The Nigerian music industry is booming with lots of talented young musicians, one of which is the famous rapper, Blaqbonez. Very much recognized by his stage name, Blaqbonez was given the name- Emeka Akumefule at birth.
Emeka Akumefule, who is also known as Mr. Boomastic, is a songwriter and a rapper in the Nigerian music industry. He was born on the 29th of January, 1996 into the humble home of Igbo parents who hailed from Imo State.
Although the 24-year old rapper had his roots in the Southeastern part of Nigeria, he grew up among Yorubas and Urhobos. With no popular acknowledgment of a relationship, Blaqbonez is single.
He self-discovered his talent in being able to rap at the age of 13, and since then, he continued to explore his rap skills. At 16, he topped about three thousand other rappers in Nigeria in the Terry tha Rapman’s Zombie competition. He has been in the music industry since 2011. He became a little popular in 2012 after winning the Zombie competition. However, he came to limelight when he dropped his first single titled ‘South Africa Must Go.”
Blaqbonez is an active user of social media. His Instagram handle is Emeka the Stallion (@Blaqbonez), Twitter – @Balqbonez, and Blaqbonez on YouTube, Facebook, and SoundCloud. He also owns a website where you can reach him and keep up with him via blaqbonez.com.
EARLY LIFE
Growing up and Education
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Blaqbonez was born into an Igbo family in Nigeria but grew up in a mixed environment of Urhobos and Yorubas. This had a distinct effect on his rap style. He grew up with his mother- a clergy. He didn’t discover he could rap until he was challenged by his cousin when they both listened to a 12-year old rapper over the radio. The 13-year old Blaqbonez took up his cousin’s challenge and created his own rap verses and, since then, never looked back. After completing primary and secondary school, Blaqbonez furthered his education at Obafemi Awolowo University, where he graduated with a degree in Computer Engineering.
How Blaqbonez career began
It is no doubt that Blaqbonez is an outstanding and passionate rapper. After taking up his cousin’s rap challenge, Blaqbonez continued to encourage and push himself lyrically with a courageous determination despite the odds at home. He secretly pursued his passion for rap music, and at 15, he released his first mixtape project titled Hip-hop in Blaq and participated in several competitions afterward. At 16, he won his first rap competition as he topped other three thousand contestants in the Terry tha Rapman’s Zombie competition in February 2012. This granted him the opportunity to feature in one of Terry’s albums titled World Domination, which was released in 2012. He featured alongside award-winning stars like Olamide, Mode 9, Vector, and Spellz.
After featuring in Terry’s album, he decided to release his first single titled ‘stronger’ which initially was a track in his “hip-hop in Blaq” mixtape. Although he has been active in the music industry since 2012, when he won the competition and featured in Terry’s album, Blaqbonez didn’t come to limelight until 2015. His single track titled “South Africa Must Go” from the “Cassette Tapes and TVs” mixtape was the hit song that made him popular.
In 2015, Blaqbonez won several awards and got considerable recognition from winning and topping competitions. He also released his third mixtape that year titled the “Cassette Tapes and TVs” where he featured famous artists like AQ, Oladips, Lord V, Chinko Ekun, and Paybac.
Blaqbonez is one of the few who found luck early in the music industry. His skills in rapping gave him a chance at meeting MI Abaga, who later became his mentor. Understanding the hardship faced by rappers, especially the fast-rising rappers in the industry, MI decided to take Blaqbonez and other young rappers under his wing. Blaqbonez testified to being a significant beneficiary of MI’s guidance as he was signed into the 100 crowns. 100 crowns is a hip-hop label under the Chocolate City record label partnering with Warner Music Group.
Confident of his rap skills, Blaqbonez declared himself the best rapper in Africa and released a freestyle track titled “The best in Africa” to that effect. He released this track as a wakeup call to other Nigerian rappers.
Like every other artiste, Blaqbonez has his genre of music, which is mainly hip-hop. His background exposure to a mixed environment spiced up his style and rap skills. His raps are an excellent blend of Yoruba and English lyrics, which come out beautifully and pleasing to the ears.
IMPORTANT LIFE EVENTS
Blaqbonez Career breakthrough
Being a courageous and self-determined individual, Blaqbonez had his career breakthrough at age 16. This was in 2012 when he won the Tenny tha Rapman’s Zombie competition and got to feature in Tenny”s music that year alongside a number of songsters. From then on, he was able to build up his career and receive guidance and career support from famous artistes like MI. He won several awards and recognitions and has since released several tracks and EPs. His confidence and skills in rapping made him one of the most influential rising stars in Nigeria. His zeal to become more is evident as he tries to break beyond the borders of Nigeria.
Memorable moments
One memorable moment that stuck with Blaqbonez was an incident that occurred when he was 15. Although his parents were against him becoming a full-time rapper, Blaqbonez didn’t stop his dreams. At 15, he went to the studio after preparing some bars for his rap track. Unfortunately for him, he broke the mic even before he could make any mouth sound. He had to beg his parents to pay a sum of fifty thousand to the mic man to get the broken mic replaced. Even after this incident, he still went ahead to make another mixtape record.
Another memorable moment for Blaqbonez was when he got into the entertainment industry under the guidance of MI and Loose Kaynon and was signed into the 100 crowns label.
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS
Blaqbonez Albums and EPs
Blaqbonez has made several achievements since the beginning of his career. He released an album on the 31st of August, 2018 titled Bad Boy Blaq. It was produced by MI Abaga and released on 100 Crowns. Accommodate, and Consent are three of the widely played tracks in his Bad Boy Blaq album. Blaqbonez has released about nine EPs since being in the industry. Three of his most famous EPs are Bad Boy Blaq, released in 2018, Bad Boy Blaq Re-up(2019), and Mr. Boombastics(2019). Blaqbonez, on the 15th of January, released a track for the winner of MVP South Africa- Khaligraph Jones- which is titled Green Blaq Green. On the 20th of March 2020, he also released a single rap song with the title Haba.
Awards/Recognitions
Since stepping into limelight in 2012, Blaqbonez has worked hard as a rising star in the industry. He has won some awards and has been involved in many events that earned him several recognitions. He was first recognized when he won the Terry tha Rapman Zombie competition in 2012. In 2015, he won the Tosinadeda’s Radio Palm Wine, and in Vector’s King Kong Rap competition, emerged as the first runner up.
He also became Rhythm FM artiste of the month and won the Rhythm FM Freestyle Fury. In addition to these, he won the Hennessey Vs. Class competition hosted by Soundcity. His album Bad Boy Blaq was among the Album of the Year of Soundcity. New York Times tagged him as one of the ‘new guards of Nigerian music.’ At the same time, he was described as ‘carrying the touch of Nigerian rap’ by the Guardian.
INTERESTING FACTS
Blaqbonez Net Worth
Just like every new rising star, information about Blaqbonez net worth is not certain or detailed. Notwithstanding, Blaqbonez’s net worth has been estimated to be between $70,000-$100,000.