Anike (formerly known as Wande) is the first lady of Reach Records, adding a feminine force to the male-dominated label powerhouse. The Nigeran-born rapper, singer, dancer and dynamic performer made a splash in 2019, bringing the long-awaited female perspective to the Reach camp to an eager culture ready to support her work. To date her single, “IN LUV”, was featured on VH1’s Love and Hip Hop as well as her singles “No Cap” and “No Ceilings,” earning features as ESPN’s Music of the Month in November of 2019 broadcasts, she’s toured nationally with labelmates Lecrae, Andy Mineo and more, and she was named one of Rapzilla.com’s “Freshman of the Year for 2018”. All within a year of receiving her first recording contract offer from Reach Records where she worked as an A&R administrator and would become the first woman artist in the label’s 16-year legacy. “I’m glad I’ve been able to add some diversity to our space by being the first woman on our label, and I’m looking forward to the legacy I can leave behind and the doors it will open for future women.”

It wasn’t all just music. With Instagram as her preferred social media outlet, Wande grew her audience to over 10K followers with a daily regimen of photos and videos that spoke messages of hope, faith, and creative inspiration. Now she uses that same platform to reach her fans with inspirational messages on a weekly basis with her Wande Wednesdays program that encourages social media fans to become friends by joining her Dub club—the army is now almost 50k strong. “Realizing that each fan is a soul I can positively impact is encouraging; it’s exciting to see old fans continue to stick around and new ones join the journey.”

With an undeniably youthful spirit, she oozes confidence, with an uncanny ability to simultaneously promote humility throughout her songs. On her Exit EP Wande leverages those skills to rap about the importance of keeping faith in the face of adversity and promoting the idea. “Every entrance is an exit.” “I think there’s a time and reason for every season we experience in life. Knowing that, we should analyze the current season we’re in and see what lesson we can learn from it. It’s very important to grasp that seasons don’t last forever, whether in pain or celebration, in order to evolve, we must exit today’s phase to move on to the growth tomorrow holds.”

On tracks like the lead single “Happy” Wande taps into her ability to interweave floating melodies with a punchy rap flow to express her perspective on happiness, rhyming “I need that happiness that comes from above/ It’s deeper than the feeling we receive from all the things that we have.” “True happiness can’t be found in our possessions, if that’s our source we’ll find ourselves crumbling once they’re taken away or we see someone with more than us. I find  my true contentment in my relationship with the Lord” she says.

Authenticity is another theme that flows through Wande’s work. From her music to her style, the Nigerian-born Texas-raised rapstress does not shy away from showcasing the beauty and richness of her culture. “I realize there’s power in my name so rather than trying to Americanize it, I fully embrace that part of my identity,” Wande says. With a wide range of stylistic capability, and cultural richness to draw from one thing is certain; Wande is poised to become a uniquely uplifting and unstoppable force.

On perhaps the premiere record on the EP, “Be the Light”. Wande partners with the duo Evan and Eris to encourage listeners to avoid letting their current situation distract them from focusing on Christ and sharing the Gospel. On the record she rhymes “In the depths of the dark, yea the light it shines the most/Only in You is my boast.” “Be the Light” was written as a call to action for Believers to continue to be a light in a dark word”, Wande says. “It’s an encouragement that through whatever may come your way, don’t let it dim your light and distract you from the mission to share the love of Christ with the world.”