There are a lot of words one might use to describe SaveMilli; super talented, good looking, a maverick, ingenious. His career so far might also be described with words like fascinating, controversial, and even tragic. But one word that will never be associated with him, both the man and his journey in the industry so far, is boring. Because there is simply too much going on in and around him to not be entertained, or at least intrigued by.
Born May 26, 1994 and now 27 years of age, SaveMilli has been in the public spotlight since he was about 19 years old, only that he went by the alias Milli back then. His talent was never in doubt and everyone in the entertainment industry attested to it and labelled him the future of hip-hop music in Nigeria. But the story didn’t quite play out as everyone expected and in 2019, he announced his retirement from music at the age of 25, curiously having a sum total of zero official singles and/or projects to his name.
There’s a lot of controversy, speculations and allegations in between his run as Milli between 2014 and 2019 and the complete truth will probably never be known. But if SaveMilli’s side of the story is to believed – and there seems to be good evidence to support him – the summary all comes down to horrible management by his erstwhile label, Chocolate City Music. Despite patiently waiting his turn and working as a songwriter and producer on several songs for his label mates, most prominently M.I Abaga, he was repeatedly blocked from releasing any solo efforts. Frustration, pain and confusion built up till he made the decision to buy himself out of his contract and become independent. Personal losses of a couple of family members soon followed and he announced he was quiting music soon after. And like that his career went from being potentially distinguished to being completely extinguished, it seemed.
But out of the ashes of that failed career rose SaveMilli. He remained his supremely gifted self, but with a renewed sense of purpose, focus and dedication to reaching the peak of his potential. Singles like “Bad Boy Dope”, “Locate You”, “Single Again” dropped in 2020. He started a label of his own – SaveTheWorld Inc. – shortly after, granting him creative freedom and complete control over his own destiny. And on July 16, 2021 he put out his official debut EP “Childish II” as a loud and clear statement of intent.
As those who know what SaveMilli is capable of would expect, Childish II is phenomenal. It’s an exhibition of hip-hop music at its finest, with excellent renditions of rap and trap subgenres. There are guest appearance from J Molley, Blaqbonez, and Psycho YP but SaveMilli barely needs them as his individual performances are more than enough to get the project popping.
As the streams and positive reception roll in, true lovers of music will surely feel a sense of relief that all hopes of SaveMilli taking his place in the upper echelon is not lost after all. Those who have been holding on to $SaveMilli for almost a decade might soon find themselves vindicated, and it’ll probably be prudent of the population new to his style and art to get on his wave ASAP.