FULL NAME: Raoul John Njeng-Njeng
STAGE NAME: Skales
NET WORTH: Estimated net worthis $2.6 Million Dollars
DATE OF BIRTH: Born on the 1st of April 1991
PLACE OF BIRTH: Kaduna State, Nigeria
OCCUPATION: Nigerian Rapper/Singer
MARITAL STATUS: Not Married but dating
RECORD LABEL: Baseline Music (current) OHK Music (current) Empire Mates Entertainment (former)
ASSOCIATED ACTS: Banky W., Wizkid, Shaydee, Niyola, Ice Prince, Jesse Jagz, Jeremiah Gyang, Patoranking, DJ Xclusive
EDUCATION: Attended University of Jos and Lead City University
The codename is Skales while his real name is “Raoul John Njeng-Njeng”, is a Nigerian rapper, singer, and songwriter who was born on the 1st of April 1991. His musical career kick started in the year 2000 when he began wring rap songs in Kaduna. He later left Kaduna for Jos between 2007 and 2008 to work with Jesse Jagz and Jeremiah Gyang . He connected with the two of them while attending the University of Jos. His career got a boost in 2008 when he entered the Zain Tru Search competition and emerged the winner of the competition for North Central region.
Skales first album titled “Must Shine” was highly anticipated and it was well received. The album received numerous spin on the Rhythm FM stations in Lagos, Jos and Abuja. After his debut album, Skales relocated to Lagos and signed a record deal with Banky’s Empire Mates Entertainment in 2009. He eventually became one of the biggest boys in the Nigerian Music Scene and he has released over two hundred [200] songs and collaborated with several artists both local and international, including eLDee, Jeremiah Gyang, Banky W, Nicki Minaj, Knighthouse and many more . Must of his songs are big hits inlcuding his monster hit “Shake Body”, “Mukulu”, “Keresimesi”, “Komole”, “My Baby”, “Take Care of Me” , “Denge Pose” to list a few. He left Empire Mates Entertainment in May 2014 and launched his own record label called “OHK Music”.
Early Life And Background
Raoul John Njeng-Njeng who is well known by his mononym Skales was born and raised in Kaduna . He was born 1st of April 1991 and the only child of his family. His code-name Skales is an acronym for “Seek Knowledge Acquire Large Entrepreneurial Skills”. The Hip hop/ R&B was born and raised in a church setting as a result of the strong christian family that he was born into . His mother use to own a cassette store and he was always the person in charge of the store whenever his mother is not around, this was how he became conversant with different collections of music . Skales was raised by his single mother who did menial jobs to take good care of young Skales. He completed his elementary education in Kaduna before proceeding to University of Jos and left for Lead City University, where he graduated with a degree in Office Management and Technology.
Young Skales partook in the Zain Tru Search Competition while in at the University of Jos and won the competition’s North Central region. His critical acclaimed debut single, “Must Shine” was a great success for his career, In a 2013 interview with This Day newspaper, Skales described himself as an entertainer whose music is influenced by his surroundings. According to the singer, “Heading for a Grammy” which was released in 2009 was inspired by Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks”.
His entertainment career started officially in year 2000 when he started composing his own songs and trying his talent in rap music. After meeting with producers – Jeremiah Gyang and Jesse Jagz , he moved down to Jos to work with the finest Nigerian producers. Sometime in the year 2008, Skales signed up for e Zain Tru Search competition and emerged as the winner for the North Central region before he relocated back to Lagos where his career began properly.
Life And Music Career
Skales, whose stage name is an acronym for “Seek Knowledge Acquire Large Entrepreneurial Skills”, was born and raised in Kaduna but his origin is Edo State. His first single, “Must Shine” enjoyed massive airplay early 2009 and made it to the Rhythm FM Top 7 Jamz at 7 in Lagos for some weeks and it was also the ‘Hit Song of the Week’ on Rhythm FM in Jos and Abuja.
Skales later signed recording deal with Empire Mates Entertainment after meeting Banky W. in 2009, a record that was also home for Star Boy Wizkid. After joining the label, he released his first single under E.M.E imprint titled “Mukulu” and“Keresimesi” simultaneously. Both songs were produced by Sarz Beat, one of the best beat maker who is responsible for many hits in the country today. The visual for the songs was later shot and produced by Clarence Peters and uploaded onto YouTube on 28 November 2011. He was the main act behind the E.M.E’s debut compilation album in 2012. He collaborated with Banky W., Wizkid, Shaydee, Niyola and DJ Xclusive on five (“Baddest Boy”, “Get Down Tonight”, “Sun Mo Mi”, “Ko Mo Le” and “Change”) of the album’s seven singles.
He has also travelled to other countries for show including EME US Tour, which kicked off on 4 July 2012 and ended on 2 September 2012 where he performed alongside E.M.E acts in several different cities, including Houston, , Toronto, Vancouver, Dallas, New York City, Providence, Washington DC , Calgary, Atlanta and Chicago. He also accompanied Wizkid on his tour of London in 2012. On 17 October 2013, Skales performed at the 2013 edition of Felabration, a yearly concert dedicated to the late Fela Kuti. In early 2014, there was news everywhere that Skales have left Empire Mates Entertainment following the expiration of his four-year recording contract. E.M.E. According to Vanguard’s report, E.M.E didn’t renew the contract because they were of the opinion that they weren’t getting enough returns from his career.
Skales went ahead to found his own record label“OHK music” in May 2014 just few months after parting ways with Banky’s Empire Mates Entertainment. Skales OHK music is now home for producer Drey Beatz, and has affiliations with other big music personnel within Nigeria. His “Shake Body” song was released on 6 May 2014 as the first single from his upcoming album. “Shake Body” was produced by Jay Pizzle and its music video was released on 22 July 2014 onto YouTube. The single didn’t get any major promotion, he only promoted it by announcing the Shake Body video competition. Just few weeks after leaving E.M.E , news was going round that he signed a record deal with Timaya’s Dem Mama Records but the singer later debunked the news.
