Bemidji faculty scholar turns into ukulele star with 2.9 million TikTok followers 

In fact, he has more followers than the populations of the state of Kansas, the city of Rome, or the country of Albania – a whopping 2.9 million.

This sudden fame and attention resulted from the love of music for the freshman and basketball player at Oak Hills Christian College.

Less than three years after he started singing and playing ukulele in his room and posting videos online, he’s built an army of followers, caught the attention of major record labels, and even launched a ukulele named after him brought.

For Nwalor, TikTok fame is just one vehicle he hopes will propel him into a successful R&B music career.

At home instrument

Born and raised in Brampton, Ontario, Canada – just outside Toronto – Nwalor moved to the United States to attend high school in Gilbert, Arizona. He ended up in the area a few years later after coming to Bemidji to play basketball for Oak Hills Christian College.

Nwalor has been surrounded by music his entire life, but said he never took it very seriously – just casually singing in informal choirs or in church.

“A lot of my friends in Canada didn’t even know I could sing. Because I didn’t even know I could sing too, ”he said.

Then, a few years ago, all of his cousins ​​got ukuleles for Christmas. Then it clicked.

“I didn’t get one, but I think, ‘This instrument is so cool, I want my own.’ So I came to Amazon and bought a little ukulele. I learned everything I could about that ukulele. And I started posting videos on TikTok. By probably October of this year, 2019, people started commenting For example, “Oh my god it was so good,” he said. Then he thought, “I’ll probably take this seriously. And then I started.”

Why the ukulele? Nwalor also plays the piano and guitar, but said he likes the ukulele to sound like a “home” instrument.

“The ukulele is an instrument that makes it sound like you’re doing this from home. I do this in my dorm,” he said. “Not many people use the ukulele as their main instrument. I feel like I can make the ukulele a mainstream instrument.”

The quarantine gave Nwalor even more time to practice his new skills and taught himself how to improve using online tutorials.

“I’ve seen lots and lots of YouTube videos about warming up my voice in highs and lows and riffs and runs,” he said, mentioning that the quarantine gave him more time to exercise over the past year. “I still do it every day. It’s a daily thing I do in the morning, in the shower, in the car, when I get up before I go to bed. I just always practice. “

Million milestone

You will encounter various videos on Nwalor’s TikTok account. He has some comedy sketches, some music videos – both original songs and covers – and some videos that combine music and comedy.

Shortly after he started posting videos on TikTok – a short-form platform for sharing videos on social media – positive responses began to emerge.

“When I met 100,000 (followers) for the first time, I was so happy. I was excited, ”he said. “I was like, ‘Let’s go, this actually works. My voice is what they like and I will move on, I will keep rolling with it. ‘“

The number of followers just kept growing. On April 13th, he had 2.9 million followers. After a few months of posting, he was personally recognized by people for his videos, sometimes by members of the opposing team at basketball games.

For Nwalor, the first thought that he had “made it” came when he was followed by singer Jason Derulo. His family and friends overwhelmingly support his newfound fame, he added.

Business acumen

With fame came opportunities to capitalize on it.

Because the ukulele is a relatively niche instrument, Nwalor has received a lot of attention from major ukulele manufacturers. He is currently working with Uku Ukuleles to sell his own ukulele, called The Jex, which is available for pre-order.

He is currently stepping down from his education and basketball career to focus more on music and marketing. Within the next five years, Nwalor hopes to have released many original songs and returned to the West Coast.

New to the songwriting aspect of music, Nwalor has a connection with a major record label thanks to his internet success which has helped him connect with R&B songwriters and lyricists when he hits a writing pad.

For the love of music

Nwalor hopes his new fame will help him get into the music industry.

“TikTok is just a platform that I use to express myself. If I already have a platform with a lot of followers, if I signed up to a label and I dropped my own song, then they will already be there, the views will already be there, the streams will be over there “, he explained. “I don’t have to worry about trying to promote it. Because I’ve already had enough of the 2.9 million followers I have on TikTok. “

He also hopes to inspire others to discover their own hidden talents, like he did.

“There are a lot of people out there who have hidden talents that they don’t know about that they should explore further,” he said. “You should definitely show your talents, just express yourself. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Be yourself.”

For Nwalor, the family remains his greatest inspiration.

“I’m trying to do this for my mother. She did her best for me and my other two brothers, ”said Nwalor. “My father passed away in September 2010 and she was super strong and raised the three of us alone. I just want to give something back to her for what she did for us. “

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