OnoBello: Celebrity Focus- Flavour N'abania – From Church Drummer Boy To International Star

Flavour N'abania was born as Chinedu Okoli on the 23rd of November 1983, at Enugu State, Nigeria to a family originally from Umunze in Orumba South LGA,Anambra State and is the first son of a large bunch of 11 children.
At the beginning, Flavour's family wasn't very fond of his musical ambitions; they often dismissed it as a pipe dream.

His mother in particular believed that his musical ambitions wouldn't amount to anything. In one of the episodes of Reality Show 'Super Mom', his mum – Mrs. Okorie - revealed that she did not support Flavour's career choice at first because she wanted him to become a Medical Doctor.
According to her, 'Those days, nobody wanted their child to become a Musician because they used to drink and they were wayward people. I did not want that for my child. Moreso, when he wanted to go into music, I said it should not be outside the church but I didn't reckon with what God had in store for him'. She said

Flavour prominent for his ability to sing fluently in the Igbo language, began his music career at the age of 13 when he started playing the drums for his church choir in Enugu. The resident pastor at his church then introduced him to a friend, Chris I Ordor, the CEO of SoundCity Communications who had just started a musical company aimed at training young musicians on the basics of music and nurturing them all the way to a professional level and in 1996, he was invited to join the company on an educational scholarship to study music where after three years, he started playing the drums professionally. In 1999, Flavour moved on from playing the drums and started playing the keyboard. He also used to provide backing vocals for other musicians at Sound City.

In 2002, Flavour emerged unto Nigeria's musical scene as a drummer and pianist when he received an offer to perform at City Centre, Enugu. The massive crowd at City Centre inspired him to gain new grounds and reach great heights. His educational background in music also enabled him learn music production from Dekumzy, Isi Charles and Nnachie.
In 2008, Flavour released his debut album, "N'abania", through Obaino Music. The album's success was relative and limited to Eastern Nigeria, particuarly, Enugu State.

Flavour collaborated with Mr. Raw on the first single entitled "N'abania". The song was recorded at Kingsley Ogoro's studio in Lagos, Nigeria.

Following the relative success of his debut album, Flavour released "Uplifted in 2010. While working on the album, Flavour believed the album would surpass his previous works. Flavour's projection came true when the album broke national barriers. Lolhiphop Records, an established record label in South Africa, released the album after popular demand. The album's top hits include: "Nwa Baby (Ashawo Remix)", "Adamma", and "Oyi Remix"; the latter features Tiwa Savage.

The album's success made Flavour one of Africa's most sought out artists. Flavour was booked to perform numerous concerts and social events following Uplifted's release.

In 2012, Flavour went on a tour of North America, where he held a live concert in Toronto, Canada.
Flavour's third album, Blessed, was released on 18 October 2012 through 2nite Entertainment and iROCKING LTD.. It was launched on the same day of Flavour's 2nite Club grand opening. In an interview with iROKTV, Flavour said "I think I'm growing. This is my third album... Now it's time to give them the music, like define myself. I have to be more mature with my music, lyrics and instrumentation wise. I worked with tons of producers and the whole production process made sense.
Flavour has been nominated for and won numerous awards both within and outside Nigeria including the Ghana Music Awards, Channel O Music Video Awards, Nigeria Entertainment Awards, Hip Hop World Awards.
Follow @flavournabania on twitter.

Source: OnoBello.com