# CDQ (rapper)

Sodiq Abubakar Yusuf (born May 6, 1985) popularly known by his stage name CDQ, is a Nigerian indigenous rapper, singer and songwriter best known for his single "Nowo E Soke" featuring Wizkid and Masterkraft's Indomie where he was featured alongside Olamide. While the former is instrumental for launching his career into the Nigerian music industry, the later won him his first career award at the 2016 Nigerian Music Video Awards. Signed to his label No Struggle No Success Entertainment, CDQ's repertoire of music includes rapping in Yoruba language with addition of ad-libs such as the popular "Woss Wobi" which he invented.

## Early life and education

Sodiq Abubakar Yusuf is a native of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria; but was born in Orile, a suburb of Lagos. Upon moving back to Lagos State from Ilorin where he had completed his secondary school education, he proceeded to further his education at Lagos State University where he graduated with a B.Sc in Economics.

## Career

CDQ started music professionally in 2008 when he used to be a back-up singer for Da Grin before he started rapping in English language with M.I. In 2013, he signed a recording contract with Masterkraft's General Records after winning a rap battle at the weekly Industry Nite in December 2012. In 2014, he released his breakthrough single titled "Indomie" which featured vocals from Olamide while the remix of the song featured Davido. The Masterkraft-produced song brought CDQ's career to limelight and further earned him two nomination spots at the 2015 Nigeria Entertainment Awards and a nomination in the Best Street-Hop Artist category at The Headies 2015.
In anticipation of his debut studio album titled Quality, CDQ Archived 2022-10-24 at the Wayback Machine enlisted the service of Wizkid with whom he released "Nowo E Soke" as a lead single off the album. The music video for the song was directed by Unlimited L.A and went on to win the Best Afro Hip Hop Video category at the 2016 edition of the Nigeria Music Video Awards. On 16th of August 2016, he unveiled the cover art for the album before it was released through General Records on 22 August to positive critical reviews. On 11 November 2016, he launched his own record label N.S.N.S, a short-form for No Struggle No Success Entertainment. On 1 Feb 2017, he dropped his first official single under the platform titled ' Say Baba ' which was produced by Jay Pizzle.

## Other works

The rapper has shocked many as he floats the initiative by giving back to the society. He travelled to Kwara State, where he hails from to launch the scheme.
In 2019,he paid a courtesy visit to the Emir of Ilorin and during the first day of his arrival, he discussed his intentions and plans for secondary school students within the state.
His 2-days trip was filled with activities as he and his team were well received by the school as the Principal of the school organised a special assembly gathering to receive one of their own. The musician gave writing materials and wall clocks to the students.
Speaking on the initiative, the musician’s publicist said; “The (CEEI) project is targeted at solving writing materials problems in the state as all the secondary schools in Kwara State will get to benefit from it.”

## Discography
### Selected singles

List of singles as lead artist, showing year released and album name :
| Title | Year | Album |
| "Ogini" (featuring Runtown) | 2014 | Non-album singles |
| "Indomie" (featuring Olamide) | 2014 | Non-album singles |
| "Indomie (Remix)" (featuring Olamide and Davido) | 2015 | Quality |
| "Salaro" | 2015 | Quality |
| "Talosobe" | 2015 | Quality |
| "Oobi" (featuring Cayana) | 2015 | Quality |
| "Woss Wobi (Freestyle)" (with Olamide) | 2015 | Non-album single |
| "Nowo E Soke" (featuring Wizkid) | 2016 | Quality |
| "First Come First Serve" | 2016 | Non-album singles |
| "Make We Run?" (featuring Wizkid) | 2016 | Non-album singles |
| "Ko Funny" (featuring Davido) | 2017 | Non-album singles |
| "Say Baba" | 2017 | Non-album singles |
| "Say Baba (Remix)" (featuring DJ Maphorisa) | 2017 | Non-album singles |
| "Bye Bye Poverty" | 2017 | Non-album singles |
| "Warey yo" | 2018 | Non-album singles |
| "Gbayi" (featuring Kiss Daniel) | 2018 | Non-album singles |
| "Shey Normal" | 2018 | Non-album singles |
| Flex | 2018 | Non-album singles |
| "Aye" (featuring Phyno and Reminisce) | 2018 | Non-album singles |
| "Onye Eze" (featuring Zlatan Ibile) | 2018 | Non-album singles |
| "Jabbing" |
| "Fine Boyz" |
| "Ghana Must Go" | 2019 | Ibile Mugabe |
| "Entertainer (featuring Davido) | 2019 |
| "Owo" | 2020 | Non-album singles |
| " Kogbede" (featuring Wande Coal) | 2021 | Non-album singles |

### Studio albums

* Quality
* Ibile Mugabe

## Selected awards and nominations

| Year | Award ceremony | Prize | Recipient/Nominated work | Result |
| 2015 | 2015 Nigeria Entertainment Awards | Best New Act to Watch | Himself | Nominated |
| 2015 | 2015 Nigeria Entertainment Awards | Best Collabo of The Year | "Best Collabo of The Year" | Nominated |
| 2015 | The Headies 2015 | Best Street-Hop Artiste | Himself | Nominated |
| 2016 | 2016 Nigeria Entertainment Awards | Rap Act of the Year | Himself | Nominated |
| 2016 | Soundcity MVP Awards 2016 | Best Hip Hop Artist | Himself | Nominated |
| 2016 | 2016 Nigeria Music Video Awards | Best Afro Hip-Hop Video | "Nowo E Soke" | Won |
| 2017 | 2017 Ghana-Naija Showbiz Awards | Best Street-Hop Artiste | Himself | Won |
| 2017 | 2017 Ghana-Naija Showbiz Awards | Next Superstar On The Roll | Himself | Nominated |