Chibuzor Oji, better known by his stage name Faze, is a Nigerian musician and actor. He is a member of the Nigerian hip hop group Plantashun Boiz, along with BlackFace Naija and TuFace (better known as 2face Idibia.) The group split up in 2004, and each member of the group has gone on to launch solo careers, then has since reunited, much to the delight of their followers.

Faze is a best-selling Nigerian artist. His first album Faze Alone sold over three million copies, while his second album Independent has sold over 7 million copies. His third album, Originality, went platinum in its first month of release. He is the first Nigerian artist to have three consecutive platinum albums! Faze is known for his ability to sing the highest vocal note out of Nigerian contemporary male musicians. A notable collaboration is his recorded single with Wyclef Jean titled “Proud to Be African”! Terry G aka the Akpako master was a back-up singer for Faze. In May 2011, Busta Rhymes stated that Faze is his favourite Afro-hiphop artist. Faze is one of Nigeria’s marijuana-free artists.

In 2011, Faze made his acting debut, starring in the lead male role of ‘Lovechild’ in the critically acclaimed Nigerian movie Alero’s Symphony. He also provided the movie’s soundtrack, for which he won an Africa Movie Academy Award in 2012, in the category of Achievement in Soundtrack.

Chibuzor Oji was born in 1977 in Festac Town, Lagos. Oji is the fourth child in a large family with nine children. All members of this family are said to possess good singing vocals, perfected by the long time spent singing praises during prayers.

Oji made his first attempt to gain publicity when he won the 1994 DBN Karaoke contest. He performed as a rap musician under the name Lyrical Orge until he joined the Plantashun Boiz. Faze released his first solo effort titled “Faze Alone” in the last quarter of 2004. Hit songs “Faze Alone”, “Angel Gabriella”, “Miss U” and “Na True” reached top spots on various music charts. His brand of music called “universal flavor” – a fine blend of R&B, Reggae, Pop, Dancehall, Ragga and Soul, all with an African undertone – was further popularized by the release of the album.

In 2006 Faze released his sophomore album “Independent”, and 2008 in turn saw the release of the third studio album from Faze. The lead single “Originality” doubled as the title of that album. Other hits from “Originality” were “Am In Love” and “Spend My Money”. In 2012, Faze went further to work on and release a fourth album, “REFAZED”. The album’s lead single, “Am In The Mood”, enjoyed high rotation across radio and TV stations! In 2013, he added 2 more single hits IFEOMA & LAMBO to his resume, the singer followed up the single releases with videos for each song simultaneously.

Faze has performed alongside foreign stars with international credibility like Beenie Man, Wyclef Jean, with whom he also recorded the song “Proud To Be African”, and also Akon. Through his music, Faze has supported globally acknowledged and respected business brands like Star on the annual Star Trek Event, Globacom on the National Globacom Campus Storm, Guinness on the Guinness Extra Smooth Discovery Shows, and Sprite on their talent grooming event for youths, “Spriteball”.

Upon joining Plantashun Boiz as a trio with BlackFace Naija and Tuface (2face Idibia), he changed his stage name to Faze. The band released two albums in the process: Body and Soul in 2000 and Sold Out in 2003. This period was marred by a developing in-fight among the band members, with the subject of contention, “Faze versus 2Face” leading to the eventual break-up of the band in 2004. The band reunited in 2007 for one final album, “Plan B”. The project was managed by Plantashun Entertainment Management, which was formed by 2Face’s former manager, Owoyemi Akinwale Nathaniel, as well as his brother and manager at the time, Ifeanyi Oji. The Boiz, however, weren’t down for long – they’re back in town, having reunited in 2014. They’re still creating tracks worthy of the individual artists who are the sum of their parts!

After the split of the Plantashun Boiz in 2004, Faze signed to Solomon Arueya’s Westside Music Label of Lagos, Nigeria, to produce his first solo album titled Faze Alone. The album achieved platinum status with sales of 1.2 million units in its first month. The single “Faze Alone” did enormously well on Nigerian music charts, reaching number 1 on music charts of notable radio stations like Rhythm FM, Cool FM, and Ray Power FM. The singles “Miss U” and “Angel Gabriella” from the Faze Alone album were also well received. The album introduced Faze’s signature vocals, including his ability to sing the highest note by a male in the Nigerian music industry. In 2006 he won the Hip-Hop World award for Best Vocalist. He releases his material through the record label he owns, Independent Entertainment.

At the end of 2014, Independent Entertainment partnered with Valanchy Records, and became Plantashun Management. Together, they have ensured that Faze has come back at us with a bigger and better bang, back to back!!! First was the release of the new single, “Your Daughter”, which released on the 24th of August 2014, and enjoyed crazy air play across the globe on all platforms available! After the premiere of the associated video directed by Unlimited L.A., Faze went further and released another single/song named “Tonite”, which is the follow up to the previous track! The video was shot in S.A., which featured the new hot sensational dancehall artist known as Patoranking. Faze hasn’t slowed down and will keep producing the hits, year after year!

• SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
• Wiki | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faze_(musician)
• Instagram | www.instagram.com/fazealone
• Facebook | www.facebook.com/chibuzor.oji
• Twitter | www.twitter.com/fazerefazed
• SoundCloud | www.soundcloud.com/faze-official
• Naijapals | www.naijapals.com/faze
• Faze biography | www.nigerianentertainment.com/NEMay05/faze.htm