Dele Babalola aka “olaDELe” is a long-standing member of Nigeria’s pioneer independent label ‘Trybe Records.’ Born May 6th and raised in Lagos, southern Nigeria, olaDELe delved into the arts at a very young age. In 2000, then still going by the stage name ‘DEL’, olaDELe met the Trybesmen at the Obafemi Awolowo University while they were on their nationwide tour. The story of him sending a demo to eLDee, CEO of Trybe Records, is legend! He worked closely with the Trybesmen from then on and was involved in the recording of their never released sophomore album. In mid 2002, he released the hit single ‘Maximum Shi-Shi’, which got a lot of spin on Local radio in Lagos and Abuja. Later on that year, olaDELe collaborated with the rest of the label, collectively know as ‘Da Trybe’, and released two hit singles - ‘Work It’ and ‘Oya.’ The video for Oya was released early 2003 and went on to set several records, from unprecedented radio play, to back-to-back weeks atop the video charts. olaDELe also went on to record and release the tracks ‘Lagos Life’ and ‘No Shaking’ for the ‘Da Trybe’ compilation album later in 2003. In 2004, olaDELe relocated to the United Kingdom, where he remained until 2006. During his stay there, he performed at numerous concerts, including the INTRO independence jam in 2004 and featured on tracks such as ‘No Jokes’ with renowned international producer ‘Skillz.’ In 2006, olaDELe was re-united with eLDee when he moved to the United States. He released his solo album ‘Razz is the new cool’ in 2007, which included hits like ‘Oyinlomo’ and ‘Spray Me Money.’ Though never officially released in Nigeria, the album did significantly well in the US and helped to re-introduce ‘DEL’ onto the musical scene. The remix to ‘Spray Me Money’, which featured eLDee, went on to win the best international single of the year at the 2008 NEA Awards. Currently, olaDELe is getting ready to return to the studio to record the highly anticipated follow up to last year’s critically acclaimed album.