Tay Iwar

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Tay Iwar
Born
Austin Iornongu Iwar

(1997-06-09) 9 June 1997 (age 26)
Marina, Lagos Island
Occupations
  • Record producer
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • sound engineer
  • composer
Relatives
  • Suté Iwar (Brother)
  • Terna Iwar (Brother)
Musical career
OriginBenue State, Nigeria
Genres
Instrument(s)Guitar, piano
Years active2013–present
Labels
Websitewww.tayiwar.com

Austin Iornongu Iwar[2] (born 9 June 1997), known professionally as Tay Iwar, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, composer, sound engineer and record producer known for his vibrant blend of R&B and Afro-fusion.[3][4] He rose to stardom with the release of his first debut studio album GEMINI.[5] The project was released through Soulection, a Los Angeles based music collective.

He came into the music scene with a critically acclaimed mixtape album Passport, which earned him a nomination at the 3rd and 4th editions of Nigerian Teens Choice Awards in the Choice Mixtape/EP category in 2014 and 2015. On 23 November 2021, Wizkid Made in Lagos deluxe studio album, was nominated at the Grammy and earned him, a special recognition from The Recording Academy.[6]

Early life[edit]

Austin Iornongu Iwar was born on 9 June 1997 in Marina, and raised between Lagos and Abuja. His early influence in music, came from his elder brother Suté Iwar. Austin began creating music at age fourteen, using the digital music software FL Studio.[2]

Career[edit]

In 2014, Tay Iwar (formerly Tay) came into the music scene with his brother Suté Iwar. Same year, they created Bantu Collective,[7] an entertainment company in Abuja, for recording, and music distribution,[8] with a photo studio, headed by Terna Iwar. Shortly after, Iwar released his mixtape Passport, on 20 April 2014, through BANTU,[9] and launched his music career on SoundCloud, with a cover of Jai Paul "Zion Wolf", as Tay.[10] This earned him a nomination at 4th Nigerian Teens Choice Awards for Choice Song of the Year in 2015.

On 22 April 2016, he released a seven-track ep titled Renascentia, featuring Sute Iwar.[11] In 2017, "Equestrian Love" from the extended play Renascentia was on the soundtrack list of Skinny Girl in Transit season 3.[12] Shortly after the premiere of Skinny Girl in Transit season 3 in February, "Equestrian Love" gained popularity[13] and began trending on Twitter, shortly after M.I posted the song, of the moment. On 29 April 2017, he opens for Aṣa, at Encore "Live In Lagos" Concert 2017 at Eko Convention Center in Lagos.[8]

On 26 August 2018, Tay Iwar unveiled his publishing and distribution deal with Soulection, with the release of 1997, a collective of singles including "Space", "Sugardaddy", and "Miracle Girl", under Soulection,[14] as the lead singles off his debut album GEMINI, released on 29 March 2019.[15] The album features guess appearance from Cruel Santino, Preyé, Odunsi (The Engine), and Suté Iwar.[15] "Utero" from the album, earned him a nomination for Best Vocal Performance (Male) at the 14th edition of The Headies. On 13 April 2019, "Diamond", and "Keeps" from GEMINI, studio album was aired on Soulection radio.[16][17] In 2020, he featured on Wizkid Made in Lagos album, on "True Love", with Projexx.

In 2021, following the release of the deluxe version on 27 August 2021, he co-wrote "Steady" from the deluxe version, which earned him his first nomination at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, for Best Global Music Album. Same year, he co-wrote "System"[18] for Dave, from We're All Alone in This Together studio album, and was featured on Tiwa Savage Water & Garri EP on "Special Kinda".[19] On 1 December 2021, Tay, performed "True Love" with Wizkid, for the first time at Made in Lagos Tour in London at The O2 Arena.[20]

On 14 January 2022, he signed a worldwide publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music,[18] through a joint venture with The Flight Club. On 29 March 2022, Wizkid released the music video for "True Love", featuring Tay Iwar, and Projexx.[21] "True Love" was directed by Nabil Elderkin, and starring Jamaican-Canadian model Winnie Harlow, and Wizkid.[22] On 17 June 2022, he released "Bad4u" with its music video released on 19 June 2022.[23] In 2023, Iwar released "Healing", as the first single off his EP Summer Breeze.[24] On 3 March 2023, he released the music video for "Healing".[25] On 11 May 2023, Iwar released "Undercover Lover", as the second single off his debut EP Summer Breeze.[26]

On 8 June 2023, Iwar released "Summer Breeze" featuring Juls,[27] as the third single off his debut EP Summer Breeze. Following the release of his single, "Summer Breeze" was later supported with the release of his fifth debut extended play Summer Breeze, released on 9 June 2023, through CoolSweat, under the license of Believe Music, UK division. The debut EP features guest appearances from the Ghanaian music producer Juls, Nigerian singer Twelve XII, American rapper IDK, with British rappers Knucks, and Kojey Radical.[28]

Discography[edit]

Mixtapes[edit]

List of mixtapes with selected details
Title Mixtape details
Passport

Studio albums[edit]

List of studio albums with selected details
Title Album details
GEMINI

EPs[edit]

