CDQ (rapper)

Last updated
CDQ
CDQ pix.jpg
Background information
Birth nameSodiq Abubakar Yusuf
Also known asCDQ olowo
Born (1985-05-06) May 6, 1985 (age 39)
Orile, Lagos State, Nigeria
Genres
Occupations
  • Rapper
  • singer
  • songwriter
Instrument Vocals
Years active2008–present
LabelsNo Struggle No Success

Sodiq Abubakar Yusuf (born May 6, 1985) popularly known by his stage name CDQ, is a Nigerian indigenous rapper, singer and songwriter best known for his single "Nowo E Soke" featuring Wizkid and Masterkraft's Indomie where he was featured alongside Olamide. [1] While the former is instrumental for launching his career into the Nigerian music industry, the later won him his first career award at the 2016 Nigerian Music Video Awards. Signed to his label No Struggle No Success Entertainment, CDQ's repertoire of music includes rapping in Yoruba language with addition of ad-libs such as the popular "Woss Wobi" which he invented. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Sodiq Abubakar Yusuf  is a native of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria; [3] but was born in Orile, a suburb of Lagos. Upon moving back to Lagos State from Ilorin where he had completed his secondary school education, he proceeded to further his education at Lagos State University where he graduated with a B.Sc in Economics. [4]

Career

CDQ started music professionally in 2008 when he used to be a back-up singer for Da Grin before he started rapping in English language with M.I. [4] In 2013, he signed a recording contract with Masterkraft's General Records after winning a rap battle at the weekly Industry Nite in December 2012. [5] In 2014, he released his breakthrough single titled "Indomie" which featured vocals from Olamide while the remix of the song featured Davido. The Masterkraft-produced song brought CDQ's career to limelight and further earned him two nomination spots at the 2015 Nigeria Entertainment Awards and a nomination in the Best Street-Hop Artist category at The Headies 2015.

In anticipation of his debut studio album titled Quality , CDQ Archived 2022-10-24 at the Wayback Machine enlisted the service of Wizkid with whom he released "Nowo E Soke" as a lead single off the album. The music video for the song was directed by Unlimited L.A and went on to win the Best Afro Hip Hop Video category at the 2016 edition of the Nigeria Music Video Awards. [6] [7] On 16th of August 2016, he unveiled the cover art for the album [8] before it was released through General Records on 22 August to positive critical reviews. [9] [10] On 11 November 2016, he launched his own record label N.S.N.S, a short-form for No Struggle No Success Entertainment. [11] On 1 Feb 2017, he dropped his first official single under the platform titled ' Say Baba ' which was produced by Jay Pizzle. [12]

Other works

The rapper has shocked many as he floats the initiative by giving back to the society. He travelled to Kwara State, where he hails from to launch the scheme.

In 2019,he paid a courtesy visit to the Emir of Ilorin and during the first day of his arrival, he discussed his intentions and plans for secondary school students within the state.

His 2-days trip was filled with activities as he and his team were well received by the school as the Principal of the school organised a special assembly gathering to receive one of their own. The musician gave writing materials and wall clocks to the students.

Speaking on the initiative, the musician’s publicist said; “The (CEEI) project is targeted at solving writing materials problems in the state as all the secondary schools in Kwara State will get to benefit from it.” [13]

Discography

Selected singles

List of singles as lead artist, showing year released and album name
TitleYearAlbum
"Ogini"
(featuring Runtown)		2014Non-album singles
"Indomie"
(featuring Olamide)
"Indomie (Remix)"
(featuring Olamide and Davido)		2015 Quality
"Salaro" [14]
"Talosobe"
"Oobi"
(featuring Cayana)
"Woss Wobi (Freestyle)"
(with Olamide)		Non-album single
"Nowo E Soke"
(featuring Wizkid)		2016Quality
"First Come First Serve"Non-album singles
"Make We Run?" [15]
(featuring Wizkid)
"Ko Funny"
(featuring Davido)		2017
"Say Baba"
"Say Baba (Remix)" [16]
(featuring DJ Maphorisa)
"Bye Bye Poverty"
"Warey yo"2018
"Gbayi"

(featuring Kiss Daniel)

"Shey Normal"
Flex
"Aye"

(featuring Phyno and Reminisce)

"Onye Eze"

(featuring Zlatan Ibile)

