| Anike (formerly known as Wande)[1] [2] | |
| Birth Name: | Mutiat Yewande Isola |
| Birth Date: | 4 March 1996 |
| Birth Place: | Nigeria |
| Origin: | Austin, Texas, U.S. |
| Genre: | Christian hip hop, trap gospel |
| Occupation: | Rapper, A&R administrator, music journalist, actress |
| Label: | Reach, Anike Sounds |
| Associated Acts: | 116 |
| Years Active: | 2013–present |
| Alias: | Wande, Anike Dees, Ireoluwa-Anike Dees |
Ireoluwa-Anike Dees, born Mutiat Yewande Isola, and professionally known as Anike,[3] [4] is a Nigerian American rapper, actress and former journalist and A&R administrator from Austin, Texas, United States. She signed to the Christian hip hop label Reach Records in 2019, where she had worked as an A&R administrator. Prior to that, as an independent artist, from 2013 through 2018 she released multiple singles and made numerous featured appearances on various songs, as well as worked as a music journalist. She is the first woman signed to Reach. Her debut extended play (EP), Exit, was released on April 24, 2020, followed by a mini-EP The Decision on December 4, 2020.
Anike was born in Nigeria but raised in Round Rock, Texas and then Austin, Texas, United States.[5] [6] Most of her family members were Muslims, except for her mother, who was Christian.[7] At first she was not allowed to go to church, and then started having to get up at 5 A.M. to read the Bible and go with her mother to work so that she could get picked up to go to church.[8] Anike said in April 2020 that she used to joke "that I'd go to Mosque and church". Her curiosity about God led her to search on the internet for Christian rap, and the first result to come up was the 2006 song "Prayin' for You" by Lecrae. In sixth grade, she started playing the flute and studied music through junior high school. She converted to Christianity in seventh grade while interning at a camp in 2009 in Columbus, Texas, a decision for which she encountered opposition from within her family.[9] While at the camp, she also saw a performance by the Christian hip hop collective 116 Clique, which at that time consisted of Lecrae, Trip Lee, Tedashii, and Sho Baraka.
Despite this initial interest in music, Anike wanted to be a doctor, and enrolled in a health and science program in junior high school. She became interested in rapping after a biology teacher allowed her to compose a rap about cellular transport instead of writing an essay or making a presentation.[10] Despite this, she initially continued in studying health and sciences, even acquiring a license to be a nurse's aid. According to Anike, she had "an internal struggle with the whole rap thing. Africans don’t really mess with creative careers. You either become a doctor or a lawyer." However, she decided to switch majors and went into journalism and public relations at University of Texas at Austin. As a journalist, she anticipated that she could get access to artists, attend concerts, and conduct interviews. She soon started writing for the Christian hip hop website Rapzilla, and started assisting the Christian hip hop record label RMG. She rapped at campus events as a form of Christian ministry. She was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha which she denounced and left [11] and Sigma Phi Lambda sororities, the National Association of Black Journalists, IGotSole Dance Company, and the Texas Orange Jackets.[12] [13] Her first released record was a feature on the song "B.I.G." by D-Flow on their 2013 album Quarter to Vinci. She released her first single, "No Flex" featuring ikilledmarlon, in May 2016. She performed at South by Southwest in 2016,[14] 2017,[15] [16] and 2018.[17] She did some A&R work for Ace Harris, and 2017, while still pursuing her university education, she began an internship at Reach Records.[18] She released eleven songs during 2018, making the Rapzilla list of 15 Freshman of 2019.[19] [20] Shortly before her graduation in 2018 she was hired as an administrator for the label's A&R.<ref name=":10" />[21]
The following year, after five months after her hire as A&R, she was signed as a recording artist to Reach.[22] She released her debut single on the label, "Blessed Up", in April. The single would be listed the next year on Michelle Obama's playlist.[23] Wande is the first woman signed to the label.[24] She has expressed a hope that her signing will make it easier for other women rappers to pursue a career in the highly male-dominated Christian hip hop genre. "I think it’ll show other labels that you shouldn’t be afraid to sign females. I hear a lot of excuses like, 'Oh it’s expensive' or 'Oh, we don’t know how the market will react to a woman.' 'Will they buy her music?' Obviously, a lot of Christian companies don’t have the money to just casually experiment with a Christian artist because you have to make sure they are profitable. So a lot of women get the short end of the stick because they don’t want to gamble on a woman."[25] She said that it initially took a while for her music to be released because of resistance that she encountered in the music industry because her abilities were undervalued on account of her being a woman. For example, she recounts that "I would fly somewhere, write a whole album, and would ask for the beat and the person wouldn’t send the song. I learned a lot about how people value you." She also has mentioned the difficulty in getting exposure to her music when her lyrics do not discuss sex.
On March 30, 2020, Anike announced her forthcoming debut album, Exit,[26] and the single "Happy" was released April 3, 2020.[27] "Be the Light", featuring Evan and Eris, followed as a single on April 17, 2020.[28] Exit was released on April 24, 2020.[29] Wande also has released music has part of 116 (formerly 116 Clique).[30] She said in an April 2020 interview that her father and her have made peace over her conversion and her decision to pursue a hip-hop music career. On December 4, 2020, she released a three-song mini-EP entitled The Decision.
