within the same year. Also, within the same year,

revealed how Tekno had assisted in reviving his career at a very crucial moment when he needed fresh inspiration. Afro-pop singer Tekno has released the music video for his latest single "Puttin". On the back of his acclaimed 2023 album, The More The Better, award -winning Nigerian musician and producer, Tekno, has kicked off a new musical era with his latest song, dubbed, Wayo. This new single is the first offering of his new partnership with Mr Eazi's emPawa Africa, which will see Tekno becoming an investor and partner in the label.

Personal life

In May 2018, Tekno's girlfriend gave birth to a girl child. In 2020, Tekno announced that he has relocated to the United States. This was a reaction to the news of the proposal presented at the Nigerian National Assembly for the change of the country's name to UAR, which was an acronym for United African Republic or United Alkebulan Republic on 2 June. In 2017, Tekno made it known to the public that he has acid reflux. The condition had gotten complicated and had ultimately affected his vocal cords. He had to undergo surgery to tackle the issue.

Discography

Studio albums *'' Old Romance'' (2020) *''The More The Better'' (2023)

Singles

Records produced

"Nigeria Student CenterNSC" (Tekno)

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tekno 1992 births Living people Igbo musicians Nigerian hip-hop musicians 21st-century Nigerian male singers Nigerian male singer-songwriters 21st-century Nigerian singer-songwriters People from Ebonyi State Igbo singers Nigerian record producers Nigerian Afrobeats musicians