Wande | |
---|---|
Birth name | Mutiat Yewande Isola |
Also known as | Wande Isola |
Born | Nigeria | March 4, 1996
Origin | Austin, Texas, U.S. |
Genres | Christian hip hop |
Occupation(s) | Rapper, A&R administrator, music journalist, actress |
Years active | 2013–present |
Labels | Reach, Anike Sounds, OMGitsWande |
Website |
omgitswande |
Mutiat Yewande Isola, professionally known as Wande, is a Nigerian American Christian hip hop artist, actress and former journalist and A&R administrator from Austin, Texas, United States. She signed to the Christian hip hop label Reach Records in 2019, where she had worked as an A&R administrator. Prior to that, as an independent artist, from 2013 through 2018 she released multiple singles and made numerous featured appearances on various songs, as well as worked as a music journalist. She is the first woman signed to Reach. Her debut extended play (EP), Exit, was released on April 24, 2020, followed by a mini-EP The Decision on December 4, 2020.
Wande was born in Nigeria but raised in Round Rock, Texas and then Austin, Texas, United States. [1] [2] In addition to English, she is fluent in Yoruba. [1] Most of her family was Muslim, except for her mother, who was Christian. [2] [3] At first she was not allowed to go to church, and then started having to get up at 5 A.M. to read the Bible and go with her mother to work so that she could get picked up to go to church. [4] Wande said in April 2020 that she used to joke "that I'd go to Mosque and church". [3] Her curiosity about God led her to search on the internet for Christian rap, and the first result to come up was the 2006 song "Prayin' for You" by Lecrae. [3] In sixth grade, she started playing the flute and studied music through junior high school. [3] She converted to Christianity in seventh grade while interning at a camp in 2009 in Columbus, Texas, a decision for which she encountered opposition from within her family. [2] [3] [5] While at the camp, she also saw a performance by the Christian hip hop collective 116 Clique, which at that time consisted of Lecrae, Trip Lee, Tedashii, and Sho Baraka. [3]
Despite this initial interest in music, Wande wanted to be a doctor, and enrolled in a health and science program in junior high school. [3] She became interested in rapping after a biology teacher allowed her to compose a rap about cellular transport instead of writing an essay or making a presentation. [1] [3] [6] Despite this, she initially continued in studying health and sciences, even acquiring a license to be a nurse's aid. [3] According to Wande, she had "an internal struggle with the whole rap thing. Africans don’t really mess with creative careers. You either become a doctor or a lawyer." [3] However, she decided to switch majors and went into journalism and public relations at University of Texas at Austin. [2] [3] [5] As a journalist, she anticipated that she could get access to artists, attend concerts, and conduct interviews. [3] She soon started writing for the Christian hip hop website Rapzilla, and started assisting the Christian hip hop record label RMG. [3] She rapped at campus events as a form of Christian ministry. [2] [5] She was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha and Sigma Phi Lambda sororities, the National Association of Black Journalists, IGotSole Dance Company, and the Texas Orange Jackets. [2] [7] [8] Her first released record was a feature on the song "B.I.G." by D-Flow on their 2013 album Quarter to Vinci. [9] She released her first single, "No Flex" featuring ikilledmarlon, in May 2016. [10] She performed at South by Southwest in 2016, [11] 2017, [12] [13] and 2018. [14] She did some A&R work for Ace Harris, and 2017, while still pursuing her university education, she began an internship at Reach Records. [15] [16] She released eleven songs during 2018, making the Rapzilla list of 15 Freshman of 2019. [17] [18] Shortly before her graduation in 2018 she was hired as an administrator for the label's A&R. [15] [16]
