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Who is Fireboy DML and what’s his net worth?
Born on the 5th of February 1996, Adedamola Oyinlola Adefolahan widely recognised as Fireboy DML is a Nigerian singer and songwriter from Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Fireboy, the silken-voiced Nigerian singer with melodies that linger long after the last note fades, took the music industry by storm in 2018 when he was signed to ‘YBNL Nation’ and his hit single ‘Jealous’ was released as a track among ‘YBNL Mafia Family’ collaborative album. His infectious blend of Afrobeat rhythms and soulful vocals has earned him legions of fans and industry recognition.
Within a few years of being in the music industry Fireboy has grown beyond expectations with his single ‘Champion’ being used by FC Bayern Munich for their UEFA Super Cup celebrations in 2020; ‘Scatter’ was even included in the FIFA 21 game soundtrack. When fans thought they had seen the best that Fireboy could achieve in a short while, his song, ‘Coming Back For You,’ was included in the ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ soundtrack in November 2022.
With all of these and endorsement deals from prominent brands like Nike and Monster Energy, Fireboy’s net worth is estimated to be $3 million. Converted to Naira, that would be ₦4,407,336,171.00 (four billion four hundred seven million three hundred thirty-six thousand one hundred seventy-one naira).
Fireboy parents and siblings
Fireboy is from a family of 5 but we can’t tell whether he’s the first, second, third, fourth, or fifth. One of his siblings Adedolapo Adefolahan is a music producer and sound engineer.
His parents are Mr. and Mrs. Adeola Adefolahan.
Fireboy’s wife, girlfriend, and children
As of March 2024, Fireboy is not married and does not have a child. As for a relationship, there is no valid information backing speculations about Fireboy dating DJ Cuppy.
This rumor arose as a result of photos shared by Cuppy on valentines day in 2021. The photo captured Fireboy and Cuppy hooked in romantic poses hence the rumor.
While there’s no verified information about Fireboy’s dating status, he opened up to fans during an interview saying, “…I’m in a situationship. I’ve been termed as emotionally unavailable and toxic by women…” This gives clues that he may have had relationships in the past that didn’t work out well.
Fireboy’s educational background
He wrapped his primary and secondary school education in Abeokuta and went on to pursue a degree in English Language at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
Life before fame
Between age 10 and 12, Fireboy discovered that he could sing but he didn’t take it seriously. Rather, he focused more on writing songs.
He actually considers himself lucky to have discovered his songwriting ability very early. He started by writing poems about imaginary girlfriends and other fantasies.
By the time he went to university at age 16, he got some exposure. At 17, he became friends with the cool kids in school. These were the rappers and dancers. By associating with these kids, he soon found himself in the studio for the first time and like what seemed like a play, he made a rap song – yea, Fireboy used to rap back then- When his friends heard the song, they told to never ever rap a word in his life because he made a terrible rapper.
Contrary to what was expected of him after sharing his song with friends, Fireboy was excited. He left the demo session holding on to the music recording like it was his life. Back in his dorm, he blasted the song through his speakers and just hearing himself sing was a wave of inspiration. Though the song wasn’t good, it held a depth of meaning only he understood.
Before that moment, he had languished in a state of emptiness as he possessed various talents but lacked direction on how to use them, he felt like an empty vessel. But this song was a spark, it gave him clarity and he finally realized that music was the way forward.
However, this newfound passion came at a cost. His grades began to suffer as he spent most of his time in the studio ignoring classes. At this point, you’d think he was recording in the studio but that was not the case, he was rather the “studio rat,” as some might call it. He cleaned the equipment, cleaned the studio, helped the artists to buy food. He even ran errands for his schoolmates who came to record. It was a precious moment for him because he was learning.
Soon, people in the studio realized that he could write songs. So he started writing for artists but deep down he knew he would also write for himself too.
During his finals in school, he summoned the courage to tell his dad that he wanted to drop out and move to Lagos. Narrating how his dad reacted to the news, Fireboy said, “Surprisingly, I think he was just sad. He was tired of my wahala and was like go, but he’s a very dramatic person. He required me to sign an undertaking stating that after two years, if I failed to bring out something substantial from music, I’ll do whatever he asked me to. I signed it”.
