el Mafrex | |
|---|---|
 el Mafrex at the 2012 Scottish New Music Awards in Glasgow, Scotland. | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Mfreke Obong Ibanga |
| Born | 14 May 1984 Nigeria |
| Origin | Nigeria; Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom |
| Genres | Afrobeat, Christian hip hop, R&B, ragga, urban contemporary gospel |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, drums and keyboard |
| Years active | Since 2004 |
| Labels | 316 Muzik Factory |
| Website | elmafrex |
El Mafrex (born Mfreke Obong Ibanga; 14 May 1984) is a Nigerian-born, urban gospel singer-songwriter, based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
He was nominated for Best Gospel Act consecutively at the 2012 and 2013 editions of the (MOBO) Music of Black Origin Awards.[1][2] He won Artiste of the year and Urban Recording of the year[3] at the 2012 Scottish New Music Awards, making him the first black man to win the SNMA.[4]
His song, "Jehovah", which features Christian rock band Royal Foundlings had more than 500,000 hits in the first five months of its release on YouTube.[3] He released "That Man from Galilee" in the first quarter of 2013, which debuted at no 49 on the iTunes UK Chart for Gospel and had over a million hits on YouTube in its first 6 months.[5][6]
On 30 September 2012, he was featured in the Sunday Mail.[7][8]
He was nominated for the Season 8 of The Future Awards Africa on 10 July 2013.[9]
- ^ "MOBO Awards 2012 – nominees shortlist revealed | MOBO Awards". Mobo.com. Archived from the original on 25 December 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ "MOBO Awards 2013 – Nominations List Revealed!". Mobo.com. 3 September 2013. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
- ^ a b Steve Alexander Smith. "Best Gospel 2012: Ram1 Rachel Kerr V9 Collective El Mafrex Ni-Cola profile | MOBO Awards". Mobo.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
scotmusicawardswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Archived copy". www.music-chart.info. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "el Mafrex – THAT MAN FROM GALILEE ft. Dave Brackenridge [HD]". YouTube. 12 March 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ^ Sunday Mail – page 27. 30 September 2012.
- ^ "Rap star pays tribute to new homeland and says he'll make bagpipes hip again". Daily Record. 30 September 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ "Meet the class of 2013! See superstar list of 75 inspiring young nominees for the future awards Africa season 8". The Future Awards Africa. 10 July 2013. Archived from the original on 17 July 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2013.