Know all about singer's rise from underrated to Next Rated

Mayorkun emerged as the Next Rated at the 12th edition of the Headies award, going home with not just the plaque but a brand new car.

Mayorkun was named Rookie of the year at the 2016 edition of the Headies and in a year where he has shown growth, evolution and consistency, the budding talent has now added the much coveted Headies 'Next Rated' award to his name.

Back in February 2016, Mayorkun had posted a short clip of himself on the keyboard rendering his vocals to the single, 'TheMoney' by Olamide and Davido, the young artist who says all he had was a dream, had taken a leap of faith and called out to Davido for help, and in a manner not totally unusual, the O.B.O reached out to him and the rest, like they say is history.

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The singer whose real name is Adewale Mayowa Emmanuel is a multi talented artist, songwriter and pianist.

His breakout single was Eleko released in 2016, which in 10 days grew to number one on the charts nationwide, this was followed up with singles like Yawa and collaborative efforts with his DMW members on songs like Back 2 Back in what was described as his development stages.

He also ended the year by bagging the Headies 2016, 'Rookie of the year' award ahead of the likes of label mate Dremo and Chocolate City's Dice Ailes.

2017 was however the year that Mayorkun convinced all that he was more than just a fluke and despite the fact that he is yet to release a complete body of work, his talent shone through in his solo efforts and group records.

Starting the year with Sade, Mayorkun created a pop anthem from what he claims was a freestyle inspired by his appearance on Tim Westwood's crib session late in 2016.

He soon followed it up with 'Mama', which has been viewed over 11million times on YouTube.

Mama was one of the songs that defined Mayorkun as an artiste and also bagged him the Best New Act at the 2017 Nigerian Entertainment Awards (NEA) in New York.

Cheche was his third single of the year and the mid-tempo tune, which comes alive off the pon pon vibe, brought a befitting end to his journey in the year.

Aside singles, Mayorkun was also daring enough to hold a University Tour and headline his first major concert, The Mayor of Lagos concert which held at the Hard Rock Cafe in December and while his music has shown progression, his performances have also been eye-catching.

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On collaborative efforts like Mind and Aje with members of his DMW crew, Mayorkun has always stood out for his strong vocals and unique delivery.

With this win, Mayorkun has now joined the prestigious list of artists who have won the Next Rated category including inaugural winner, Asa, O.D, Wande Coal, Omawumi, Wizkid, Davido, Patoranking, Reekado Banks and last year's winner Mr Eazi.

It is expected that as his predecessors have largely gone ahead to release stellar albums and remained prominent on the scene, the Mayor of Lagos will also follow the same steps with his full body of work due for release later this year.

If you emerge winner in a category that has prolific producer and artist in Maleek Berry, who already has two solid EPs to his name, Dice Ailes whose 'Otedola' and 'Mr Biggs' singles top charts in the year under review and the promising Johnny Drille who gave a stellar performance on the night, then you are fully deserving of the award.