The singer-rapper has been through the wire; enjoying fame and success but also falling into the pit of rejection from fans and the media at some point. The truth is that what doesn’t kill only makes you stronger, that is what happened in the case of John Njeng-Njeng aka Skales.
In an interview , Skales opens up on his leaving former record label EME and the controversies that trailed his exit, he also talks about his ex-girlfriends .
When you left EME, it was big news on Twitter. In fact, it was a trending topic. A lot of people didn’t give you a chance…
First of all I’m not trying to come has been arrogant, but because I know the kind of music I piled up for years, I wasn’t bothered. Kanye is my hero ‘heading for a Grammy’ was inspired by his ‘Jesus walks’ so I’m trying to think like him. I didn’t care, of course I saw so many things, sometime I woke up and saw Skales on Twenty Naira note (Laughs).
Over the years I’ve learnt that people enjoy to hate you, but at the same time you need to prove them wrong and that was all I was just living by, like every morning I woke up praying, waiting for the music to drop, I kept on telling Osagie because she got scared as well. So I told her ‘let’s drop this song’ and she was like ‘No, let’s drop the hip-hop song’. I just watched because I knew what I was talking about. We were supposed to drop it on my birthday but I was like ‘No’ let’s give them ‘shining’. Then I told Osagie that I wanted my own label; I had been looking for a name and then decided to call it ‘OHK Entertainment’. First of all I tried to build a team; I had bunch of friends that I have grown up with and do stuffs together. We are team OHK for now
You had some controversy with your ex-girlfriend last year, what was that all about?
I will say up till now, I am still confused about everything. It was a misunderstanding that blew out of proportion and went to another level. When we broke up, she thought I was somebody insulting and being mean to her.
Why did you guys break up? You were so fond of her.
Things weren’t moving cool anymore so we decided to go our separate ways. I was hurt because before I actually broke up with her, I was hurt and I wasn’t happy, I mean she did something that I don’t want to talk about, so she thought it was me and took it personal, she had a fight with someone else, so I think the person posted something and she thought it was me, because of obvious reasons. I don’t blame her, if I were in her shoes, I would think the same. But I was just angry that she didn’t try to reach out to me, because I was trying to explain everything, so I blocked her from all my social media accounts because I didn’t want to see her messages, I sent her an email that this person wasn’t me, before I woke up in the next morning and I saw ‘Skales’ everywhere. I have gotten used to that though because anything I do, I just see it everywhere. (Laughs).
If Timaya offered you a very good deal, would you sign?
I wouldn’t mind, because we already had the chemistry, so everything we would move smoothly, but I just wanted to do things differently on a bigger budget and apart from that, honestly I don’t want to sign a contract.
What is the difference with you being independent and under a label?
I think now I make my own decisions and know that this is actually what I wanted to do. And not wait for somebody to actually say ‘No, change it this way’, or do something that benefits them more than me. You see, now I just drop a song and I am confident of the song because this is exactly what I wanted it to sound like. I want to make my own decisions and face any consequences that come with it. But right now since I started my stuff nothing has actually gone bad.
What is the relationship like between you and Banky W? You both hung out at Wizkid’s birthday gig.
Well…we are cool, as a matter of fact I was supposed to go cash a cheque last week and I needed a reference, I just walked into Banky’s house like I used to and I told him that I need his help in signing a referral form. He jokingly said ‘you are going to give me a cut after you cash this cheque o’. (Laughs).
I didn’t even see the hanging out a big deal because I don’t really notice what’s going out there, I am just all about the music. I didn’t really take it as a big deal; before I knew it cameras where just showing up around us taking a lot of pictures of three of people and us were like ‘three of you have to be together’. The next day we saw it had made the news.
Personal Life And Love Life
Skales was involved in a car accident along the Lekki-Epe Expressway in December 2011. The car he was driving ran into a ditch and somersaulted after he lost control of the vehicle. One life was lost and three people was left with severe injuries. Skales broke up with his long time girlfriend some years ago and we are not s if the singer has found love again.
Discography (Studio albums)
- Man of the Year (2015)
- The Never Say Never Guy (2017)
Compilation albums
- Empire Mates State of Mind (2012)
Awards And Endorsements
Best Upcoming atiste (Male) at the Nigerian Teens Choice awards 2013
And more..
Songs [As lead artist and As featured artist]
- “Must Shine”
- “Bo Se Se Mi”
- “Goosebumps”
- “Ori Mi” (with Wizkid)
- “Be Mine”
- “Thank God It’s Christmas”
- “God’s Love”
- “Meet Me at the Top” (LayLow featuring Iceberg Slim, CartiAir, Modenine, Terry ThaRapman,
- Skales, Vector, Da Grin, Ludu and Gino)
- “Move Your Body” (DJ KaySmith featuring Skales)
- “Laba Laba” (Samklef featuring Skales)
- “Blackberry” (Leo Wonder featuring Skales)
- “Mary Jane” (Christine Ben-Ameh featuring Skales)
- “Oju Kan (Remix)” (Tupengo featuring Skales, Seriki, Reminisce, Phenom, Kel and Patoranking)
- “J’amalo” (El Phlex featuring Sheyman and Skales)
- “My Money (Remix)” (Sheyman featuring eLDee and Skales)
- “Superstar Remix” (CONtradiction featuring Skales)
- “Eguono (Remix)” (Kefee featuring Skales)
- “Fall Back” (Beazy featuring Pope, Loose Kaynon and Skales)
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