The crazy thing is that Fireboy didn’t know if two years was enough time for him to make it in the music industry. According to him, “At that time, I really just wanted to get out of that situation. Like I did not care. But deep down inside me, I knew with the level of talent that I had, I knew that something had to happen if I pushed hard and long enough”.
With a sense of confidence in himself, he continued the narrative describing what life was like in Lagos. “So I just went to Lagos with blind faith and whipped up something. I was just hanging out with people in the studios. I experienced a lot of stuff. Saw a dead body for the first time, witnessed a couple of murders. It was rough. I wasn’t in a gang. But there, you didn’t have to be in a gang to witness stuff like that. You just have to be living around”.
“It was tough for me because I was seeing life for the first time. I grew up in an average home, we were not rich and my parents were scholars. Even if they didn’t have enough money, they were always going out of their way to make sure their children lived the same blend of a nice sheltered life”.
“But asides that I just didn’t have any friends and I didn’t want to have any friends.
All my life, you know, and I just sought solace listening, writing, and spending time with myself.”
When fame called
Fireboy met Olamide for the first time in person at a hotel in Lekki. In his account, “We exchanged a few words — he’s a man of few words. But I think we started recording that same day, working on the album”.
Talking about Fireboy’s skills, Olamide said, “His sound was just so unique. When I got to hear his music and see his video. I was like, this dude is dope. I was honestly done with signing artists, I was tired of it, but I just couldn’t resist. I just had to sign him, I went on to become his mentor and it’s all because of the sound.
“Still today, for me, it’s still the same. There are so many young artists out there but they’re nothing compared to the kind of music Fireboy makes. It’s just way beyond his age. I think Fireboy is 57 years old. He writes like an old man. He’s one of those few people that I learn from sometimes. Like, ‘what does this dude think about when he’s writing?’
After being signed to YBNL, his single ‘Jealous’ first appeared on ‘YBNL Mafia Family’ collaborative album. It was re-released on 25 March 2019, In June 2019, Fireboy DML released another hit single
‘What If I Say’. Same year, he released his debut studio album Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps on 29 November. The album got over 6 million streams on Spotify three days after its release.
August 20th, the following year, he released Apollo, a 17 track album featuring appearances from D Smoke, Wande Coal, and Olamide.
In July 2021, Fireboy released the single “Peru,” On 24 December of same year, he released the remix with Ed Sheeran which debuted on the United States’ Billboard Hot 100 chart and peaked at number 2 on the United Kingdom’s Official Singles Chart in 2022.

About three months later, on 3 March 2022, Madonna featured him on the Sickick remix to her 1998 single “Frozen”.
As you already read in the intro, Fireboy’s songs have been used for UEFA Super Cup celebrations, FIFA 21 game soundtrack, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack.
7 questions and answers on Fireboy’s life
Did Fireboy know he was going to do music from the beginning?
While it’s not clear if Fireboy knew he was going to be an artist from the beginning, it is very clear that he didn’t want the regular 9-5 job. Here’s how he narrates his experience,
“Well at some point I thought I was going to end up as a professor. Yes, a professor of Literature. Because I was this book-smart, library prefect. I was giving my parents the idea that I’d end up as a scholar, so when I switched up on them, it was really hard for them to take. So I really thought I was going to end up like that.
“But when I had some clarity, I knew that I was never going to end up doing a 9-5 job. I would not do that. I was gonna do anything it takes. I prayed to God, I said ‘God the only kind of hard work I want to have in this life is stressful flights, long studio sessions, sweating on stage, I don’t care’. That’s the kind of hard work I want.”
How did his parents feel when he made the switch for music?
It felt like a great expectation falling through the roof to the floor. To better explain this, here’s Fireboy’s narration of the reaction he got, “…they didn’t take it too well because I just switched up on them suddenly. They didn’t even know at some point. Until my dad started monitoring my grades by himself and was like ‘what’s going on?’ so I had to tell him the truth.
“My mum is a softie so it was easy to get her to support me but my dad – every call always ended in ‘Well, I hope you’re good but I always have to insist and I’m disappointed in you’ – urgh! Please. But at some point, my dad realized that I’m a grown man and I have to make my own decisions myself. But things didn’t really fall into place until it started making sense then my dad realized ‘oh okay, we have something here.’ And then in the evening, he’ll just put his phone on his potbelly listening to ‘What If I Say’ or ‘King’ or one of those.”
