Omoniyi Temidayo Raphael popularly known by his stage name as Zlatan Ibile is a fast rising Nigerian hip hop rapper, singer, songwriter, street music sensation, stage performer and a recording artist. He was born on 19th December 1994 in Lagos, Nigeria. He is currently 24 years old. He is very gifted, skillful, creative and talented. He is originally from Ekiti State in the south western part of Nigeria.
He is one of the fast rising talents that have been giving top Nigerian singers a run for their money. Zlatan Ibile puts an end to the Shaku Shaku trends with the Zanku “Leg Work” vibes. In 2014, he won the Airtel One Mic Talent Show held in Abeokuta, Ogun State in the south western part of Nigeria.
Towards the end of 2018, Zlatan Ibile released a single titled “Zanku” with a new dance move known as Leg Work. “Zanku” means Zlatan Abeg No Kill Us.
Zlatan Ibile was born and raised in Lagos, he hails from Ekiti State. After completing his primary and secondary school education in Lagos, Zlatan Ibile proceeded to Moshood Abiola Polytechnic in Abeokuta, Ogun State in the south western part of Nigeria and graduated with a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Business Administration.
He launched his musical career shortly after graduating from high school in 2011. At the age of 19 years old, he won Airtel’s “One Mic Campus Tour” music competition which was held in Abeokuta, the capital city of Ogun State in the south western part of Nigeria. He first came into the Nigerian music scene in 2017 when he released a single titled “My Body” where he featured Olamide. The song went viral after a video of Davido dancing to the song surfaced on the internet. That also marked the beginning of his friendship with Davido.
Zlatan Ibile further increased his popularity in 2018 with an appearance on “Able God” a hit song by Chinko Ekun which also featured Nigerian rapper Li Kesh. Shortly afterwards, he dropped a new song titled “Zanku” which was accompanied by a crazy new dance move popularly known as Leg Work. Towards the end of 2018, Zlatan Ibile closed the year with another hit song titled “Osanle” in which he featured Davido. Zlatan Ibile started 2019 with the release of “Glory” before appearing on another hit single, “Killin Dem” alongside Burna Boy.
Shortly afterwards, he was featured on Naira Marley’s hit single “Am I a Yahoo Boy”. On 26th July 2019, Zlatan Ibile announced that he has signed an endorsement deal with carbonated soft drink manufacturer, Coca-cola. In 2017, a video of a 9-years-old boy named Segun Wire surfaced on Instagram. In the video, the young boy reportedly revealed his desires to become an internet fraudster.
As events unfolded, it turned out that the boy was just playing around. However, when the video of the young boy came into the possession of Zlatan Ibile, he decided to take the joke to another level. He created an Instagram account for the boy and started promoting him as a comedian. And then realizing how talented the boy was, Zlatan Ibile decided to send the boy to a private school and made financial provision for his upkeep.
In 2018, things turned sour when it was alleged that Zlatan Ibile was using the 9-years-old boy as a tool for extortion. It was also reported that some thugs related to the family of the young boy attacked and assaulted Zlatan Ibile, which led to the end of his relationship with the young boy. Few weeks later, he released a song with Harrysong to explain himself to his fans.
In April 2019, Zlatan Ibile was arrested alongside Naira Marley and two others in connection with an alleged case of internet fraud and money laundering. He was subsequently released by the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) when they discovered that he was innocent.
On 19th October 2019, Zlatan Ibile was nominated for Next Rated at the Headies Award and lost the award to Rema. He was nominated twice at the Headies Award and won nothing. This caused uproar among his fans on social media who blamed the Headies for manipulating the award.
Zlatan Ibile is currently one of the richest and most influential artist in Nigeria with an estimated net worth of $1.5 million.
