Who Is… Ayo-Dele
Posted on Thursday, April 5th, 2012 at 5:55 PMBy Onos O
Ayo-Dele Edwards is a London based singer/actress, who from an early age has been surrounded by various genres of music. Ayo-Dele is the fourth child born to Nigerian parents in London.
When she was four, her family moved back home to Nigeria. On the contrary to most expectations, the culture shock did her no harm but a lot of good as she consumed the eclectic rhythms and sounds in her surroundings, slowly getting fixated by them. She was often heard singing her favorite song “Brown Girl in the Ring” by Boney M.
During her early years in Nigeria, Ayo-Dele lived the life of a nomad, moving around and living with various members of her extended family. And, it was while living in Abeokuta that she felt herself particularly drawn to Gospel music; she lived next to a church and her fascination was with the talking drums and heightened lyrical voices in worship emanating from the church.
By the time she was ten, Ayo-Dele headed back to England where her older brother introduced her to the sounds of Rare Groove, Pop, R&B and Soul. With musical influences such as King Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, Good Women Choir, Bob Marley and Fela Kuti behind her, her desire to sing accelerated. And in 2002, she joined the award winning UK collective GK Real and that musical journey took her on another life changing path.
Merging her British musical repertoire with her African heritage was inevitable and grew into her main passion. But, music wasn’t the only creative direction that Ayo-Dele explored. Drama became another interest. And, that led to her formal training at Mountview. With her daughter, Anthonia, in the picture, she faced the challenge of her new hectic schedule of juggling motherly duties with her artistic creativity. Soon enough, after the completion of her studies, she got roles in various musicals and plays for stage and radio.
Ayo-Dele has also taken to designing snoods (a garment worn around the neck using Ankara). And since December 2010, this project has grown in strength.
Ayo-Dele’s latest project is “Naija, The Musical”. It’s a three year development project which she is co-devising and writing with UK based renown freelance theatre practitioner, Femi Elufowoju Jr. She is currently working on her project which combines her British and Nigerian influences expressed through songs and stories.
Ayo-Dele is surely a bundle of expressive and creative talent, and with her hands in drama, musicals, fashion and most importantly, her music; we have barely scraped the surface of what she has in store. So, for now, here are some videos of Ayo-Dele in action:
Here’s Ayo-Dele‘s exclusive ILuvLive interview:
Photo Credits: Ayo-dele | Mylonghairjourney
Tags: Ayo-Dele, Ayo-Dele Edwards, Bob Marley, Boney M, ebenezer obey, Fela Kuti, Femi Elufowoju Jr., GK Real, Good Women Choir, King Sunny Ade
Wow!!!
Bella, is a four year old aware of culture shock?
Yes o! Imagine moving from London to…Lagos (?), where nobody understands your accent. And you are only four, so they are probably impatient and think children should be seen and not heard. And you have to live with extended family. And it’s hot. And you probably miss your friends. And school. And Burger King. Sound shocking enough for you now?
Just pure good music…..absolutely fantastic!
Anyway, congratulations to her though on her work.
NICE!
Wow, i love her already!
really like the third video
I so muchhh love titilayo.. Mehnnnn she is goooood
Go Ayo!!! Excellent stuff!
Shes soooooo talented. I remember her from GKreal.
The talented gene pool runs deep
i love her voice and the titilayo song…very talented gal…wish u well african queen x
to answer Ms. Pepeye: Yes a 4 years old child can be well aware of “culture shock”. Culture shock is simply a major shift in what you are used to from one way of life to another and for children often they are the ones affected the most… I hope this helps
btw…she is very talented.. May God bless the work of her hands