The following year, after five months after her hire as A&R, she was signed as a recording artist to Reach. [19] [20] She released her debut single on the label, "Blessed Up", in April. [21] The single would be listed the next year on Michelle Obama's playlist. [22] Wande is the first woman signed to the label. [19] She has expressed a hope that her signing will make it easier for other women rappers to pursue a career in the highly male-dominated Christian hip hop genre. "I think it’ll show other labels that you shouldn’t be afraid to sign females. I hear a lot of excuses like, 'Oh it’s expensive' or 'Oh, we don’t know how the market will react to a woman.' 'Will they buy her music?' Obviously, a lot of Christian companies don’t have the money to just casually experiment with a Christian artist because you have to make sure they are profitable. So a lot of women get the short end of the stick because they don’t want to gamble on a woman." [23] She said that it initially took a while for her music to be released because of resistance that she encountered in the music industry because her abilities were undervalued on account of her being a woman. For example, she recounts that "I would fly somewhere, write a whole album, and would ask for the beat and the person wouldn’t send the song. I learned a lot about how people value you." [15] She also has mentioned the difficulty in getting exposure to her music when her lyrics do not discuss sex. [18] "Even artists like Cardi B have mentioned that they’ve tested it out and people will blast the sexual songs and go 'eh what is this' to the songs with a deeper meaning." [18]
On March 30, 2020, Wande announced her forthcoming extended play, Exit, [24] and the single "Happy" was released April 3, 2020. [25] "Be the Light", featuring Evan and Eris, followed as a single on April 17, 2020. [26] Exit was released on April 24, 2020. [27] Wande also has released music has part of 116 (formerly 116 Clique). [28] She said in an April 2020 interview that her father and her have made peace over her conversion and her decision to pursue a hip-hop music career. [4] On December 4, 2020, she released a three-song mini-EP entitled The Decision. [note 1] In the spring of 2022, she married Darius Dees. [32]
Title | Details |
---|---|
Exit |
|
Title | Details |
---|---|
The Decision |
|
Title | Released | Album |
---|---|---|
"No Flex" (featuring ikilledmarlon) | May 27, 2016 [10] | non-album single |
"They Didn't Know" | July 14, 2016 [33] | non-album single |
"Hiatus Freestyle" | December 5, 2017 [34] | non-album single |
"Elevated" (featuring Bryon Juane) | April 19, 2018 [35] | non-album single |
"Fuego" | August 2, 2018 [36] | non-album single |
"Fuego [Remix]" (featuring Parris Chariz) | September 13, 2018 [37] | non-album single |
"I Gotta Live" | December 17, 2018 [38] | non-album single |
"Blessed Up" | April 12, 2019 [21] | non-album single |
"In Luv" | July 18, 2019 [39] | Summer Nineteen |
"BAND$" (featuring Byron Juane) | July 18, 2019 [40] | Summer Nineteen |
"No Limits" | November 14, 2019 [41] | non-album single |
"Happy" | April 3, 2020 [25] | Exit |
"Be the Light" (featuring Evan and Eris) | April 17, 2020 [26] | Exit |
"Come My Way" (featuring Teni and Toyé) | July 29, 2020 [42] | Summer Twenty |
"Last" | December 10, 2020 [43] | The Decision |
"Blessed Up (Remix)" (featuring Lecrae and Mike Todd) | April 12, 2021 [44] | non-album single |
