A good number of people may have probably heard Issa Goal and Soapy and rightly do associate the songs with Nigerian singer, Naira Marley. But who is Naira Marley, who has an extensive fanbase to the extent he is called its president?
Biography
Naira Marley was born Azeez Adeshina Fashola on May 10, 1991, in the Agege area of Lagos State. He moved to Peckham, in the South London area of England, when he was 11. Marley enrolled at Walworth School in the United Kingdom, where he got his GCSE. He obtained his Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) qualification from Peckham Academy. The Nigerian also bagged a degree in Business Law from Crossways College, also situated in the UK.
Encouraged by friends, Naira Marley stepped onto the music scene in 2014 with the release of his debut single, Marry Juana, which featured Max Twigz, who is one half of the Cannabis Boyz. He subsequently his debut EP (extended play), Gotta Dance, in 2015.
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Naira Marley’s breakthrough in the Nigerian music industry, however, came in 2017 when he, in collaboration with fellow singers: Olamide and Lil Kesh, dropped Issa Goal. The song was chosen as the theme song for the Super Eagles, the Nigerian senior male national team, at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The song became very popular that he did a remix on the eve of the World Cup featuring Olamide, Lil Kesh, Falz, Simi and Slimcase.
He sings in English, Pidgin and Yoruba. His genre of music is principally dancehall afrobeat(s), spiced with a heavy dose of street lingua, and a mixture of hip-hop. Naira Marley has grown and become a household name in Nigerian contemporary music that he now heads a movement called “Marlians”.
He is also the boss of his record label, Marlian Records.
Discography
Naira Marley has put in a lot of work since he burst onto the scene and to his credit, he has over 30 songs. A good number of them have gone on to become hit bangers such as Issa Goal, Am I A Yahoo Boy, Soapy, Tesumole and Mafo.
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Below is a list of the singer’s songs.
| TITLE | YEAR |
| Marry Juana | 2014 |
| Rice & Beans | 2014 |
| Kosi Weyrey | 2016 |
| Issa Goal | 2017 |
| Flying Away | 2017 |
| Japa | 2018 |
| Drummer Boy | 2018 |
| Opotoyi (Marlians) | 2019 |
| Why | 2019 |
| Am I A Yahoo Boy | 2019 |
| Soapy | 2019 |
| Bad Influence | 2019 |
| Back2work | 2019 |
| Mafo | 2019 |
| Tesumole | 2019 |
| PXTA | 2019 |
| Yanyanyan | 2019 |
| Isheyen | 2019 |
| Tingasa | 2019 |
| Oja | 2019 |
| Illuminati | 2019 |
| Royal Rumble | 2019 |
| Aye | 2020 |
| Dido Lobo | 2020 |
| Anywhere | 2020 |
| Mofoti | 2020 |
| Idi Oremi (Opotoyi 2) | 2020 |
| Chi Chi | 2020 |
| As E Dey Go | 2020 |
| Koleyewon | 2020 |
| Standard | 2020 |
| Coming | 2021 |
| Drug Test | 2021 |
| First Time in America | 2021 |
| Kojosese | 2021 |
Wives and children
Although he is very flamboyant while on music tours and on the social scene, Naira Marley has kept his family life very private.
It was only after he was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2019 following the release of his hit song – Am I A Yahoo Boy – that the singer revealed that he has two wives and four children – two boys and two girls. All his wives and children are residents in the UK.
He did not publicise the names of his wives, but it was learnt that one of the wives gave birth to his two sons, while the other gave birth to his two daughters.
Net worth
Naira Marley is estimated, by media reports, to be worth about $2 million. At various times in 2020 and 2021, he showed off new buildings that he had acquired. He is reported to own about six houses in the Lekki area of Lagos State.
He is also reported to own several exotic cars, including a 2014 Bentley Continental, a Mercedes G-Wagon, a Mercedes-Benz C300 4Matic, a Mercedes-Benz S-Class and a Porsche Panamera.
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