Nigerian Afro-R&B star FOLA has given fans a glimpse into his life before music, sharing a decade-old staff identity card from his first job as a teenage factory attendant.

The singer, born Folarin Odunlami, took to X (formerly Twitter) to share the pink identity card issued by Atunwa Ventures Nig Ltd in Ibadan, Oyo State, where he worked as an "attendant" in the factory section in 2016 at just 15 years old.

Accompanying the photo, he reflected that his younger self "had no idea" that a decade later he would look back on that card and realise music was what God would use to transform his life.

"15-year-old Folarin had no idea that 10 years later, he'd look back at his ID card from his first job in 2016 and realise that music would be the very thing God would use to change his life," he wrote.

The throwback comes at the peak of a career that has taken FOLA to one of Afrobeats' most talked-about new voices. He emerged from church singing and school-age experiments before difficult working years in Ibadan gave way to a breakthrough with his 2024 single "Alone."

He first drew national attention in 2022 with "Ginger Me," a collaborative single with Bella Shmurda that was met with critical acclaim, before he signed with Bella Shmurda's Dangbana Republik imprint and released his debut EP, "What a Feeling," in 2024.

Singer Fola reminisces about how he started working as a factory worker at 15 pic.twitter.com/yF5jOxk8YH

— Instablog9ja (@instablog9ja) September 7, 2026