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Olatunji Yearwood

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Olatunji Yearwood
Birth nameOlatunji Yearwood
Born (1985-09-03) September 3, 1985 (age 39)
Port of Spain
OriginTrinidad and Tobago; Blackpool, Lancashire
GenresSoca, Afrosoca, Calypso
OccupationsSinger, Songwriter
InstrumentsVocals
Years active2005–present
LabelsFOX FUSE

Olatunji Yearwood (born September 3, 1985), better known by his mononym Olatunji, is a Trinidadian soca artist.

Career

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Yearwood was born in Trinidad to Edward Yearwood, a well-known composer and mother Mairoon Ali, a Trinidadian actress, radio personality and teacher. He established himself as a Soca talent early on when he entered and won multiple talent shows while still in his teens, including the national Junior Calypso Monarch competition.[1] His shot to global fame when he won Trinidad's famous Soca Groovy Monarch/International Soca Monarch in 2015, performing his blockbuster single "Ola."[2] He is the last International Groovy Soca Monarch champion, as the competition's format was changed in 2016 to exclude that category.

Yearwood was featured in The Fader Magazine as the face of Afrosoca music, an emerging genre that fuses Soca and Afrobeats.[3] He sees the release of his debut international album 'Awakening' on July 1, 2016, from FOX FUSE - the world's largest label for soca music. [4]

In September 2018, Yearwood was featured as a contestant on The X Factor UK (Series 15). During his audition, a technical glitch resulted in the wrong backing track initially being played,[5] however, once fixed, accompanied by two backup dancers, he went on to sing his original song called "Bodyline".[6] His performance eventually resulted in a standing ovation from all four judges and, thus, four "yeses" allowing him to proceed to the next round.[5] He made it to the live shows, and performed another bespoke song, "Jiggle It", but became the first act to be eliminated.

Discography

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Singles

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Albums

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References

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  1. ^ "damajority.com: Artist Profile – Olatunji Yearwood". caribanatoronto.com. Archived from the original on April 11, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  2. ^ "Soca Monarch Finals 2015". Archived from the original on January 4, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  3. ^ "How Soca Is Absorbing Afrobeats To Create A New Subgenre". Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  4. ^ "Olatunji's "Awakening" Album Set To Drop January 2016 - Top and Most Latest Videos in USA". August 7, 2016. Archived from the original on August 7, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Rajani, Deepika (September 2, 2018). "The X Factor suffers awkward technical glitch during hopeful's audition". Archived from the original on October 3, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  6. ^ "Who is X Factor hopeful Olatunji Yearwood?". September 2, 2018. Archived from the original on October 3, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
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