With a lot of buzzing stars gaining fame on the streets of Nigeria, Otega is one of the many who have caught attention over the past few years with his songs.
Born Stephen Ifedayo Oghenetega, Otega started out as a blogger before venturing into music which has launched him into fame in the streets.
First starting with Instagram freestyles, in 2018 he caught attention after his freestyle later turned single, ‘Stay Woke” went viral. The Official single which featured CDQ is credited as his breakthrough hit.
Otega’s music career took on a new dimension after that, as he went on to create more songs that charted and gave him a new identity in the streets.
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Who is Otega?
With several talents rising from Nigeria’s streets, we’ve seen several breakthroughs for most of the new artists that join the business using freestyle videos to demonstrate what they’ve got in store for us.
Otega is a fast-rising Nigerian Rapper from Edo State who rose to prominence with his track “Stay Woke,” which featured CDQ. He started as a blogger but ventured into making music.
Prior to making waves with “Stay Woke“, Otega first laid the foundation of his music career by dropping freestyles on social media.
Another song that proved the street rapper is a brilliant singer and isn’t joking was “Aje,” on which he was featured; The song which is owned by Diamond Jimma showcased his brilliant lyricism.
Otega’s Sound
In the Street Hop scene, there are artists who have redefined the music space from its fast-paced tunes that had people dancing well-crafted dance routines.
However, in recent times the tempos and sonics vary with the lyrics shedding more light on the background on the artists singing them.
The street-Hop scene is ruled by artists who tell their grass to grace stories while also acting as motivational mediums for these artists.
Otega’s music falls into this category. In almost all of his songs, he doesn’t hesitate to share the story and inspiration behind his never-ending push for a better life.
His songs have found appeal on the streets not just because of their quality or the sound but because of the relatable lyrics.
For example, his viral ‘Stay Woke” song which loosely translates to ‘Ji Masun” was popular because of how easily Otega could convey the mind of the average hustler.
Just like the wise writer in Proverb 24:33 that advises against too much sleep, Otega encourages hustlers to sacrifice sleep and put their strength in the grind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsZkc05M-cM
Although he is all encouraging about the hustle, he also acknowledges that life can be out of control for a human sometimes from his verse on “Sin City (Hustlers OT).”
However, with all the inspiration, the artist finds himself on “When” asking God when things would get better for him. He though believe that things would get better.
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Street Appeal and Mainstream Success
Like a lot of other fast-rising artists like Seyi Vibez, Bella Shmurda, Balloranking, Otega has built a loyal fanbase on the streets that have translated into millions of streams for the singer.
While he is yet to rake in huge numbers on Youtube, Audiomack is a different story with all his projects doing huge numbers in millions.
His debut album “Really Bhard”-All In One Body” alone has more than 22 Million streams on the streaming platforms, a laudable achievement for a fast-rising artist like him.
Otega is yet to have a mainstream success but given his ability to evolve and advance, it won’t be long till major key players in the industry start knocking on his door.
However, the singer has been able to secure major collaborations with established artists like CDQ, Jaywon and even buzzing artists like Bella Shmurda and Mohbad which has boosted his growing list of achievements.
Features
One of Otega’s memorable features is on his fellow street artist, Diamond Jimma’s “Aje” which was a favourite street song at the time of its release.
The song which is a cover of Jaywon‘s 2019 song of the same name saw Diamond Jimma riding on the instrumentals with so with rich local vibes with Otega assisting on the motivational and emotive song.
Another of his features is his verse on Seyi Vibez’s “Save Me” that sees the rapper drops lines about how is he forced to depend on himself as he charts through the stormy curse of life.
He states that if he shouldn’t succeed in the music game despite all his hustle to be famous.
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Conclusion
As the Nigerian Music industry grows and broadens its horizons, Otega has the potentials to become than his current level.
Looking at the rapid rise of budding street-hop artists like Bella Shmurda, Znoleesky, Mohbad, e.t.c into mainstream success, it’s not hard to see Otega towing the same path.
The talented rapper has been able to astonish his audience with his witty bars that exude grit and courage- two important characteristics for any hustling artist.