John Itiola, also known as ''Wordsplayed'', is a
Christian rapper
Christian hip hop (originally gospel rap, also known as Christian rap, gospel hip hop or holy hip hop) is a subgenre of contemporary Christian music and hip hop music. It emerged from urban contemporary music and Christian media in the United S ...
based in
San Diego. His style is influenced by
trap music. He has made album appearances for artists like
Andy Mineo (C-Lite),
GAWVI
Gabriel Alberto Azucena who goes by the stage name GAWVI, formerly G-Styles, is an American Christian hip hop artist and music producer, formerly for Reach Records. He was born on September 23, 1988 in the Bronx, New York. He has released thre ...
and
Social Club Misfits.
Biography
Wordsplayed was born to Nigerian immigrants who moved to the
United States in the early 1980s. He grew up in
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
.
In 2008, he became friends with members of the evangelical hip-hop ministry
T.R.U.C.E. (To Reach Urban Communities Everywhere), which included the rapper
Andy Mineo, who gave Itiola a guest spot (credited as John "Word Up" Itiola) on his 2009 Sin Is Wack mixtape. He has also previously worked with Beleaf and Ruslan of ''the Dream Junkies'' and formerly of ''theBreax'', on the songs “Drag ‘Em” and “That’s Me” respectively.
Itiola also joined Mineo's artist collective Miner League. Itiola released his debut single as Wordsplayed, "Martinelli's (ft.
Andy Mineo)," on December 29, 2014 and "Sammy Sosa" on April 11, 2015. Itiola collaborated on the
Marty's album (
Social Club
A social club may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation, or activity. Examples include: book discussion clubs, chess clubs, anime clubs, country clubs, charity work, criminal ...
) in the song "The One with my Friends" alongside
NF,
John Givez,
Fern and Kaleb Mitchell.
In 2016, he debuted with the mixtape ''Clowntown'', which was released by Miner League and hit number 35 on Billboard's Top Christian Albums chart. Also, he was a special guest with
Social Club Misfits in ''"Friends & Family Tour"'' of
Andy Mineo.
In 2017, Itiola and Mineo teamed up for ''Andy Mineo & Wordsplayed Present Magic & Bird,'' on August 4, 2017. The full-length collaboration debuted at number 49 on the all-genre Billboard 200. This album had 5 songs on the Billboard's "Hot Christian Songs" chart.
His latest releases, Lo-Fi Love 1 (LFL1) and Lo-Fi Love 2 (LFL2), have been paired with his stellar “Lo-Fidelity Hour” and "Lo-Fidelity Nights Uncut" direct to public access television series', respectively.
In 2019, was a guest on
NBC’s ‘Off The Dribble’ on ‘NBA Hot Takes’ segment.
In April 2020, he launched a
podcast called "Circle of Trust", with the intention of "building a global network of people with positive, successful and like-minded ideas."
Discography
Solo albums
Collaborative albums
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Itiola, John
Rappers from New York (state)
Living people
1979 births