Who is Ladipoe?: A Closer Look At The Best International Flow Nominee
Ladipoe Eso is quickly becoming one of the fastest rising sensations out of Nigeria.
The rapper, also known as Poe, currently has one of the hottest tracks of 2021 with his single, "Feeling" which peaked at No. 1 on the TurnTable Top 50 chart on three different occasions. Poe even performed "Feeling" at the opening show of the sixth season of Big Brother Naija this year.
Although he hasn’t released a body of work since his debut studio album, T.A.P (Talk About Poe) in 2018, the 29-year-old did put out a 4-track EP titled Know You in 2020 and a barrage of singles, including “Ride or Die” (2020) and “Feeling” (2021), that has made him impossible to ignore.
Since 2019, the BET Hip Hop Awards has been sure to recognize the influence of international artists on hip hop with the “Best International Flow” award. Past winners have included UK rapper, Stormzy and Ghanaian rapper Michael Owusu Addo in 2019.
With a field full of promising talent this year, here’s a look at a nominee who could upset the field.
Call him “Poe” For Short
While Poe may seem like an obvious abbreviation for his first name Ladipoe, it wasn’t a nickname he was given until much later in life. Well, because, everyone else could pronounce it.
“My roommate in school at the States could not pronounce my name, mispronouncing it as Ladipoe and because of that, he says, I’m just going to call you Poe, just the end of the mispronounced name. It became so common and took on when my family came to visit and hearing the name, they too called me Poe,” he says to the Guardian.
Lived In The States
Although Poe was born and raised in Lagos, he moved to the United States to study at North Carolina, where he’d double major in Chemistry and Biology.
These proved to be crucial years for the young rapper as that’s where he’d find his love to make music. There he met a producer named Jeff and eventually asked if he could write lyrics for his beats. After liking Poe’s verse, they formed the group Lyrically Equipped with other friends Jeff and Kurt, where he’d hone his newfound craft.
His music career didn’t begin, however, until moving back to Nigeria after finishing his degree. That’s when Poe was introduced to Tec of the famous rap duo, SDC, by his mother, who just so happened to be friends with Tec's mother
From there a working relationship began to form between the two, leading to him featuring on their hit song 'Feel Alright' as he was seen as a member of SDC even though he wasn't.
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Mavin Records First Rap Act
Once gaining some notoriety, he signed to Don Jazzy’ Mavin Records in 2017.
Poe’s signing was not only a big deal because of their superstar roster — consisting of Tiwa Savage, Dr. Sid, Iyanya, D’Prince, Reekado Banks, Di’ja and Korede Bello — or because there the biggest record label in Africa, but because Poe became their first rap act ever.
A Member of Collectiv3
Poe is also a part of The Collectiv3 — a supergroup of Nigerian musical artists that include producers IKON and Kid Konnect, singers Funbi and Temi Dollface, rap duo Show Dem Camp, and guitarist and producer Nsikak
