Augustine Miles Kelechi Okechukwu (born 17 December 1992), popularly known as Tekno, is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

singer and songwriter.

Background and early life

Kelechi is from Ivo Local Government Area,

Ebonyi State Ebonyi State ( ig, Ȯra Ebonyi) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north and northeast by Benue State, Enugu State to the west, Cross River State to the east and southeast, and Abia State to the southwes ...

,Nigeria. He was born in

Bauchi State Bauchi State (Fula: ''Leydi Bauchi'' 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤦𞤢𞤵𞤷𞥅𞤭) is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Kano and Jigawa to the north, Taraba and Plateau to the south, Gombe and Yobe to the ea ...

into a family of six — five boys and one girl. He was raised in several parts of the country including

Nassarawa Nasarawa is a Local Government Area in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Nasarawa, located at 8°32'N 7°42'E, with a population of 30,949 (as of 2016). The local government area has an area of 5,704 km and a popula ...

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Region, Nigeria, Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade Centre and a major transportation hub as the ...

and

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 ...

due to the fact that his father was a member of the

Nigerian Army The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land force of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is governed by the Nigerian Army Council (NAC). The Chief of Army Staff is the highest ranking military officer of the Nigerian Army. History Formation The Nigerian ...

. At the age of 8, Tekno Miles was enrolled in a

music school A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

where he learned and mastered the rudiments of playing the piano and guitar. He is the elder brother to another Nigerian musical act, ''Spotless''.

Musical career

Tekno Miles was first signed under K-Money Entertainment. His breakout single titled "Holiday", was released under the imprint. With featured vocals from

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 ...

, "Holiday" was positively accepted and gained massive airplay. In 2012, Tekno Miles was spotted by renowned Nigerian comedian

Julius Agwu Julius Agwu (born April 7, 1973) is a Nigerian stand-up comedian, actor, singer and MC. Julius Agwu is the MD/CEO of Reellaif Limited, music, and movie production company. He is also an entertainment consultant and motivational speaker. He is th ...

at an event in Abuja, after Tekno Miles received a standing ovation following the performance of a song titled "Onye Ne Kwu", his remix of

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 "Oleku". It was at the same event he met

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 Ubi Franklyn, the manager of Made Men Music Group and they became friends. Ubi and

eventually encouraged Tekno Miles to move to

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 ...

to further his music career. On 5 October 2013, he signed a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with Made Men Music Group ''(MMMG)'', under which he released singles like "Dance" and "Anything". These singles earned him a nomination in the "Best New act of the Year" category 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 ...

. On 18 June 2015, Tekno Miles released his hit single titled "Duro", which was produced by

DJ Coublon Akwuba Charles Ugochukwu (born November 4, 1989), professionally known as DJ Coublon, is a Nigerian record producer and sound engineer. He is best known for producing hit songs with several prominent artists in the Nigerian music industry, includ ...

. "Duro" was positively received both in Africa and in the US. A remix which featured

Phyno Chibuzor Nelson Azubuike (born 9 October 1986), populary known as Phyno Fino, is a Nigerian rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He started his music career as a producer in 2003, and is renowned for rapping in the Igbo language. His ...

and

Flavour N'abania Chinedu Okoli (born 23 November 1983), better known by his stage name Flavour N'abania or simply Flavour, is a Nigerian singer. He began his musical career as a drummer for a local church. Flavour is popularly known across Africa and the world ...

was released on 16 November 2015. It topped several charts in Nigeria and on the international scene, it peaked at number 5 on

Capital XTRA Capital XTRA (formerly Choice FM) is a Global Media & Entertainment, Global-owned radio station that broadcasts on 96.9 FM broadcasting, FM and 107.1 FM in Greater London. Nationally, it is heard on Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB Digital Ra ...

's Afrobeats Chart: Top 10 for September 2015. On 20 November 2015, Tekno Miles released a single titled "Wash". The song was produced by

with the video directed by AJE Filmworks. On 27 December 2016, Tekno was named one of the top ten hip-hop and R&B talents to watch in the United States in 2017 by

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

. In 2016,

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

played Tekno song titled 'Diana' on one of his episode of Rocket Hour radio show on

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

. However, On 13 October 2017 Tekno was featured by DJ Cuppy on a song titled ''Green Light'', which was officially DJ Cuppy's first single. On 12 December 2017, American rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

posted images of himself with Tekno to his Instagram page, captioning them, "Tekkk time." On 22 July 2022 Kizz Daniel and Tekno expresses dissatisfaction after Google named ‘Buga’ No 1 song in Nigeria. On 10 August 2018,American singer Ciara, has teamed up with Tekno, for a collaboration titled "Freak Me."Tekno announced the song's release and revealed the cover art on his Instagram account @teknoofficial on Friday. On 15 August 2019,Tekno was announced as one of the producers of ‘Won’t Be Late’ by Swae Lee featuring Drake In June 2018, Tekno signed a distribution deal with Universal Music Group Nigeria (UMGN), a division of Universal Music Group in charge of West Africa, as well as the UK-based Island Records. In July 2019, Tekno was featured on

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

's '' The Lion King: The Gift'' soundtrack on the song "Don't Jealous Me". In 6 December 2020, Tekno released the tracklist for his long-awaited debut album, ''Old Romance''. In 2022, he featured in Kizz Daniel's 'Buga', a track that became the No. 1 shazamed tune within the same year. Also, within the same year,

revealed how Tekno had assisted in reviving his career at a very crucial moment when he needed fresh inspiration. Afro-pop singer Tekno has released the music video for his latest single "Puttin".

Discography

Albums

* '' Old Romance'' (2020)

Singles

Records produced

Awards and nominations

Personal life

In May 2018, Tekno welcomed a baby girl with girlfriend Lola Rae. In 2020, Tekno announced that he has relocated to the United States till further. This was a reaction to the news of the proposal presented at the Nigerian National Assembly for the change of the country's name to UAR, which was an acronym for United African Republic or United Alkebulan Republic on 2 June. In 2017, Tekno made it known to the public that he has acid reflux. The condition had gotten complicated and had ultimately affected his vocal cords. He had to undergo surgery to tackle the issue.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tekno 1990 births Living people Igbo people Nigerian hip hop musicians 21st-century Nigerian male singers Nigerian male singer-songwriters People from Ebonyi State Igbo singers Nigerian record producers