Table of Contents
Who is Mohbad?
Born 3rd of January 1996, late Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Promise Aloba widely recognised as Mohbad or Imole is a 27 year old Nigerian songwriter, singer, and rapper known for hit songs like ‘KPK (Ko Por Ke)’, ‘Ponmo’ ‘Feel Good’, and ‘Ask About Me’.
Much is not known about his net worth and assets during his lifetime but after his demise a research showed that he was worth up to N700 million naira.
Mohbad’s family
Mohbad’s parents
Much is not known about Mohbad’s mother as it’s said that she abandoned him 15 years ago.
His father is a Pastor, Carpenter, and Gospel Artist.
Did Mohbad’s father influence Mohbad in any way?
A big yes to that. Mohbad’s father was a gospel artist and he often had performances in the church. Experiencing all of that was part of what influenced his love for music. Mohbad even mentioned in an interview that he listens to his father’s music a lot. He also mentioned that he has his dad on two or three of his songs but doesn’t know when he would drop the song. This was all disclosed in 2020.
Mohbad’s wife and kid
Mohbad has a son. He was born in April 2023. While there’s no confirmation that Mohbad is married to the mother of his child, on social media she is being referred to as his wife, because they’ve been dating for a long time.
Early struggles
The beginning phase of Mohbad’s music career started in the church. He used to be in the choir and also played the talking drum for the church.
Now, while he was a chorister, he still didn’t sing much because he had that feeling that he didn’t know how to sing.
Mohbad’s confidence came from two of his friends who were already music artists at the time. Each time he sang to them, they told him just how good he was and that positive feedback from them gave Mohbad the needed confidence to put his talent out to the world.
When he eventually started music, he had another challenge. His family didn’t like the new path he was taking, especially because his father was also an artist, but wasn’t successful at it. So it looked like he wanted to do what doesn’t work. His family was scared that he may end up like his dad.
Did that challenge stop Mohbad? No. He kept recording but didn’t play his songs to his dad as he was trying to avoid any tension.
Mohbad kept doing his music till his covers blew up when he released ‘Ronaldo’. The whole of Ikorodu jammed to the song and he started going to the club for performances.
Things became easier for Mohbad when he got into the polytechnic. He could easily move from Osun State to Lagos for shows and return to school.
After school, Mohbad returned fully to Lagos but didn’t go to his father’s place. He was just two buildings away from his dad’s house but the man didn’t know Mohbad was around because Mohbad only stayed indoors writing songs.
With time, Mohbad gained full confidence in his musical talent and decided to tell his dad that he really wanted to do music. Already he was sending money home from his shows so it wasn’t too difficult for his dad to accept his decision seeing that music was paying him. His dad only had one concern which was having Mohbad finish his tertiary education.
As things went on, Mohbad dropped out of school after he released ‘Owaale’ featuring Lil Frosh. ‘Owaale’ was widely accepted in the street so it motivated him to drop another single ‘Balenciaga’.
With these songs making waves, Mohbad decided to leave Ikorodu for the Island. Since he couldn’t afford the bulk sum of renting a proper apartment, he decided to stay in the hotel. He was living in the hotel for almost a year.
Is it true that Mohbad was a Carpenter?
Oh yes, he was!
Remember that Mohbad’s father was a furniture maker, so at age ten Mohbad started joining him at the workshop to learn the trade. It was even from profits made from carpentry gigs that Mohbad was able to pay for his earliest studio sessions.
A little bit deeper
Where did the name ‘Imole’ come from?
Let’s start with this: first, in Mohbad’s church, they often say ‘Olorun Imole’ meaning ‘Father of Light’.
Secondly, Mohbad did the cover of a song ‘Adura Elijah’ by Jhybo. Without intending to, he started the intro with the word ‘Imole’ which means light and from that day, it stuck in people’s heads. They started calling him Imole; so he adopted it because he sensed that people found the name ‘Mohbad’ to be very rude and gangster. He didn’t want people to get the wrong impression of him so it made sense to adopt Imole.
