Talay Riley
British singer-songwriter (1990–2026)
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Mark Olabanji A. Olayinka A. Orabiyi (10 July 1990 – 5 June 2026), known professionally as Tension and later as Talay Riley, was a Grammy Award-winning British singer-songwriter, who had a number of charting singles as a recording artist including his 2011 solo single "Make You Mine" and co-wrote hit singles for Chip, Wilkinson, Khalid and Kehlani among others. He was stabbed to death in June 2026 in Newham, London.[2]
10 July 1990
Early life and career
Mark Olabanji A. Olayinka A. Orabiyi was born in London on 10 July 1990.[3][4] From the age of sixteen, he appeared under the stage name Tension as a guest singer on a number of UK rap songs, including a feature on Lightnin's 2006 street single "Hard Life", which was supported by music video television channel Channel U.[1] He subsequently appeared on another of Lightnin's singles from his Young & Gifted mixtape, "Brother Love", as well as three songs on Wretch 32's second mixtape Teachers' Training Day. At the age of 18, he signed his first major publishing deal with Global Publishing.
His first appearance as Talay Riley was in 2009, when he appeared on rapper Chipmunk's single "Look for Me" which peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. For the same album, he co-wrote the song "Oopsy Daisy" for Chipmunk and Ms. D, which reached number one in the UK. He later went on to sign with Major Label Jive/Sony Records. Talay toured with many UK/US artists including Skepta, Usher's Arena tour, and Trey Songz.[5]
In the 2010s and 2020s, he primarily shifted his focus to writing songs for pop and R&B artists, including Dua Lipa, Britney Spears, Chris Brown, Ella Mai, Ellie Goulding and Nick Jonas among others.[6] He and his brother Scribz Riley both won their first Grammy Awards for co-writing the 2020 H.E.R. song "Lights On". Other hits he co-wrote included Wilkinson and Becky Hill's 2013 drum and bass single "Afterglow", certified triple platinum in the United Kingdom and quintuple platinum in New Zealand, Khalid's 2017 single "Young Dumb & Broke", which charted at number 18 in the United States and number 17 in the United Kingdom, and Kehlani's 2025 single "Out the Window".[6] He won six awards from the Broadcast Music Incorporated Foundation during his career, spanning their London Awards, Pop Awards and R&B/Hip-Hop Awards.[6]
Death
Discography
Mixtapes
- Going to California (2011)
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK |
UK R&B[11] | |||
| "Humanoid" | 2010 | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Sergeant Smash" | 2011 | — | — | |
| "Good As Gold" (featuring Scorcher) |
— | — | Going to California | |
| "Make You Mine" | 57 | 17 | ||
| "Not Enough" | 2016 | — | — | Non-album singles |
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK |
UK Dance |
UK R&B | |||
| "Look for Me" (Chip featuring Talay Riley) |
2009 | 7 | — | 3 | I Am Chipmunk |
| "It's All Love" (Scorcher featuring Talay Riley) |
2012 | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "Resonance" (LuvBug featuring Talay Riley) |
2014 | 13 | 4 | — | TBA |
| "Dirty Love" (Wilkinson featuring Talay Riley) |
20 | 5 | — | Lazers Not Included (Extended Edition) | |
| "Harder" (Tiësto and Kshmr featuring Talay Riley) |
2017 | — | — | — | TBA |
| "Zero After Zero"[12] (KRSNA and Kshmr featuring Talay Riley) |
2023 | — | — | — | KARAM |
Writing discography
