Styl Plus

The group STYL was formed in 1997 a gospel quartet by founding members Shifi Emoefe, Tunde Akinsanmi, Yemi Akinwonmi, and Lanre Faneyi. In 1999 Lanre passed away and Zeal Onyecheme joined the group. The name STYL which was formed by combining the first letters of the first names of the founding members then turned to Styl-Plus, the Plus being used to indicate the new addition to the group.



In the year 2001, the groups expanded from singing strictly gospel songs, to inspirational and love songs.



In 2002 Yemi left the group to pursue another career.



In 2003 the group teamed up with Anthony 'T-Jazz' Ukpong and Joseph 'Joey' Ukpong to form their own record label; Styl-Plus Music. In late October of 2003, under the management of T-jazz and Joey, they released two singles to radio stations . The response was tremendous, and the unprecedented airplay the tracks received fuelled the subsequenlty massive sales of the Singles on Cd and audiotapes



Based in Abuja , FCT, the group uses its strong vocals and addictive soundtracks to successfully blend together English and Indigenous languages, on their Pop and R& B tracks.



The Motto of the group is "Positive-Cultural-International" and this is evident in the positive messages and the noticeable absence of raunchy and profane lyrics, which characterize most R & B groups.



The members of the group are all graduates of FUT Akure (except one in who is in his final year) and are all bachelors in their mid-twenties.



Facts:



The song Olufunmi was voted MTN Yello Radio show song of the year 2004 by listeners Nationwide



The song Olufunmi was voted song of the year 2003 by listeners on 96.9 Cool FM Abuja .



It was the most requested song on every major station in the country, including, Ray Power, Rhythm Fm, Cool Fm, Eko Fm, Brilla Fm, Kapital Fm, and Metro Fm Lagos.



Olufunmi and Run Away are the most requested love songs on all the R & B or radio love shows nation wide.



Olufunmi has been No1 on every major radio chart show including The Grand Square Countdown (Cool Fm Abuja), Top 7 jams at 7 (Rhythm Fm nationwide), MTN Yello (Stations nationwide). It has also been No1 On numerous magazine and newspaper charts like the Saturday Sun weekly music chart.



Styl-Plus has set new records by being the first indigenous group to have 2 songs simultaneously on any chart.



In the case of MTN Yello radio show (based on listeners smsing in their choice), for the first time in its history, a group had both the number 1 and number 2 songs (the position was held simultaneously for 4 weeks! As of the 1st of April, Olufunmi had been number 1 for 15 weeks!



Their single, Call My Name has was released early July and has dominated charts nationwide.



Four Videos have also been released (also in a compilation VCD which includes interviews). The videos have done EXCEPTIONALLY well and are credited with pushing the standards of video production quality in Nigeria. The videos have also topped every video chart in the country especially when the chart is based on viewers requests. In one particular station the videos held the top 4 positions for 2 consecutive weeks in December 2004!



In February 2005 the video of the song Call My Name was nominated for best R&B video at the 2005 Channel O African Music Video Awards