Austin Iornongu Iwar (born 9 June 1997), better known by his stage name Tay Iwar, is a Nigerian

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

singer, songwriter, record producer, composer and

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproductio ...

. Iwar signed a licensing deal in 2018 with

Soulection Soulection is a Los Angeles-based music collective that serves as a platform and community for artists, musicians, and fans from across the world. DJ Joe Kay and artists Guillame '96' Bonte and Andre Power collaborated to establish the brand in 2 ...

, and a publishing deal in 2022 with

Warner Chappell Music Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalogue consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 65,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries. ...

. He founded the Bantu Collective with his brothers Suté Iwar, and Terna Iwar, and he is a pioneer of the

Alté Alté (locally pronounced as "uhl-teh"), is a fusion genre of music that combines elements of afrobeats, dancehall, reggae, hip hop, and alternative R&B. The term was coined in the 2010s by Nigerian music group DRB LasGidi, meaning alternative a ...

music genre. He came into the music scene with a critically acclaimed mixtape album ''Passport'', which earned him a nomination at the 3rd and 4th editions of Nigerian Teens Choice Awards in the Choice Mixtape/EP category in 2014 and 2015. On 23 November 2021,

Wizkid Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990), known professionally as Wizkid, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. A prominent figure in the modern-day Afrobeats music scene, Wizkid is regarded as one of the biggest and most influential Afri ...

Made in Lagos ''Made in Lagos'' is the fourth studio album by Nigerian singer Wizkid. It was released on 30 October 2020 by Starboy Entertainment and RCA Records. The album features guest appearances from Burna Boy, Skepta, H.E.R., Ella Mai, Tay Iwar, Proje ...

'' deluxe studio album, was nominated at the Grammy and earned him, a special recognition from

The Recording Academy The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy A ...

Early life

Austin Iornongu Iwar was born on 9 June 1997 in Marina, and raised between

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

and Abuja. Austin, is the son of Austin Iwar (Father), and Vivian Iwar (Mother). His early influence in music, came from his elder brother Suté Iwar. Austin began creating music at age fourteen, using the music digital software FL Studio. In 2015, he spoke about his journey at TED conference in

Rivers State Rivers State, also known as Rivers, is a state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed in 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include: Imo to the north, Abia and Akwa ...

Career

In 2014, Tay Iwar (formerly Tay) came into the music scene with his brother Suté Iwar. Same year, they created Bantu Collective, an entertainment company in Abuja, for recording, and music distribution, with a photo studio, headed by Terna Iwar. Shortly after, Iwar released his mixtape ''Passport'', on 20 April 2014, through BANTU, and launched his music career on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...

, with a cover of

Jai Paul Jai Paul is an English songwriter, record producer and recording artist. His early demo "BTSTU" led to his online discovery and a subsequent recording contract with XL Recordings. Together with its follow-up "Jasmine", these songs have been reg ...

"Zion Wolf", as Tay. Which earned him a nomination at 4th Nigerian Teens Choice Awards for Choice Song of the Year in 2015. On 22 April 2016, he released a seven-track ep titled ''Renascentia'', featuring Sute Iwar. In 2017, "Equestrian Love" from the extended play Renascentia was on the soundtrack list of

Skinny Girl in Transit ''Skinny Girl in Transit'' is a Nigerian Comedy webseries by NdaniTV. The first episode was released on NdaniTV's YouTube page on 16 Jul 2015. The idea for the series was pitched by Temi Balogun. The series returned to NdaniTV for its fifth seaso ...

season 3. Shortly after the premiere of

season 3 in February, "Equestrian Love" gained popularity and began trending on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, shortly after M.I posted the song, of the moment. On 29 April 2017, he opens for

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

, at Encore "Live In Lagos" Concert 2017 at Eko Convention Center in Lagos. In 2018, Tay Iwar signed a single publshing deal with Universal Music Group Nigeria, alongside

Mr Eazi Oluwatosin Ajibade (born 19 July 1991), better known by his stage name Mr Eazi, is a Nigerian-born, Ghana-based singer. He is a pioneer of Banku music, a fusion of sound he describes as a mixture of Ghanaian highlife and Nigerian chord progressio ...

, Tekno, WurlD, Cina Soul,

Stonebwoy Livingstone Etse Satekla (born 5 March 1988), better known by his stage name Stonebwoy, is a Ghanaian Afropop, dancehall and reggae musician. He is the CEO of Burniton Music Group. He won the Best International Act: Africa category at the 2015 B ...

