In the diverse world of music, Dr Soul, a Nigerian-born vocalist and songwriter resident in the United States has been promoting Afrobeats in the country with his unique tunes. Over time, Dr Soul whose real name is Chukwuka John Okafo has become a key figure in bringing Afrobeats to the United States since he released his first song “Lucid Dreams” in 2019. His journey as a musician started with releasing his first single in 2019 thus beginning an extraordinary career while attending a medical school.
Raised by his foster parents who were also related to him, Dr soul had a pretty rough childhood. He sometimes had to sneak out of the house to record Music because his dad was not in support of his musical aspirations, however this never stopped him from pursuing his dream.
A native of Imo State, he attended Ogba Primary school, Lagos State and then did secondary school education at Command Day Secondary School, Lagos State. Gaining admission at the age of nine. He was so smart that he was able to complete his high school at the age of 15. His foster father had always wanted him to be a medical practitioner, even though Dr Soul like the idea it wasn’t his true passion and has proven today that music is his path while still maintaining his medical qualification.
To fulfill his dad’s wish, he gained admission to study medicine outside Nigeria in the Caribbeans- at the Curacao Island, Avalon University School of Medicine and eventually transferred to Caribbean Medical School.
Fast forward to his recent artistic journey, moving to the United States gave him an opportunity to audition for American Idol and recently represented Nigeria in the just concluded American Idol, he came top 40 out of over 15,000 auditioners. After his American Idol journey, he decided to follow his passion full-time.
His followed up single “Soul Fire” was released in 2022, it garnered over 15,000 streams in its first month. He released another single called under the mistletoe featuring a chicago based Ghanaian singer QueenDrie the same year, the last month of the year which was accompanied by a music video, his first ever music video.
Dr. Soul Impeccably delivered vocals always court everyone attention. From his 2021 released Lucid Dream to the recently released “Love in the 90’s—the genre infusion sound takes a copious tribute from Amapiano. He has continued to show off the versatility of his sonic style.
Beyond his vocal, Dr. Soul write so well. He goes deep into his soul to draft out some of the most genuine words you would ever hear in the Afrobeats genre. His originality rank him higher than his peers.
While his infrequent music release remain has been frowned upon by some fans however this doen’t changes the fact that he is an all round singer that would later fly the Afrobeats flag in years to come. If anyone is still in doubt about any of these claim, a walk though his discography might help.
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