Artist Focus: Teni, The Vocal Wonder
Teni is the total package!
Real name:Teniola Apata Stage name:Teni Date of birth:December 12, 1992 State of Origin:Osun Nationality:Nigerian Genre:Afro Pop
The vivacious diva known asTeni is a Nigerian fast-rising singer, songwriter, drummer, stage performer, recording artist, and entertainer. She is the younger sister of Nigerian singerNiniola.
Born inLagos, Teni hails fromIlesa, a small town inOsun State. She completed her primary and secondary school education at Apata Memorial High School inIsolo, Lagos State and has a Batchelor’s Degree in Business Administration fromAmerican Intercontinental University.
Teni started her music career in 2016 when she joinedMagic Fingers Records, owned by producer,Shizzi. She left the label and signed withDr. Dolor Entertainment in 2017.
She started gaining recognition after the release of the singleFargin in September 2017 and achieved breakthrough with the hit tracksAskamaya,Case, andUyo Meyo.Askamayawas ranked 15th onMTV Base’s end of the year list of the Top 20 Hottest Naija Tracks of 2018.
It didn’t take long for the Nigerian music industry to recognize the talent that had emerged and Teni won Rookie of the Year at the 2018Headies Awards and Most Promising Act to Watch at the 2018Nigeria Entertainment Awards.
She also won the Best New Artist at the 2018Soundcity MVP AwardsFestival.
Teni was ranked eight byNotJustOk’s list of the 10 Hottest Artists in Nigeria and was also listed among the “Six Nigerian breakout stars, viral sensations of 2018” byPremium Timesnewspaper.
On February 20, 2019, she was featured onYouTube Music’s Trending Artist on the Rise.
Having got the attention and recognition that she needed, Teni continued to work and release more works, releasing the video forSugar Mummy on May 3, 2019. She dropped another single,Power Ranger on June 14, 2019.
As is the case with music artists, brands started to seek the singer’s imprint and she secured several endorsement deals with different companies includingBudweiser,TomTom,Pepsi Nigeria, andTecno Mobile.
On October 19, 2019, Teni won the Headies Awards for Best Recording of the Year for her songUyo Meyo, Best Pop Single forCase, Best Vocal Performance (Female) forUyo Meyo, and theHeadies Viewer’s Choice Award.
She has worked withDavido,Phyno and other notable artists in the industry and even though her music career has just kicked off, Teni’s musical book still has a lot of unwritten chapters to be filled, and they sure will contain more accolades