Anike | |
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![]() Anike in 2024 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Mutiat Yewande Isola |
Also known as | Wande, Anike Dees |
Born | Nigeria | March 4, 1996
Origin | Austin, Texas, U.S. |
Genres | |
Occupations |
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Years active | 2013–present |
Labels |
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Member of | 116 |
Website | anike |
Ireoluwa-Anike Dees (born Mutiat Yewande Isola), known professionally as Anike (formerly known as Wande), [1] [2] is a Nigerian-American rapper, actress and former journalist and A&R administrator from Austin, Texas, United States. She signed to the Christian hip hop label Reach Records in 2019, where she had worked as an A&R administrator. Prior to that, as an independent artist, from 2013 through 2018 she released multiple singles and made numerous featured appearances on various songs, as well as worked as a music journalist. She is the first woman signed to Reach. Her debut extended play (EP), Exit, was released on April 24, 2020, followed by a mini-EP The Decision on December 4, 2020.
Anike was born in Nigeria but raised in Round Rock, Texas and then Austin, Texas, United States. [3] [4] Most of her family members were Muslims, except for her mother, who was Christian. [4] [5] At first she was not allowed to go to church, and then started having to get up at 5 A.M. to read the Bible and go with her mother to work so that she could get picked up to go to church. [6] Anike said in April 2020 that she used to joke "that I'd go to Mosque and church". [5] Her curiosity about God led her to search on the internet for Christian rap, and the first result to come up was the 2006 song "Prayin' for You" by Lecrae. [5] In sixth grade, she started playing the flute and studied music through junior high school. [5] She converted to Christianity in seventh grade while interning at a camp in 2009 in Columbus, Texas, a decision for which she encountered opposition from within her family. [4] [5] [7] While at the camp, she also saw a performance by the Christian hip hop collective 116 Clique, which at that time consisted of Lecrae, Trip Lee, Tedashii, and Sho Baraka. [5]
Despite this initial interest in music, Anike wanted to be a doctor, and enrolled in a health and science program in junior high school. [5] She became interested in rapping after a biology teacher allowed her to compose a rap about cellular transport instead of writing an essay or making a presentation. [3] [5] [8] Despite this, she initially continued in studying health and sciences, even acquiring a license to be a nurse's aid. [5] According to Anike, she had "an internal struggle with the whole rap thing. Africans don't really mess with creative careers. You either become a doctor or a lawyer." [5] However, she decided to switch majors and went into journalism and public relations at University of Texas at Austin. [4] [5] [7] As a journalist, she anticipated that she could get access to artists, attend concerts, and conduct interviews. [5] She soon started writing for the Christian hip hop website Rapzilla, and started assisting the Christian hip hop record label RMG. [5] She rapped at campus events as a form of Christian ministry. [4] [7] She was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha which she denounced and left [9] and Sigma Phi Lambda sororities, the National Association of Black Journalists, IGotSole Dance Company, and the Texas Orange Jackets. [4] [10] [11] Her first released record was a feature on the song "B.I.G." by D-Flow on their 2013 album Quarter to Vinci. [12] She released her first single, "No Flex" featuring ikilledmarlon, in May 2016. [13] She performed at South by Southwest in 2016, [14] 2017, [15] [16] and 2018. [17] She did some A&R work for Ace Harris, and 2017, while still pursuing her university education, she began an internship at Reach Records. [18] [19] She released eleven songs during 2018, making the Rapzilla list of 15 Freshman of 2019. [20] [21] Shortly before her graduation in 2018 she was hired as an administrator for the label's A&R. [18] [19]
The following year, after five months after her hire as A&R, she was signed as a recording artist to Reach. [22] [23] She released her debut single on the label, "Blessed Up", in April. [24] The single would be listed the next year on Michelle Obama's playlist. [25] Wande is the first woman signed to the label. [22] She has expressed a hope that her signing will make it easier for other women rappers to pursue a career in the highly male-dominated Christian hip hop genre. "I think it'll show other labels that you shouldn't be afraid to sign females. I hear a lot of excuses like, 'Oh it's expensive' or 'Oh, we don't know how the market will react to a woman.' 'Will they buy her music?' Obviously, a lot of Christian companies don't have the money to just casually experiment with a Christian artist because you have to make sure they are profitable. So a lot of women get the short end of the stick because they don't want to gamble on a woman." [26] She said that it initially took a while for her music to be released because of resistance that she encountered in the music industry because her abilities were undervalued on account of her being a woman. For example, she recounts that "I would fly somewhere, write a whole album, and would ask for the beat and the person wouldn't send the song. I learned a lot about how people value you." [18] She also has mentioned the difficulty in getting exposure to her music when her lyrics do not discuss sex. [21]
