Nigerian Singer, and Mtn Project Fame winner, Chidinma Ekile, AKA Ms Kedike, has revealed she was born blind. The star singer in an Interview with Guardian said according to her parents, she just could not see for some months. Chidinma said she would love to be seen more as someone who does a lot for visually-impaired kids and young people as she can relate with their situation.She said, “I was born blind. I just couldn’t see for some months. Since I sang about it, I felt the need to help kids that find themselves in such situations or even worse. So every time I travel to these places, I try to extend a hand of love to these children.“For some years now, I think like two years or thereabout.
I’ve been using my foundation to do quite a lot of things. I’ve been able to take it to some places in Africa. The last time, I think I was in Togo and I was able to do a few things with the SOS village, I hope to do more of that.” In 2010, she rose to stardom after winning the third season of MTN’s Project Fame West Africa, a reality-singing competition series. After releasing the music video for her “Emi Ni Baller” single, she became the first female musician to peak at number 1 on the MTV Base Official Naija Top 10 chart.In 2011, she released her first single “Jankoliko”, featuring Sound Sultan. Chidinma, her self-titled debut studio album, was released through the music platform Spinlet.
It was supported by the singles “Jankoliko”, “Carry You Go”, “Kedike”, and “Run Dia Mouth”.The album features guest appearances from Sound Sultan, Tha Suspect, Olamide, and Muna. In 2012, Chidinma won the “Best Female West African Act” category at the 2012 Kora Awards; she performed “Kedike” at the ceremony.Chidinma Ekile, the last of six children, was born in Ketu, Lagos State. Both of her parents are from Imo State. Chidinma started singing at the age of 6, and grew up with a disciplinarian father. When she was 10 years old, she joined her church’s choir. She attended primary and secondary school in Ketu prior to relocating to Ikorodu with her family. Chidinma declined her admission into the University of Lagos due to her advancement in the aforesaid competition.In an interview with YNaija, Chidinma said that she has always taken school seriously and her decision to enroll at Unilag was inevitable. She also said that music hasn’t always been on her agenda, and that she decided to give music a try after winning the MTN Project Fame competition.
She worked as a business promoter in Lagos prior to auditioning for the third season of MTN’s Project Fame West Africa.Prior to auditioning for the third edition of Project Fame West Africa, she dreamt of being part of the reality TV show that was instituted in 2008. With the help and support from her close knit friend, Chidinma left her home in Ikorodu and went to the Ultima Studios, the venue for the show’s 2010 Lagos auditions. She was among the 8,000 or so contestants who went to showcase their talents that year. Subsequently, Chidinma advanced to the Fame Academy round, alongside 17 other contestants. For 10 weeks, Chidinma and the other contestants were coached by musical professionals: voice coaches, inspirational speakers, established musicians, and music business service providers. Moreover, contestants were taught choreography and several rehearsal drills.
On September 26, 2010, Chidinma became the apparent winner of the competition. She won several prizes, including N2.5 million, a 2011 Toyota RAV4, and an album production deal.Chidinma started working on her debut studio album, Chidinma, after releasing a collaborative project with the other finalists of MTN Project Fame West Africa Season 3. The album was scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of 2011. Chidinma spoke briefly on her album and said that she put a whole lot of energy into her first album because of the high expectations. Chidinma worked with different producers for her first solo project, including Cobhams Asuquo, Tee Y Mix, WazBeat, and Oscar Heman Ackah.On February 22, 2011, she released the singles “Jankoliko”, featuring Sound Sultan, and “Carry You Go”.
Both songs were written and produced by Oscar Heman Ackah. In an interview posted on the Weekly Trust, Chidinma said that she’s happy about the positive response she received after releasing the song, and is working hard to improve her craft. The music video for “Jankoliko”, directed by Clarence Peters, was released on June 4, 2011, at a total length of 3 minutes and 33 seconds. On October 11, 2011, Chidinma released “Kedike”, the album’s third single. The song translates to “Heartbeat”, and was produced by Cobhams Asuquo.On October 11, 2011, she also released the album’s fourth single “Run Dia Mouth”. The music video for “Kedike” was released on January 24, 2012. It was directed by Clarence Peters, and released at a total length of 3 minutes and 5 seconds. Dammy Krane, a recording artist signed to Tuface’s Hypertek Records, played Chidinma’s love interest in the music video.
On September 14, 2012, she released the album’s lead single “Emi Ni Baller”, featuring her fellow label mates Tha Suspect and IllBliss. The song was produced by Legendury Beatz.On June 10, 2013, Chidinma released “Bless My Hustle” featuring Phyno, “Kite”, and “Jolly”, three singles off the upcoming album. “Bless My Hustle” was produced by Tha Suspect, and “Kite” was produced by Del B. “Jolly” was produced by Wizboy. On September 14, 2013, Chidinma released “Oh Baby”, and on January 29, 2014, she released “Oh Baby Remix”, featuring Flavour N’abania. Both songs were produced by Young D.
