Akanbi Bamidele Brett (born March 23, 1995), known by his stage name CHEQUE, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and a rapper. Cheque is popularly known across

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

for his hit song ‘Zoom’ which was released in 2020. In 2021, he won an award for Best Duo African HipHop at the All Africa Music Awards alongside

Fireboy DML Adedamola Adefolahan (born 5 February 1996), known professionally as Fireboy DML, is a Nigerian singer. He is signed to YBNL Nation, a record label founded by Nigerian rapper Olamide. His debut studio album ''Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps'' was ...

. He is currently signed to Phyno's Penthauze imprint.

Early life

Cheque is from Okitipupa in

Ondo State Ondo State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Oǹdó) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. It borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast, Edo State to the east, Delta State to t ...

where he was born, but he grew up in Ondo Town, Ondo State. He attended Obafemi Awolowo University in

Osun State Osun State (; yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Ọ̀ṣun), occasionally known as the State of Osun by the state government, is a state in southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti and Ondo states, to the north by Kwara State, to the south by Ogun S ...

where he studied

Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

and graduated in 2016.

Career

The music and entertainment industry is normalized to breathe in fresh talent every second as the door is left always open, Cheque utilized the gap by breaking in, While he was still an undergraduate at the University, he discovered his talent in music and invested in it. Cheque started off as a musician using the stage name Kyle B. His genre of music was particularly Gospel hip hop back then. Cheque attended the same school with the likes of Blaqbonez and others. During his music days as Kyle B, he’s worked on Hennessy Cypher (Part VI) featuring the likes of Dark Poet, Kursor, Blaqbonez, Toosleek, and Eclipse. While garnering popularity on campus as Kyle B released an EP project which was Super Adventure Crew. February 2019, he was discovered by Phyno who immediately gave him a recording deal with Penthauze Music. With no hesitation, the following month which was March, his month of birth, an introductory song, Nyem Space was released for Cheque which was a collaboration with one of the acts in the record label. Cheque whose music style is an infusion of afrobeat into rap, trap, RnB, and other genres makes him stand out among his peer. During June while still very much marked under Penthauze Music, he dropped Jekasoro (a Yoruba word meaning Let’s talk), Pain Away, and Abundance. The rave of the moment act became popular after being announced as a new act by Phyno via his social media platforms. As Kyle B, also known as Cheque released his five track EP, S.O.O.N EP in 2015. It featured DML (Now

), Chinko Ekun and Zamora. In January 2019, he was officially signed into Phyno's Penthauze and he was on the collective track "Nyem Space", which also had Rhatti and Nuno, who Phyno also just signed at the time. In February 2020, he was featured on the track ‘Warlord’ in Olamide's 999 EP. In July 2020, he released his first EP in Penthauze music titiled ‘Razor’ which had the hit track ‘Zoom’. He also did a remix of ‘Zoom’ with

Davido David Adedeji Adeleke (born November 21, 1992), popularly known by his stage name Davido, is an American-Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. His music blends traditional African elements with global mainstream pop. Davido is widel ...

and Wale afterwards. In September 2021, Cheque featured

Olamide Olamide Gbenga Adedeji (born 15 March 1989) is a Nigerian rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. Widely regarded as one of the biggest and most influential artists in Africa, he has been instrumental to the launching of the careers ...

in a single titled LOML (Love Of My Life) and later released his debut studio album ‘Bravo’ on 24 September 2021.

Discography

Albums/EPs

* ''S.O.O.N EP'' (2015) * ''RAZOR EP'' (2020) * ''Bravo'' (2021)

Selected singles

* ''Wave'' (2018) * ''Energy'' (2019) * ''Jekasoro'' (2019) * ''Pain away'' (2019) * ''Abundance'' (2019) * ''Zoom'' (2020) * ''LOML'' (2021)

References