Career Beginnings
Falz journey into music started from his secondary school days. He took it to another level in 2007, when he strung together a mixtape titled:’ Shakara’. He has been identified as a great talent by music veterans like Eldee, Don Jazzy and M.I.He is known for his trademark witty punch lines, infusion of local dialects, and comedic lines which seem to stand him out.

With the release of his single ‘High Class’ produced by Studio Magic, Falz is gearing up for rap domination.
Falz took up Rap as a hobby towards the end of his secondary school education. Growing up listening to the likes of Nigerian legends Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Trybesmen, Plantashun Boiz, he gradually unraveled his talent in music.

He continued to release hit singles like ‘Wazup Guy’ (2011), ‘High Class'(2013) and ‘Currency’ (2013) before officially releasing his debut studio album titled ‘Wazup Guy’ in May 2014. The album features the likes of Olamide, Yemi Alade, Dr. Sid and many more.
Falz’ trademark style has been described as a fusion of witty lines and comedic tones on indigenous Nigerian sounds thus setting him in a lane of his own.

During an Interview ….. Falz was asked about his views on The Nigeria Music Industry and the level of competition he is experiencing.. this was his reply;
“I believe what you have to do in a scene such as this is to be unique. And I think my music is very unique. The infusion of comic lyrics, which people can easily relate with, with a lot of old school jam and contemporary hip-hop is what makes my brand of music very unique. It is very different from what any other artiste out there does”.

Recognition and Releases

In 2016, Falz won “Best Actor in a Comedy Movie/Series” at the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards for his role as Segun in Funke Akindele’s TV series Jenifa’s Diary. In June of 2016, Falz was voted the winner of the “Viewer’s Choice Best New International Act” category at the 2016 BET Awards. On October 27, 2016, Falz collaborated with Simi to release Chemistry, a 7-track EP solely produced by Sess. The EP was released after he had previously worked with Simi on two singles titled “Jamb Question” and “Soldier”.

Awards And Nominations

Scream Awards 2014 (Best New Act). Also, he was nominated for the 10th edition in the Best New Act Category for the Nigeria Entertainment Awards 2015

Endorsement
Fast rising singer, rapper and comedian, Falz The Bahd Guy signed an endorsement Car sales site Cheki, he went ahead to pen yet another deal with WebMAllNG. as an official brand ambassador of the online shopping store for clothes, footwear, electronics, mobile phones, laptops, books, toys. On February 2015 he signed a deal with online Fashion retailer, Jay Osibe.

Birth Name: Folarin Falana
Born: October 27, 1990

Genre: Afro Hip-Hop/Rap

Nigerian rapper Falz created This Is Nigeria, a parody of This Is America that switched out lyrics and imagery for social ills in his country: machete-wielding gangs, codeine use, internet scammers, and much more.

Last week, a Nigerian rapper released his own version of Childish Gambino’s hit song and music video “This Is America.”

It’s called “This Is Nigeria” and was written and performed by lawyer-turned-musician Falz The Bahd Guy. Like the hugely popular Donald Glover song and video (Gambino is his stage name), the Nigerian version looks at harsh everyday realities.

Donald Glover’s ‘This Is America’ Holds Ugly Truths To Be Self-Evident
In “This Is America,” the issues include gun violence, racism and the distraction of viral entertainment and social media. Falz’s lyrics and visuals touch on some of Nigeria’s major problems: poor electricity supply, drug addiction and government corruption. The video even features veiled Muslim girls to allude to Boko Haram’s abductions of schoolgirls in the northeast.

Falz performs in pidgin English, a blend of English and local languages that is widely spoken in West Africa. The chorus says:

This is Nigeria
Never-ending recession-o
Where looters are killers and stealers are still contesting election-o.
Politician wey steals some billion and billion e no dey go prison-o.”

Released on May 25, just four days before the 19th anniversary of democracy in the West African nation, the three-minute video has been viewed on YouTube 2.9 million times. The hashtag #ThisIsNigeria has generated tens of thousands of tweets. And the song has captured the attention of the American rapper Diddy, who reposted “This Is Nigeria” on his Instagram account, where it currently has an additional 2.2 million views.

