Waje Biography, Education, Music Career, Relationships, Awards and Net Worth
22 April 2020
By Cheloti Joshua
Who is Waje?
Aituaje Iruoba, popularly known by stage name Waje is a Nigerian singer with a vocal range that covers three octaves.
Waje, an acronym for 'Words aren't just enough' is the firstborn in her family. She was born on September 1, 1980, in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria but grew up in Benin City where her parents had relocated to. Her parents divorced while she was still young.
Education
Waje studied at Word of Faith Group of Schools for her primary and secondary education and later joined the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) where she graduated with a degree in social work.
Music Carrier
Waje started music while at school after she joined a choir. In fact, her singing talent enabled her to get help in payment of fees for the whole secondary education by the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa who got impressed with her singing.
While in university, she performed during events and fellowships that sharpened her singing talent.
Waje officially started her music career in 2007 while she was still studying. She was in 2008 featured by the then-popular music duo P-Square in their hit song ‘Do Me’. She also participated in a reality show that features artists that are about to get a breakthrough dubbed, Advanced Warning organized by MTV Base South Africa and Zain Nigeria in which she finished as runners-up.
In 2013, Waje released her debut studio album, and a year later, she released a music video for ‘Coco Baby’ which was assisted by Tanzanian superstar Diamond Platnumz followed by a single ‘Left for God’ featuring Patoranking and Godwin Strings in 2015.
She has also shared a stage with international artists like Wyclef Jean and Kerry Hilson.
Waje was featured on ‘Strong Girl’, the theme song for One's Poverty is Sexist campaign.
Apart from music, she is also an actress. She made her acting debut in the 2014 film Tunnel, alongside Femi Jacobs, Patrick Doyle, Nse Ikpe-Etim and Lepacious Bose.
Collaborations
Waje has teamed up with several artists in her music career. Some of them, to mention just but a few include; P-Square in their hit song ‘Do Me’, Banky W’s ‘Thief My Kele’ and Rapper M.I in ‘One Naira’.
Among the top songs done by Waje include;
- Omini Knowest
- UDUE
- Shape of You
- Coco Baby featuring Diamond Platnumz
- Oki Mi
- Left For Good
- Kpolongo featuring Timaya
- Frenemies
- I wish
- Na The Way
- No Be You
- Onye featuring Tiwa Savage
- Mountain
Watch 'Coco Baby' official video:
Albums
• Waje has two albums to her name; W.A.J.E that was released in 2013 and Red Velvet (2018).
Awards/Nominations
Having been in music for over a decade, approximately 13 years now, Waje has won several awards among them 2011 The Headies Award for Best Vocal Performance (Female) for her hit single ‘For a Minute’.
Waje also has had several nominations among them;
- Best New Video in the 2009 Nigerian Music Video Awards
- Best Vocals in The Headies 2010 Hip Hop Awards
- City People Awards 2011 (Best R&B female)
- 2011 Nigerian Entertainment Awards for Best Pop/R&B Artist Of The Year and Best New Act Of The Year
- The Headies 2011 (Best Vocal Performer Female and Best R&B Single)
- Nigerian Music Video Awards 2011 (Best Contemporary Afro Video)
- Channel O Music Video Awards (Most Gifted Female Video)
- World Music Awards 2014 (World Best Album - W.A.J.E)
- World Music Awards 2014 (World Best Live Act)
- World Music Awards 2014 (World Best Female Entertainer)
- World Music Awards 2014 (World Best Entertainer).
Family and Relationships
Waje who got pregnant while aged 17 is a single mother to a daughter, Emerald Iruobe who is now 22. She also has a sister, Amaka Iruobe who is an actress that appeared in popular soap opera Tinsel and the movie First Cut.
Very few details are on the public limelight about Waje’s love life. In a 2018 interview with Genevieve Magazine, Waje, however, revealed that she has been dating but did not disclose who she was dating.
Net Worth
In a D
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