How did Fireboy feel constantly hearing his dad mention his disappointment?
The truth is that such comments can be discouraging especially when they’re coming from parental figures. However, it appears Fireboy has a solid shock absorber because when asked a similar question during an interview, he responded saying, “Omo, I no reason anybody that time oh. Fam, I was just focused on my stuff. It didn’t really get to me cuz I knew it was going to come to that. So my whole point was I have to make it. It was even a booster for me that you know what? You have to prove everybody wrong”.
How does Fireboy prepare for the new phases of his career?
Fireboy’s career has been a progressive one moving with speed. From being unknown to becoming a household sensation in Nigeria and then becoming recognised globally.
In all this, Fireboy says that he doesn’t prepare for such growth. In his own words,
“…I don’t think you can even prepare yourself for what you’re going to see out there when you become internationally recognised. I mean, I went from just being known in Nigeria to being known in Africa and now it’s like a whole wide world thing. So I mean, I’m getting pretty used to adjusting to it. I know it’s going to get crazy in the next couple of years and I won’t lie to myself and say, oh, let me prepare myself for this. No, I know I’m never going to be ready for whatever it is I’m going to meet.
So I’m just taking it one step at a time”.
Does Fireboy worry about his new songs not being as big as previous ones?
Fortunately for Fireboy, he is self aware both as a person and as an artist. He understands that there’s a good chance that after an internationally accepted smash hit, his next single may not be as big.
To him, being bigger than a previous smash record may take a while and he waits patiently for the next big one while enjoying the little wins from new releases that don’t do so well. He even believes that sometimes, global hit songs come once in a lifetime so one doesn’t always have the chance to reach the same level again.
But here’s what he emphasizes on, “Even if you only have one hit record, what matters is that you’ve made a mark. You’ve made a huge record and you’ve garnered listeners, You’ve gathered an audience. What more do you want?”
Meanwhile, you may be wondering if Fireboy has got a global hit record, the answer to that is a big YES and that record is ‘Peru’ remix featuring Ed Sheeran.
- Peru spent 11 weeks in the top 5,
- 20 weeks in the top 10,
- and 22 weeks in the top 20.
No other single saw 20 consecutive weeks in the top ten in 2022.
- It was the highest streamed UK repertoire out of any Universal Music Group (UMG) single.
- The best selling UMG single in 2022.
- Top 2 in the whole of the UK.
- Peru attained Platinum in the UK.
- Got a global stream of 102 million plus.
- Got a UK stream of 45.8 million.
In all this, Fireboy says, “I never like to think about it, to be honest, because the more you think about it, the easier it is to just get lost in the hurry of everything. And you just like you bury yourself in and like, oh, I want to do more, can I have another of this? You know, it gets us stupid thoughts and I don’t want that for myself”.
What is one of the biggest challenges Fireboy has had?
In capital letters, that would be OVERTHINKING. In his own words, he said, “I’m always overthinking stuff. I almost did not release Peru”.
Can you even imagine that? He almost didn’t release ‘Peru’, our favorite song!
Anyways, back to what he was saying, “There are some creatives like Olamide that just have a high level of faith in what they do. They just do it and they don’t over think. They just do it and they believe in it and it goes out and the success and it’s bang, bang, bang, bang like it’s crazy to have that level of artistry.
How did he choose his name ‘Fireboy DML’?

Initially, it was just ‘DML’ , from his name, Damola. According to him, “It was the acronym I was using for a while. At that point, I had not found my sound. I was sounding like a regular Afrobeats artist, like what every pop afro artist was sounding like at that time. But when I sat down, took some time to actually know what my sound was, I decided to rebrand.
“I went to Google ‘DML’ and I was like, ‘okay, when you blow up what will people see when they look up DML?’ I saw ‘data manipulation’ and I thought, ‘nah, this is not what I want for myself!’ Fireboy is what a friend called me one time and it just had a nice ring to it. So, there you go. Nothing deep”.
Fireboy’s Relationships in the industry
Olamide
Olamide is Fireboy’s music boss and mentor. Speaking about Fireboy in an interview, Olamide said, “Sometimes I wish I could make him understand how dope he is when it comes to writing songs. I believe in him so much, maybe more than he does”.
