Reekado Banks whose real name is Ayoleyi Hanniel Solomon is a Nigerian singer and song writer who was born into a musically inclined family on the 6th of December 1993 as the last child of six children.
He is of Yoruba speaking tribe and hails from Ondo State south western Nigeria. His father is a clergy man who used to sing unprofessionally and his mother, a caterer was equally a good dancer, his elder sister is a gospel artist while his older brother is a music producer.
Reekado Banks Education
Reekado holds a degree in history and strategic studies from the University of Lagos. In 2015, the singer postulated in an interview with Vanguard Newspaper that he once worked as a brick layer in a construction company and hawked blenders in traffic to make a living.
Reekado Banks Music Career
He starting writing and recording songs when he was barely fourteen years old with the aid of his older brother Temi, who served as his producer, tutor and coach on music matters.
He initially started out with rap music but his brother counselled him to focus on singing which he was much better at.
His journey as a professional music artist started when his brother submitted some of his works for the mavin records online talent hunt which had over five thousand entries.
Don jazzy of Mavin Dynasty was impressed with the singer’s works and he was picked alongside two other new acts as part of the new addition to the music label.
Before joining Mavins, he was simply known as Spicy but after joining the music label he adopted the name Reekado Banks which is inspired by the Spanish name ‘Ricardo’ translated to ruler of kings’ and Banks simply means being rich in musical contents.
In February 2014, he was officially unveiled as Mavin Dynasty new acts alongside Di’Ja and Korede Bello. The trio are fondly called Mavin 2.0. his first single ‘Turn it up’ which features Tiwa Savage the Mavin first lady was released the same day he was signed into the music label.
His next project was a feature with the entire Mavin crew on their hit song ‘Dorobucci’ released in May 2014. Other collaborative singles which he did with his label mates include Adaobi’, ‘Looku Looku’, and ‘Arise’. His second solo single ‘Katapot’ was released in February 2015.
It was even more successful than ‘Turn it up’ because he had gathered fans from the collaborative singles he featured and from his first single plus it was insinuated the song was a diss track towards Don Jazzy’s ex label mates Wande Coal and D’Banj, a rumor which both Don Jazzy and Reekado Banks debunked by their social media pages.
The singer was the first of the trio Mavin 2.0 to release an album titled ‘Spotlight’ in 2016. The twenty one tracked album produced by Don Jazzy, Altims and Baby Fresh, was titled to reflect Reekado’s current place of stardom and success and is a fusion of different genres.
It features reggae dancehall artist Patoranking, Falz the Bahd Guy, Kenny Blaq, Vanessa Mdee, D’Prince and Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie.
The album which received critical acclaim got more positive than negative reviews. A music website Tooxclusive described it as a pot pourri of different music forms, all combining to create an albeit energetic composition.
The singer’s fans who are known as REEKADDICTS were excited and elated at the release of the album as expressed on social media.
The hit singles include Problem, Killa Whyna, Ola Oluwa, Oluwani, Katapot, Biggy man and the album is rated above average. He is currently promoting his latest single titled ‘Easy Jeje’.
Reekado who is managed by his brother Temi, listed Don Jazzy, DJ Jimmy jatt, 2baba Idibia, M.I Abaga Olamide and his brother as his biggest musical influences.
He has toured the world with his music and has performed at Glo music fest as well as other shows in the United Kingdom. Reekado took tonhis twitter page recently to reveal that he suffered depression as a result of disappointments as he tweeted that “Nothing is the way it seems”. Hisbfans reacted by sending several words of encouragements and prayes his way. He is unmarried and is speculated to have broken up with his girlfriend.
Reekado Banks Controversies
In 2015, Reekado won the next rated category of the Headies Awards beating Lil Kesh, Kiss Daniel and Cynthia Morgen and this did not sit well with many colleagues especially Olamide under whose label Lil Kesh was signed,.
The latter expressed his displeasure by getting on the stage and dedicating an award Adekunle Gold who was also signed under his label had won to Lil Kesh, declaring him the original winner of the next rated award, insinuating that Don Jazzy obtained the award for Reekado Banks by dubious means.
After his speech, Olamide slammed the microphone on the floor and walked away. Don Jazzy who felt highly insulted gave a comeback speech before storming off angrily with his crew.
This incidence which was the first of its kind generated a lot of buzz and publicity for Reekado Banks as everyone wanted to know his music to ascertain if he actually deserved to win the award. Both music labels and artists have since reconciled and have worked together on collaborations as there is no bad blood between them.
Reekado Banks Songs and Collaborationist
Reekado Banks has worked hard since joining the industry and has collaborated with has worked with his label mates Tiwa Savage with whom he had his first collabo, D’Prince, D’ija, Korede Bello, Johnny drille, Dr Sid, Sarkodie, Vanessa Mdee, Patoranking, Falz and Kenny blaq and his popular hits include Turn it up [2014], Dorobucci [2014], Adaobi [2014], Chop am [2014], Arise[2014] Looku Looku [2014], Katapot [2015], Corner [2015], Sugar baby[2015], Oluwa ni [2015], Standard [2015] Spotlight [2016], Ladies and gentlemen [2015], Movie [2017] and Easy Jeje [2017].
Reekado Banks Net Worth and Deals
Reekado is a brand ambassador of Globacomm, Nigeria’s indigenous telecommunications company, a deal he signed in July 2015. His net worth is not specified but it is speculated that he charges over seven hundred thousand naira per show. see
Reekado Banks Award
Headies Awards 2015: Next Rated and video of the year.
City people entertainment awards 2015: Most promising act