I want to create a global sound that is not limited to Nigeria or Africa, filled with sincerity and power and ultimately brings people to a consciousness of who God is. Simply put, make Jesus famous globally.
Afolabi Emmanuel is a Singer, Songwriter, Worship Leader, Recording Artiste and Preacher.
The Lagos-based Artiste was born on the 7th of January, 1992 and studied at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. He is very passionate about music and started singing at a very young age so much that he was leading his fellowship choir in secondary school. Few months to leading the Choir, he had just given his life to Christ and was new to the Church. With time, his love for God, gift and skill increased. He joined the Choir and was soon leading the Choir in rendition of songs. It didn’t stop there, he continued to sing even in college and had to sell his laptop to pay production fees for his first single “Made in Heaven”. He kept struggling to put his music out there because he believed so much that Gospel Music is bigger than just putting out songs for the Church and making money or collecting honorarium from churches.
He revealed, “Gospel music is very wide and is expressed in different forms from worship music like Hillsong and Bethel, to Christian contemporary music, to Gospel rap etc, but in Nigeria a wide majority of our gospel songs/content is created for church. This, I believe is largely attributed to our poor or lack of music revenue structure such as publishing rights, and royalties.
A lot of people need to hear that song that talks about hope and love, that addresses social justice and inspires us to be better. We need to embrace new sounds, innovative Christian music content. The message is the same but the delivery can be different.”
Folabi is mentored by Olumide Iyun and Idris Bello Osagie. He is the current worship leader at the LifePointe Church (the young adult expression of the Elevation Church, Lagos). An energetic Gospel singer, with good leadership and networking skills and a great vocal agility and similar vocal range like that of Travis Greene like people always say, he has a divine mandate to bring people into the consciousness of who God is as well as the tangibility of His love. No wonder majority of his songs have been regarded by people as love songs. Folabi loves to talk about the love of God so much because he believes that it is because of His love that believers are here today. He also believes that the more of God we know, the easier it becomes to fall madly in love with Him. He revealed that he gets most of his songs during his quiet time while meditating on the Scriptures. As much as he gets compliments that he sings like Travis Greene and Mali Music, he has successfully transcended to owning his own sound, and having people appreciate his unique style of pop/soft rock.
The “Make Jesus Famous” artist debuted his first Album “Good God” in 2017 and “God of Heaven”, a single on the album peaked at Number one on on Rhythm 93.7 FM’s ‘Holy Holla Top 5’ Gospel Chart for several weeks. He has recorded 3 albums and featured some of Nigeria’s finest Gospel artistes such as TY Bello, Nosa, Florocka, Wole Oni, Prospa Ochimana, Freke Umoh, Jodeep and PITA. He has featured in several world class events such as the yearly ”Make Music Lagos” which features some of Nigeria’s top acts.
He has shared the stage with music greats such as Tim Godfrey and Travis Greene. He was listed by Voyage ATL Magazine, Atlanta as one of 10 inspiring creatives. In 2018, he was nominated at the Africa Gospel and Media Awards, United Kingdom. He also ministered at this year’s Tim Godfrey’s Fearless Concert. Some of his tracks songs include, “Everyday”, “Omemma”, “Everlasting”, “Make Jesus Famous”, “My Heart”, “Satisfied”, “God of Heaven” and many others.
Folabi is an artiste with a difference and has greatly contributed to the wonderful worship experience at Elevation Church and also touched and blessed the heart of many with his songs.
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