Joeboy

> Being an African pop star for me means visiting different African countries, and realizing that they actually know my music word for word, and also touching people in different parts of Africa. Sometimes I'm in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Ghana, and it just feels like I'm in one big country and people know my music throughout Africa. That's what it means to be an African pop star. Me calling myself a young legend is me saying that I know that I'm going to be a legend. I know there's so much greatness for me ahead, and so I'm just speaking it to life. People sometimes be like, "*Watin you don do wey make you dey call yourself a young legend?*" I'm the only one that knows what I'm seeing, so I don't expect anybody to understand. It's just so funny that people are always against you when you big-up yourself. Honestly, there's so much greatness ahead of me, and I can't wait to show the world.
>
> Joeboy to *Rolling Stone*

**Joseph Akinwale Akinfenwa-Donus** (born 21 May 1997), known professionally as **Joeboy**, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter from Lagos State. He began his musical career in 2017, his cover of Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" capturing the attention of Nigerian-born, Ghana-based singer Mr Eazi. His debut studio album, *Somewhere Between Beauty & Magic*, was released on 3 February 2021.

## Biography

Joseph Akinwale Akinfenwa-Donus was born on 21 May 1997 in Lagos State, Nigeria. His father is from Ogun State, and his mother is from Ondo State. He has two older brothers and one older sister. He comes from a musical family, where his father played the keyboard in church and brother played the guitar. In an interview, Joeboy shared, "[A]t some point, I didn't know I could sing until after secondary school. I always used to love music, but I didn't see myself as an artist. [Since] 2008, I was a big fan of music. I knew everybody. I was a music fanatic. And my brother used to roll with ID Cabasa [legendary Nigerian producer] back in the day. I used to hang out with them in the studio, go out with 9ice for his shows then. I think this also influenced me." He grew up listening to rap, and the artists 2Baba, D'Banj, 9ice, P-Square, and Chris Brown. He began doing covers and recording for fun. It wasn't until his cover of "Shape of You" that was posted over Instagram and led to a DM from Mr Eazi. Followed by this was Joeboy joining Eazi's incubator program for rising African artists, empawa Africa. Joeboy performed for the first time in the U.S at Sacramento's Lost in Riddim festival.

He attended the University of Lagos, studying Human Resource Management, and explained that it was not a course he chose for enjoyment, but took because of his aversion to mathematics, and graduated with a BSC. However, he noted that the skills learnt helped within the industry, "Studying Human Resource Management has given me the advantage of knowing how to deal with people or handle working with people without conflict arising. Even if by some slight instance, conflict does arise, I am really good with conflict resolution."

## Artistry

He used to listen to gospel music, but named major influences to be from his siblings, who'd play Nelly, Boyz II Men, Sean Paul, and Destiny's Child. Artists Joeboy would want to collaborate with include Post Malone, The Weeknd, Drake, Rihanna, and Justin Bieber.

## Quotes

* "I want to make a living doing what I enjoy doing, which is making music. Touching lives the best way I can positively. I get a lot of messages from people saying "Listening to your music got me out of depression", "Anytime I listen to your music, my mood lights up". Those responses and reactions to my music feel better than money most of the time because it's a beautiful and humbling feeling that, when people hear "Joeboy 'pon deck!," everyone's excited." – His dreams
* "Stay true to yourselves. Be consistent creatively because it's crazy and there are challenges all around but focus on your craft. Don't get carried away by the glam. It's a lot of work. Make sure you love what you're doing." – Advice to young artists
* "The #ENDSARS issue has been on for a very, very long time. I've been harassed by SARS about 4 times, but that was before I blew up. As a young person, 7 out of 10 young Nigerians have been harassed by SARS. Anyone could get harassed for no reason, just because I have dreadlocks, or I am wearing a ring, or I have a tattoo, or you have a flashy phone like a SAMSUNG. Then they automatically call you a fraudster, they conduct illegal searches and they can pin something on you and arrest you. It's a big issue that is affecting young people and I'm proud of my generation for finally saying something and standing up against SARS. I can tell you that cases of police brutality and harassment have reduced over time because they know that the young people have a voice and are going to speak up. And I'm really proud to be a part of that movement." – Talking about the social movement, #EndSARS
* "The word 'label' makes it sound too serious. You know, it's just like a movement—just like something I represent. It's something that I believe is going to be really, really monumental in my career. It's gonna be like a source for good things for me. 'Young Legend' is like a movement so I intend to start supporting young artists after my album so it's just like a platform or like a brand that supports young, amazing people. You don't necessarily have to be an artist. It could just be a creative person—it could be videographer. It could be a photographer. Anything that involves creating, 'Young Legend' supports that. There's so many amazingly talented people that have no platform or support and you know Nigeria is a really really tough place sometimes. Dreams can die! So I'm just trying to like make sure I help a bunch of people achieve their dreams too—to an extent." – Explaining "Young Legend"

## Discography

Main article: Discography
* *Somewhere Between Beauty & Magic* (2021)

## Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations

## References

1. ↑ Solomon, Robert (26 May 2022). "'There's So Much Greatness Ahead of Me': Nigerian Star Joeboy on Why He's a 'Young Legend'". *Rolling Stone*.
2. ↑ "Joeboy's Undeniable Magic". 12 January 2021.
3. ↑ Holcomb, Eira (18 October 2021). "Nigeria has a humble music star on its hands, and his name is Joeboy (Interview)".
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Ju, Shirly (3 February 2021). "Joeboy | 'Somewhere Between Beuaty and Magic' & Best Advice from Mr. Eazi". *Flaunt*
5. ↑ Hill, Sophia (2021). "The Sweet Sun-Kissed Melodies Of Nigerian Superstar Joeboy". *New Wave Mag*.
6. ↑ Ju, Shirley (11 October 2021). "Meet Joeboy: "Changing & Affecting Lives Positively" From Nigeria & Beyond". *Sheen Magazine*.
7. ↑ Mae, Gracey (2022). "Joeboy; The Afro Pop Sensation". *F Word*.