Encouraged by his mother, Bella Shmurda began recording his songs at home when he was 16. ∙ In 2019, he made his first splash in the Nigerian music industry with “Vision 2020,” a song about his time spent hustling to feed his family while attending university. ∙ Nigerian hip-hop star Olamide loved “Vision 2020” so much, he reached out to Shmurda about doing a remix version together, and the video for their collaboration went viral. ∙ Shmurda teamed up with popular Nigerian rapper Zlatan for the 2019 single “One Touch.” ∙ High Tension, his 2020 EP, reached No. 3 on the Apple Music Top 100 chart in Nigeria. ∙ Shmurda has been a featured vocalist on tracks by such Nigerian artists as Harteez, Runtown, and G-Swagg.