On March 30, 2020, Anike announced her forthcoming debut album, Exit, [27] and the single "Happy" was released April 3, 2020. [28] "Be the Light", featuring Evan and Eris, followed as a single on April 17, 2020. [29] Exit was released on April 24, 2020. [30] Wande also has released music has part of 116 (formerly 116 Clique). [31] She said in an April 2020 interview that her father and her have made peace over her conversion and her decision to pursue a hip-hop music career. [6] On December 4, 2020, she released a three-song mini-EP entitled The Decision. [note 1]
In July 2024, she changed her stage name from Wande to Anike, [1] a short form of her new middle legal name, Ireoluwa-Anike, a Yoruba phrase meaning "the goodness of God" [2]
In addition to English, Anike is fluent in Yoruba. [3]
In the spring of 2022, she married Darius Dees. [35]
Title | Details |
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Exit |
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Title | Details |
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The Decision |
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The Rap Pack |
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Title | Released | Album |
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"No Flex" [13] (featuring ikilledmarlon) | 2016 | Non-album singles |
"They Didn't Know" [36] | ||
"Hiatus Freestyle" [37] | 2017 | |
"Elevated" [38] (featuring Bryon Juane) | 2018 | |
"Fuego" [39] | ||
"Fuego" (remix) [40] (featuring Parris Chariz) | ||
"I Gotta Live" [41] | ||
"Blessed Up" [24] | 2019 | |
"In Luv" [42] | Summer Nineteen | |
"BAND$" [43] (featuring Byron Juane) | ||
"No Limits" [44] | Non-album single | |
"Happy" [28] | 2020 | Exit |
"Be the Light" [29] (featuring Evan and Eris) | ||
"Come My Way" [45] (featuring Teni and Toyé) | Summer Twenty | |
"Last" [46] | The Decision | |
"Blessed Up" (remix) [47] (featuring Lecrae and Mike Todd) | 2021 | Non-album single |
"Don't Worry 'Bout It" [48] (with Porsha Love) | Summer Twenty-One | |
"Big God" [49] | 2022 | Non-album singles |
"They Didn't Know II" [50] |
Title | Year | Album |
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"B.I.G." [12] (D-Flow featuring Wande) | 2013 | Quarter to Vinci |
"Gotta Go" [51] (Dru Bex featuring Jeremy Rodney-Hall and Wande) | 2018 | Non-album single |
"Level 3" [52] (Xay Hill featuring Silver Steph, Wande, Torey D'shaun, Roy Tosh, Raw B and Parris Chariz) | Red Ranger Pt.2 | |
"Iran" [53] (Joey Vantes featuring Wande) | The Fall | |
"She Got Aesthetic" [54] (Not Klyde featuring Wande & Parris Chariz) | Lil Foil 39 | |
"Groove" [55] (DJ Standout featuring Cass, Wande, and Eris Ford) | 2019 | Non-album single |
"Holy Ghost" [56] (Mandela Dunamis featuring Wande) | The Light Show | |
"Pretty Sad" [57] (V. Rose featuring Wande) | Non-album singles | |
"Perfectly Loved" (remix) [58] (Courtnie Ramirez featuring Wande) | ||
"We Fight (Color Purple)" [59] (Datin featuring 1K Phew and Wande) | 2020 | |
"Good Now" (remix) [60] (DOE featuring Wande) | 2021 | |
"Found" (TobyMac featuring Terrian and Wande) | 2022 | Life After Death |
"Firm Foundation (He's Gonna Make a Way)" (Maverick City Music featuring Bobbi Storm and Wande) | 2023 | The Maverick Way Complete |
Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
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"The Last One" [61] | 2020 | Marty | Marty for President 2 |
"Ella" [62] | 116, Lizzy Parra | Sin Vergüenza | |
"Restored Remix" [63] | Hulvey, 1K Phew | Restoration: The Deluxe Album |
Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Director |
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"Blessed Up" [64] | 2019 | Mikael Coleman | |
"No Cap" [65] | SwervetDance | ||
"No Ceilings" [66] | Mikael Coleman | ||
"Happy" [67] | 2020 | Mikael Coleman | |
"Woo" [68] | Aaron Chewning | ||
"Come My Way" [69] | Teni, Toyé | Ed Dinzole | |
"Last" [70] | Mikael Coleman | ||
"Blessed Up" (remix) [71] | 2021 | Lecrae, Mike Todd | Keenon Rush |
"Big God" [72] | Jonny Clay | ||
"They Didn't Know II" [73] | 2022 | Mikael Coleman and Roxy Coleman |
Title | Year | Other artist(s) |
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"The Last One" [74] | 2020 | Marty |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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2023 | Stanton [75] | Sarana | Feature film |