BBC Africa Beats – Omawumi Megbele

Omawumi Megbele is a Nigerian singer-songwriter and actress with a great voice and oodles of charm and
humour. She gained attention as the 2007 runner-up on the reality TV show West Africa Idols and has subsequently won multiple awards in Nigeria. Her debut single “In the Music” was a hit, and she has since released two albums, Wonderwoman and The Lasso of Truth. “If
You Ask Me”, the song she performs for Africa Beats, tackles the sensitive subjects of incest and child abuse.

Omawumi wrote it after she witnessed a shocking exchange between a father and daughter. The father was
telling his girl off for going out with boys, to which she retorted something along the lines of “and who was it who slept with me first?” The song is produced by Cobhams Asuquo, one of the most talented and influential figures in Nigerian contemporary music.