"Don't Worry 'Bout It" (with Porsha Love) | August 12, 2021 [45] | Summer Twenty-One |
"Big God" | June 4, 2022 [46] | non-album single |
"They Didn't Know II" | March 25, 2022 [47] | non-album single |
Title | Released | Album |
---|---|---|
"B.I.G." (D-Flow featuring Wande) | November 12, 2013 [9] | Quarter to Vinci |
"Gotta Go" (Dru Bex featuring Jeremy Rodney-Hall and Wande) | April 13, 2018 [48] | non-album single |
"Level 3" (Xay Hill featuring Silver Steph, Wande, Torey D'shaun, Roy Tosh, Raw B and Parris Chariz) | April 27, 2018 [49] | Red Ranger Pt.2 [50] |
"Iran" (Joey Vantes featuring Wande) | September 21, 2018 [51] | The Fall [52] |
"She Got Aesthetic" (Not Klyde featuring Wande & Parris Chariz) | October 24, 2018 [53] | Lil Foil 39 |
"Groove" (DJ Standout featuring Cass, Wande, and Eris Ford) | April 5, 2019 [54] | non-album single |
"Holy Ghost" (Mandela Dunamis featuring Wande) | May 31, 2019 [55] | The Light Show |
"Pretty Sad" ( V. Rose featuring Wande) | July 19, 2019 [56] | non-album single |
"Perfectly Loved [Remix]" (Courtnie Ramirez featuring Wande) | October 17, 2019 [57] | non-album single |
"We Fight (Color Purple)" ( Datin featuring 1K Phew and Wande) | March 13, 2020 [58] | non-album single |
"Good Now (Remix)" (DOE featuring Wande) | March 26, 2021 [59] | non-album single |
"Found" ( TobyMac featuring Terrian and Wande) | August 19, 2022 | Life After Death |
“Firm Foundation (He’s Gonna Make a Way)”
( Maverick City Music featuring Bobbi Storm and Wande) |
October 27, 2023 | The Maverick Way Complete |
Title | Released | Album |
---|---|---|
"The Last One" ( Marty featuring Wande) | June 5, 2020 [60] | Marty for President 2 |
"Ella" ( 116 featuring Wande and Lizzy Parra) | October 23, 2020 [61] | Sin Vergüenza |
"I Am Restored Remix" (featuring Hulvey, Wande, and 1K Phew) | November 13, 2020 [62] | Restoration: The Deluxe Album |
Title | Released | Director |
---|---|---|
"Blessed Up" | April 12, 2019 [63] | Mikael Coleman |
"No Cap" | November 12, 2019 [64] | [note 2] |
"No Ceilings" | November 12, 2019 [65] | Mikael Coleman |
"Happy" | April 3, 2020 [66] | Mikael Coleman |
"Woo" | August 31, 2020 [67] | Aaron Chewning |
"Come My Way" (featuring Teni and Toyé) | September 4, 2020 [68] | [note 3] |
"Last" | December 10, 2020 [69] | Mikael Coleman |
"Blessed Up (Remix) (featuring Lecrae and Mike Todd) | April 12, 2021 [70] | Keenon Rush |
"Big God" | June 9, 2021 [71] | Jonny Clay |
"They Didn't Know II" | May 3, 2022 [72] | Mikael Coleman and Roxy Coleman |
Title | Released | Director |
---|---|---|
"The Last One" ( Marty featuring Wande) | June 25, 2020 [73] | [note 4] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | Stanton | Sarana | Feature film |
Wande | |
---|---|
Birth name | Mutiat Yewande Isola |
Also known as | Wande Isola |
Born | Nigeria | March 4, 1996
Origin | Austin, Texas, U.S. |
Genres | Christian hip hop |
Occupation(s) | Rapper, A&R administrator, music journalist, actress |
Years active | 2013–present |
Labels | Reach, Anike Sounds, OMGitsWande |
Website |
omgitswande |
Mutiat Yewande Isola, professionally known as Wande, is a Nigerian American Christian hip hop artist, actress and former journalist and A&R administrator from Austin, Texas, United States. She signed to the Christian hip hop label Reach Records in 2019, where she had worked as an A&R administrator. Prior to that, as an independent artist, from 2013 through 2018 she released multiple singles and made numerous featured appearances on various songs, as well as worked as a music journalist. She is the first woman signed to Reach. Her debut extended play (EP), Exit, was released on April 24, 2020, followed by a mini-EP The Decision on December 4, 2020.
