Ayobami Olaleye professionally known as Phantom is a multi-gold, award-winning Afrobeats record producer, singer, and songwriter. In 2020, he became the third Nigerian Afrobeats producer in history to be certified by

Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique The National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing (french: Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique; SNEP) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym ...

(SNEP) after Burna Boy’s " Ye" became a certified gold record in France. The song earned him an award at 2019 Soundcity MVP Awards Festival, in the African Producer of the Year category, with a nomination at The Headies, in the

Producer of the Year The Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical is an honor presented to record producers for quality non-classical music at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in ...

category. On 8 August 2022, he was cited as one of the producers on the TurnTable Nigeria Producer Top 100 chart, and reached number 17.

Early life and career

Ayobami Olaleye was born in

Abule Egba Abule Egba is a neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria. Abule egba are under Alimosho LGA of Lagos. The neighborhood was the site of a petroleum pipeline explosion, the 2006 Abule Egba pipeline explosion The 2006 Abule Egba pipeline explosion is a di ...

, a suburb area of Lagos, and raised in a polygamous family of Oba-Afolabi Olaleye, who was a businessman, and Titi Olaleye, who was a school headmistress. He had his primary education at St John's Primary School and his secondary education at Vetland Grammar School, before proceeding to study Urban and Regional Planning for his tertiary education, where he graduated with a B.Sc in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Lagos. In 2022, he shared his early musical experience with The Guardian, saying "I grew up in Lagos, listening to African folk music, being influenced by

Ebo Taylor Ebo Taylor (born 1936) is a Ghanaian guitarist, composer, bandleader, record producer and arranger focusing on highlife and afrobeat music. Career Ebo Taylor has been a pivotal figure on the Ghanaian music scene for over six decades. In the la ...

, Manu Dibango, and

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997), also known as Abami Eda, was a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the p ...

." Phantom began creating music in 2007 after his friend introduced him to the music digital software

Fruity Loops FL Studio (previously known as FruityLoops before 2003) is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. FL Studio features a graphical user interface with a pattern-based music sequencer. The program is availa ...

. He tells Adedayo Laketu of MoreBranches "I started making beats professionally in 2010 and since then its been fulfilling, yet challenging journey". He achieved recognition for his work on Burna Boy's 2018 single "Ye". In 2018, he co-produced the Headies award-winning Best R&B/Pop Album

The Mayor of Lagos ''The Mayor of Lagos'' is the debut studio album by Nigerian singer Mayorkun. It was released on November 16, 2018, through Davido Music Worldwide. The album's production was handled by Speroach Beatz, Cracker Mallo, Fresh VDM, Kiddominant, DJ Co ...

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 ...

. In 2022, he signed a global publishing deal with

BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was founded in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its ...

, through BMG UK. His production hits include "Diana" by

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 ...

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

, "Skeletun" by Tekno, "The Benz" by Spotless, "Bolanle" by IVD &

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 ...

, and "

Sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

" by Camidoh.

Discography

Singles

Production discography

Singles produced

Selected albums/eps produced

Accolades

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phantom Living people Nigerian record producers Nigerian songwriters Year of birth missing (living people)