Fimiguerrero | |
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| Born | Fimihan Uthman Akinola February 24, 2001 Nigeria |
| Origin | London, England |
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| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2019–present |
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Fimihan Uthman Akinola (born 24 February 2001), known professionally as Fimiguerrero (often stylised in all caps), is a Nigerian-born British rapper based in London. Blending rage rap, trap and club music, he first drew attention with his 2019 single "Rubberbands" before releasing a run of projects including Human Anatomy (2019), Black (2023), Immigrant (2023), the mixtape New World Order (2024) and the collaborative album Conglomerate (2024) with Lancey Foux and Len. [1] [2]
Fimiguerrero was born in Nigeria as Fimihan Uthman Akinola and moved to the United Kingdom as a child with his mother and brother. [1] The family lived in various parts of South East England, including Greenwich, Thamesmead, Newham and, briefly, Kent. [1] During this period his brother moved away and his relationship with his mother became strained, although he later described her sending him videos of herself playing his music in her car. [1]
He grew up listening to his mother's collection of fuji music, as well as singers such as Whitney Houston and Celine Dion, before discovering UK rap through online freestyle platforms like SB.TV. [1] As a teenager he began recording songs using school headphones and playing them to friends. He later enrolled on a Fashion Marketing degree, but described repeating his first year twice and ultimately deciding university was not for him. [1] Instead, he used student loan money to buy clothes, go on dates and finance recording sessions, developing a hustler mentality that fed into his music career. [1]
In June 2019, Fimiguerrero released his debut single "Rubberbands", a trap-leaning track distributed through 1312104 Records DK. [3] Later that year he issued the seven-track project Human Anatomy, continuing to experiment with short, high-energy songs. [4] In January 2020, he followed with the single "Fifteen", again released independently through digital distributors. [5]
After deciding to pursue music full-time, Fimiguerrero dropped out of university and spent extended periods sleeping and writing in recording studios between Manchester and Copenhagen, describing waking up on sofas with a microphone next to him. [1] During this period he became closely aligned with 10V Elysium, a London-based creative collective and label run by his manager Bams, which combined music, fashion and events and released his work independently with distribution handled by Believe. [1]
In 2021, he released two longer projects: the self-titled Fimiguerrero and No Way Out, both credited as albums on streaming services and issued through 10V. [2] [6] [7] These projects refined his mix of melodic trap, cloud rap and club-influenced beats and laid the groundwork for his later rage-oriented sound.
In March 2022, he released the five-track EP Kʌnt through 10V Elysium. [8] [9] The project, featuring songs such as "2Fast" and "Christian Bale", has been described as an early distillation of his experimental rage and club-rap approach. [10]
Fimiguerrero's breakout period arrived in 2023 with the back-to-back releases of Black and Immigrant, described by Wonderland as "future-forward manifestos" that plotted his ambitions beyond the UK underground. [1] The article highlighted how the former includes politically charged writing, citing lines from the song "School Dinner", while Immigrant flips Brandy and Monica's 1998 hit "The Boy Is Mine" into the bouncy track "Rain". [1] Both projects were issued through 10V and distributed by Believe, and are categorised as albums on streaming platforms. [2]
During this time he also began collaborating closely with fellow UK rapper Lancey Foux. Their single "Dark Knight", produced by T99 and Lucid740, was noted in Wonderland as capturing their shared Nigerian heritage and mutual interest in fashion, with Fimiguerrero's verse framed as a symbolic "passing of the baton". [1] The pair later reunited on "Doppelgänger", which critics described as a high-energy, back-and-forth rage track. [11] [12]
On the live side, Fimiguerrero undertook his first headline run of shows with the Black tour, performing in clubs around the UK and ending 2023 with a sold-out London date that featured surprise appearances from Len and Lancey Foux. [1] Footage from these shows circulated online, helping build his reputation for chaotic mosh-pit performances. [13] [14]
In 2024, Fimiguerrero released New World Order, widely described as a mixtape rather than a studio album. [15] [16] Reviewers characterised the project as a tightly sequenced trap and rage tape built around mosh-ready tracks such as "MVP" and "All My Cards". [17] [18] A viral X review by an underground critic also described it as "one banger after another" and a defining moment for the UK rage scene. [19]
The single "MVP", a collaboration with fellow UK rapper YT, was accompanied by a video premiered on GRM Daily and helped introduce Fimiguerrero to a wider UK rap audience. [20] Around the same time he appeared on a run of collaborative singles, including "Nkita" with Knucks, [21] "patrol" with hako, [22] "giveTake" with iankon, [22] and "Orchid" with producer fakemink, released as a joint single in May 2024. [23] [24]
In live performance, 2024 marked Fimiguerrero's step up to major festival stages. In May he was announced as a late addition to the line-up of Wireless Festival 2024 in Finsbury Park, joining headliners including Nicki Minaj and Doja Cat. [25] He performed at the festival on 14 July 2024, with setlists and video recaps circulating online. [26] [27]
Later that year he joined Lancey Foux and Len for the collaborative album Conglomerate, released in November 2024. [28] New Wave described the project as a "highly anticipated" statement for the UK underground, highlighting the single "OSBATT" as a showcase of their chemistry. [29] Pitchfork later reviewed Conglomerate as a "war cry" for the UK underground, singling out Fimiguerrero as "the hottest right now" and praising the "hyper-jerk" sound of New World Order as a precursor to the tape. [30]