Artist: Timi Dakolo
Dakolo was born in Accra, Ghana to a Nigerian father, Bayelsa-native David and a Ghanaian mother, Norah, who died when Dakolo was thirteen. His grandmother Ateni Dakolo, who lived in Port Harcourt raised him, and he credits her as his early singing teacher. Although his parents came to take Dakolo to live with them in Lagos when he was three, Dakolo refused to leave his grandmother. He has two younger siblings.
Dakolo started singing in church at the age of twelve. In 2003 he joined the singing group Purple Love as a founding member. They dominated the Port Harcourt club circuit, but disbanded in 2005 as its members had gained admission into the University of Port Harcourt, where Dakolo studied Communication Studies.
Idols West Africa
In 2006, Dakolo auditioned for reality show Idols West Africa in Calabar. His songs of choice were Commissioned's More Than I and Lemar's Time to Grow. His vocals impressed the judges, and was seen as a contender for the prize.A week before the viewing of the Top 24 performances, Dakolo received the news that his grandmother had died. A devout Christian, he turned to his faith for strength to pull through in the competition.
During his tenuture on the show, Dakolo was popular with voters, and was never in the bottom three. In the final weeks of the competition it was revealed by the producers of the show that Dakolo had the highest number of votes.
After Idols
Since winning Idols West Africa, Dakolo has performed in high profile events like the African Movies Academy Awards 2008 , Red Cross Day in May 2008, the Grand Finale of The Apprentice Africa in 2008, and Democracy Day Celebrations in Bayelsa State. He has also performed on the TV shows; Stars of the Future (2007) and Fash Football Challenge (2008) and the Starville Concert alongside Lil' Kim, Amerie, and Brick & Lace in 2007. He also featured on The Apprentice Africa in a performance at an event organised by the eventual winner of The Apprentice Africa, Isaac Dankyi-Koranteng as part of the final task of the show. His performance was featured on episode
On December 15 2008, Dakolo performed at Farafina Magazine's Visual Arts and Literature Event attended by award winning authors Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Biyi Bandele.
