Mayorkun: The Mayor of Lagos

Adewale Mayowa Emmanuel, known popularly as Mayorkun Kunis, was born in Osun state, Nigeria, in 1993. The 24-year-old has impressed the ears that have listened with a good number of Afropop hit tracks under his belt. Mayorkun quit a banking career to follow his passion for music after he graduated from the University of Lagos and we can say it wasn’t a poor decision at all. He opened up to Guardian Life about his plans for the rest of the year and interesting facts about himself.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
My real name is Mayowa Adewale. Born into a family of three, I have a younger brother and sister. I was born into an entertainment family, as people would say, because my mom is a renowned Nollywood actress and my dad is an artist and movie producer.

How did you initially become interested in music? Was this the career path you had planned?
I have always had the passion to do music. I was part of the church choir at a very early age. There. I learnt the rudiments of music, how to train my voice and sing properly. I always wanted to do music professionally but of course, I had to secure my degree in accounting first.

Describe your first day in the studio
I was nervous. I didn’t really have access to a proper studio and solid production until I signed to Davido Music World. I’ll say I had my first proper studio session when I got signed. Davido and a couple of other people were present. The studio was so packed because everyone wanted to hear me record my first song. As it happened, I made Eleko that day.

Talk about your relationship with Davido. How involved is he in your creative process?
Davido is someone I respect so much. He’s someone who gives everyone the chance to make their own choices as well, though he advises us on decisions to make sometimes because he’s been there and has conquered. Basically, he’s like an older brother to us all. Sometimes we forget it’s business.

Do your life experiences or background have anything to do with your work? Could be social issues as well.
Yes, of course. Eleko was inspired by a girl I asked out years back and she snubbed me. Mama is me reminiscing about the girl of my dreams I think I’ll meet soon.

Tell us about people you have worked with. Who has been your favourite so far?
Recently, I have worked with my label mates Davido, Dremo, Ichaba, Yonda. I have also worked with Masterkraft, Kiddominant, Krizbeats, IllBliss, DBack and Kidi from Ghana, and many others. Kiddominant has to be one of the favourite people I have worked with because he produced my two recent singles. We have some sort of synergy and it’s amazing.

Who would you like to work with in future and why?
I want to work with anyone making great music. Internationally, I want to work with Drake. Here in Africa, I want to make music with some of these French-speaking artists because the music has to travel.

What should your fans look forward to this year? Any exciting stuff coming up?
I just released a new single. It’s titled Che Che, that’s my last single for 2017. I have my first headline gig coming in December
to herald my school tour. I’ve also planned a little Charity engagement to celebrate Christmas.

Interesting facts about yourself, especially relating to your work
I sing using wordplay, I guess a lot of music lovers have found that out already. It’s more like I sing using punchlines. I record myself most times too.