Nonso Amadi

Beginning his musical career while studying in Nigeria at Covenant University and then Swansea University in the UK. Nonso Amadi transformed into a sonic-globetrotter after his move to Canada – leading him to fuse the soul & rhythm of African music with modern soft textures of R&B. With an affinity for contemporary R&B, Nonso developed a desire to explore North America and Africa in equal parts – citing Toronto-native Drake’s genre-hopping capability as an inspiration for his own creative fluidity. Amadi’s music is powered by borderless infusions and intention. “I really loved Mary J Blige, Brandy, Wyclef Jean, Paul Play. I love R&B because it’s slow enough to allow you to feel,” he says of his early experiences with the artform.

Amadi’s refreshingly honest yet tranquil approach to music has allowed the likes of Juls, Santi, and Odunsi The Engine — the latter of whom he collaborated with on the War EP’ — to entrench his arrival across Nigeria and the continent at large across the late ‘10’s. With over 100,000+ million streams across platforms, Nonso Amadi refuses to be the typical straight A-student stereotype. Instead, he stands tall as a constantly evolving, textured lyricist able to translate Alte, Afro-fusion and hip-hop into his R&B-canvassed approach to storytelling, best represented on his last EP Free (2019), which features Afrobeat’s heavyweights Simi and Mr Eazi.

In 2019, Amadi made the conscious decision to step away from social media and paused the release of music — all to take a deeper dive into his artistry and separate from noise and distraction. Unaware of the global pandemic looming, Amadi’s time to cleanse and create was stretched into a longer hiatus. Since his return to music last year, Amadi has released a streak of pivotal singles that have all been building towards his debut record, When It Blooms, a symbol of a fully realized creative aptitude. Now backed by a network of international label partners comprised of Def Jam Recordings stateside, Polydor Records in the UK, MCA in France with Universal Music Canada (UMC) leading the charge, offering the opportunity to strategically focus on a range of global markets, including his native region in Nigeria. Nonso Amadi is proudly represented by his management team; Jade Busola and Quiet As Kept (Trung Hoang, Gavin Sheppard).