Lola Rae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Singer
- songwriter
- dancer
Lola Rae | |
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| Born | Rachel Akosua Funmilola Garton 20 January 1991 |
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| Years active | 2010–present |
Rachel Akosua Funmilola Garton (born 20 January 1991), professionally known as Lola Rae, is a Nigerian-born British-Ghanaian singer, songwriter and dancer. She gained recognition following the release of her debut single, "Watch My Ting Go",[1] which received critical acclaim and thus earned her a nomination for the Most Promising Female Act to Watch at the 2013 Nigeria Entertainment Awards.[2]
Lola Rae was born to a British father and a Ghanaian mother in Obalende, a suburb of Lagos, Nigeria. She attained her primary and secondary school education at St. Saviour's School, Ikoyi, and Lekki British International High School, Lagos, respectively.[3] She, however left Nigeria for England at the age of 15 to complete her university education at Central Saint Martins, where she studied fashion textiles.[4]
Career
Lola Rae's entertainment career started as a dancer when she was joined the dancing group "Mystikal" in 2010. Mystikal Dancing Group auditioned for Britain's Got Talent,[5] where Rae sang in the competition, and judge Simon Cowell singled Mystikal Dancing group out at the semi-final. At the end of the competition, the group (Mystikal) was signed to Syco for a year. Rae turned down an invitation to The X Factor to pursue a solo career as a singer.[6][7]
On 19 November 2012, Rae released her debut hit single Watch My Ting Go, and a follow-up single titled High.[8][9] She was nominated as the "Most Promising Female Act to Watch" at the 2013 Nigeria Entertainment Awards. Her video "Watch My Ting Go" premiered on Soundcity TV on 8 January 2013 with cameo appearances from Iyanya and Emma Nyra.[10] The video was nominated at the 10th Channel O Music Video Awards.[11]
Following the "Watch My Ting Go", Rae featured Iyanya on a song titled Fi Mi Le, which earned her another nomination at the 2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards.[12][13] She made a cameo appearance as Ice Prince's love interest in the music video for his song "More".[14]
Personal life
In May 2018, Rae gave birth to a daughter.[15]