"Jabbing"
"Fine Boyz"
"Ghana Must Go"2019Ibile Mugabe
"Entertainer (featuring Davido)
"Owo"2020Non-album singles
" Kogbede" (featuring Wande Coal)2021Non-album singles

Studio albums

Selected awards and nominations

YearAward ceremonyPrizeRecipient/Nominated workResultRef
2015 2015 Nigeria Entertainment Awards Best New Act to WatchHimselfNominated [17]
Best Collabo of The Year"Best Collabo of The Year"Nominated [17]
The Headies 2015 Best Street-Hop ArtisteHimselfNominated
2016 2016 Nigeria Entertainment Awards Rap Act of the YearNominated
Soundcity MVP Awards 2016Best Hip Hop ArtistNominated [18]
2016 Nigeria Music Video AwardsBest Afro Hip-Hop Video"Nowo E Soke"Won [19]
20172017 Ghana-Naija Showbiz AwardsBest Street-Hop ArtisteHimselfWon [20]
Next Superstar On The RollNominated [21]

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References

  1. ↑ Rotimi Agbana (29 April 2017). "CDQ names Wizkid, Davido kings of Nigerian music - Vanguard News". Vanguard . Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  2. ↑ Tofarati Ige (28 May 2017). "I make music for the streets –CDQ". The Punch . Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  3. ↑ Mutiat Alli; Abimbola Obatayo (6 January 2016). "CDQ: On career, fashion and collabos — Daily Times Nigeria". Daily Times of Nigeria . Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  4. 1 2 Helen, Ajomole (19 November 2015). "EXCLUSIVE: I Will Rather Remain Razz Than Being Posh And Broke- Famous Nigerian Artist". Naij . Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  5. ↑ "I wouldn't mind going down with Niyola - CDQ - Vanguard News". Vanguard. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  6. ↑ Hassan Sanusi (16 December 2016). "2016 Nigeria Music Video Awards: See the full list of winners". Nigerian Entertainment Today . Archived from the original on 11 June 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  7. ↑ "CDQ to drop visuals for 'Nowo e soke' featuring Wizkid tomorrow - Nigerian Entertainment Today - Nigeria's Top Website for News, Gossip, Comedy, Videos, Blogs, Events, Weddings, Nollywood, Celebs, Scoop and Games". thenet.ng. 17 January 2016. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  8. ↑ Akan, Joey (17 August 2017). "CDQ: Rapper's "Quality" album cover is the worst you will see this year". Pulse Nigeria. Archived from the original on 9 May 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  9. ↑ "ALBUM REVIEW: CDQ - "Quality"". tooXclusive . Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  10. ↑ "Album Review: CDQ - Quality - 360Nobs.com". www.360nobs.com. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  11. ↑ "CDQ Unveils New Record Label N.S.N.S + Promo Photos". tooXclusive. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  12. ↑ Solanke, Abiola. "CDQ drops another jam for the streets titled "Say baba'" . Retrieved 2018-07-25.
  13. ↑ People, Famous (2019-04-09). "Rapper, CDQ Goes Back To School". Famous People Magazine. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
  14. ↑ "DOWNLOAD: CDQ - "Salaro" (Prod. by Masterkraft) - Latest Nigerian Song". tooxclusive.com. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  15. ↑ "MUSIC: CDQ X Wizkid – Make We Run (Prod. By Del B) - 360Nobs.com". www.360nobs.com. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  16. ↑ "cdq ropes in dj maphorisa for the "say baba" remix". MTV Base . 10 April 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  17. 1 2 "Full Winners List @ The Nigerian Entertainment Awards #NEA2015". NotJustOk . 8 September 2015. Archived from the original on 27 May 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  18. ↑ Johnson, Ayodele. "Soundcity MVP Awards 2016: See full list of winners". pulse.ng. Archived from the original on 15 June 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  19. ↑ "2016 Nigeria Music Video Awards: See the full list of winners". thenet.ng. 16 December 2016. Archived from the original on 11 June 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  20. ↑ "Full List Of Winners At The 2017 Ghana-Naija Showbiz Awards". www.beatznation.com. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  21. ↑ "Ghana-Naija Showbiz Awards 2017 nominees list: Tmghlive.com, Sarkodie, others nominated". GhanaWeb.com. 19 March 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
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