List of extended plays with selected details
Title EP details
Renascentia
1997
GOLD (with. Le Mav)
Love & Isolation
Summer Breeze

Other charted songs[edit]

List of charted songs, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions Album Sales Certifications
US
Afrobeats
"True Love"
(Wizkid featuring Tay Iwar & Projexx) 		2020 46[29] Made in Lagos
  • US: 100,000[30]
    (as of March 2022)

Accolades[edit]

Year Event Prize Recipient Result
2014 Nigerian Teens Choice Awards Choice Mixtape/EP Passport Nominated
2015 Nominated
2020 The Headies Best Vocal Performance (Male) Tay Iwar for "Utero" Nominated
2022 Grammy Awards Special Recognition Tay Iwar for (Made in Lagos (Deluxe) by Wizkid) Nominated
The Headies Best Vocal Performance (Male) Tay Iwar for "Peaking"[31] Nominated
South African Music Awards Rest of Africa Artist Tay Iwar for Love and Isolation[32] Nominated

Tours[edit]

  • Made in Lagos Tour (2022)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Odutola, Tayo (30 March 2019). "Nigerian R&B artist Tay Iwar openly shares his love for "MONICA"". Earmilk. Earmilk. Retrieved 10 August 2022. Nigerian alternative R&B act Tay Iwar returns with another enthralling record simply entitled "MONICA".
  2. ^ a b "tw Hidden Gems: Tay Iwar". TW Magazine. 9 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Tay Iwar Is Nigeria's Shining Neo-Soul Beacon". Clash Magazine. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Tay Iwar Interview: Transcending Genre & Style". DJBooth. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  5. ^ "With Gemini, Tay Iwar follows the trend of not following a trend". PAM - Pan African Music. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  6. ^ "See First-Time Nigerian Artists Who Got Grammy Nominations". Cool FM - Your Number One Hit Music Station !. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  7. ^ "Tay Iwar: Nigeria's Most Reclusive Musician Opens Up". OkayAfrica. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  8. ^ a b "A Win for Bantu: Tay Iwar is opening for Asa's Encore Concert". The NATIVE. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  9. ^ Alonge, Tinya (22 April 2014). "MIXTAPE: TAY – PASSPORT". The Culture Custodian (Est. 2014.). Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  10. ^ "5 SoundCloud Artists That Can Take Over Your Faves". Accelerate TV. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  11. ^ Ade-Unuigbe, Adesola (25 April 2016). "BN Music: Tay Iwar's New Mixtape "Renascentia" is a Must Listen for Music Lovers!". BellaNaija. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  12. ^ "The Song Everyone is Talking About after #SGIT3…"Equestrian Love" by Tay Iwar". BellaNaija. 9 February 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Five New Interesting African Musicians". The Guardian Nigeria. 27 August 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Listen to Tay Iwar's latest set 1997". The NATIVE. 26 August 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  15. ^ a b Alake, Motolani (15 April 2019). "Tay Iwar's 'GEMINI' talks bad love affairs with great songwriting". Pulse Nigeria. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Show #403". soulectiontracklists.com. 13 April 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Joe Kay Focuses on Nigerian Music in This Episode of Soulection Radio". OkayAfrica. 25 April 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  18. ^ a b "Warner Chappell signs Nigerian singer, songwriter and producer Tay Iwar". www.musicweek.com. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  19. ^ "Tiwa Savage's "Water & Garri" EP features Brandy, Amaarae, Nas & Tay Iwar | See the Tracklist". BellaNaija. 17 August 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  20. ^ "Tay Iwar: Love & Isolation". Notion. 28 January 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  21. ^ "WizKid Enlists Winnie Harlow In Video For "True Love" Featuring Tay Iwar & Projexx". GRM Daily. 29 March 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  22. ^ "Wizkid shares celestial visuals for "True Love"". The FADER. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  23. ^ Nwangwu, Adaora (17 June 2022). "Grammy-nominated Artiste Tay Iwar Unveils New Track 'Bad4u'". The Culture Custodian (Est. 2014.). Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  24. ^ Staff, Wonderland (24 February 2023). "Tay Iwar Returns With New Single "Healing"". Wonderland. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  25. ^ Murray, Robin (6 March 2023). "Tay Iwar Shares New 'Healing' Video". Clash Magazine. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  26. ^ Murray, Robin (11 May 2023). "Tay Iwar Links With Twelve XII On 'Undercover Lover'". Clash Magazine. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  27. ^ Renshaw, David. "Tay Iwar glides into the night-time on his new song "Summer Breeze"". The FADER. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  28. ^ Esomnofu, Emmanuel (9 June 2023). "A 1-Listen Review of Tay Iwar's 'Summer Breeze'". The NATIVE. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  29. ^ Cusson, Michael (29 March 2022). "Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  30. ^ "Wizkid's 'True Love' With Projexx, Tay Iwar Sells 100k Units In US". DancehallMag. 17 March 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  31. ^ "2022 Headies Full List Nominees". Vanguard News. 24 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  32. ^ Shumba, Ano (29 August 2022). "South African Music Awards 2022: All the winners". Music In Africa. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
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