Early life
Jude was born in Jos, Plateau State where he grew up Jos to Nigerians Parents, Mr and Mrs Abaga. He attended a Baptist High School (the same school which has graduated another top-notch upcoming rapper,Enoch Olalude, popularly known as Bugsi) where his mother purchased basic music notations and later, a 7-key mini piano which launched him into the music world. Jude has a brother, Jesse Jagz who is also in the Nigerian and African music scene. During Jude's adolescence, he would listen to tracks from Lauryn Hill, Robert Nesta Marley, Sarah Machlaclan, Pablo Neruda, Jay-Z and DMX.Jude's venture in the Hip Hop world started with the sampling of musical works from DMX and Lauryn Hill as early as 1998. After his stint at Calvin College, Michigan, USA, he delved into Poetry while pursuing a career in Business and Economics. There, he performed regularly at the school's major Hip Hop shows and concerts. His impressive rap flows and attitude gained him a third place finish at the Calvin College show tagged 'HipHopera' in 2003, which was actually the only "hip hop show" that Calvin College ever had. M.I. also made some amateur attempts at comedy, but decided to stick to music because he was embarrassed when nobody laughed but him.
Career
Jude began his music career when he returned to Nigeria in 2003. Finding his place in an industry dominated by the likes of Modenine, Ruggedman and Eedris Abdulkareem, he quickly commenced the production of mixtapes with his friend Djinee. This led to the critically acclaimed single "Safe", which has gathered impressive airplay by African radio and music video stations such as MTV Vibe. The track also earned him awards at the Nigerian Music Video Awards, City People Awards and the N.E.A. amongst others.
The hype surrounding the release of Safe led to the critical acclaim given to his first studio album titled Let's Talk About It. The album gathered awards such as Musician of the Year (Modemen Awards in 2008); Best Hip Hop Artist (City People Awards).His first mixtape was Pyeriboy. He later went on to bring out a sample mixtape, Illegal Music, in which he fully exploits his lyrical prowess.
Back in Jos Nigeria, he teamed up with his brother, Jesse Jagz, Ice Prince, Ruby, Lindsay, Moses (Elbulk), E Kelly to form a record label, called LOOPY records, and they perform every Sunday at an open bar, with a theme tagged Jam Session. M.I was later signed to Chocolate city Record, a renowned music label in Nigeria, which made him move from Jos city to the nation's capital Abuja and also influenced the beginning of his successful career in the Nigerian music industry. He has also received international recognition in South Africa from the popular Channel O music Award, MTVbase Awards and also the American BET Awards. To most people Jude Abaga is known as the best lyricist Nigeria has seen. A proficient producer, lyricist, songwriter and instrumentalist, M.I has been described by DIV as the future of African Hip-Hop. He has produced and featured on the works of artists like, Don Jazzy, Kel, Djinee, Shifi (Style Plus), Jesse Jags, Ice Prince, Ruby, Lindsey, Leony e.t.c. He also runs a production company, Rytchus Era Productions with his brother Jesse Abaga (Jesse Jagz).
Discography
His popularity has quickly reached the youth of Nigeria as he has become one of the most critically acclaimed Nigerian artists, and has recently been compared to other artists like Naeto C, D'banj, 9ice and Mode 9.
Talk about it (2008), Debut Album
Illegal Music (2009), Mixtape
M.I 2 (2010), Album - www.mannamart.com
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