Meet Darkoo, artiste who featured Rema in viral ‘Favourite Girl’ remix

Afrobeats is having fun with its second within the international highlight, and a handful of names proceed to push the style past its conventional borders. Darkoo, a 22-year-old Nigerian-born British artiste, mixes Afrobeats with the daring, gritty sounds of UK drill and hip-hop and is thought for her 2019 “Gangsta” hit.

With the discharge of her viral observe “Favorite Lady,” that includes Nigeria’s star singer Rema in August, Darkoo proved that she is a drive to be reckoned with within the international music scene. The unique observe, launched in Could, featured Dess Dior and has reached 11 million views on YouTube.

In July, she and Rema wowed the group on the Wi-fi Pageant in London with an unforgettable efficiency of their “Favorite Lady” remix. It was the primary time the duo would carry out the track collectively on stage.

However Darkoo’s story, like her music, is extra complicated than one viral hit. She is an artiste who defies conventions, challenges gender norms, and effortlessly navigates a number of cultural identities. From her humble beginnings in Lagos to her breakout success in London, Darkoo’s journey is one in every of inventive evolution, self-discovery, and unapologetic individuality.

Who’s Darkoo?

Darkoo, aka Oluwafisayo Isa, was born on 19 September 2001 in Yaba, Lagos. At age seven, she moved to South London along with her household, a relocation that will show pivotal to her musical profession. The singer attended St. Catherine’s Catholic College for Ladies in London, United Kingdom. Rising up in a multicultural metropolis like London, she was uncovered to musical genres, from Afrobeats and R&B to grime and drill.

At 15, she started as a drill rapper, later including singing to her music. This mixture of types helped create her distinctive sound, which has develop into one in every of her emblems.

Music was not all the time Darkoo’s major focus. In her early years, she aspired to develop into an expert footballer, a dream she ultimately deserted to pursue music. Her first actual foray into the world of music got here in her teenage years when she began rapping in school, influenced by UK drill and dirt scenes. These early experiments laid the inspiration for the artiste she would develop into—a flexible musician able to switching effortlessly between rapping and singing, between masculine and female energies.

Highlight

In 2019, Darkoo’s profession took off with the discharge of “Gangsta,” a observe that includes One Acen that grew to become an instantaneous hit. The track rapidly went viral on platforms like TikTok, amassing hundreds of thousands of views and catapulting Darkoo into the UK Prime 40. The track peaked at quantity 22 on the Official Singles Chart and was primary on the UK Afrobeats Chart of 2020.

Based on Official Charts Firm, “Gangsta” had 508,064 UK gross sales and three,606,424 month-to-month listeners on Spotify.

However it wasn’t simply the melody or the sleek manufacturing that caught folks’s consideration—it was Darkoo herself. In 2020, Darkoo was nominated for Greatest Feminine Act and Greatest Newcomer, and her hit “Gangsta” was nominated for Tune of the Yr on the Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards.

Though she didn’t win any of them, it was a stellar recognition for Darkoo at simply 18. Within the “Gangsta” music video, she performed with gender fluidity in a daring and refreshing method. Alternating between historically masculine and female shows, Darkoo challenged the inflexible gender norms usually discovered within the music business.

One second, she appeared in a tracksuit, exuding swagger, and the subsequent, she donned a protracted wig and glamorous make-up. This fluidity—each in her look and her sound—grew to become one in every of her defining traits. Darkoo’s following boasts almost 400,000 on Instagram.

Making waves

Whereas Gangsta launched Darkoo to the world, her subsequent releases cemented her place as one of many main voices within the new wave of Afrobeats. Her music displays her twin heritage, drawing from the infectious rhythms of Nigerian Afrobeats whereas incorporating components of British drill and hip-hop.

In a 2022 interview with Music Week Journal, the music star mentioned she is on a mission to make a wave and distinct sound in Afrobeats.

The 22-year-old singer mentioned, “I need to make a brand new sound nobody has ever heard. It’s totally different whenever you’re hungry for one thing. I knew I needed to be on this place within the Afrobeats area. I knew I needed to be this individual, however the strain is totally different now that I’ve tasted one thing I really like and revel in. I by no means need not to have the ability to style that factor once more.”

Darkoo launched her debut EP 2 in 1, a challenge showcasing her potential to mix genres. The EP options a mixture of Afrobeats, Drill, and R&B, highlighting her versatility as an artiste. Tracks like “Juicy” and “At all times” grew to become fan favourites, whereas the EP as a complete was praised for its sonic experimentation and contemporary tackle Afro-fusion. The identical 12 months, Darkoo featured on a remix of Russ Tens of millions and Tion Wayne’s “Physique,” which helped the track attain no 1 within the UK’s Official Singles Chart.

In 2022, she received the Greatest Diaspora Afrobeats Artist of the Yr at The Headies Awards and was named one in every of Pandora Music Italy’s top-streamed artistes.

Darkoo’s potential to seamlessly navigate totally different musical types has made her a standout artiste within the UK and African music scenes. She has labored with numerous collaborators, from UK rappers like Tion Wayne and Hardy Caprio to African artistes like Black Sherif.

When Beat FM Lagos requested her about her spectacular lineup of high-profile collaborations regardless of being a lady, she mentioned within the 2021 interview, “It’s an enormous deal as a result of it’s arduous for girls to safe sure options, however I really feel like I’ve been accepted internationally. I need to be a voice, lead the wave for different females and in addition make black women really feel assured.”

Her remix observe with Rema grew to become a testomony to her boundary-pushing artistry, mixing the sensuality of Afrobeats along with her tougher edges of Afropop drill.

Darkoo launched her EP 2 in 1 in 2021 earlier than she turned 20.

Trying ahead

As Darkoo continues to rise, it’s clear that she is not only a one-hit surprise. Her music continues to evolve, as does her imaginative and prescient for the long run. In latest interviews, she has spoken about her plans to launch her debut album, a challenge she says will mark a brand new chapter in her profession.

The 22-year-old singer’s need to evolve musically and personally units her other than lots of her friends.

With every new launch, Darkoo solidifies her place as some of the thrilling and revolutionary artistes to emerge in recent times.