Meet the Rising Prince of Afrobeat, Dolly Pearl

Dolly Pearl: The Prince of Afrobeat

Nothing is so electrifying than to present a rising musical star. Let me introduce you to Dolly Pearl a talented artist who is shooting the stars in 2017. That said, if you are hoping for a big show, Dolly Pearl is the latest name in the game. In fact, those who have had the opportunity to see him perform live shows or seen any of his live stage performances would agree that he is the Afrobeat lavender in the music industry.

Known by his real names as Ataindum Donald Nge, (Dolly Pearl), he is the new name in every household. In fact, he is as described by impressionists, a bulk of talent and symbol of Afrobeat. What is so peculiar about him is that he draws his inspiration from practical happenings around him. And most of his songs are just soul touching and full of emotions.

 The young artist who hails from the West African city of Bamenda is a rising Afrobeat artist to look out for. So far, Dolly Pear is known for his organic ability to write and compose highly melodious Afrobeat songs that inspire various instrumentalists, who have worked with him during live studio recordings and live stage performances. Dolly Pearl cut his teeth in the music industry in 2014, when he independently recorded and digitally released his debut single titled Yere Dance, which received positive reviews.

Yere Dance, paved the way for him to record a string of unreleased songs and in 2015, he discovered his true style of music after connecting with a multi-instrumentalist and music producer Edwin Nyambi. “…It was an awesome experience meeting Edwin Nyambi”, says the fair-skinned and gentle mannered Dolly Pearl, who recounts how he received a message from a music producer called Iron Beat, whose brother Edwin Nyambi, heard one of Dolly’s songs and opted to redo the base line. Dolly accepted, and after further talks, they both decided to work on a full album. In the process, Dolly presented recorded verses for 17 songs to Nyambi, who quickly realized that 16 of the songs were fully within the Afrobeat genre. Then Nyambi recommended that Dolly should listen more often to Fela Kuti, whom at the time, Dolly wasn’t familiar with his music. ..”I started listening to Fela Kuti, and discovered we had much in common and I learned a whole lot from the Afrobeat legend Fela”, admits Dolly, who moved and spent two months in the home of Nyambi, where they started recording and “Carrefour

Dolly Pearl: On the chart

Pikin”, was the first song.The song Carrefour Pikin is based on Dolly’s real life experiences as a hustler, trading on the streets, indulging in brick laying and farming for survival.Carrefour Pikin, instantly generated a huge following especially on social media platforms like Youtube, Sound Cloud, etc. Dolly and Nyambi worked on several other Afrobeat songs and eventually, Dolly got introduced to creative entrepreneur Armstrong Fombi, who stressed on the need to market Dolly as a live music stage artist. This led to the conception of Dolly’s first ever live music gig titled; THE DOLLY PEARL CONCERT, wholly financed by Dolly himself and produced by DAZFOMBI, a subsidiary of FOMBILLION. Prior to the concert, the WUL’IBALI ORCHESTRA was created as Dolly’s band, widely known as DOLLY PEARL&THE WUL’IBALI ORCHESTRA. The concert gave Dolly Pearl very significant exposure and established him as the AFROBEAT PRINCE.

Musically speaking, Dolly Pearl moves in between the polished and structured, and the edgy and audaciously bold sounds of Afrobeat music. His meticulous hub on the romantic bubble of his songs, combined with his talented vocal, has resulted in his music being greatest source of inspiration to many. . It is worth noting that THE DOLLY PEARL CONCERT, which held on Saturday November 4^th, 2017, at the Blue Pear Hotel Plaza in Bamenda, became the first 100% live music concert in Bamenda, since 1997.

From Dolly’s impressive portfolio of Afrobeat songs, one can clearly perceive the AFROBEAT PRINCE as an activist, judging from the bluntness with which he addresses various socio-cultural, economic and political issues in most of his songs. Having found his clear path in the music business as a live music stage artist, Dolly is busy creating more and more highly melodious Afrobeat songs with his hit producer Edwin Nyambi, while looking forward to performing live with his band THE WUL’IBALI ORCHESTRA, on various platforms across the world.

The Lavender in Afrobeat

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