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Entertainment of Sunday, 23 May 2021

Source: www.thisdaylive.com

My dreams are big - Orie King

Orie King Orie King

Orie King is dreaming big as the Nigerian entertainment industry is one for talents to dream big.

Music talents from across Nigeria have been doing Nigeria proud on the world stage and Orie King is determined to join the big league of A list artists from Nigeria.

The country is blessed with a plethora of talents across different genres of music, and the recent Grammy awards by Wizkid and Burna Boy attests to Nigerian music gaining deserved recognition on the global stage.

While established artists keep the flag flying at the global level, their exploits serve as motivation for emerging generations of artistes in the country.

One of such is Praise Chinyere Okoh, known by her stage name, Orie King. The pop singer grew up with her parents crisscrossing Nigeria, Togo and Ghana, which gives her a multilingual touch. Her family later moved back to Nigeria where she officially launched her music career. She released her very first single titled, “In the Morning” in 2012 followed by a music video for the single.

Orie’s music video titled “Into You” was shot in Atlanta Georgia and is getting traction on YouTube with over 76,000 views. She recently announced the release of her debut EP “Lotus”, consisting of six tracks

Like many established Nigerian artistes, Orie’s music journey started in the children’s church choir at the age of six, and at fifteen, she had become a vocalist in the youth choir in Assemblies of God’s Church Lome, Togo.

“I started leading the children’s choir at the age of six. My interest in music was cultivated during my teenage years and further developed when I opted to take lessons in Sound Engineering at Sound Xtreem studio, Atlanta Georgia,” she explained.

Prior to the latest Ep, Orie’s career journey had seen her release singles. ‘Uchenna’ produced By Phat E, ‘Need Somebody’ produced by Ekelly and ‘Tempo Mixed’, mastered by Bossbeatz, were a few of her works.

Speaking of the challenges in her career path, the singer, among other things, touched on shades of life as a female artist in a male-dominated industry. “It’s really hard being a female in the music industry. I have had occasions where I turned down deals because the person offering the deal became very unprofessional and either tried to sexually harass me directly or indirectly that’s a total turn off.

Building trust is really hard in this industry because a lot of people aren’t really who they present themselves to be. I always trust easily and that has always been my problem. Also, one of the challenges is coming out of pocket for studio times and studio times could be really expensive, but it’s all part of the growth so I’m more than happy doing it knowing that the future is bright.”

Orie’s role models comprise Western and African artistes. According to her, Michael Jackson, Brandy, Jazmine Sullivan, Chris brown, Patience Dabany, Corneille, Lokua Kanza, Burna Boy, Wizkid, and Tiwa Savage, are those she looks up to.

Making her projection for the future, the singer sets her eyes firmly on global fame and recognition.

“I see myself making more music, becoming an international sensation. I see myself selling out arenas globally and bagging awards internationally. I also plan to invest in Africa, have a non-profit organization for rape victims in Nigeria,” she said.