Discussing talents in OAU is a refreshing endeavour – one that serves as a creative revelation and a journey into the pulsing campus musical space. Young artists find OAU as not only a place for academic pursuit but also an arena to showcase their original selves.
This is an effort towards bringing you a list of artists that might be worth your listening to. Like the first part of this report, this list is compiled without using a definite criterion:
Adesope Falil Ayodeji (Phalíll)
Phalíll juggles the academic workload of the Department of Building with his musical career. Although he has been writing songs since his early years, he only shot into the campus limelight in late 2023. Coming third place at the OAU’s Got Talent contest puts his musical journey on a high drive.
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Signed under Obafunshy Musical Records, Phalíll released his debut single, “Soda”, in 2023. Since then, he has continually released hit masterpieces like “Holiday”, “Hello, World”, “Laugh Now”, and “Cry Later”. He has also collaborated with artists like Boy Maliq and Perrywtv to create hit tracks.
As a young talent, Phalíll wishes for every ounce of emotion expended on his musical creations to be felt by his listeners. ‘I have been told by some people that my music helped them get through some hard times. I’ve also been told that my singing just makes them feel good inside. I think I’d like for every emotion I put into the music while making it to be felt when you listen,’ He remarked.
Also, his songs usually explore themes of love, dedication and resilience. Phalíll sees Fireboy DML, Wizkid and Burna Boy as sources of artistic inspiration in his musical trajectory.
Obatunde Abdulmateen (Tilary)
From struggling to put his passion into lyrics to driving crowds to ecstasy on the stage, Tilary has surely come a long way. His love for rap music, coupled with confidence in himself, spurred him to be a lyrical composer.
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Tilary ascribes his recording journey to an incident that occurred in his part-one days as a student of the Department of Microbiology. A guy whom people made fun of for aspiring to be a musician introduced him to an app he used to record his sounds. After the event, he tried recording and sharing it with friends and to his surprise, they loved it.
He released the banger ‘Dansaki’ in December 2024. In ‘Dansaki’, he expressed his yearnings to his love interest, crooning about his unending admiration and determination.
For Tilary, the music process is not forced or rushed; it happens naturally. His melodies are sometimes birthed from subconscious hummings, and whenever he tries to force lyrics, he ends up creating something subpar. This applies to his stage performances, too, as he does not prepare for them. Instead, he maintains a good mood before going on stage.
According to Tilary, Zinoleesky is a huge influence on his musical career, as he has been listening to his songs since 2019.
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Fawole Adejare David (I.B.K)
I.B.K only considered taking music seriously after gaining admission into OAU to study Fine and Applied Arts. As someone who gets inspired by the American singer The Weeknd, I.B.K’s unique style of music is recognisable and captivating. Like The Weekend, I.B.K hopes to achieve sonic world-building with his music someday.
I.B.K acknowledges OAU as a place where he has been able to connect with other creatives who have, in one way or another, impacted his music. ‘Genuinely, as hard as it has been for me, OAU created a platform for me. And I think it’s just amazing to get to meet so many creative people as well as just generally interesting people who have had a lot of impact on me and my music,’ He commented.
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The recurring ideas that pervade his songs are love, loss and heartbreak. This is because his music revolves around his personal experiences on the OAU campus and beyond. To him, there is a cheery mask that veils the sad emotions in his songs, which could only be noticed by people who pay attention to his melodies.
‘Can’t Lose’ is an anthem amongst I.B.K. fans on the OAU campus. Some of his other songs are ‘I Won’t Dance’, ‘Let Me Go’, ‘Overattached’, ‘Mind Symphony’ and ‘Why We Have Eachother’.
Additionally, one of his memorable performances was the Sound City Show, which was held at the Amphitheatre. I.B.K reckoned the performance made him feel heard and exhilarated.
Ultimately, these talents are just a few of the legions of creatives who saturate the OAU musical space. They consistently work hard to thrive in the niches they have chosen for themselves. It is safe to say that the music industry should anticipate these gifts.