Tunmise Olasokan
With lyrics like “NA ME BE THEIR FATHER”, as an upcoming in the Nigerian music industry, one would be justified to call him crazy. But you see the thing with some people tagged “Crazy“ ? It’s only a matter of time before we see their genius as they begin to shine and OdumoduBlvck was no exception.
Tochukwu Gbubemi Ojogwu popularly known as OdumoduBlvck (A.K.A Big Kala) is a Nigerian rapper and songwriter, known for his stage performance and genre-blend. He is a member of the hip-hop collective Anti World Gangstars.
Odumodublvck was born and raised in Lagos State. He had his junior high education at Christ the King College at Gwagwalada Abuja, where he got the stage name “Odumodu” in his second year of his junior high, and relocated with his family to Abuja at the age of 17. He studied Mass Communications at the University of Lagos for his tertiary education, where he graduated with a B.Sc.
Odumodublvck is known for fusing Afrobeats, with Drill and Grime music. According to Dazed, “His unrelenting style of drill employs high-life inspired melodies and Nigerian Pidgin English to tell vivid stories about his community and everyday experiences”.
In 2022, he signed a record deal with Native Records co-owned by Nigerian singer and alte pioneer, Teezee, in partnership with Def Jam recordings .
On 26 March 2022, Odumodublvck performed at the Jameson Connects concert alongside DRB lasgidi and Victony at Abuja. On 8 December 2022, he won the Next Rated Artist category at Galaxy Music Awards. The rapper got a new Lexus IS350, as part of the prize that comes with the Next Rated award.
On 23 November 2022, he released his first single under the NATIVE, titled “Picanto” featuring ECko Miles, and Zlatan Ibile, which earned him his first chart entry on the Nigeria TurnTable Top 100 at number 79, and reached number 65. On 23 January 2023, he ranked number 4 on TurnTable’s NXT Emerging Top Artistes.
Despite recently gaining mainstream attention in late 2022, Odumodu has gained a massive cult like following and their support was evident with the release of his highly anticipated song “ Declan Rice” on the 24th of March, 2023.
The song debuted on Spotify with 134,000 streams making it the biggest all-time first-day streams on Spotify Nigeria for any Hip-Hop/Rap song. “ Declan Rice” , the song inspired by an England and West Ham United Footballer, Declan Rice also earned him his first No.1 spot on Apple Music Nigeria Top 100.
Odumodu’s narrative style and lingo is so specific to Nigerians that many assume it would be hard to pick up on the nuances as an outsider. But if Big Kala has shown us anything in these past few months, it’s to never underrate just how far his music will go.
Even the Nigerian music industry didn’t know what was coming he hit them, the entire world should watch out for the talent that is OdumoduBlvck.
