Yinka Davies Biography, Who is Yinka Davies, Who are Yinka Davies's family and What is Yinka Davies's Net worth

By Kenneth Kiplagat

Follow Us on Google News

Who is Yinka Davies
Yinka Davies was born on July 16, 1970. Yinka is a Nigerian vocalist, dancer, lyricist and recently a judge of reality show, Nigerian Idol and she is reputed for a slogan “Time has come to speak up for Ourselves

Who are Yinka Davies's Parents

Yinka Davies father is from Benin Republic/Sierra Leone Father from the Lisabi clan (although his mother is from the Shagamu royal family in Nigeria) and a mother from Ikorodu in Lagos state. Her father was an Aeronautic Engineer with the Nigerian Air-force and as a result of his job had to move from place to place. Her parents were divorced and she was partly raised by her grandmother as her father was almost always away. She is the first born of five Children.

Yinka Davis Music

Yinka has been in the Nigerian entertainment industry for 28 years. Her music is highly influenced by her background and her upbringing knowing that her father had a guitar. She grew up to the sounds of Sam Cooke, Johnny Cash, Elvis and Jimmy Dean when she was growing up as this was the music that her father liked to listen to.
As she grew older in the 1970s and 1980s the radio at her grandmother’s house was always tuned to Radio Lagos which played a variety of African music from Manu Dibango (Cameroun - Makossa), Mmaman Shatta (traditional Northern Nigerian musician), Dan Maria Jos (Northern Nigeria), Orlando Julius (southern Nigeria - highlife), Hadjia Funtua (northern Nigeria), Victor Uwaifo (southern Nigeria - Joromi), Fela (southern Nigeria - Afrobeat) to mention a few.

Her first love was actually painting and sculpting; being a musician was not a priority for her initially. In 1992, the organisers of the Fame music award spotted her as an all-around artist from her work in theatre.

The management of a club in Lagos, Bread and Butter Jazz club involved her in the last presentation as a club in an effort to introduce a new renaissance artist called Lagbaja and she was heavily involved in the production of this artiste’s first album called Side by Side which was released in 1993. She subsequently concentrated more on music because this demanded more of her time. It was during this period she also collaborated with Nigerian recording artists such as Mike Okri (RnB), Shina Peters (Afro juju), Blackky (Reggae) and many others not only as a backup vocalist but also a choreographer for their music videos. Another great musician she worked with was the late Geraldo Pino (originally from Sierra Leone) and Etienne T Boy (Cameroonian) who worked with Pino.

Follow Us on Google News

January 21, 1994 was a major turning point as she, unfortunately, had a collision with a taxi in Lagos when crossing the road. In her words, she “crossed the road and hit a car”. This resulted in major surgery which severely affected her ability to dance. She was in between singing and dancing doing a lot of background vocals for other musicians. Music to her was static in comparison with painting, sculpture, theatre, and dancing where she felt she could fuel her energy to its fullest.

Yinka is a bridge from the old (where there were very few female musical role models) to the new Nigerian music scene where the female is asserting herself and claiming her rightful position.

Yinka Motivation
Family is a very strong motivator as she took on the responsibility of looking after her siblings at a very young age.

Her father was in the Nigerian Airforce so as a child they moved around a lot as her father was stationed in different parts of Nigeria. She distinctly remembers a place called the 9th Mile which was the triangle point in Enugu where the road divided into 3 leading to the North, South, and East of the country. The 9th Mile as a meeting point was, therefore, a potpourri of all cultures of Nigeria and because she was very inquisitive as a child she took on all these experiences as the family moved from military base to base this experience has also influenced her songwriting.

Albums
work (1998
Emi n’lo (2002)
Black Chiffon (2010)

Collaborations
I want to praise (Florocka)
Lagbaja
Fatai Rolling Dollar
Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister

Notable Performances
Alex O's Backg

Leave your comment