Olufemi Olukayode Adeyemi, better known as F.Shaw, has been around for years — but his shot to stardom was arguably on Monday, July 24, when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) unveiled him as the individual behind its Twitter account.

Ordinarily, it shouldn’t be a big deal but the track record of witty tweets emanating from the account had over time inspired curiosity among Nigerians on the identity of the handler.

Unbeknownst to many, his ability to play with words without offending anyone is a function of his pedigree as a lyricist.

Here are ten things to know about the 2006 computer science graduate of Covenant University:

1. As a child, F.Shaw nursed ambitions of becoming a petrochemical engineer or joining the army but he soon developed an interest in music and break-dancing which became his new priority.

2. His interest in hip-hop piqued in 2004 when he started penning lyrics and fine tuning his craft. One of his earliest recordings was ‘Bounce,’ which featured K-Switch & TIB. ‘Bounce’ was produced by Dr. Frabz. They were all students of Kings College at the time.

3. In 2005, F.Shaw collaborated with rapper-producer Spellz to record a song titled ‘Get Low’.

4. That same year, screenwriter Oliver Aleogena schooled F.Shaw about the music industry and helped him to become a better lyricist.

5. Cobahms Asuquo produced one of F.Shaw’s singles entitled ‘Let It Go’. The song was released late 2007.

6. F.Shaw released a five-track EP in 2008 titled ‘Avant-Garde’. It contained ‘Let It Go’ and the Tee Y Mix-produced ‘Moonlight Serenade’, among others.

7. F.Shaw in 2008 competed in the MTV Base reality show Advance Warning alongside 25 other upcoming Nigerian artistes.

8. F.Shaw shared the same stage with Omawumi, D’banj and the Mo’Hits crew at the ‘West Africa Tour’ in South Africa in 2008.

9. He left the music scene after he was “brutally stabbed” multiple times by armed robbers. After recovering from the incident, he went to the UK to pursue his masters degree.


10. F.Shaw is working on his debut album which will be put out under his own imprint ‘Royal Status’.

There's always another way...