Olumayowa Adekunle Odejimi aka Mayé Hunta is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. The name change to Mayé Hunta (formerly known as Mayé) is symbolic of the artist’s growth since his explosive entrance into the music scene. His surname Odejimi, in Yoruba means the “crowned hunter”. Instead of using the word “hunter” he put a twist to it and made it Hunta – which is more African.
Mayé 's love for music dates back to his childhood days (he was a member of a boy group called Basic Boyz as well as the Pentecostal Church choir), but it was only in 1998 that the music bug bit and he decided to take it up as his career.
At the age of 13, Mayé and his group members co-wrote their first song titled 'Who Is She?' and even though the song was never recorded it made a mark in his life.
In his first year at college the rising star discovered poetry, and as time went on he experimented with adding melody to his poetry to make music. With the assistance of producer Akeem Benson, he recorded a three track demo in 2000, but it failed to land Mayé a record deal. One of the singles got an amount of airplay at major stations in Nigeria such as rhythm and Cool fm.
He crossed over to South African shores to study 2002.Throughout this time music was still his biggest priority and so he took his demo to major labels and it eventually caught the attention of an A&R executive at Gallo Records. He was then offered free studio time to record another demo at Gallo Records’ “Down Town” studios in Newtown, Johannesburg. Negotiations for a record deal based on the demo were in the pipeline but this never happened as the said official left the company but Mayé had experience and another demo to take home with him.
His luck changed even further when he met fellow Nigerian, songwriter and producer Kora and Channel O Music award winner Kunle Odutayo who went on to become his close friend and producer. He also met another fellow Nigerian, Channel O’s DJ Waxxy. Together Mayé, Kunle and Waxxy went on to form a synergy, under which Mayé’s debut album was brought to light.
In late 2004 Mayé joined the band 'Kunle Ayo' has a back up vocalist and they have since performed at major jazz festivals around South Africa, such as the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, sharing the stage with heavyweights like Dave Koz, Kirk Whalum, Hugh Masikela and Richard Bona just to mention a few. This inspired the rising star to pick up an interest in the acoustic guitar. Although not a master of the guitar yet, playing around with the instrument inspired him to write most of the songs featured on his debut album simply titled THE INTRODUCTION The album features the likes of Channel O's DJ Waxxy, Jazz musician Kunle, Reggae and Dancehall artists’ Buffalo Souljah, Rymzo, Turas (from the group Street Disciples and Igho. 'The first single “Gbedu” is doing extremely well. The hit single and its video have enjoyed massive airplay on radio and TV stations including 'The Original African' Channel O.
The video came at #6 on the Channel O top 100 – a countdown purely driven by viewer votes. Hot on the heels of “Gbedu” is the love song “Pleased to meet you” and this track has been dominating the airwaves. The ballad is #11 on Kaya Fm’s top 30 countdown and also at #5 on the station’s SA top 10.
Mayé’s major performances include the 2006 Big Brother Nigeria Operation Jozi Eviction Party alongside Nigeria’s Storm Records All-stars. Rita Marley’s, “No Woman No Cry” book lunch recently held at the Constitution Hill in Johannesburg South Africa.
This multi-talented artist is also a budding actor, 2007 saw Hunta make his debut as a professional actor on the M-Net Series “Jacob’s Cross”, Thursdays at 21:00. Ekaette is his latest single and it's rocking the hottest stations in Nigeria presently.
Jeje posted the video to this song last week, CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT
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