GROWING UP
Omawumi was born on the 13th of April 1982 to late Chief Dr. Frank Anirejuoritse Megbele and Mrs Aya Queen Megbele. From childhood Omawumi had been known to be a playful, energetic, intelligent and extremely talented child as she was already a lead vocalist in the children’s choir of Foursquare Gospel Church in Warri at the age of 8.
Omawumi had her primary education in Nana Primary School Warri and her secondary education in College of Education Demonstration Secondary School where she was a member of their press club, head of primrose choir and drama group. In 1999 after she left secondary school she went on to study law at Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma Edo State.
After she graduated in 2005, she moved to Port-Harcourt, Rivers State where she worked with her family law firm called O.S Megbele & Associates while studying French in Alliiance Francaise.....click to see full bio
OMAWUMI-THE MUSICIAN
On the 26th Day of January 2007, Omawumi auditioned for the West African version of an internationally acclaimed TV talent show tagged ‘IDOLS WEST AFRICA’.
Omawumi with her strong voice and out-going personality dazzled the millions of viewers across the continent with each ‘spectacular’ and was voted the 1ST RUNNER UP of IDOLS WEST AFRICA when the competition ended in May 2007.
In September 2008, Omawumi released her debut Single ‘In The Music’ A kwaito based sound which she fused with pidgin English and the song became an Instant Hit…. Hitting number 1 on various radio stations and getting multiple nominations and awards including the most coveted award ‘NEXT RATED’(This award came with a KIA OPTIMA!) and BEST FEMALE VOCALIST AWARDS FROM HIPHOP WORLD AWARDS 2009.
In November 11, 2009 Omawumi released the long awaited album ‘WONDERWOMAN’ with hit songs like ‘Ma Fi Mi Shere’ featuring Eldee The Don, ‘Chocolata’ featuring Naeto C and ‘Today Na Today’. This album sold 100,000 copies in one week! She also featured in the Hit Single ‘THANK GOD’ by the late Dagrin. Amongst multiple nominations (SOUNNDCITY MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS, NIGERIAN MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS, CITY PEOPLE AWARDS etc), Other Awards for her success in the industry includes
• BEST R’N’B/POP ARTISTE 2010-Nigeria Entertainment Awards. New York.
• BEST FEMALE MUSIC VIDEO 2010-Nigeria Entertainment Awards.
• OUTSTANDING RECORDING ARTISTE-Icon Awards
• BEST NEW ARTISTE- Women in Entertainment and Arts. Vivacity PR. London.
• PROJECT ALERT ICON-In recognition of her commitment to advocating for Zero-Tolerance for all forms of Violence against Women and Young Girls.
Omawumi,who also a Ghost song writer and vocalist of many top notch theme songs for large corporations, is The Hostess/MC Extraordinaire as she has hosted amongst many events, The Nigeria Entertainment Awards. 2010 in New York City
Omawumi, who is known for her Down-to-earth nature and quirky non-stop Warri proverbs quickly hit the Industry as her quotes and innuendos got popular amongst her large fan base.
Chocolata ft Naeto C
OMAWUMI-THE ACTOR
Omawumi started out by veering into the theatre as She was amongst the cast for the 2009 edition of the V-Monolugues (a highly reputed play that reflects the negative issues affecting women in Nigeria), and she also starred in the musical play ‘OLUROMBI’ amongst other plays.
She had a first stint on the musical ‘INALE’-a Hollywood/Nollywood Bongos Ikwe production, also starring Hakeem kae Kazeem, Dede mabiaku, Ini Edo and Directed by Jeta Amata.
OMAWUMI-THE PHILANTROPIST
Omawumi is significantly associated with the following foundations.
• PROJECT ALERT- An organization that is commited to advocating for Zero Tolerance for all forms of Violence againt Women and Young Girls.
• PINK PEARL FOUNDATION- A Breast and Cervical Cancer Awareness and Treatment Foundation.
• NOTES2NOTES-Nigeria leadership Initiative(NLI) CLEVER Initiative that believes in getting the country back on track by reaching out to young people during their formative years and reinforcing values necessary to rebuild a good society.
• MAGA NO NEED PAY-A song for the Microsoft Internet Safety and Privacy Initiative for Nigeria (MISSPIN) which seeks to re-direct the energies of participants of cyber crime to positive use.
Omawumi is a diversity of talents and she is also bilingual (French and English). Her hobbies are reading, writing and of course singing!
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