User:Ola Akinwunmi/Jide chord

Jide Chord, real name Jide Akinwunmi, was born on October 16th 1962 in Ibadan to Mr. & Mrs. Akinwunmi, 2nd in a line of 5 children. His Father was a marketing professional and hotelier while his Mother spent her working life as teacher in England and Nigeria. Jide spent all of his childhood in Lagos, his secondary education he acquired in Igbobi College, Lagos. He then joined The Punch Newspapers group as a reporter before he was sent for further training at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism. In the course of his work as an entertainment reporter he met the Late Professor Peller (a renowned magician) and later worked as his Public Relations Officer for 2 years. After this, he changed direction and went to train and work in the banking industry, this he did for almost 7 years. He later left the banking industry with AIB qualifications to settle in England in the late 80s. In the process of settling and kick-starting his professional musical career he attended East London University, studying Cultural Studies. While in all this other jobs Jide was sure of one thing; that he wanted to become a famous singer. He spent all his spare time and money preparing himself for a career in songwriting and performance. Jide honed his musicianship skills in the church where he was a respected performer. Jide taught himself how to play a variety of instruments too many to list here. He is a seasoned artiste who after having toured extensively in West Africa left Nigeria to live in the UK in 1988. He formed a new band 3 years later in the summer of 1991. He has since then performed around the globe to wide acclaim. While he is an accomplished songwriter, Jide draws from an infinite repertoire of Yoruba folklore. From his original Juju Music point of view, Jide Chord imbibes Afro beat & Highlife to create his own unique form of African music. His stage act is very colourful and easy to enjoy while taking you on a trendy musical journey Apart from playing week in week out at functions within the Nigerian expatriate community in the UK, he has in the recent past performed at many festivals and venues including; The Fridge-Brixton, Nottingham Riverside Festival, Africa Centre Covent Garden, Ronnie Scotts, Carlton Television, Ealing International Jazz Festival, The Buttermarket Shrewsbury, Malcolm X Centre Bristol, Warwick University Coventry, Lewisham Peoples Day and Leeds-Talking Reality to name a few. While based in the UK, he has kept close to the music scene in Nigeria thereby affording himself regular appearances both in Nigeria & his adopted home, UK. Outside of these two countries, he has also visited, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Holland, Germany, Italy, The USA, Sweden, Canada, Ivory Coast & Japan. Jide started performing publicly at the tender age of five. According to him music comes naturally. Jide is also the brain behind the internationally acclaimed a capella group THE KINGS OF LAGOS who have performed in front of royalty and are referred to by critics as West Africa’s answer to LADYSMITH BLACK MOMBAZO