22nd March, 2013
Yemisi Odegbami, better known as May7ven, has established herself as one of the female music stars to be reckoned with. The award-winning Nigerian singer, songwriter, dancer and entrepreneur, is currently making waves with her new single, Hey Mr.
May7ven, daughter of legendary footballer, Segun Odegbami, has just been playlisted by popular UK mainstream radio station, Choice FM, making her the only female and one of the few Afrobeats singers and African music artistes to be playlisted on the national radio station back-to-back.
Fondly dubbed the Queen of Afrobeats, May7ven has continued to break boundaries, popularising Afrobeats and African music among a wider audience in the UK. Hey Mr, was also one of the singles that featured on the Afrobeats, The Ultimate Collection compilation album which entered the Top 20 on the UK iTunes chart this year.
May7ven’s musical prowess is certainly not going unnoticed. She has drawn accolades and plaudits from many corners. One of Nigeria’s famous entertainers, D’Banj, in an exclusive interview with Beat FM’s Toolz on Ndani TV, heaped praises on May7ven, saying “She’s a Queen.”
Though May7ven was born in Ibadan, Nigeria, she debuted as a music act in the UK. Her first cut, Hands Up, was released in 2008. It was produced by Aeon Manahan. In the summer of 2009, Take Off My Clothes, produced and co-written by Aeon Manahan and May7ven was released in the UK and Nigeria. The video was directed by Ben Peters.
With the video of Take Off My Clothes, May7ven blew minds. The video was on Ben TV’s top ten charts for 20 weeks. It also toppled the charts of other music video TV channels like Nigezie, Music Africa, Hip on TV, Soundcity and MTV Base channels in the UK, Europe and Africa.
May7ven’s hard work has not only earned her a fair position on the international scene, she is also smiling to the bank. She has won endorsements with some corporate companies. She was an ambassador of telecommunication company, Globacom. In 2009, she embarked on a tour of 18 Nigerian cities alongside other ambassadors of the company. Guinness, Exxon Mobile, Zain and Nigerian Breweries also signed her for brand relaunches.
In March 2011, May7ven launched her own radio show on City 105.1 FM. The same month, she was signed to Malta Guinness and Endemol as a judge on the Malta Guinness Street Dance Africa (season 4). Earlier, she had won the Best Video in Europe category at the 2009 edition of the Nigerian Music Video Award, NMVA. She was the first female artiste to win the category.
May7ven attended Bodija International School before relocating to the UK at the age of six with her mother and siblings. She later studied music, sound engineering, building surveying and architecture. She joined her church choir at age 10.
In 2009, May7ven was commissioned to write and produce several programmes and theme music for TV and films including the first Eko Awards, Abuja Festival and Gospel Music Awards UK. In 2010, she started writing and co producing for upcoming Nigerian artistes under her label. And in 2011, she teamed with producer Antoine Stone to complete works on her album which included the song, Ten Ten.
May7ven has performed in many A-list shows and concerts. Some of them include Ingenuity Festival, Koko Concert, Nigerian Independence Day concerts, Sweden’s Fryshusset and Idols West Africa to mention a few.
—Bayo Adetu