, and

Vanessa Mdee Vanessa Hau Mdee (born 7 June 1988), is a Tanzanian singer, rapper, television personality and radio host. Mdee is popularly known for being the first ever Tanzanian MTV VJ. She later rose to prominence as a radio and TV host, hosting ''Epic Bon ...

. On 30 January 2018, he released "Video Star", a self-produced track, and his first single under Universal Music Group Nigeria. On 3 February 2018, he released the visual to "Video Star", directed by

Director K Aremu Olaiwola Qudus (born 13 November 1993; professionally known as Director K and DK) is a Nigerian music video director. He has worked with artists of several musical genres including Wizkid, Skepta, Davido, Burna Boy and many others, winni ...

, for Universal Music Group Nigeria. "Video Star" was shortlisted among the 10 Best Nigerian Songs of the Month, by OkayAfrica. On 17 August 2018, he was credited the record producer, and sound engineer of "504", a song by Jon Ogah, a fake housemate at the 2017 reality television show,

Big Brother Naija ''Big Brother Naija'', formerly known as ''Big Brother Nigeria'', is a Nigerian reality competition television series, based on the Big Brother television franchise, in which, contestants live in an isolated house and compete for a large cash pr ...

season 2. On 26 August 2018, Tay Iwar unveiled his publishing and distribution deal with

, with the release of ''1997'', a collective of singles including "Space", "Sugardaddy", and "Miracle Girl", under

, as the lead singles off his debut album ''GEMINI'', released on 29 March 2019. The album features guess appearance from

Cruel Santino Osayaba Andrew Ize-Iyamu, better known by his stage name Cruel Santino, is a Nigerian alternative singer-songwriter, rapper, creative director, filmmaker, and music video director. He is a member of Monster Boys collective, with music producers G ...

, Preyé, Odunsi (The Engine), and Suté Iwar. "Utero" from the album, earned him a nomination for Best Vocal Performance (Male) at the 14th edition of

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 p ...

. On 13 April 2019, "Diamond", and "Keeps" from GEMINI, studio album was aired on Soulection radio. In 2020, he featured on

'' album, on "True Love", with Projexx. In 2021, following the release of the deluxe version on 27 August 2021, he co-wrote "Steady" from the deluxe version, which earned him his first nomination at the

64th Annual Grammy Awards The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, ...

, for Best Global Music Album. Same year, he co-wrote "System" for Dave, from ''

We're All Alone in This Together ''We're All Alone in This Together'' is the second studio album by British rapper Dave, released on 23 July 2021 by Neighbourhood Recordings. The album succeeds the debut album ''Psychodrama'', released in 2019, and includes guest appearances f ...

'' studio album, and was featured on

Tiwa Savage Tiwa Savage (born 5 February 1980) is a Nigerian singer-songwriter and performing artist. Born in Isale Eko, she relocated to London at the age of 11 for her secondary education. Five years later, she began her music career doing backup voc ...

'' Water & Garri'' EP on "Special Kinda". On 1 December 2021, Tay, performed "True Love" with

, for the first time at Made in Lagos Tour in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the s ...

. On 14 January 2022, he signed a worldwide publishing deal with

, through a joint venture with The Flight Club. On 29 March 2022, Wizkid released the music video for "True Love", featuring Tay Iwar, and Projexx. "True Love" was directed by

Nabil Elderkin Nabil Elderkin is an American-born Australian film and music video director and photographer, who is of Iranian and American descent. He is mononymously credited as Nabil in his videos. Elderkin has directed videos for musical artists such as: ...

, and starring Jamaican-Canadian model

Winnie Harlow Chantelle Whitney Brown-Young (born July 27, 1994), known professionally as Winnie Harlow, is a Canadian fashion model and public spokesperson on the skin condition vitiligo. She gained prominence in 2014 as a contestant on the 21st cycle of th ...

, and

Discography

Mixtapes

Studio albums

EPs

Other charted songs

Accolades

Tours

* Made in Lagos Tour (2022)

References

Living people 1997 births Nigerian alté singers English-language singers from Nigeria Nigerian rhythm and blues singers Singers from Lagos People from Lagos {{DEFAULTSORT:Iwar, Tay