With the fast and furious pace of popular culture in Nigeria, there are bound to be overlaps. Some generations hardly unfold their full significance before another class of talents breakthrough. However, from each of these epochs, there remain supreme outliers who never disappear from public attention or whose cultural contributions cannot be overlooked. They are the lodestars on whose shoulders our progression can be gleaned. Multi-hyphenate, Darey, is one of such stars; fully plugged into the ebbs and flows of the cultural conversation for more than a decade and steadily ascending with each passing moment. From the halcyon days of his debut album, From Me 2 U, to unDAREYted,Double Dare Vol 1 & 2 up till his fourth and most recent album, Naked, released in 2015, Darey has maintained a touch of excellence.
— Darey Art Alade (@dareynow) August 11, 2020
- Music blueblood: Darey’s father was the legendary jazz innovator, Art Alade, and from birth, Darey was steeped in music culture. By adolescence, he was a member of a number of choirs.
- Rooted in entertainment culture: Before earning music super-stardom, Darey was a voice on the radio and a familiar face on the silver screen as well. After impressing executives at Cool FM with his entertainment and people skills, he worked at the station while studying for a degree in Music at the University of Lagos.
- Participant in Project Fame: In one of the earliest iterations of the iconic music reality show, Project Fame, Darey was a contestant. Winning continent-wide acclaim for his stagecraft, presence and gift.
- Music superstardom: After introducing himself to the public with his quaint debut album, From Me 2 U, Darey’s sophomore, unDAREYted, released in 2009 catapulted him to music superstardom. His distinct voice and lyricism shone through on album highlight “Not The Girl,” a hit ballad that won several awards and is regarded as the singer’s magnum opus.
- Astute curator: Asides from his music skills, Darey has proven himself as a top-end curator with his memorable live shows and events. One of the most popular is the “Darey Presents: Love…Like A Movie” showcase. The groundbreaking showcase has given us unrivaled entertainment and featured the likes of Tiwa Savage, Kim Kardashian, Kelly Rowland and Ciara as special guests.
- TV appearances: Darey was the host of Project Fame West Africa and later became a judge on Nigerian Idol. He was also a guest coach on The Voice Nigeria.
- More music: His last musical project, Naked, was a more metropolitan attempt at merging diverse sonic elements and it spawned the hit single, “Pray For Me,” that featured the multiple Grammy award-winning Soweto Gospel choir.
- Music business: These days, the musician is playing an active role in the improvement of the live entertainment culture in Nigeria as the Chief Creative Director of In 2019, they gave us two of the biggest multi-dimensional festivals; Born In Africa Festival (BAFEST) and the maiden edition of the Livespot X Festival featuring Cardi B which had the world buzzing and put Nigeria on the map positively. The festival took place in Nigeria and Ghana.
Pre-order Darey’s upcoming single “Jah Guide Me” here: https://darey.ffm.to/jahguideme