Ugoccie’s Song “Do You Really Like Me”, Took The Industry By Storm

Within the Nigerian pop culture sphere, the artiste called Ugoccie is a household name admired like a megastar by a legion of screenagers, TikTok addicts, and the #twitterholics. In the country’s music circle packed with several veteran Afrobeats musicians attempting their best to have a song that will break the Internet, Ugoccie achieves such a feat with her second release in 2021 – her third song as a professional performing artist. When the 24year old published the acclaimed single “Do You Really Like Me”, she became a viral sensation in the entertainment industry.

In March 2021, while the big guns like Burna Boy and Wizkid are celebrating receiving their first Grammy gong, that same month, Ugoccie released her original song ‘Do You Really Like Me’ that held the industry spellbound with socialites like Toke Makinwa and multi-award-winning Yemi Alade singing to it on TikTok. Although her vocals first made it to the limelight as a cover to Rotimi’s ‘In My Bed’, notwithstanding, the rap infusion of her Igbo dialect added to the satirical storyline in the verses was altogether compelling. To every new artiste in the industry, Ugoccie’s rise to fame gives credence to the importance of doing a cover version.

Real name Favour Ugochie Anosike. She’s a native from Akoli-Imenyi village in Bende LGA in Abia state. Petite and standing at 5.3ft tall, but with her successful music career, now she stands tall and gathers a reputation that could move mountains. According to her, “The things I see around influence the music I write. It could be people fighting or arguing or loving up, that day-to-day lifestyle activity inspires me. Most of the songs I write are always a build-up from something. I love to tell stories with my songs. My style of music is Afro/rap and indigenous tune. My culture is who I am. I bring it into my music”.

Ugoccie is a graduate with a BSC in Microbiology from AEFUNAI (ALEX EKWUEME UNIVERSITY). “I started singing professionally in 2019, although I have been singing since when I was a child. As an artiste with the moniker #Itootalk, I featured the iconic Duncan Mighty on my debut track called “Disappoint Them”. In the pursuit of happiness, as time progresses, I changed my alias to Ugoccie. With that name change, in January 2021, I released the song ‘No Wahala’. It gained traction even though I wanted more. To stay relevant and showcase my talent, I started churning out several song covers in chase of musical glory.

My rendition to Rotimi’s ‘In My Bed’ titled “Do You Really Like’ Me” that came out in early March 2021 as an Instagram video was the turning point. It went Viral. By the time I created a version on TikTok, it was one of the best pieces of content that got everyone engaged. Finally, my over two year of hard work pays off. With fans demanding the full-length song, I released it as my original song featuring Kolaboy three weeks after. My team and I created a viral challenge requesting that artistes and fans do their #doyoureallylikeme cover. The number of videos we got tagged on was overwhelming.”

As with the case of Psy’s Gangnam Style, Ugoccie and her song are ridding the fame as a viral phenomenon. It’s no surprise that a long list of media houses are jostling to have her on for an interview – a testament that she now has trappings of the best K-pop and Afrobeats icon. But there’s more to her than meets the eye. Aside from being a rapper and singer, she’s a fantastic voice-over artist and an OAP. During her NYSC years, she worked as a radio presenter at Vision 92.9FM in Kebbi State. After her service years, she relocated to Anambra state to picked up another job as an OAP presenting the evening show at Omega 101.7FM.

Channeling all the knowledge she acquired as a radio presenter and voice-over artist was an integral factor in why her song took the music industry by storm. As of the time of writing this story, she and her cinematographer are busy putting the finishing touches to her debut music video. Inside her management team, all hands on deck crafting music tours to take her brand within and outside the country. Ugoccie is making big plans as she climbs up the ladder in the Nigerian music industry. One attributes that also help her to stand out is despite being known for her rap prowess, she’s also a great singer and performer.