In July 2024, she changed her stage name from Wande to Anike, a short form of her new middle legal name, Ireoluwa-Anike, a Yoruba phrase meaning "the goodness of God" [31]
In addition to English, Anike is fluent in Yoruba.
In the spring of 2022, she married Darius Dees.[32]
| Details | ||
| Exit |
|
|---|
| Details | ||
| The Decision |
|
|---|
| "No Flex" (featuring ikilledmarlon) | May 27, 2016[33] | non-album single | |
| "They Didn't Know" | July 14, 2016[34] | non-album single | |
| "Hiatus Freestyle" | December 5, 2017 | non-album single | |
| "Elevated" (featuring Bryon Juane) | April 19, 2018 | non-album single | |
| "Fuego" | August 2, 2018 | non-album single | |
| "Fuego [Remix]" (featuring Parris Chariz) | September 13, 2018 | non-album single | |
| "I Gotta Live" | December 17, 2018 | non-album single | |
| "Blessed Up" | April 12, 2019 | non-album single | |
| "In Luv" | July 18, 2019[35] | Summer Nineteen | |
| "BAND$" (featuring Byron Juane) | July 18, 2019[36] | Summer Nineteen | |
| "No Limits" | November 14, 2019[37] | non-album single | |
| "Happy" | April 3, 2020 | Exit | |
| "Be the Light" (featuring Evan and Eris) | April 17, 2020 | Exit | |
| "Come My Way" (featuring Teni and Toyé) | July 29, 2020[38] | Summer Twenty | |
| "Last" | December 10, 2020[39] | The Decision | |
| "Blessed Up (Remix)" (featuring Lecrae and Mike Todd) | April 12, 2021[40] | non-album single | |
| "Don't Worry 'Bout It" (with Porsha Love) | August 12, 2021[41] | Summer Twenty-One | |
| "Big God" | June 4, 2022[42] | non-album single | |
| "They Didn't Know II" | March 25, 2022[43] | non-album single |
| "B.I.G." (D-Flow featuring Wande) | November 12, 2013[44] | Quarter to Vinci | |
| "Gotta Go" (Dru Bex featuring Jeremy Rodney-Hall and Wande) | April 13, 2018 | non-album single | |
| "Level 3" (Xay Hill featuring Silver Steph, Wande, Torey D'shaun, Roy Tosh, Raw B and Parris Chariz) | April 27, 2018 | Red Ranger Pt.2 | |
| "Iran" (Joey Vantes featuring Wande) | September 21, 2018 | The Fall | |
| "She Got Aesthetic" (Not Klyde featuring Wande & Parris Chariz) | October 24, 2018[45] | Lil Foil 39 | |
| "Groove" (DJ Standout featuring Cass, Wande, and Eris Ford) | April 5, 2019 | non-album single | |
| "Holy Ghost" (Mandela Dunamis featuring Wande) | May 31, 2019 | The Light Show | |
| "Pretty Sad" (V. Rose featuring Wande) | July 19, 2019 | non-album single | |
| "Perfectly Loved [Remix]" (Courtnie Ramirez featuring Wande) | October 17, 2019[46] | non-album single | |
| "We Fight (Color Purple)" (Datin featuring 1K Phew and Wande) | March 13, 2020[47] | non-album single | |
| "Good Now (Remix)" (DOE featuring Wande) | March 26, 2021[48] | non-album single | |
| "Found" (TobyMac featuring Terrian and Wande) | August 19, 2022 | Life After Death | |
| “Firm Foundation (He’s Gonna Make a Way)” (Maverick City Music featuring Bobbi Storm and Wande) | October 27, 2023 | The Maverick Way Complete |
| "The Last One" (Marty featuring Wande) | June 5, 2020[49] | Marty for President 2 | |
| "Ella" (116 featuring Wande and Lizzy Parra) | October 23, 2020 [50] | Sin Vergüenza | |
| "I Am Restored Remix" (featuring Hulvey, Wande, and 1K Phew) | November 13, 2020[51] | Restoration: The Deluxe Album |
| "Blessed Up" | April 12, 2019[52] | Mikael Coleman | |
| "No Cap" | November 12, 2019[53] | ||
| "No Ceilings" | November 12, 2019[54] | Mikael Coleman | |
| "Happy" | April 3, 2020[55] | Mikael Coleman | |
| "Woo" | August 31, 2020[56] | Aaron Chewning | |
| "Come My Way" (featuring Teni and Toyé) | September 4, 2020[57] | ||
| "Last" | December 10, 2020[58] | Mikael Coleman | |
| "Blessed Up (Remix) (featuring Lecrae and Mike Todd) | April 12, 2021[59] | Keenon Rush | |
| "Big God" | June 9, 2021[60] | Jonny Clay | |
| "They Didn't Know II" | May 3, 2022[61] | Mikael Coleman and Roxy Coleman |
| "The Last One" (Marty featuring Wande) | June 25, 2020[62] |