Fireboy controversies
Igbo girls are more wicked compared to Youruba
In a video that circulated social media, he mentioned that while girls from the Igbo and Yoruba tribes can both be wicked, those from the Igbo tribe are more wicked because they make one to spend too much money.
He said this during a question and answer interview with St. Avenue Entertainment. Following the release of the clip, some social media netizens supported him while others cursed him.
Discography
Albums
2019 – Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps
2020 – Apollo
2022 – Playboy
Singles as lead artist
2018
- Jealous
2019
- What If I Say?
- King
2020
- New York City Girl
- Eli
- Tattoo
- Champion with D Smoke
2021
- Peru
- Peru feat Ed Sheeran
- Running with Ladipoe
2022
- Beauty & the Madness with Rexx Life Raj and Wale
- Playboy
2023
- Someone
Singles as featured artist
2021
- Frozen remix (Madonna vs Sickick feat Fireboy DML)
2023
- Me and My Guitar (Jax Jones feat Fireboy DML
- Drink Water (Jon Bellion feat Fireboy DML)
Nominations, awards, and recognitions
Nominations
2021
- Nominated for ‘Next Rated’ and ‘Viewer’s Choice’ award while ‘Jealous’ was nominated for ‘Song of the Year’ all at the Headies
- Nominated for ‘Best New Act of the Year’ and ‘Revelation of the Year’ award by City People Music Awards
2020
- Soundcity MVP Awards Festival nominated ‘Jealous’ for ‘Song of the Year’ while he was nominated for ‘Best New MVP’
2021
- ‘Peru’ got nominated for ‘Outstanding International Song’ by NAACP Image Awards
- The Future Awards Africa nominated him for ‘Prize for Music (Endowed by Infinix)’
2022
- The Headies nominated him for ‘Best Songwriter of the Year’
- Peru was also nominated as ‘Best Songwriter of the Year’ by The Headies
- BET Awards nominated him for ‘Best International Act’ award
2023
- earned a nomination in the Album of the Year category for his contributions to Jon Batiste’s “World Music Radio.”
Awards
2019
- Received ‘Most Promising Act of the Year’ award from City People Music Awards
2020
- Jealous won ‘Listeners’ Choice’ award at the Soundcity MVP Awards Festival
- ‘Apollo’ won ‘Best Pop Album’ and ‘Album of the Year’ at The Headies
- ‘Tears, Laughter and Goosebumps’ won ‘Best R&B Album’ at The Headies
- ‘Tattoo’ won ‘Best R&B Single’ also at The Headies
- Fireboy received ‘Headies Revelation’ awards still at the Headies
2021
- Received ‘African Fan’s Favorite’ award from All Africa Music Awards
2022
- ‘Peru’ won ‘Best Afrobeat Single in Nigeria’ at The Headies
2023
- ‘Peru’ won ‘Most Performed Work of the Year’ at the BMI London Awards
Fireboy DML net worth
Net worth
Fireboy’s net worth is estimated to be $3 million. Converted to Naira, that would be ₦4,407,336,171.00 (four billion four hundred seven million three hundred thirty-six thousand one hundred seventy-one naira).
Asides music, he has also earned endorsement deals from prominent brands like Nike and Monster Energy.
Fireboy DML house
On March 11, 2021 Fireboy posted a photo of him standing inside the compound of a luxurious home. Several celebrities poured in congratulations in the comment section. To further confirm that the house was his, Olamide who is his boss added a comment saying, “Congratulations! More big cribs!”
Fireboy DML cars
Fireboy has been spotted on several occasions driving a Mercedes Benz GLK and a Toyota RAV4.
Lessons you can learn from Fireboy DML
- Risk-Taking: Leaving school to pursue a music career in Lagos was a significant risk, but Fireboy’s blind faith and determination paid off. Believe in your path and pursue it with all you’ve got.
- Overcoming Challenges: Fireboy’s admission of overthinking and nearly not releasing a hit song like “Peru” highlights the challenges artists and other creatives face. Learn how to overcome self-doubt. It’s a part of the journey.
- Self-Awareness: Recognizing that not every song will be as big as the previous one shows self-awareness. It’s crucial to appreciate smaller wins and understand the dynamics of the path you’ve chosen.
- Go where your opportunities are: Fireboy spent the bulk of his time at the studio running errands and cleaning equipment. It was in that process that people in the studio saw his potential.