Dare Art Alade

For over seven years, Dare Art Alade, born to legendary Nigerian Jazz pioneer Art Alade and Olapeju Alade has been a disc jockey, TV presenter, entertainment consultant, voice over artist and performing/recording artist. Dare (pronounced Da-Ray) knew he was going to be a singer since the tender age of eight, and has childhood memories of rummaging through his father’s extensive Jazz collection and tagging along with him to his concerts. These early experiences gave him his first taste of ‘showbiz’. Dare honed his skills at an early age, singing with several choirs, including the National Troupe of Nigeria Choir and then the Cathedral Choir. From the age 15, he began performing extensively in clubs around Lagos, Ibadan and other cities in Nigeria. It was during one of those late night sessions he met an executive at Cool FM, a major Radio station, who appreciated his voice, and his ability to interact with his audience. The determined teenager began shuttling between Cool Fm and the University of Lagos where he was studying for a degree in Music. During his time at Cool Fm, he had the opportunity to acquire the basic knowledge of radio production and marketing. His big break finally came during the 2004 edition of Project Fame Academy, a well renowned Reality TV show and continent-wide talent hunt, where he had the opportunity to perform in front of over 100 million people, and emerged third in the contest. After an unfruitful Record Deal with Sony BMG Africa, his debut album ‘From Me 2 U’ finally hit the Nigerian market two years later on Storm Records. The album was laced with several hit singles, including ‘Fuji’ and ‘Escalade’ which enjoyed massive airplay in the Nigerian and international media. The top selling album also included the song, ‘Original Naija’ which was used as the theme song for the first ever edition of Big Brother Nigeria.