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Banky W:Olubankole Wellington.
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OLUBANKOLE WELLINGTON A.K.A BANKY W.
Life and career
Early life and career beginnings
Wellington was born in the United States to Nigerian parents, but the
family moved back to Lagos Nigeria when he was five years old where he
began singing in his church choir at the age of 8. After completing his
secondary school Education at Home Science Association Secondary School,
he moved to New York to attend college on a scholarship; earning a
degree in Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.While still in
college, he won the 'Albany Idol' competition, which catapulted him
into the spotlight. He overcame many personal trials and obstacles to
quickly become an in-demand artist on the local music scene; performing
alongside major acts on tour. He wowed audiences with his silky smooth
voice while building a loyal following; he established the Empire Mates
Entertainment (E.M.E.) record label as a platform to get his music to
his fans and began work on an EP.
2003–2004: Undeniable
Under the name Banky W, he released the EPUndeniable
in 2003, as the first release on his jointly owned E.M.E Records. The
EP was released on his own label, and was sold on the internet and out
of the trunks of cars.[3]
The buzz around the album caught the ears of the executives at Fox 23
News New York who promptly dispatched a reporter with a camera crew to
investigate the phenomenon sweeping the area. They were surprised it was
a three person company executing a highly successful grassroots
marketing campaign. The report became a two part special they aired
leading to a distribution deal with TransWorld (Coconut's, Warehouse
Music, Spec's Music); one of North America's largest music distributors.
It became one of the top selling independent records, won him the 2003
R&B/Soul Artist of the Year at the Urban Independent Music
Awards.His career was for a while threatened by cancer in the shoulder,
but he managed to make a recovery from the illness.
2005–2006: Back in the Building
In 2005 he released his first album, titled Back in the Building, containing the award-winning song "My Regret".[3]
The R&B/Soul album was released to critical acclaim; he had crafted
a classic record and solidified his status as ground breaking artist.
The album spawned the award winning song 'My Regret' and on the strength
of this enduring single he became an
urban-underground-yet-international icon. The awards and accolades
followed with a US Songwriting Award, 2006 Nigerian Entertainment Award –
R&B/Soul Artist of the Year and 2007 International Single of the
Year to name a few. Banky followed this up by winning the prestigious
worldwide John Lennon Songwriting Award in the R&B Category and
signing a lucrative US Publishing deal. He was also a featured artist on
AOL and Cingular Wireless Hip Hop Superstar with MTV's Xzibit, numerous
magazines covers, as well as touring North America Africa & Europe.
2008–2009: Mr Capable
In 2008 he moved to Nigeria after the completion of his latest highly anticipated album Mr Capable under the name Banky W.[3]
With the sole mission of exposing African music to the world and
bringing a high profile presence to the industry. On MySpace he garnered
over 1 million song plays; on YouTube, hundreds of thousands of views
for his videos; and on Facebook, his recently created fan page has over
447,705 registered fans, growing at a rate of over 500 new fans per
week.
2009–2010: The W Experience
In December 2009, Banky W dropped his much anticipated second album in Nigeria, titled The W Experience
. A strong contender for the best album of 2009/2010 in Africa, it
features production from Nigeria's most sought-after talents, and
showcases Banky W. as he combines global R&B/Pop with African
rhythms and influences to create an entirely unique and impressive
sound. The 15-track album features collaborations from the
internationally acclaimed and Interscope-signed artiste, Verse Simmonds;
it also introduces his newly signed E.M.E acts, WIZKID and SKALES; and
solidifies Banky W as the crown Prince of African Soul/R&B.
2012 -2013: R&BW
A day after Valentine of 2013, he launched his new album "R&BW"
with a concert tagged the "The Grand Love Concert" at the Civic Centre,
Ozumba Mbadiwe, Victoria Island, Lagos, which featured several other artistes including Iyanya, Waje and more. The first two singles from the album "Lowkey" and "Yes/No" (which has a spectacular video to it),[4] are already receiving rave reviews.
Philanthropy
Not to be outdone by his exploits in the music world, he is also
accomplished in several other fields. He’s a published writer, as
articles from his blog (http://bankyw.blogspot.com)
have been featured in numerous Nigerian Newspapers, magazines and
websites. As a philanthropist, he launched the “I AM CAPABLE”
scholarship fund, which provides tuition, room & board at private
universities for youth who are in need and meet the grade requirements.
He’s also on the board of trustees of the “LightupNigeria” Project,
which is focused on achieving constant electrical power supply in
Nigeria, as well as various other charitable society building and
empowering projects. He has also been extremely successful in many
Corporate Marketing Campaigns, having been featured prominently in
projects like Etisalat’s 0809ja Launch, Cocacola-Nigeria’s World Cup
Theme Song, and Microsoft’s Anti-Cyber Crime Initiative. Last but not
least, he is an accomplished Master of Ceremonies/Host, as he has
successfully anchored numerous high profile events such as The HipHop
World Awards (2009), Nigerian Breweries Legend Extra Stout Product
Launch, and The Gulder Ultimate Search Celebrity TV Show Launch.
Activism
Banky played a major role in mobilising the Nigerian youth to participate in the Occupy Nigeria
series of protests in January 2012. The protests were to resist the
implementation of the government's fuel subsidy removal policy.
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