Falz, whose real name is Folarin Falana, is not new to social commentary. His music often reflects the views of his father, Femi Falana, a popular Nigerian lawyer and human rights activist. Falz’s previous songs “Child of the World,” “Confirm” and “Wehdone Sir” tackle sexual harassment, Internet fraud and the rise of wealthy megachurch pastors.

For a non-Nigerian, the scenes in the video may be a bit hard to figure out at times. Here’s a guide to some of the references and meanings:

Colonialism [0:10]

FalzVEVO via YouTube/Screen grab by NPR

The video begins with Falz clutching a boombox to his ear. The radio plays a clip from a speech delivered by his father, Falana, who is criticizing the Nigerian government: “… The medical facilities are poor. We operate a predatory neo-colonial capitalist system.” Falana speaks often on these issues on the radio.

Herders vs. farmers [00:30]
A machete-wielding man, dressed as a herdsman, simulates an attack on a blindfolded man. “Fulani herdsmen still dey slaughter, carry people dey massacre,” Falz says.

The scene refers to the country’s simmering conflict between herders, many from the Fulani ethnic group, and farming communities. Since 2011, both sides have been embroiled in clashes that have claimed more than 2,000 lives, according to Brussels-based think tank the International Crisis Group.

Money-eating snake [1:09]

FalzVEVO via YouTube/Screen grab by NPR

A woman picks up wads of colorful notes on the ground as a snake emerges from a half calabash melon to eat up the money. It’s a reference to a story from February: Philomena Chieshe, a sales clerk of Nigeria’s exam board, the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, claimed that a snake ate 36 million naira ($100,000) from her office. Falz makes a joke about this story: “Where that Madam Philomena?” he asks, “money vanish for your office, 36 mily, you say na animal.”

Drug addiction [1:10]
In the video, Falz shows a young Nigerian disembarking from a bus with a bottle of cough syrup in one hand. Last month, Nigeria’s health ministry banned cough syrup with codeine after a BBC investigation revealed the role of the syrup in Nigeria’s addiction epidemic.

Corruption [1:17]
Falz makes several references to corruption, calling out politicians who have been accused of stealing from the government. By many accounts, corruption is one of Nigeria’s biggest problems. According to a U.N. report, roughly $4.6 billion is spent on bribes in Nigeria each year. This part of the video struck a chord with Kingsley Moghalu, former deputy governor of Nigeria’s central bank and presidential aspirant, who, after quoting the lyrics, called for a “new kind of leadership.”

Boko Haram [1:22]

Falz with Boko Haram kidnapped students

Falz is joined by four veiled Muslim schoolgirls, who depict the young women in Nigeria’s northeastern region where the radical group Boko Haram operates. Boko Haram militants came into the limelight in April 2014 when they kidnapped more than 270 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok.

In February, a splinter group of Boko Haram abducted 110 girls from an all-girls boarding school in the town of Dapchi in northeastern Nigeria’s Yobe state.

The girls are performing the shaku shaku dance, a street dance that became popular in Nigeria this year. A similar scene is represented in Glover’s “This Is America”: amid violence and chaos, students perform dances that have gone viral on the Internet. In Glover’s video, critics say the scene illustrates people’s tendency to get distracted by viral entertainment instead of focusing on social issues.

Unethical preachers [1:47]

FalzVEVO via YouTube/Screen grab by NPR

A young woman in a white garment is surrounded by a small group of people praying for her. In previous songs, Falz has criticized religious figures for money-making schemes. In “This is Nigeria,” Falz gets angrier: “Pastor put his hand in the breast of his member, he is pulling the demon out,” he raps. In April 2017, a Nigerian televangelist named Tim Omotoso was arrested and charged with trafficking more than 30 girls and women from various branches of his church and allegedly sexually exploiting them.

Erratic electricity [1:51]
Falz worries that there is “no electricity daily o.” Nigerians often complain about this problem.

Lazy youth [1:54]
When President Muhammadu Buhari got a chance to speak at a Commonwealth Business Forum in Westminster on April, he said “a lot of” young Nigerians “sit and do nothing” and expect everything for free, including housing, health care and education. This attracted a backlash on social media, with young Nigerians using the hashtag #LazyNigerianYouth to fire back at the president. Falz’s rap defies the president’s assessment: “people working multiple jobs and dem talk sey we lazy o.”

