Hidden Gems: Imanse
In this column, we will be profiling the Hidden Gems of Nigeria Music, talented male and female musicians whose beautiful musical artistry is yet to be uncovered by the main stream music space.
This week, we are profiling a beautiful songbird, Imanse.
Enjoy!
This songbird grew up around music and though she chose another path earlier in life, she has found her way back home.
Imanse Omowunmi Adefosudo was born in Lagos, Nigeria. She spent a good portion of her growing years in Lagos, and she attended Queens College Lagos. After her high school education, she moved to the United states where she spent another ten years. Following her college education at the prestigious Howard University in Washington D.C., she interned at Wall’s street prestigious firm Morgan Stanley and also went on to take on a full-time finance and tax position with a Manufacturing electronic firm called Tyco Electronics.
Through all this time, Imanse had always wanted to get back to music but she has always known that education would make her a better and well-rounded individual.
After working for a couple of years in the states, Imanse moved back to Lagos to pursue her first love “Music”. She has always shown a strong interest in music since she was ten. Growing up in a household where music always filled the air, her dad used to play songs of legends in the house all the time. She grew up listening to Mariah Carey, King Sunny Ade, Whitney Houston and Michael Bolton. Her mum also worked in the radio house writing scripts in pidgin and acting in several short plays. So being around creative parents helped shape her love for music even further.Imanse has always been curious about music, fascinated with musical arrangements and just always dreamed of the day when she would be able to create music of her own.
In high school, she used to lead the pack in doing covers of popular songs with her classmates. While at Howard University, she joined the Voice of praise choir in 2004 which is in Temple of Praise Beltsville, Maryland. She fast became one of the lead singers in the choir. She went on to write all the songs for the hit Broadway play “No limits” in 2010. That served as a turning point for Imanse. It validated her gifts and her true calling. Imanse also sang at the Graduation ceremony at Howard University.
Imanse’s musical influences range from Asa, Beyoncé, Usher, Alicia Keys and Brandy. These artists are unique in their own way and Imanse draws inspiration from them for different reasons.
Imanse’s genre of music is Afrobeat, R&B and Soul. She however loves to fuse different genres. Her quest to create a unique sound makes her a treat musically. Her first single “Gbona” was released in December 2014, produced by Ikon. In 2016, she released the remix to Gbona featuring the super talented Falz. She has released other songs such as Today, Ife Tide and Real Love ft. Jumar.
You can follow Imase on her social media handles: Instagram and Twitter.
