Rachel Akosua Funmilola Garton (professionally known as Lola Rae; born 20 January 1991) is a Nigerian singer. She gained recognition following the release of her debut single "Watch My Ting Go", which received critical acclaim and thus earned her a nomination for the Most Promising Female Act to Watch at the

2013 Nigeria Entertainment Awards The 2013 Nigeria Entertainment Awards was the 8th edition of the ceremony. It was held at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York and hosted by Basketmouth. Award winners Music categories Best Album of the Year * ''Timaya Upgrade' ...

Growing up and education

Lola Rae was born to a British father and a Ghanaian mother in

Obalende Obálendé, an adulteration of the Yoruba saying ''Ibi ti Oba le wa de'', meaning "Where the king chased us to", is a neighbourhood of Lagos, Nigeria, located in Eti-Osa LGA, close to Lagos Island. Eti-Osa was split by the Lagos State Government i ...

, a suburb of

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 ...

, Nigeria. She attained her primary and secondary school education at St. Saviour's School, Ikoyi; and Lekki British International High School, Lagos, respectively. She however, left Nigeria for England at the age of 15 to complete her university education at

Central Saint Martins Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...

, where she studied fashion textiles.

Career

Lola Rae's entertainment career started as a dancer when she was a member of a dancing group "Mystikal" in 2010. Mystikal dancing group auditioned for ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...

'' where Rae sang in the competition and judge

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...

singled Mystikal dancing group out at the semi-final of the competition. At the end of the competition, the group (Mystikal) was signed to

Syco Syco Entertainment is a British media entertainment company, headquartered in London, founded and owned by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. The company focuses on TV production. The company was formed in 2005 through So ...

for a year. Rae turned down an invitation to ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' in order to pursue a solo career as a singer. On 19 November 2012, Rae released her debut hit single ''Watch My Ting Go'' and a follow up single titled ''High''. She was nominated as the "Most Promising Female Act to Watch" at the

. Her video on "''Watch My Ting Go"'' premiered on

Soundcity TV Soundcity TV is a 24-hour Nigerian lifestyle and music channel based in Lagos from Consolidated Media Associates Limited. Soundcity TV describes itself as a "pan-African urban music TV channel." Soundcity TV is a popular TV station and showcas ...

on 8 January 2013 with cameo appearances from

Iyanya Iyanya Onoyom Mbuk (born 31 October 1986), known by his stage name Iyanya, is a Nigerian Afropop recording artist. Career He rose to fame after winning the first season of ''Project Fame West Africa'' and is best known for his hit single "Kuk ...

and

Emma Nyra Emma Chukwugoziam Obi was born in July 18, 1988. She is professionally known by her stage name as Emma Nyra. She is an American-born Nigerian singer, song writer, an actress, and a model. Emma Nyra is a mother of two. Her associate acts inc ...

. The video was nominated at the 10th

Channel O Music Video Awards Channel O Africa Music Video Awards, once known as Spirit of Africa Music Video Awards, are Pan-African music awards organised by South Africa -based Channel O television channel. The awards were first held in 2003 under the name Reel Music Video A ...

. Following the "''Watch My Ting Go"'', Rae featured Iyanya on a song titled ''Fi Mi Le'' which earned her another nomination at the

2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards The 2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards took place on 31 August 2014, at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The eligibility period was from March 2013 to March 2014. In April 2014, the NEA reviewing committee began collect ...

. She made a cameo appearance as

Ice Prince Panshak Henry Zamani (born 30 October 1984) better known as Ice Prince Zamani or just Ice Prince, is a Nigerian rapper, hip hop recording artist and actor. He rose to fame after releasing " Oleku", one of Nigeria's most remixed songs of all t ...

's love interest in the music video for his song "More".

Personal life

In May 2018, Rae gave birth to a daughter.

Discography

Singles

;As lead artist ;As featured artist ;Promotional singles

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rae, Lola 1991 births Living people 21st-century Nigerian women singers Nigerian female dancers Nigerian people of British descent Nigerian people of Ghanaian descent English-language singers from Nigeria Yoruba-language singers Singers from Lagos