Internet fraud [2:14]
Falz throws a jab at Nigerian fraudsters who try to con people into sending them money via the Internet. Known as Yahoo Boys, some pretend to be beautiful women online and get into romantic relationships in order to con people into sending money; others use malware to control systems and compromise emails. The stereotypical Yahoo Boy drives a fast car and flaunts his wealth.

The Nigerian pop star has been vocal about his dislike for society’s acceptance of ill-gotten wealth. In the song, he criticizes society for acting like these fraudulent schemes are “so cool.”

Police brutality [2:30]

FalzVEVO via YouTube/Screen grab by NPR

In this scene, officers from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit of the Nigerian police, arrest three university students only to free one of them upon receiving a bribe from his wealthy father. Two SARS officers hit and kick one of the students.

According to a report from Amnesty International in 2016, SARS has been cited for accepting bribes as well as engaging in extortion, torture and degrading treatment of detainees in their custody. In December 2017, using the hashtag #EndSARS on social media, Nigerians strongly called for an end to the brutality meted out by SARS. In response, the Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Idris ordered an investigation of the anti-robbery squad.

“I mean transmission” [3:00]

FalzVEVO via YouTube Screen grab by NPR

This scene is a parody of a popular video from mid-May in which police chief Idris delivered a speech but ended up saying the word “transmission” over and over, rendering his talk nonsensical.

-Linus Unah I NPR

Personal life

Falz is the son of Femi Falana, a Nigerian human activist and lawyer. He was called to the bar in 2012 after graduating from the Nigeria Law School, Abuja.
Early life and education

Falz was born in Lagos State, South-Westen Nigeria to renowned lawyers Femi and Funmi Falana. He completed his basic and secondary school education at St. Leo’s Catholic Primary School, Ikeja and Olashore International School, Osun State respectively. He is an alumnus of the University of Reading after graduating with an LLB honors degree in Law.

Career

2009–2013: Early beginnings and Shakara: The Mixtape

Falz started music as a hobby while in secondary school. He formed a music group with a friend called “The School Boys”. In 2009, while in high school, he released a compilation of some of his recordings as a mixtape titled Shakara: The Mixtape.

In 2011, Falz released a single titled “Waz Up Guy” before he went on to release “High Class” and “Currency” which gained him grounds in the Nigerian music industry.

2014–present: Wazzup Guy, Stories That Touch and Chemistry EP

On January 2, 2014, Falz was listed in tooXclusive’s “Artistes To Watch in 2014”. On 30 May 2014, Falz released his debut studio album titled Wazup Guy which was received to critical acclaim among music critics. In 2015, Falz was nominated in the “Best Collaboration of The Year” category at the 2015 Nigeria Entertainment Awards for his chart-topping single titled “Marry Me”. On 31 January 2015, he released a single titled “Ello Bae” which won him a nomination in the “Best Street Hop Artiste of The Year” category at The Headies 2015. On 3 November 2015, he announced the release of his second studio album titled Stories That Touch which was later released on 17 November 2015.

In 2016, Falz won “Best Actor in a Comedy Movie/Series” at the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards for his role as Segun in Funke Akindele’s TV series Jenifa’s Diary.In June of 2016, Falz was voted the winner of the “Viewer’s Choice Best New International Act” category at the 2016 BET Awards. On October 27, 2016, Falz collaborated with Simi to release Chemistry, a 7-track EP solely produced by Sess. The EP was released after he had previously worked with Simi on two singles titled “Jamb Question” and “Soldier”.

Artistry

Falz describes his style of music as “Wahzup music”. It is the fusion of comic lyrics with the contemporary hip-hop in a faux Yoruba accent. On 18 November 2014, Falz was ranked #9 on notJustOk’s list of “The 10 Most Gifted Rappers In Nigeria 2014” stating that, “Falz’s ability to maintain a thought and get his point across in 16 barz while switching accents, infusing funny punchlines and delivering all of it in a way that makes the listener follow along is nothing short of impressive”.