Munachi Abii

Munachi Abii (born Munachi Gail Teresa Abii Nwankwo) is a Nigerian rapper, singer, songwriter, model, actress and beauty pageant titleholder. She performs under the name Muna. She is the winner of Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria (MBGN) 2007. She is Igbo and hails from Imo state.

Early life

Abii was born and raised in Port Harcourt, the capital city of Rivers State and Owerri, the capital city of Imo State, Nigeria. She was encouraged by her family and friends to pursue her passion for music and arts. After obtaining her O-Level qualifications from Federal Government Girls' College, Abuloma, she studied International Relations and Diplomacy at Benson Idahosa University.

Career

Pageants

While she was 20 years old, during her second year at university in 2007, Abii won the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria pageant. Her platform as reigning queen was polio and sickle cell disease awareness, and she represented Nigeria at Miss World 2007 in China. In 2009, Abii worked with MBGN 2000 winner Matilda Kerry on a project to raise awareness for cervical cancer.

Music

Prior to winning MBGN, Abii had performed as part of Port Harcourt-based rap group The Specimen A and collaborated with Terry da Rapman on the critically acclaimed My PH Girl. Contrary to popular belief, Abii did not start her music career with rap group Ijaw Boyz, although she did perform with them as a guest artist. As a solo rapper, she performed as Babyrella before changing her stage name to Muna, and as a songwriter, she has written songs for artistes such as J Martins and Waje. She also appeared in several music videos, most notably in P Square's "Ifunanya".

In June 2010, after years of collaborating with various artistes, Abiii signed a multi-year management contract with Ayo Shonaiya's RMG company and started working on her debut album The Goddess, The Hustler, which included the singles I Feel Real and Killer Queen. Abii continues to collaborate with other hip hop artists; in early 2011, she wrote the lyrics and featured on Waje's hit single So Inspired and also appeared in rapper Suspect's video for I No Send You.

Abii was one of the female rappers to feature and represent Nigeria on the globally televised BET Cypher for the BET Awards in 2011, and in April 2012, Abii released two singles, Here To Stay and Down Down Low.

Acting

In 2019, Abii featured in the Nollywood movie Living in Bondage: Breaking Free.

In 2020, Abii co-starred in the romantic drama film Finding Hubby. In 2022 she featured in Obsession.

In 2021, Abii featured in the Nollywood movie (Trips)

Other work

In 2011, Abii signed an endorsement deal with Unilever as a model for Lux soap and featured in a commercial for the brand, following in the footsteps of Patti Boulaye and Genevieve Nnaji.

In April 2011, after shooting the video for her feature on Michael Word's Pop Sugar, she co-presented the television series Malta Guinness Street Dance Africa. Abii also presented the Mr. Nigeria Pageant the Nokia Don't Break The Beat multi-city rap battle contest.

Awards and nominations

References

External links