Azeez Adeshina Fashola (born 10 May 1991), known professionally as Naira Marley, is a British-Nigerian singer and song writer. He is known as the president of his controversial fan base, "Marlians".

Education

At the age of 11, he moved to

Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon p ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

, England. Naira Marley graduated with a distinction in business from Peckham Academy. He also studied business law at Crossways College (now Christ the King Sixth Form College).

Career

2014–2018: Career beginnings

While growing up, Naira Marley had plans of becoming an MC and a

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-Diegetic#Film sound and music, diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, th ...

artist. He began singing in 2014 after discovering his passion for music and was encouraged by close-knit friends to pursue his music career. He released the Max Twigz-assisted track "Marry Juana" before releasing his debut EP ''Gotta Dance'' in 2015. In December 2017, he released the

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 ...

and

Lil Kesh Keshinro Ololade (born 17 March 1995), known professionally as Lil Kesh, is a Nigerian singer and rapper. He rose to limelight after releasing the hit single "Shoki". Early life and education Ololade was born and raised in Bariga, an area in L ...

-assisted single "Issa Goal", which became the theme song for the Super Eagles at the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

. The official remix of "Issa Goal" was released on 16 June 2018; it features vocals by

Falz Folarin Falana (born 27 October 1990), better known by his stage name Falz, is a Nigerian rapper, songwriter and actor who began his career while in secondary school after forming a group called The School Boys with his friend before his profe ...

, Simi and

Slimcase Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case ...

. Naira Marley sings in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from s ...

and

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

; his music is a blend of

Afrobeats Afrobeats (not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing), or Afro-pop or Afro-fusion (or Afropop or Afrofusion), is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Nigeria, Ghana, and ...

and hip-hop. He derived his stage name from Jamaican singer

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

, whom he admires; his dreadlocks are also a tribute to the singer.

2019–present: "Am I A Yahoo Boy", "Soapy" and ''Lord of Lamba''

Naira Marley released the

Zlatan Zlatan ( sr-Cyrl, Златан) is a male given name of Slavic origin meaning ''Golden''. The name is common amongst all South Slavic countries, namely in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia and Serbia. The name is found i ...

-assisted track "Am I A Yahoo Boy" on 3 May 2019, and was arrested by the

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is a Nigerian law enforcement agency that investigates financial crimes such as advance fee fraud (419 fraud) and money laundering. The EFCC was established in 2003, partially in response to pre ...

(EFCC) that same day. He released "Soapy" on 27 June 2019, a few days after he was released from prison. On 11 January 2020, he won Viewers' Choice for "Soapy" at the 2020 Soundcity MVP Awards. On 18 December 2019, Naira Marley released his second EP ''Lord of Lamba'' which was a mixture of

and hip-hop. The EP comprises 6 tracks and features guest artists such as CBlvck,

Young John Young Jonn is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer, currently signed to Chocolate City Music. He is also famed for his hit singles Dada and the remix with Davido. Before his full transition into songwriting, he had music production ...

and

Mayorkun Adewale Mayowa Emmanuel (born 23 March 1994), known professionally as Mayorkun, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and pianist. He released a cover of Davido's "The Money" single and was discovered by the singer on Twitter. Mayorkun was signed to ...

. Its production was handled by Killertunes,

Rexxie Ezeh Chisom Faith (born 10 November 1994), professionally known as Rexxie Also known for the tag (''Yo! Rexxie Pon This One''), is a Nigerian record producer, DJ and songwriter. He is popular for creating the Zanku sound, and producing Naira Marl ...

and Studio Magic.

Marlian Records

During the "Marlian Fest", which was held at the

Eko Hotels and Suites Eko Hotels and Suites is a five-star conference centre hotel in Lagos. 09161518010 History Established in 1977 as ''Èkó Holiday Inn'' and built on Victoria Island, it is the largest hotel in Nigeria. It was designed by architect Oluwole Olumu ...

on 30 December 2019, Naira Marley announced the launch of his record label Marlian Records and unveiled CBlvck, Zinoleesky, MohBad and Fabian Blu as signed acts. On 10 July 2020, Naira Marley took to his Instagram Page to unveil another act under his label, named: Emo Grae with a new single and visual titled 0903 featuring Buju.

2021: God's Timing Is The Best (GTTB) Album

On 21 June 2021, the renowned and award-winning musician announced in a post he made on his verified Instagram handle that he will be dropping a new album. According to him, the album is tagged 'God's Timing Is The Best' and he will be releasing it after releasing the official video for his 'COMING' track.

Controversies

EFCC arrest

On 10 May 2019, the EFCC arrested Naira Marley and his friends

, Tiamiu Kayode, Adewunmi Moses, Micheal "Taqueesh" Adenuga and Abubakar Musa. The arrest was made a day after Marley released the video for the controversial single "Am I A Yahoo Boy". Five days later, the EFCC released Zlatan and three others but kept Marley in custody due to the evidence against him. On 16 May 2019, the EFCC charged him with 11 counts of fraud before a Federal High Court in

Ikoyi Ikoyi is the most affluent neighborhood of Lagos, located in Eti-Osa Local Government Area. It lies to the northeast of Obalende and adjoins Lagos Island to the west, and at the edge of the Lagos Lagoon. Popular with the extreme upper class res ...

, Lagos. On 19 May 2019, Zlatan released the single "4 Nights In Ekohtiebo" while Marley was still in prison. In it, he talks about his industry friends, foes and other people who he admired and how they came through for him. In May 2019, Marley was arraigned before the Federal High Court and pleaded not guilty; a bail hearing was set for 30 May 2019. On the day of the bail hearing, Marley released "Why", a song that was accompanied by an image of him in handcuffs. On 14 June 2019, he was released from jail 14 days after being granted ₦2,000,000 bail. A few days later, he released "Soapy", a track about the sexual habits of inmates in detention. In October 2019, Marley returned to court to face the charges. His case was later adjourned to 27 February 2020 after an EFCC witness testified against him.

Flouting lockdown order

Naira Marley was detained by the Nigerian Police Force for contravening the lockdown order imposed on

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 ...

State by President

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...

to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country. On 13 June 2020, he performed at a concert in

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

despite the interstate travel ban and social distancing rules aimed at curbing the spread of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He was arraigned by the FCT Administration before a mobile court in Abuja over the concert. Valentine's Concert In Cameroon On Saturday 13 February 2021, a report surfaced online that the highly anticipated Valentine's Concert by Marley in Cameroon had been canceled by government authorities in the country. The concert had already been postponed twice by the organizer and moved to different venues, but was later cancelled entirely by authorities in the country due to jealousy on the part of Cameroonian entertainers who are displeased with the traction Nigerian music and musicians have in Cameroon.

Domestic Violence Allegation / Assault

On 05 October 2022, in a series of statements on his social media, singer Naira Marley was accused of assaulting his signee Mohbad. The posts featured pictures and videos of rapper Mohbad with noticeable injuries. which necessitated hospitalization. But reacting to the allegation, Naira Marley, though, responded to the accusation by calling the incident a "family affair. "The singer claimed that Mohbad was likely "high" (

drunk Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main ...

) when making the complaint as a response to the situation in an Instagram live video.

Discography

EPs

''Gotta Dance'' (2015)''Lord of Lamba'' (2019)
*God's Timing's The Best (2022)

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marley, Naira 1991 births 21st-century Nigerian male singers 21st-century British male singers Living people Yoruba musicians Nigerian male rappers British male rappers Black British male rappers English male rappers People from Lagos State People from London People from Peckham Yoruba-language singers English-language singers from Nigeria