Chukwuka Ekweani (born 16 July 1995), professionally known as CKay, is a Nigerian afrobeat singer-songwriter and record producer. He is currently signed to Warner Music South Africa, and Atlantic Records. CKay was previously signed to Chocolate City.
He belongs to the independent label services provided by Warner Music Group ADA. In 2019, Chocolate City debuted his international smash song “Love Nwantiti,” also known as “Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah).”
The song debuted at number one on March 29, 2022, the day the Billboard Afrobeats chart was introduced.
It achieved the first-ever billion-stream milestone on Spotify on May 9, 2022, making it the first African song in history.
During the early part of the height of his international career as Ckay’s manager, Asa Asika signed CKay to The Plug Entertainment, under management.
Early Life
Chukwuka Ekweani was born in the Nigerian state of Kaduna, which is in the country’s northwest. He is an Anambra State native of Igbo origin.
His father, the choir director of their local church, inspired his passion for music. He was moved by music when he was younger, which inspired him to learn the piano from his father.
After that, a friend introduced him to the music-making program Fruity Loops.
Before launching his solo career as CKay, Chukwuka began his musical career as a member of a band that included him and two other bandmates.
Career
CKay moved to Lagos in 2014 after being discovered. In early 2015, he started working with Chocolate City while still signed to Loopy Music.
He published a promotional song called “Bad Musician Bad Producer” on May 6, 2016, and the instrumental was made freely downloadable on all Nigerian blogs for usage in covers, clubs, and radio broadcast.
On August 31, 2016, he formally became a member of the Chocolate City artist roster following the merging of Loopy Music in 2016.
The Kelly Joe cover of “Bad Musician, Bad Producer” was nominated by TNMA on October 23, 2016, and CKay received special distinction.
He released “Container,” an Afrobeat song with influences from the South African gwara gwara dance, on March 2, 2018.
The song received a lot of airplay and was a breakthrough hit in Nigeria. It was created by Tempoe and distributed by Chocolate City.
He released the song’s video, which was directed and shot by Myth, on July 6, 2018. Through Chocolate City, he released his second extended play, CKay the First, on August 30, 2019.
The endeavor gave rise to the popular song “Love Nwantiti,” which broke numerous records in Nigeria. The remix “Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah)” by CKay, featuring Joeboy and Kuami Eugene, was released on February 14, 2020.
CKAy’s hit song, Starr received a special commendation at The Headies on May 24, 2022, in the Best Collaboration category for his song “Beggie Beggie.”
He released “Watawi,” a song with Davido, Focalistic, and Abidoza, on June 17, 2022.
It has a music video created by Dalia Dias and reached number 13 on Nigeria’s Turntable Top 50.
The most-streamed artist with a total of 1.4 billion streams was eclipsed by 200 million streams from Burna Boy on June 20, 2022, making CKay the second African musician to reach that milestone.
Net Worth
CKay is a Nigerian singer and songwriter with a net worth of roughly $2 million. He is one of the outstanding singers in Nigeria. Since he came into the spotlight, he has become a force to reckon.
Personal Life
CKay’s renown and appeal would undoubtedly attract plenty of female attention. Despite being a well-known celebrity, nobody knows about the woman in his life.
The singer seems to be among the celebrities who prefer to keep their romantic relationships private. Although he has kept his connection discreet, he is not yet married.
