Apple Music today announced the latest featured artist in its Up Next artist development program in Nigeria, as rapper, singer and songwriter, SGaWD.

“Apple Music Up Next in Nigeria means there is something on the other side of fear and that my courage has been rewarded. This means a lot because I’ve done the best I can do with limited resources and we’ve been able to take it this far completely independently. This means I’m taking the right steps so more people can hear my sound. Nigeria is the pioneer for a lot of sounds coming out of Africa. Being recognised as Apple Music’s Up Next artist with a totally different sound by the biggest platform in Africa shows that I’m on the right track. This shows that my fans and supporters love me and have been pushing for me to the point where streaming and labels can’t deny it,” she tells Apple Music.

While pursuing a career in maritime law and international arbitration, SGaWD’s desire to express herself musically quietly bubbled under the surface. Despite beginning to work with a Fortune 500 company in Miami, her decision to return to Nigeria in 2020 proved fruitful as the pandemic and subsequent lockdown afforded her the time to work on her music that she might never have gotten.

After being selected as one of Native Mag’s Top 10 Best New Artists of 2020, she went on to be profiled by publications such as Harmattan Rain, Femme Mag, Drummr Africa and more. With only a handful of singles under her belt, SGaWD has captured Nigeria’s attention by being unapologetically herself, drawing from her personal experiences in the hopes of comforting and inspiring young women around the world.

Her debut EP Savage B*tch Juice, available to stream on Apple Music, is a versatile alternative R&B collection of tracks that explore dealing with unwanted male attention, always backing herself, and her relentless pursuit of blazing her own trail.

As the newest Apple Music Up Next act to be spotlighted in Nigeria, SGaWD will be featured across Apple Music Nigeria’s Up Next playlist. The curated playlist features a dynamic class of new and emerging artists, thoughtfully hand-picked by Apple Music editors from around the world. The playlist is genre agnostic and represents a line-up of artists their global editors are passionate about and eager to expose to a larger audience.

SGaWD joins Ajebo Hustlers, Jaido P and Wavy The Creator as Apple Music’s growing stable of Up Next Artists from Nigeria.

The vast global Up Next roster of past talent includes Grammy-nominated and critically lauded talent like 6lack, Daniel Caesar, H.E.R., Greta Van Fleet, Khalid, Amy Shark, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Claudio, Sigrid, Mr Eazi, Stefflon Don, Bad Bunny, Juice WLRD, Bazzi, Jax Jones, NCT 127, Summer Walker, Tierra Whack, Dean Lewis, Pink Sweat$, Koffee, Megan Thee Stallion, Burna Boy, Clairo, Lunay, Jessie Reyez, Orville Peck, Victoria Monét, Ingrid Andress, Conan Gray, Don Toliver, Rema, BENEE, Holly Humberstone, Natanael Cano, Givēon, beabadoobee, Arlo Parks, Tate McRae, Foushee and Tems.