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By Benjamin Njoku

Newly signed Xtreme music act, Dapo born Oladapo Arogundade has expressed fear of the unknown, confirming that he’s currently under pressure to outshine reigning Afro-pop singer, Simi- the first lady of the label and fans’ favourite female singer in Nigeria.

Dapo, a former Project Fame contestant expressed this fear, in a recent chat with Sidebeat. The 400-level student of System Engineering, University of Lagos, said people are expecting so much from him as a new artiste signed to the label that has the likes of Simi and Praiz as its artistes. “ Yes, I am a human being. I must be under pressure to prove myself, especially now that Simi has made it big in the industry. When people are expecting so much from you, you are bound to be under pressure. But I am ready to work”, said the budding singer.

dapo

Simi, who started her career in music as a gospel singer with the release of her debut album, “Ogaju” got signed to X3M, in 2014 after she released her song, “Tiff”, which was nominated in two categories at the 2015 Headies. She has since become a force to reckon with in the nation’s music scene, having released hit songs after hits and featuring in a couple of albums such “Soldier” with Falz, “No Forget” with Adekunle Gold and “Orire” with legendary Beatz.

Dapo, who plays Afro-fusion, dancehall and Afro-pop said in as much as he’s ready to work, he would do everything to live up to the expectations of his new management. And to match his words with action, he recently released a new song under the label titled, ‘Necessary.’ According to him, the song was inspired by the hardship he has faced in life. “My new song, ‘Necessary’ basically chronicles all the hard times I have experienced in life. Things were going well for my parents while I was growing up but at a point in our lives, my father lost everything he had when the Nigerian stock market crashed. Till date, he has not recovered from his loss. Since that time, I have been forced to fend for myself and at a point, I couldn’t afford to buy a N100 bread after I left home to pursue my music career,”the budding singer recounted. He said he will be dropping three singles and three videos before the end of the year.

The budding singer, who said he put his studies on hold to pursue his career in music also revealed that he’s planning to do collaborations with the likes of Simi, Davido, Wizkid among others in future.

“I’m not into music because of money, but because I have passion for the craft. I told my parents about my plans to put my studies on hold for one year, while I pursue my carer in music. Later, I will go back to school to complete my studies,” he disclosed.

Speaking further, Dapo said he got signed to X3M because of his conviction that the label has what it takes to catapult him to global stardom.”