For Afropop singer cum producer, Saintly Emana popularly known as IceBeatChillz, love is everything.
On Saturday August 6, the musician displayed love and camaraderie when he hosted celebrities, guests and select media practitioners to a night of music, fun and quality entertainment at a special event tagged: ‘Afro Got Soul: IceBeatChillz Live’.
Held at the poolside of The Blowfish Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, the singer equally used the occasion to promote his upcoming mini-album titled, Love is King. Indeed, the album title is apt for IceBeatChillz who believes that God himself is love. Hear him: “Love is everything we ever needed in life. First of all, God himself is love. The woman that truly loves a man surrenders everything, and believes so much in the man. Love is king, love leads, and the love we have for each other is nothing less than the life that we live. I believe that we can still show love to each other regardless of our ethnic differences and diversities.”
Born into a Christian family that also owns a church, IceBeatChillz fell in love with hymns and beats very early in life. He later gravitated into playing music and learning different instruments with a special interest in keyboard.
Destiny led him into production and he began making music for various artistes. IceBeatChillz consequently became the resident producer for Sunday Are’s company. Right now, he is poised to take over the global music scene.
When asked whether he has what it takes to rule the music world, the singer said, “I am preparing myself just like a newborn baby. This is a tip of the iceberg. My EP is on the way. This is to showcase the soul of Afrobeats. I am a musician but people don’t really know me. This first episode of ‘Afro Got Soul’ night is to showcase my brand as a full musician, someone that can play keys and still sing. I want people to vibe along with us, while we work on the EP.”
Love is King, which contains seven songs, is the musician’s radical move to shift music into a new era animated by love. To prove his musical ingenuity, however, IceBeatChillz produced the entire body of the mini-album and also played the piano, guitar and saxophone on many of the songs.
Giving reasons he solely produced the album, IceBeatChillz said: “As a matter of fact, a lot of producers wanted to join in the production but I decided not to feature any. It’s not as if I don’t have them to feature but I feel I am capable of producing all the tracks in the album and stay alone, because it is a free gift from God. Also, this is to create a foundation for me, for people to understand that I am a major producer.”
In 2021, multi-instrumentalist IceBeatChillz came into brighter spotlight when he got signed to Crystal Clear Records. But then, the love crooner saw his career take off with his debut single, Area, featuring Jamaican dancehall star, Beenie Man. The song racked up streams last year and hit UK Music Week’s Black Music Charts and Pop Charts at #7 and #10 respectively, maintaining solid positions on both charts for nine weeks.
Following the enviable feats, IceBeatChillz was quickly recognised by Wonderland magazine, got reviewed by GrungeCake, featured on EDM.com with UK dance versions of Area remixed by Billy Da Kid, and debuted on BET Jams and MTV. The Hype magazine also described the single as having “all the necessary ingredients to become Afro Dancehall’s most powerful anthem.”
IceBeatChillz’s sophomore and heat-inducing single, Bad and Naughty, is certainly no different. The self-produced track parading Starboy’s Terri was picked up by the playlist editors of Tidal, Vevo and others. The song employs the Afropop style that has taken the world by storm, and delivers a tune that should undoubtedly get the dance floor bubbling.
As a warm up to his much anticipated EP, the talented singer released the smooth, romantic Afrobeat/R&B hybrid single titled, Special Attention.
And having started his music career as a producer, IceBeatChillz has produced for several Afrobeats artistes, including award winning Barry Jhay and Billboard Hot 100 chart topper, Tems.