Johannesburg, 31 August 2022: Apple Music today announced Afropop singer-songwriter, Ogranya (real name Ogranya Jable Osai) as the latest featured artist in its Up Next artist development program in Nigeria.
“I’ve been making music for a little over a decade now, and as an artist who often wishes to stay true to his craft, I’ve intentionally shut off every aspect of myself that would want to clamour for recognition and such,” Ogranya tells Apple Music. “Music is art, and art deserves to be appreciated, sooner or later. Being affirmed in this manner, as Apple Music’s Up Next artist at this point in my career, is priceless to my journey. I’m excited about how much of a springboard this will be for everything I’ve hoped to accomplish with my art and how exhilarating it is for everyone who has ever expressed faith in my art.”
Born and raised in Port-Harcourt, Nigeria, Ogranya completed his Bachelors in Architecture at Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) before following in his father’s footsteps and venturing into the music industry. Influenced by Frank Sinatra, John Mayer, Ne-Yo and Kanye West, Ogranya’s debut EP Imperfect (2020) is a fusion of classic R&B melodies and passionate lyricism, and he followed this up by becoming the first African artist to put out a song every week with his “Project 52” initiative in 2021.
His latest EP, Festival of the Sun (2022), released through RedClaye Entertainment and available to stream on Apple Music, is a riveting and emotive six-track exploration of Afrobeats, R&B, soul and jazz melodies, rooted in the lush, romantic ballad“Ecstasy feat. Moily”.
As the newest Up Next act to be spotlighted in Nigeria, Ogranya will be featured across Apple Music’s Nigeria’s Up Next playlist. The curated Up Next playlist features a dynamic class of new and emerging artists, thoughtfully hand-picked by Apple Music editors from around the world. The playlist is genre agnostic and represents a line-up of artists our global editors are passionate about and eager to expose to a larger audience.
Ogranya joins Majeeed, Khaid, Ninety, Young Jonn, T.I Blaze, Browny Pondis, Ajebo Hustlers, Jaido P, Wavy The Creator and SGaWD as Apple Music’s growing stable of Up Next Artists from Nigeria.
The vast global Up Next roster of past talent includes Grammy-nominated and critically lauded talent like 6lack, Daniel Caesar, H.E.R., Greta Van Fleet, Khalid, Amy Shark, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Claudio, Sigrid, Mr Eazi, Stefflon Don, Bad Bunny, Juice WLRD, Bazzi, Jax Jones, NCT 127, Summer Walker, Tierra Whack, Dean Lewis, Pink Sweat$, Koffee, Megan Thee Stallion, Burna Boy, Clairo, Lunay, Jessie Reyez, Orville Peck, Victoria Monét, Ingrid Andress, Conan Gray, Don Toliver, Rema, BENEE, Holly Humberstone, Natanael Cano, Givēon, beabadoobee, Arlo Parks, Tate McRae, Foushee and Tems.
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