Wande was born in Nigeria but raised in Round Rock, Texas and then Austin, Texas, United States. [1] [2] In addition to English, she is fluent in Yoruba. [1] Most of her family was Muslim, except for her mother, who was Christian. [2] [3] At first she was not allowed to go to church, and then started having to get up at 5 A.M. to read the Bible and go with her mother to work so that she could get picked up to go to church. [4] Wande said in April 2020 that she used to joke "that I'd go to Mosque and church". [3] Her curiosity about God led her to search on the internet for Christian rap, and the first result to come up was the 2006 song "Prayin' for You" by Lecrae. [3] In sixth grade, she started playing the flute and studied music through junior high school. [3] She converted to Christianity in seventh grade while interning at a camp in 2009 in Columbus, Texas, a decision for which she encountered opposition from within her family. [2] [3] [5] While at the camp, she also saw a performance by the Christian hip hop collective 116 Clique, which at that time consisted of Lecrae, Trip Lee, Tedashii, and Sho Baraka. [3]
Despite this initial interest in music, Wande wanted to be a doctor, and enrolled in a health and science program in junior high school. [3] She became interested in rapping after a biology teacher allowed her to compose a rap about cellular transport instead of writing an essay or making a presentation. [1] [3] [6] Despite this, she initially continued in studying health and sciences, even acquiring a license to be a nurse's aid. [3] According to Wande, she had "an internal struggle with the whole rap thing. Africans don’t really mess with creative careers. You either become a doctor or a lawyer." [3] However, she decided to switch majors and went into journalism and public relations at University of Texas at Austin. [2] [3] [5] As a journalist, she anticipated that she could get access to artists, attend concerts, and conduct interviews. [3] She soon started writing for the Christian hip hop website Rapzilla, and started assisting the Christian hip hop record label RMG. [3] She rapped at campus events as a form of Christian ministry. [2] [5] She was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha and Sigma Phi Lambda sororities, the National Association of Black Journalists, IGotSole Dance Company, and the Texas Orange Jackets. [2] [7] [8] Her first released record was a feature on the song "B.I.G." by D-Flow on their 2013 album Quarter to Vinci. [9] She released her first single, "No Flex" featuring ikilledmarlon, in May 2016. [10] She performed at South by Southwest in 2016, [11] 2017, [12] [13] and 2018. [14] She did some A&R work for Ace Harris, and 2017, while still pursuing her university education, she began an internship at Reach Records. [15] [16] She released eleven songs during 2018, making the Rapzilla list of 15 Freshman of 2019. [17] [18] Shortly before her graduation in 2018 she was hired as an administrator for the label's A&R. [15] [16]
The following year, after five months after her hire as A&R, she was signed as a recording artist to Reach. [19] [20] She released her debut single on the label, "Blessed Up", in April. [21] The single would be listed the next year on Michelle Obama's playlist. [22] Wande is the first woman signed to the label. [19] She has expressed a hope that her signing will make it easier for other women rappers to pursue a career in the highly male-dominated Christian hip hop genre. "I think it’ll show other labels that you shouldn’t be afraid to sign females. I hear a lot of excuses like, 'Oh it’s expensive' or 'Oh, we don’t know how the market will react to a woman.' 'Will they buy her music?' Obviously, a lot of Christian companies don’t have the money to just casually experiment with a Christian artist because you have to make sure they are profitable. So a lot of women get the short end of the stick because they don’t want to gamble on a woman." [23] She said that it initially took a while for her music to be released because of resistance that she encountered in the music industry because her abilities were undervalued on account of her being a woman. For example, she recounts that "I would fly somewhere, write a whole album, and would ask for the beat and the person wouldn’t send the song. I learned a lot about how people value you." [15] She also has mentioned the difficulty in getting exposure to her music when her lyrics do not discuss sex. [18] "Even artists like Cardi B have mentioned that they’ve tested it out and people will blast the sexual songs and go 'eh what is this' to the songs with a deeper meaning." [18]
