Starmade

BIO

Starmade (born Rufai Waris Olanrewaju on 13 May) is a singer and songwriter from Kampala, Uganda.

He is the second child in a family of three. Growing up, Starmade had it tough where he had to do menial jobs to help sustain his family. This gave him a unique view peculiar to those who were exposed to the rougher side of life earlier than was necessary. His is a voice that speaks directly to the hood in a way that cannot be imitated or faked. He spent his formative years listening to musical legends such as Michael Jackson, The backstreet boys, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Bob Marley, Victor Olaiya and Fatai Rolling dollar to name a few.

This early exposure to music helped define his own peculiar brand of artistry. He completed his secondary education at Mayflower Secondary School, Ikenne Ogun State. After completing his high school education at the internationally famous citadel of learning founded by a foremost Nigerian statesman and educationist, Sir Tai Solarin; Mayflower secondary School Ikenne, Ogun state Nigeria,
In 2014, Starmade traveled to China to further his education at the Shenyang Jianzhu University where he met Bosco, a friend who introduced him to the Rap music scenes in China. The duo formed a partnership where Bosco brings gigs and Starmade performs to packed audiences, club after club. Buoyed by the positive reception to his songs, he decided to fully commit to music while studying for his degree. Although his family were aware of his love and talent for music, he did not disclose to them his decision to fully venture into being a musician and performing artiste.

In 2019, Starmade moved back to Nigeria but was met with a hostile political climate, not to mention the police brutality “SARS” that saw to the death of his colleague Tiamiyu Kareem, popularly known as Kaka. It was at this time his close friend, Jah Smile encouraged Starmade to come over to Uganda in search of greener pastures. In 2020, he launched his own Entertainment Company “Starmade Grupo” (www.Starmadegrupoent.com), an ambitious upstart and new age challenger to the old system of music streaming and content delivery currently headquartered in Uganda.

Starmade had dreams of becoming a footballer earlier in life until he began nurturing the budding artiste within him. Till date, he still plays football in his leisure time to honour Tiamiyu Kareem, popularly known as Kaka who was his role model as a footballer playing in the local Nigerian league before he was extra-judicially killed by operatives of the now defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian Police Force.

Olanrewaju was born under an auspicious star which gifted him with a talent for writing and singing deep, soulful melodies, hence the moniker; Starmade. As someone who grew up without a silver spoon, Starmade is a firm believer that we are all on this earth to make life better for each other and as such as being very vocal about giving and helping out the vulnerable among our population. To him, making others smile, through his deeds and his songs have been his guiding light. Starmade believes in doing good and being the best version of ourselves both in public and in private.