Niniola Apata is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and performer. Niniola is known as the Queen of Afro-House music, a blend of Afrobeat and House music. She received her primary and secondary school education at Apata Memorial High School. She has a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Lagos.
Niniola’s love for music started from childhood, often singing to her classmates and family. This earned her the nickname, “the human radio”. She cites Dolly Parton, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, The Cranberries, Madonna, Beyonce and Angelique Kidjo as her musical muses.
Niniola first came into limelight in 2013 when she finished as the 3rd runner-up at the MTN Project Fame Competition Season 6. Shortly after, she released her debut hit single, “Ibadi” in March 2014. Produced by Sarz, the song received positive reviews, topped national music charts and received extensive airplay in Nigeria and around the continent. The song also earned her a spot on the NotJustOk’s list of 15 Artists to Watch in 2015.
Niniola would not stop there as she went on to release other hit singles like Gbowode, Akara Oyinbo, Soke, Shaba, Jigi Jigi, among others.
In November 2017, Niniola released her highly anticipated debut album titled, “This Is Me”. The album received rave reviews and massive airplay. This propelled Niniola to an Artist Spotlight feature and the New Artist of The Month spot on Apple Music.
With hit singles such as Maradona and Sicker, the “This Is Me” album has over 18 million views on YouTube. With currently over 2 million streams on Spotify and over 7.1 million views on YouTube, Maradona attained number 1 on the biggest charts in Africa including Metro FM SA, MTV Base South, YFM and Beat FM 99.9 Nigeria, becoming the most played song on Radio in South Africa according to Radio Monitor SA. Niniola earned nominations at the 2018 BET Awards and SAMAs for the Maradona hit song and in August 2018, she became the first female Nigerian artist to cross 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Read also: Israel Adesanya
In November 2018, Niniola headlined her first-ever concert “The Human Radio”. The very successful concert was held at the Landmark Event Center in Victoria Island, Lagos.
Over the span of her career, Niniola has been nominated for over 40 awards, winning Choice Female Vocalist of the Year, Youth Artiste of The Year, Best Female Act amongst others.
We are proud and inspired by Niniola.