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Rachel Akosua Funmilola Garton (born 1991), professionally known as Lola Rae, is a Nigerian-born British-Ghanaian recording artist and dancer. She gained recognition following the release of her debut single “Watch My Ting Go”, which received critical acclaim and thus earned her a nomination for Most Promising Female Act to Watch at the 2013 Nigeria Entertainment Awards. In November 2016, Lola Rae signed a recording deal with Davido’s imprint Davido Music Worldwide (DMW).
GROWING UP AND EDUCATION
Born to a British father and a Ghanaian mother in Obalende, a suburb of Lagos State, Lola Rae had her primary and secondary school education at St. Saviours School, Ikoyi and Lekki British International High School, Lagos, respectively. She however left Nigeria for England at the age of 15 to complete her university education at Central Saint Martins, where she studied fashion textiles.
CAREER
Lola Rae’s entertainment career started as a dancer when she was a member of the dance group Mystikal. In 2010, Mystikal auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent. Rae sang in the competition and judge Simon Cowell singled Mystikal out at the semi-final of the competition. Upon the end of the competition, Mystikal was signed to Syco for a year. Rae turned down an invitation to The X Factor in order to pursue a solo career as a singer.
On 19 November 2012, Rae released her debut hit single Watch My Ting Go and a follow up single titled High. She was nominated as the “Most Promising Female Act to Watch” at the 2013 Nigeria Entertainment Awards. The video for Watch My Ting Go premiered on Soundcity TV on 8 January 2013 with cameo appearances from Iyanya and Emma Nyra. The video was nominated at the 10th Channel O Music Video Awards.
Following Watch My Ting Go, Rae featured Iyanya on a song titled Fi Mi Le which earned Rae another nomination at the 2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards. She made a cameo appearance as Ice Prince’s love interest in the music video for his song “More”.
DISCOGRAPHY
Singles
- As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NGA | GHA | RSA | AUS | UK | US | US R&B/HH |
|||||||
| “Watch My Ting Go” | 2012 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | ||||
| “High” (featuring Bridge) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| “Fi Mi Le” (featuring Iyanya) |
2013 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| “She Knows He Knows” | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| “You Know What My Name Is” | 2015 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| “One Time” | 2016 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| “—” denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
- As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NGA | GHA | RSA | AUS | UK | US | US R&B/HH |
|||||||
| “Ginger” (BOJ featuring Lola Rae) |
2013 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | ||||
| “Coupe Bibamba (Remix)” (Awilo Longomba featuring Lola Rae) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| “Egwu” (Nizzy featuring Lola Rae) |
2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| “Work” (TeeJay featuring Lola Rae) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| “Pele Mo” (Danagog featuring Lola Rae) |
2015 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| “—” denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
- Promotional singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NGA | GHA | RSA | AUS | UK | US | US R&B/HH |
|||||||
| “Africa Rising” (Davido, Tiwa Savage, Lola Rae, Sarkodie, Diamond Platnumz and Mi Casa) |
2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | ||||
| “—” denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS
| Year | Award ceremony | Prize | Work/Recipient | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 2013 Channel O Africa Music Video Awards | Most Gifted Newcomer | “Watch My Ting Go” | Nominated | |
| 2013 Nigeria Entertainment Awards | Most Promising Female Act to Watch | Herself | Nominated | ||
| 2014 | 2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards | Diaspora Artist of The Year | Nominated |
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