Samuel Imo Owobuiko Popularly known by the stage name “Limoblaze” is a fast rising Urban Gospel Afropop, Afrobeat and Rap Artiste and Songwriter. He was born on the 25th of October,1995 and hails from Bende Local Government, Abia State, Nigeria. He was born to Samuel and Nkechi Onwubiko and was brought up along with his seven siblings in Makurdi-Benue state. He discovered his musical abilities at a tender age of 8 when he started singing in the children’s Church choir. He studied Biochemistry at the Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi, Nigeria.
During his early adolescent years, he listened and fell in love with rap music by Tupac and Eminem. As he grew up, he progressively went on developing himself and writing his own lyrics. Years went by in this practice until he became a well known lyricist in school and earned himself the nickname of “microphone 1da boy” fashioned to “1daboyofficial”. Up to this point he never knew of Christian rap, all he rapped about were random things like money, cars, fame and so on. He eventually came across the music of Christian rappers such as Lecra, The Ambassador, Andy Mineo, Da TRUTH, Tedashi, Sho Baraka, swoope, Pro and many others. Through these influences, he was able to fine-tune his own tune and made up his mind to become an Afrogospel and Afrobeat Artiste as he found what he described as the spirit of God mixed with love, hope and faith in this Christian rap songs as opposed to the emptiness he always felt inside him after listening to and writing secular songs. His love for God also grew steadily while he served in Daystar Church during his days in the University.
He started his musical career as an independent recording artiste in 2012 and has been active since then till date. His first song was titled “Memories” which he wrote and dedicated to his classmates after graduating from High School. He has a unique and versatile style and is known for explicitly fusing his Christian faith into his music. He has so far managed to make a mark in the Gospel music scene with his heartfelt lyrics and message driven songs. He recorded other songs like “Amazing Grace”, “Mercy”, “Unconditional Love”, “Wrong Ways”, “Grace Talk (intro)”, “Pain”, “Misfit”, “For the King” which features an American rapper Los of hga and “So Far Gone”. Also to his credit are a couple of collaborations and freestyle sessions with artistes such as Ads Ehi, Travis Greene, Da Truth and so on. His Debut Album “Blind” was released in 2016 while his second album “Before Now” was released in 2018, followed by Afrobeats Raps & Jesus released in 2019. The Wait E.p was released in 2020 and he released his fourth studio joint album featuring Da T.R.U.T.H titled Bridges on November 20, 2020 which trended both locally and internationally.
He came up as second runner up in the Bouqui unstoppable Rap competition and
has received notable award nominations such as Crystal awards which he got triple nominations for in 2015. Limoblaze was nominated on the 29th of March, 2019 alongside Tim Godfrey, Todd Dulaney, Osby Berry, Jonathan McReynolds, Chevelle Franklyn, Phil Thompson, Tasha Cobbs, Joe Mettle, and Koyrn Hawthorne for the Best International Act and on the 11th of May, 2019 he emerged winner of the Premier Gospel Awards which held in London. Limoblaze is also Two-time African Gospel Music and Media Awards (AGMMA) winner.
When asked by Premier Gospel for the secret of his success, he said: “It’s the hand of God. I am very hardworking; I push myself beyond limits but it’s the grace of God. The Holy Spirit recently reminded me that it’s not the excellence of my music that has brought me this far, but the hand of God. I do not look to awards for validation, but it tells me that people are paying attention to me and that my name is in the conversation. The Premier Gospel Awards was a highlight for me as I was up against some big heavy hitters.”
He also loves acting and featured in a movie titled “Payday” alongside Zack Orji and other big names in the industry. Signed under independent records, he is currently a founding member of the Cross Rhythm Music crew of 5, and affiliated with 2corf North House.
Sources
PremierGospel
Rapzilla
#MaleMinisterMonday
#Limoblaze
#ChurchGist
