El Mafrex
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. He won Artiste of the year and Urban Recording of the year at the 2012 Scottish New Music Awards, making him the first black man to win the SNMA.
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. 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.
On 30 September 2012, he was featured in the Sunday Mail.
He was nominated for the Season 8 of The Future Awards Africa on 10 July 2013.