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Emmanuel Aruwa-Ocholi (OchoForeign) is a multi-faceted Artiste & Record Producer, with diverse sounds; ranging from majorly Afropop, dancehall & R&B, he also fuses sounds influenced by Hip-Hop/Trap culture. OchoForeign was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. He is a graduate of Management Information Systems from the prestigious Covenant University. OchoForeign is specially known for his mesmerizing vocal and lyrical ability which gives his music very high replay value. Doubling as an artiste and a producer, his versatility amplifies his skills greatly as a musician. He’s also an accomplished instrumentalist playing the drums, piano, keyboard & bass with utmost dexterity.
As a child he was very involved in music, he started honing his sound in the choir at a tender age, where he learnt to play multiple instruments like the drums, piano, guitar etc. In his high school days, he started a music group going by the moniker “Lyrix” with some of his friends and got into music production properly, his passion for music grew as he would regularly write and perform his music on stage. He started releasing music on soundcloud in 2014 and has amassed reasonable following and critical acclaim from his records. His eclectic but minimal style ranging from the lover boy R&B vibe from the “No Love” track to the energetic upbeat Afro fusion track “Energy” gave him the nickname “Omo Faaji” which means “Child of Enjoyment” and is the pleasure fans feel when having a good time listening to his music. He has also released well received songs like “Shine” with Ayomageek, the contemporary Alternative “Little More with Bawa and last years “Level” an uptempo collaboration with Zarion Uti.
OchoForeign has been in the industry for a while and has worked with notable acts such as Waje, Zarion Uti, Higo, HVRRY, Frosty, Ichaba & others, either as a producer or as an artiste. Ocho’s music has been selected by several top playlist editors from various streaming platforms such as Apple music and Spotify. His most successful song “Chinese(feat. Waje)” boasts of over 150k streams on all platforms. Ocho has also featured on a plethora of the top editorial and media companies in Africa such as Native Magazine, Acceleratetv, 49thstreet and also on Ndani Tv.
Interesting facts:
1. OchoForeign is a skilled musician he plays the piano, guitar, drums and keyboard with dexterity
2. He’s a multi talented Producer, Songwriter and Recording/Performing Artiste
3. He has a Bsc Management Information System from Covenant University
4. He occasionally dabbles into Web Development
5. He plays football and basketball well, he is also a devoted Chelsea fan.
6. He recently worked with multi award winning Nigerian Singer Waje.
7. his afro fusion sound is characterized by r&b/soul mixed with traditional afrobeat, highlife, dancehall and afro pop sounds.
8. He is an Igala native and speaks his local dialect along with Yoruba and a bit of Igbo
9. He believes he is a very funny person
10. he cites artists like Wizkid, Tydolla sign, Damian Marley & Tekno as heavy influencers of his sound.
