King Bawa (born 8 July 1992), better known by his stage name asKheengz, is a Nigerian rapper and actor, born in the Northern part of Nigeria. He currently works under his own independent record label called YFK Entertainment. His debut albumVoice of Arewa was released 25 December 2019 was a huge success up north. His singleI Am North made waves in the music scene as it is about stereotyping arewa.[2][3][4][5]
Kheengz began writing rap songs while in secondary school in 2006. He started recording in 2010 at university. He released a cover ofSarkodie's hit songYou Go Kill Me (Azonto)[7] and later freestyledIce Prince's hit songAboki, which got him the attention fromM.I Abaga.[8]
On 30 August 2013, Kheengz released his first projectCollege Kid Mixtape which features rap artistesM.I Abaga,Erigga, Snowflake, Soul Flavour and G'rell. The lead single on the popular mixtape is "Jealousy". He later released a video titledI believe[9] that was dedicated to the students killed in College of Agriculture,Yobe State.[10]
His sophomore project was EPVOA (voice of arewa), which he released 21 November 2015. He went on to release the Pedestal EP on 21 December 2017. He later released a song with a movement "I Am North" to address the popular stereotypical views of Northerners in Nigeria.[11]
2019–2021:Voice of Arewa Album andThe Four Horsemen EP
Kheengz debut albumVoice of Arewa (also tagged Voice of the North) was released on 25 December 2019. The album has features fromErigga,DJ AB, DJ Steev and Ijaya. He also featuredIce Prince in the remix of "Alhamdulillah" which was released in 2019.[12] On 26 December 2020, Kheengz teamed up with other northern rappersDJ AB, Deezell and BOC Madaki on a jointEPThe Four Horsemen, containing four tracks.[13][14]
On 4 June 2021, Kheengz released a singleWho be This Guy featuringFalz andM.I Abaga.[15][16][17] Since the announcement of the music collaboration in July 2020, media space has been creating many buzz on the collaboration before it was released.[18] The video was released on 2 July 2021, directed by Bash'em.[19]
