Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo a.k.a. Iyeoka, was born in Boston, United States of America to Esan-speaking Nigerian parents from Edo State. She attended North Eastern University where she studied Pharmacy and practised for over 10 years all along performing as a musician. In 2000, Iyeoka received her degree as a full time registered pharmacist, but in 2005 she found herself wondering whether Pharmacy is what she would be doing all her life.
My spirit was asking me that question while I was working as a pharmacist and my spirit answered, no, you want to be a drummer, a singer, a poet, you want to share your words with the world and that is how I got my start , she said at a welcome ceremony cum press conference put together in her honour by the President of the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria, PMAN, Ras Murphy Bank-Anthony. I feel welcome , were the very first words the poet, songstress and educationist, who is signed on to the Underground Sun music label based in California, uttered at the gathering.
I feel so excited having Ivie in the house this morning. From our hearts, we welcome our daughter to Nigeria as a performing musician representing Nigeria in the United States of America , Bank-Anthony said, using the opportunity to present Iyeoka with a PMAN membership card. Iyeoka explained at the PMAN secretariat in Anifowoshe, Ikeja, where she became the association's first member in 2012 that in 2005, she started putting Pharmacy aside and decided to make music her ally. That was when she started working on her poems as if someone up there was helping me write them . I'm a true believer in God , she confessed, adding that before 2005, she was involved in a couple of musical performances. After she made that decision, she has been performing all over America and is set to do two shows at the Mobile World Congress: Redefining Mobile in Barcelona, Spain this month. Her first album came out in 2001, the second in 2004 titled Black and Blues, another one came out in 2008 called Hum the Baseline.
Her latest album titled Say Yes came out in 2010. One of the reasons for her trip to Nigeria is to promote Say Yes and to continue to connect with her roots in Edo State . Iyeoka said it has come to a point where she is now able to send a message of healing with her music and knowledge of Pharmacy.