But why did he choose Mohbad as a name in the first place?
Mohbad is actually short for ‘I am bright and destined’.
Moh in Yoruba means (I am)
B stands for (Bright)
A stands for (And)
D stands for (Destiny)
How does Mohbad write songs?
This may come as a shocker to you but the truth is Mohbad doesn’t always write his songs.
He’s always alone and he’s a deep thinker too. So he just picks up the mic and puts his thoughts into songs. Afterwards, he listens to each song and picks out the message in it.
What was the motivation behind the song ‘Weekend’?
According to Mohbad, “To be the light, you’ll be around darkness sometimes. I feel like I’ve been in the dark for long and this is the time for me to shine and let people know what’s up. That’s the main reason I said I the first line of the song ‘Make I show you where the light is, how we do things, how we party,”
So ‘Weekend’ was like an opportunity for Imole to introduce himself to a larger audience.
Mohbad’s album ‘Blessed’ has only eight tracks but there are seven different Producers involved in the project, why is that?
The major reason Mohbad worked with different Producers for the Blessed project is because he found it difficult to stick to one sound. He liked exploring and hated sounding the same.
So he worked with each Producer to get distinct sounds for each track.
What inspired the song ‘Ask About Me’?
Ask About Me is one of the hit tracks in Mohbad’s last EP ‘Blessed’. Initially, it wasn’t a part of the EP, but the distro company he was working with requested for a hit song after he had sent the EP to them.
With that request, Mohbad went back to the studio, picked up the mic and recorded ‘Ask About Me’.
In the same song ‘Ask About Me’ Mohbad said ‘I open Bible chapter, I step on the satan’. Did he actually read the Bible?
Yes he used to.
As a matter of fact Mohbad went to church but not as much as a Pastor would. Even when he was not home, he looked for any Celestial branch to join for service.
What was Mohbad’s expectations as regards how the Blessed EP should perform?
We can’t say what his expectations were for the body of work but he was really not happy with how the EP performed after release.
In his own words, “I was expecting more but what you love doesn’t love you sometimes and what you expect to happen doesn’t happen sometimes. I expected it to go bigger than this but I still understand because me and God like this we dey like five and six. Since it didn’t do well in my own perspective, it’s making me want to do more”.
He also thinks that one of the reasons why the EP didn’t do well in his own perspective is because of streaming farms. He disclosed that there were songs that were topping the chart but weren’t popular in the street and people in the club don’t even know those songs.
But why didn’t Mohbad farm his songs?
Mohbad’s perspective to life and music is quite different from the norm. He believes in true growth and loves being true to himself.
He once said, “At every point I want to know my strength, I want to know how strong I am. I love honest feedback”.
Mohbad’s relationship with Bella Shmurda
It seemed Mohbad and Bella Shmurda were industry-best friends until the former’s demise. Bella Shmurda had a lot to get off his chest after Mohbad’s death and one could tell they had a strong bond.
Summary
Mohbad, born Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Promise Aloba, was a talented Nigerian songwriter, singer, and rapper. Despite facing early struggles and family concerns about his musical path, he pursued his passion.
His father’s influence as a gospel artist played a role in Mohbad’s love for music. Despite challenges, he gained confidence and success, dropping out of school to focus on his career. He even worked as a carpenter to fund his early studio sessions.
The name ‘Imole’ (meaning ‘light’) was adopted from his church background, and ‘Mohbad’ signifies ‘I am bright and destined’.
Despite challenges in his music career, including controversies with Marlians Record and Naira Marley, Mohbad aimed for greatness. His net worth, estimated at N700 million, showcased his success as an Afrobeats super-star in the music industry.
Before his tragic demise, Mohbad aimed to be remembered as an influential artist and hoped to guide others through his experiences. His advice to upcoming artists emphasizes patience and belief in their craft, urging them not to make decisions hurriedly with thinking through.
Here are a few things you can learn from Mohbad’s life: pursue your passion despite obstacles, stay true to yourself, and exercise patience on the path to success.