Gilbert Bani is his real name, but got the stage name as A-Q. He is a popular Nigerian rapper and songwriter with the famous single, “Agu Ji Ndi Men” which got nominated for Best Rap Single at The Headies 2016.
A-Q was born on August 1, 1986 in Surulere, Lagos. He is one of six children in a family and hails from Abia State, Nigeria.
A-Q Educational Background
A-Q attended Kings College Lagos. He later bagged a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Lagos.
A-Q’s Music Career
A-Q began as a young music entertainer, collecting hip-hop tracks, learning the lyrics and miming them.
He became professionally known in music when he got his first record deal under Big Leaf Records, a deal he maintained for two years before he started working on his own in 2003.
A-Q released his first single, “(W)rap Nigeria”, produced by kraftmatics, debuted in 2004 followed by a music video.
He subsequently released a full compilation album Listen and Understand in 2005 followed by another single, “Things That We Do”. The song was a huge success and shot A-Q to global recognition.
In 2006, A-Q released a mixtape titled, ‘Maga Must Pay Vol 1’.
He currently owns a record label, Hustle Inc, on whose platform he started Black Friday Twitter Freestyles, a weekly free download release. This online platform has since garnered him lots of followers on social media including music producer, Don Jazzy who styled him “one of the sickest rappers alive”.
The talented Nigerian rapper had a break from music to complete his education at the University of Lagos. He made a comeback to release another a single, “Make Money”. The video of the song came up in 2008 produced by Laylow and featured Morachi and Xtrim off an online mixtape titled, ‘Love and Money’.
A-Q finally graduated in 2010 and returned fully to the entertainment industry, reputed for Afropop, Hip-Hop/Rap genre of music.
He thereafter released Past Present and Future album in December 2010 which had the singles “Names” and “Champagne and Rum”.
In 2012, A-Q released more music including “Distractions” featuring Vector in 2012, “Machine Gun Flow”, “555 (5beats 5verses and 5blessings)”, and “Why” featuring Pamela.
The much awaited EP titled, ‘Make Your Best Rapper Look Stupid’ was released in December 2012.
In 2018, A-Q was part of LAMBAugust, a rap campaign in Nigeria, and released an album with Chocolate City rapper, Loose Kaynon called Crown.
He left Chocolate City Record Label in 2020 and revealed “I had a wholesome experience at Chocolate City, and I’m happy to have been part of the label’s journey to profitability”.
The gifted music star has so far released several hit songs, including:
- Listen and Overstand(2005)
- The Past Present and Future(2010)
- Rose(2016)
- Blessed Forever(2017)
- Crown(with Loose Kaynon) (2018)
- God’s Engineering(2020)
- GOLDEN(2023)
- ETHOS(with Brymo) (2022)
Mixtapes and EPs
- Maga Must Pay Mixtape(2006)
- Love and Money(2008)
- Make Your Best Rapper Look Stupid(2012)
- Son of John(2014)
- Son of John 2(2015)
- The Live Report(with I Abaga) (2020)
Singles]
- “(W)rap Nigeria” (2005)
- “Make Money” (2007)
- “Names” (2010)
- “Champagne and Rum” (2011)
- “Why” (2012)
- “God’s Work” (2019)
- “L.A.M.B Cypher” (2019) with I Abaga, Loose Kaynon and Blaqbonez
- “You Must Feel Am” (2020) ft Oxlade
- “Breathe” (2023) ft Chike
Awards and Nominations
A-Q has in the course of his music career won good number of prestigious awards, most recently and notably:
In February 2023, won the Best Rap Album Award for his 2020 album “God’s Engineering” at the 14 Edition of The Headies Awards.
In September 2022, won the Lyricist on the Roll Award for his performance on “The Last Cypher” single off the “Behold The Lamb” album at the 15th Edition of The Headies Awards in Atlanta, US.
His Personal Life
A-Q is not yet married, perhaps in a relationship which has not received public attention. From all indications, the young talented artiste is more focused in making it in the music profession and winning more laurels.
A-Q’s Net Worth
A-Q has made significant earnings in the music profession with an estimated net worth of about $650,000 dollars.
He has remained prominent on social media with lots of followers. You can reach or follow A-Q on:
Instagram: @ThisisAQ
A million thanks for your time, reading about A-Q’s biography, Songs and net worth. Your comments are also welcome.