Olakira

Olakira is a Nigerian pop artist and producer whose name means “shining star” in Swahili. ∙ As a youth he played musical instruments in church and got paid to program music for the ceremonies, then decided to make a career of it. ∙ Olakira took his stage name in 2018, after signing a record deal, and had a hit that year with the single “Hey Lover.” ∙ In 2019, he released his debut album, Wakanda Jollof, which mixed Afropop with R&B and jazz. ∙ He made an international splash in 2020 with the viral track “In My Maserati”—which inspired a hip-wiggling, gear-shifting dance move that gave rise to countless fan videos.