10 Nigerian Musicians Whose REAL NAME Will Surprise You

Waje, Flavour N'abania, African China...you won't believe their real names.

In the entertainment industry it is common place for artistes to change their God-given names. A lot of the times it’s not even because they don’t like their official government names, it’s because their government names simply won’t move the market. Could you imagine if your friend came up to you and told you he wanted to enter into the music industry with the stage name, David. Of course you’ll ask that friend to change that name to something more marketable, more unique, less generic.

That’s why a lot of artistes do it. But what I particularly find interesting is the stretches sometimes: how completely DIFFERENT some people’s stage names are from their real names. Those are the people I’ll be looking at today. Some people like Simi whose real name is Simisola or Teni whose real name is Teniola, it’s easy to see how they came up with their stage names.

But then you’ll see someone like Ice Prince and wonder how in the world he derived that name from the God-given government name he’d been given.

Are you ready to jump in and see some real names of your favorite artistes? Then let’s go!

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1. Don Jazzy

MAVIN Boss and all around master producer, Don Jazzy has a stage-name that is so obviously a stage name, but for some reason, has never given me a reason to investigate what his real name is. Until now.

Don Jazzy’s real name is Michael Collins Ajereh

Please tell me how Don Jazzy come take come out from this name? According to Don Jazzy though, it was the most suitable one he landed on after just trying on a couple of stage names. This one fit.

And true true, for his persona in music, the name Don Jazzy real does fit him.

2. Ice Prince

Ice Prince’s own really shocked me. How can your stage name be Ice Prince when your real name is:

Panshak Henry Zamani

Am I the only one that actually likes the stage name: Panshak Zamani? It sounds very different. I don’t know, just saying…who knows how far he would have gone if that were really his stage name?

3. Di’Ja

Nigerian singer, Di’Ja popular for her songs like The Way You Are and Awww has a real name that isn’t too far sounding from her stage name.

Her real name is Hadiza Blell.

The name Di’Ja is said to have been formed as a combination of two names: Hadiza and Khadija.

4. Reekado Banks

Now, here’s another one that is very clearly not a real name. Reekado Banks’ real name is:

Ayoleyi Hanniel Solomon

Abeg, tell me how Reekado Banks come take komot for this very VERY Nigerian name.

In an interview with the National Mirror Online, Reekado Banks said:

I picked my stage name “Reekado Banks” because of their significance. While Reekado (another way of writing Ricardo) meant a strong ruler, Banks like we all know meant money in the vaults. So if you were to put them both together, you will have a strong ruler that had in his possession or that is in control of a vault or if you like a strong, wealthy ruler.

5. Flavour

Okay, what annoys me is that I really honestly thought Flavour’s real name was Flavour N’abania. Especially when you include that surname, it really does sound like a legitimate name.

But neither the Flavour nor the N’abania are even part of Flavour’s real names.

Flavour’s real name is Chinedu Izuchukwu Okoli

Abeg, tell me how Flavour N’abania came out from this name?

6. Patoranking

Another high profile singer with a stage name is Patoranking whose real name is:

Patrick Nnaemeka Okorie

Okay, Patrick – Patoranking I can see how he came up with it. According to him though,

Ranking in Jamaica means highly respected, and the short form of my name, Patrick is Pato, so it simply means highly respected Pato which translates to Patoranking

7. Mo’Cheddah

Singer and fashion designer Mo’Cheddah’s name is another one that’s obviously a stage name. Her real name is:

Modupe-Oreoluwa Oyeyemi Ola

According to her, the stage name came because:

My name has always been Mo, and for some reason when I started rapping I always said Mocheddah. I would go for interviews and the host would always introduce me as Mocheddah. Initially, I hated it and I am pretty good at saving money so people started calling me Mocheddah – initially, if it didn’t pay then I wouldn’t do it. When I made my first music video, Clarence Peters asked, “Why don’t you just use Mocheddah?”

8. Waje

Yes, Waje is a stage name. I know, it sounds like her real name but it isn’t. Waje’s real name is:

Aituaje Aina Vivian Ebele Iruobe

You can easily see how the Waje came from the pronunciation of the name Aituaje.

9. Faze

Another obvious stage name is Faze. But what is Faze’s real name you ask? It is:

Chibuzor Oji

🤣 That is the most basic Nigerian name. There’s no way he could have used that because even me alone I know like 2 Chibuzor Ojis. Good thing he picked Faze.

10. African China

African China’s is the best one to me because I thought for sure that there would be no relation from this stage name to his real name but surprisingly, that isn’t the case. African China’s real name is:

Timothy Chinagorom Onuoha.

The China comes from Chinagorom. I find that so funny because in the pronunciation of the real name, Chinagorom doesn’t even sound like China, but wow, such a clever way to do it I guess.

That’s All.

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