Emeka Akumefule (born 29 January 1996), known professionally as Blaqbonez, is a Nigerian rapper and singer signed to Chocolate City. Blaqbonez is popularly known for his distinct rap style as well as his creative ingenuity. In 2019, he was profiled by The New York Times as one of the new guards of Nigerian music. He is widely known for his controversial self-proclaimed status as the "Best Rapper in Africa" (abbreviated as "BRIA"), which became the most talked about topic in the Nigerian hip hop space between July and September 2019. After carving out one of rap's most loyal fan bases, Blaqbonez unleashed his debut album “Sex Over Love” to a public that was more than ready to receive it. His unorthodox approach and humorous personality, resonated with the younger generation, and earned him co-signs from the likes of Wizkid and Burna Boy.

== Early life and career == Emeka was born on 29 January 1996, to an Igbo family, and grew up exposed to the Yoruba and Urhobo culture in Nigeria. Blaqbonez hails from Imo state, a state in south-eastern Nigeria dominated by the Igbo tribe. He grew up with his mother, a pastor, in a Yoruba and Urhobo mixed environment. He had his tertiary education at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), where he studied Computer Engineering. He was 13 years old when he discovered he could rap, and his journey into music was a result of happenstance. He self-discovered his talent while listening to the radio with his cousin, when the song of a 12-year-old rapper was played. His cousin liked the song and challenged Blaqbonez to come up with his own lyrics, since he liked criticizing rappers. A few minutes later, he had enough bars for a verse, and that was where it all began. His parents were not in support of his newfound hobby, so he secretly pursued his passion. While in school, he dropped his first project, Hip-Hop in Blaq, and participated in competitions. In 2011, Blaqbonez started participating in underground rap battles. He eventually won Terry Tha Rapman's Zombie Competition in 2012 at the age of 16, beating 3000 rappers in the challenge. In the same year, he featured on Terry's 2012 mixtape titled “World Domination” alongside top Nigerian musicians including Olamide, Vector, Mode 9, and Spellz. Five years later, Blaqbonez featured Terry on one of his projects. He emerged first runner-up in Vector's King Kong competition, won the Rhythm fm Freestyle Fury and became RhythmFm's artiste of the month, became the Hennessy Vs class captain, part of the Soundcity blast cypher, also released his much talked about mixtape CTAT "Cssette Tapes and Tvs" grossing over 60,000 engagements in streams and downloads, which is his third mixtape, following "hip-hop in blaq" and the "unfinished EP". In an interview with The Punch newspaper, he said his "Best Rapper in Africa" proclamation was a response to a diss track and need to wake up other rappers in Nigeria. He was recently described by The Guardian as 'carrying the torch of Nigerian rap' and on 2 January 2019, he was listed by the same publication as one of the "Top 10 Artists to watch in 2019". Blaqbonez was named West African Rapper Of The Year at the inaugural Creative-Africa Hip Hop Awards. The same publication ranked him second in their Top 50 African Rappers Of 2021 list.