Abdulsalam Suliyat Mojisola well known as Liya, is a Nigerian singer, and songwriter. She came into the music scene with the release of her first single under

Davido Music Worldwide Davido Music Worldwide (commonly known as DMW), is a Nigerian record label owned by Afrobeats singer Davido. The label is home to recording acts, such as Dremo, Yonda, Peruzzi, Idowest From Lagos Island, DJ Ecool, Danagog, B-Red, Deekay, May D, ...

, titled "Melo", shortly after signing a record deal with the label in 2020. The accompanying music video for "Melo", was released on 8 December 2020, starring

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 directed by Dammy Twitch for DMW.

Early life

Abdulsalam Suliyat Mojisola was born in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

around Ketu in 1999 and raised between Ketu and Alapere, then relocated with her parents to Ikorodu in 2011, where she attended Arabic school for her secondary education. Before gaining admission into the

University of Ilorin University of Ilorin, also known as Unilorin, is a federal government-owned university in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. It was established by a decree of the federal military government in August, 1975. The establishment aimed to implement one o ...

in 2014, to study

Yoruba Language Yoruba (, ; Yor. '; Ajami script, Ajami: ) is a language spoken in West Africa, primarily in South West (Nigeria), Southwestern Middle Belt, and Central Nigeria. It is spoken by the Ethnic group, ethnic Yoruba people. The number of Yoruba speake ...

, and bagged a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics. Speaking with Wale Oloworekende, she said "I go to church with my parents sometimes because they had a lot of Christian friends. There was a Cherubim and Seraphim church behind my house, so I grew up around a lot of music. There were music classes at the Arabic school too. Subconsciously, I picked a lot of melodies from there."

Career

In 2020, she was introduced to the public through

's tweet, 5 hours after their meeting in the club through Peruzzi. On 14 September 2021, in an interview with ''

OkayAfrica OkayAfrica (stylized as okayafrica) is a digital media platform dedicated to African culture, music and politics. Founded in 2011 by Vanessa Wruble and Ginny Suss as a sister site to The Roots frontman Questlove's Okayplayer, the site has become ...

'', Liya said "I played Davido a couple of my songs, including "Melo" and he was hooked, then he asked me and my manager to travel with him the next day to Abuja. During our trip, he started saying "first lady way", then took it to twitter." On 2 October 2020,

officially signed Liya, as the first female artist under his imprint

. On 27 December 2020, Liya was cited as one of the 10 Nigerian Artistes To Watch by ''The Guardian Life'' magazine in 2021, curated by Chisom Njoku, and Asa Asika for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. On 28 July 2021, she announced her first extended play ''Alari'', to be released officially on 20 August 2021, through DMW. On 21 August 2021, music critic Motolani Alake said "her debut track titled "Melo," the mercurial singer flipped a sample of Angélique Kidjo's "Agolo" into a pop ditty pulsatin with regal grace.” during his first impression on the extended play, and called the project an "impressive debut EP". On 24 May 2022, she was nominated for

The Headies The Headies (originally called the Hip Hop World Awards) is a music awards show established in 2006 by the ''Hip Hop World Magazine'' of Nigeria to recognize outstanding achievements in the Nigerian music industry. The annual ceremony features pe ...

in the Best Vocal Performance category for female, for the song "Alari". On 25 August 2021, she released the music video for "Adua", directed by Dammy Twitch, and went on to released "Adua (Remix)" with a guest appearance from Simi in 2022.

Artistry

Liya described her music genre as Afro-Fusion, and tells ''

'' It consists of a variety of influences that just comes out beautifully", she said. She also revealed her stage name Liya, which was picked out of her middle name Suliyat. Liya cited Angélique Kidjo,

Aṣa Bukola Elemide (born 17 September 1982"There's 'Fire O ...

, and

Shola Allyson Sola Allyson-Obaniyi, popularly known as Shola Allyson or Sola Allyson, is a Nigerian soul, folk, and gospel singer and songwriter. She came into limelight with the hit album ''Eji Owuro'' (2003), which was the soundtrack album for a film of the ...

, as her musical influence or inspiration while growing up.

Discography

;Studio album and EP *''Alari'' - EP (2021)

Singles

Guest appearances

Accolades

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liya Living people 1999 births English-language singers from Nigeria 21st-century Nigerian singers Nigerian women singer-songwriters