02/01/2025
Oladipo Olamide Emmanuel (born 13 September 1993) 32 years young, known professionally as Chinko Ekun, is a rapper and songwriter born in Ikeja Lagos, Nigeria.
He was born into a family of three, where he is the second child. He is a native of Ikare, Ondo State, Nigeria. He attended Blessing Nursery and Primary School, Oshodi, and Remade Nursery and Primary School, Igando, Lagos State. A Baptist Model High School, Ijegun, Lagos State for his secondary education. He graduated with a degree in law from Obafemi Awolowo University and he did his National Youth Service Corps in Lagos State.
During his first year in the university, he picked interest in commercial and rap music. Chinko Ekun officially started his musical career in 2011, posting videos of his freestyles on Instagram. In 2013, he released "Ekun" as his first official track. In 2014, Chinko Ekun featured in the Olamide's Street OT music album, on tracks "100 To Million", "Bang" and "Usain Bolt". He appeared on Olamide Live In Concert (OLIC) 2014, where he did freestyle performance. Chinko Ekun sings in English, Pidgin and Yoruba, focusing solely on hip hop music.
One interesting thing about the biography of Chinko Ekun is his name. It is important to note that his name "Chinko Ekun" was coined from two words "Chinko" and "Ekun". "Chinko", because he was told that he looked like a Chinese during his time in the university and "Ekun", because it is his first official track.
In 2015, Chinko Ekun joined Olamide YBNL Nation. He released his first official singles titled "Alejo Oran" and "Emi Na Re" through YBNL Nation on 25 February 2015. Barely a year later, he exited the record label after his contract expired, alongside fellow label mates Adekunle Gold and Viktoh. In 2017, he joined Dek-Niyor Entertainment, a Dubai based record label.
On 13 September 2018, he released a song titled "Able God" featuring Zlatan Ibile and Lil Kesh. The song earned him his first Headies award as "Best Street Hop Artiste"