On March 30, 2020, Wande announced her forthcoming extended play, Exit, [24] and the single "Happy" was released April 3, 2020. [25] "Be the Light", featuring Evan and Eris, followed as a single on April 17, 2020. [26] Exit was released on April 24, 2020. [27] Wande also has released music has part of 116 (formerly 116 Clique). [28] She said in an April 2020 interview that her father and her have made peace over her conversion and her decision to pursue a hip-hop music career. [4] On December 4, 2020, she released a three-song mini-EP entitled The Decision. [note 1] In the spring of 2022, she married Darius Dees. [32]
Title | Details |
---|---|
Exit |
|
Title | Details |
---|---|
The Decision |
|
Title | Released | Album |
---|---|---|
"No Flex" (featuring ikilledmarlon) | May 27, 2016 [10] | non-album single |
"They Didn't Know" | July 14, 2016 [33] | non-album single |
"Hiatus Freestyle" | December 5, 2017 [34] | non-album single |
"Elevated" (featuring Bryon Juane) | April 19, 2018 [35] | non-album single |
"Fuego" | August 2, 2018 [36] | non-album single |
"Fuego [Remix]" (featuring Parris Chariz) | September 13, 2018 [37] | non-album single |
"I Gotta Live" | December 17, 2018 [38] | non-album single |
"Blessed Up" | April 12, 2019 [21] | non-album single |
"In Luv" | July 18, 2019 [39] | Summer Nineteen |
"BAND$" (featuring Byron Juane) | July 18, 2019 [40] | Summer Nineteen |
"No Limits" | November 14, 2019 [41] | non-album single |
"Happy" | April 3, 2020 [25] | Exit |
"Be the Light" (featuring Evan and Eris) | April 17, 2020 [26] | Exit |
"Come My Way" (featuring Teni and Toyé) | July 29, 2020 [42] | Summer Twenty |
"Last" | December 10, 2020 [43] | The Decision |
"Blessed Up (Remix)" (featuring Lecrae and Mike Todd) | April 12, 2021 [44] | non-album single |
"Don't Worry 'Bout It" (with Porsha Love) | August 12, 2021 [45] | Summer Twenty-One |
"Big God" | June 4, 2022 [46] | non-album single |
"They Didn't Know II" | March 25, 2022 [47] | non-album single |
Title | Released | Album |
---|---|---|
"B.I.G." (D-Flow featuring Wande) | November 12, 2013 [9] | Quarter to Vinci |
"Gotta Go" (Dru Bex featuring Jeremy Rodney-Hall and Wande) | April 13, 2018 [48] | non-album single |
"Level 3" (Xay Hill featuring Silver Steph, Wande, Torey D'shaun, Roy Tosh, Raw B and Parris Chariz) | April 27, 2018 [49] | Red Ranger Pt.2 [50] |
"Iran" (Joey Vantes featuring Wande) | September 21, 2018 [51] | The Fall [52] |
"She Got Aesthetic" (Not Klyde featuring Wande & Parris Chariz) | October 24, 2018 [53] | Lil Foil 39 |
"Groove" (DJ Standout featuring Cass, Wande, and Eris Ford) | April 5, 2019 [54] | non-album single |
"Holy Ghost" (Mandela Dunamis featuring Wande) | May 31, 2019 [55] | The Light Show |
"Pretty Sad" ( V. Rose featuring Wande) | July 19, 2019 [56] | non-album single |
"Perfectly Loved [Remix]" (Courtnie Ramirez featuring Wande) | October 17, 2019 [57] | non-album single |
"We Fight (Color Purple)" ( Datin featuring 1K Phew and Wande) | March 13, 2020 [58] | non-album single |
"Good Now (Remix)" (DOE featuring Wande) | March 26, 2021 [59] | non-album single |
"Found" ( TobyMac featuring Terrian and Wande) | August 19, 2022 | Life After Death |
“Firm Foundation (He’s Gonna Make a Way)”
( Maverick City Music featuring Bobbi Storm and Wande) |
October 27, 2023 | The Maverick Way Complete |
Title | Released | Album |
---|---|---|
"The Last One" ( Marty featuring Wande) | June 5, 2020 [60] | Marty for President 2 |
"Ella" ( 116 featuring Wande and Lizzy Parra) | October 23, 2020 [61] | Sin Vergüenza |
"I Am Restored Remix" (featuring Hulvey, Wande, and 1K Phew) | November 13, 2020 [62] | Restoration: The Deluxe Album |
Title | Released | Director |
---|---|---|
"Blessed Up" | April 12, 2019 [63] | Mikael Coleman |
"No Cap" | November 12, 2019 [64] | [note 2] |
"No Ceilings" | November 12, 2019 [65] | Mikael Coleman |
"Happy" | April 3, 2020 [66] | Mikael Coleman |
"Woo" | August 31, 2020 [67] | Aaron Chewning |
"Come My Way" (featuring Teni and Toyé) | September 4, 2020 [68] | [note 3] |
"Last" | December 10, 2020 [69] | Mikael Coleman |
"Blessed Up (Remix) (featuring Lecrae and Mike Todd) | April 12, 2021 [70] | Keenon Rush |
"Big God" | June 9, 2021 [71] | Jonny Clay |
"They Didn't Know II" | May 3, 2022 [72] | Mikael Coleman and Roxy Coleman |
Title | Released | Director |
---|---|---|
"The Last One" ( Marty featuring Wande) | June 25, 2020 [73] | [note 4] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | Stanton | Sarana | Feature film |