| Year | Artist | Album | Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Wretch 32 | Teachers' Training Day | "Set Him Up" (featuring Sincere and Tension) |
| "Cycle" (featuring Tension) | |||
| "Alleyway" (featuring Tension) | |||
| 2009 | Chipmunk | I Am Chipmunk | "Beast" |
| "Look for Me" (featuring Talay Riley) | |||
| "Lose My Life" (featuring N-Dubz) | |||
| "Oopsy Daisy" | |||
| 2010 | Tinie Tempah | Disc-Overy | "Snap" |
| 2011 | Jessie J | Who You Are | "Who's Laughing Now" |
| JLS | Jukebox | "Take You Down" | |
| "Unstoppable" | |||
| JPM | Moonwalk | "Never Give Up" | |
| 2012 | Ellie Goulding | Halcyon | "In My City" |
| Aleks Josh | Cruise | "Blue" | |
| "Cruise" | |||
| "Young Fun & Foolish" | |||
| Lawson | Chapman Square | "Everywhere You Go" | |
| Chris Rene | I'm Right Here | "Tidal Wave" | |
| Scorcher | Non-album single | "It's All Love" (featuring Talay Riley) | |
| "It's All Love (Remix)" (featuring Kano, Wretch 32, Bashy and Talay Riley) | |||
| 2013 | |||
| Big Time Rush | 24/Seven | "Love Me Again" | |
| Misha B | Non-album single | "Here's to Everything (Ooh La La)" | |
| Iggy Azalea | The New Classic | "Bounce" | |
| Rascals | Non-album single | "Fire Blaze" | |
| Wiley | The Ascent | "Reload" | |
| 2014 | Wilkinson | Lazers Not Included | "Afterglow" |
| "Dirty Love" (featuring Talay Riley) | |||
| Luke James | Luke James | "Exit Wounds" | |
| "Time X (Interlude)" | |||
| LuvBug | Non-album single | "Resonance" (featuring Talay Riley) | |
| 2015 | Allen Stone | Radius | "Freedom" |
| "Barbwire" | |||
| Nathan Sykes | Unfinished Business | "More Than You'll Ever Know" | |
| "Twist" | |||
| Austin Mahone | Dirty Work | "Dirty Work" | |
| Timeflies | Just for Fun | "Worse Things Than Love" (featuring Natalie La Rose) | |
| Prince Royce | Double Vision | "Seal It With A Kiss" | |
| Jess Glynne | I Cry When I Laugh | "You Can Find Me" | |
| Trey Songz | Intermission I & II | "Do It Now" | |
| Abraham Mateo | Are You Ready? | "Are You Ready?" | |
| "Mueve" | |||
| Usher | TBA | "Miracles" | |
| Nick Jonas | Nick Jonas 2.0 | "Levels" | |
| Pentatonix | Pentatonix | "Cracked" | |
| Chris Brown | Royalty | "Zero" | |
| "Fine by Me" | |||
| Empire | TBC | "Powerful" (Alicia Keys and Jussie Smollett) | |
| 2016 | Britney Spears | Glory | "Clumsy" |
| Brooke Candy | Daddy Issues | "Happy Days" | |
| Ella Mai | Time | "She Don't" (featuring Ty Dolla Sign) | |
| Kelela | Hallucinogen | "All The Way Down" | |
| Jason Derulo | TBC | "If It Ain't Love" | |
| Dua Lipa | Dua Lipa | "Last Dance" | |
| Julian Perretta | Karma | "I Cry" | |
| Clams Casino | 32 Levels | "A Breath Away" (featuring Kelela) | |
| Nathan Sykes | Unfinished Business | "Give It Up" (featuring G-Eazy) | |
| "Twist" | |||
| 2017 | Chris Blue | TBA | "Money on You" |
| Kelela | Take Me Apart | "Truth or Dare" | |
| Jorge Blanco | TBA | "Risky Business" | |
| N/a | "Summer Soul" | ||
| Ella Mai | READY | "Anymore" | |
| Fitz and the Tantrums | TBA | "Fool" | |
| Wilkinson | Hypnotic | "Flatline" | |
| Chris Brown | Heartbreak on a Full Moon | "Rock Your Body" | |
| Adrian Marcel | GMFU | "BLIND" | |
| Khalid | American Teen | "Young Dumb & Broke" | |
| Common Kings | Lost In Paradise | "I Want Your Body" | |
| Isac Elliot | Faith | "She" | |
| H.E.R | H.E.R Vol 2 | "Lights On" | |
| 2018 | David Guetta, Martin Garrix & Brooks | 7 | "Like I Do" |
| Pretty Much | TBA | "10,000 Hours" | |
| Ethan Young | TBA | "Giants" | |
| Craig David | The Time Is Now | "Talk to Me" | |
| "Armour" | |||
| "Talk To Me Pt. 2" (featuring Ella Mai) | |||
| Calum Scott | Only Human | "Only Human" |