Darey

BIO

Born Dare Art-Alade was born in Lagos to legendary Nigerian Jazz pioneer Art Alade and Olapeju Alade. Dare, as a child, used to rummage through his father’s extensive Jazz collection and tag 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, and sang with the acappella group The Chordwebs.

During his time at Cool FM, he had the opportunity to acquire the basic knowledge of radio production and marketing. Darey's big break finally came during the 2004 edition of Project Fame Academy, a well renowned Reality TV show and continent-wide talent hunt and emerged third in the contest.is debut album ‘From Me 2 U’ 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 it also included the song, ‘Original Naija’ which was used as the theme song for the first ever edition of Big Brother Nigeria.

Darey’s album, ‘From Me 2 U’ won several awards including the Awards for Musical excellence in Nigeria (A.M.E.N) and the 2006 Channel O Music Video Awards for best R&B Video in Africa Two years after the release of his successful debut album, Darey released his highly anticipated follow up entitled ‘unDAREYted’, on the new start up label, Soul Muzik.

'UnDAREYted' sold over 150,000 copies across Nigeria in just two months. Darey released a double album 'Double Dare' in 2011, with one disc called 'Heart' and the other 'Beat'. The album produced the singles 'The Way You Are' and 'Sisi Eko' and a few others.

In May 2013 Darey released a new single, Special Fever, produced by internationally acclaimed producer Harmony. He has also produced the concert 'Like a Movie' which features international artists.

His fourth album 'Naked' was released by Livespot Group in 2015.