Olamide Height 2026: How Tall Is the Baddo of YBNL?

Last updated: November 12, 2026  ·  By Nathan Cole

Olamide is 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) tall. That is the most defensible single figure for the YBNL boss: it is the height BuzzNigeria publishes, it sits in the middle of every published range, and it lines up with how Olamide looks next to his peers on stage and in photos. The honest full answer is a range — 5 ft 8 in to 5 ft 10 in (173–178 cm) — because no official measurement exists. Olamide has never confirmed his height in an interview or on a verified profile, and Wikipedia, the most authoritative biography available, does not list a height at all.

The number is the starting point, not the story. Olamide Gbenga Adedeji, born March 15, 1989, in Bariga, Lagos, is 37 in 2026, and he is one of the most important figures in African music: a rapper who built a street sound into a mainstream empire, a label boss who launched Fireboy DML and Asake, and a veteran now heading for his 13th studio album and a headline show at London’s O2 Arena. This article settles the height source by source, explains why the numbers disagree, and then walks through the life behind the number — the Bariga childhood, the breakthrough, the YBNL empire, the family, the money, and what 2026 looks like for the Baddo.

The Answer, With The Sources

Olamide is 5 ft 8 in to 5 ft 10 in (173–178 cm) tall. That is the range every named source that publishes a height for him falls into, and it is the only answer a careful reader should trust. There is no official figure. Olamide has never stood against a measuring wall on camera, never listed his height in a verified bio, and no sports-style combine record exists for a rapper.

The middle of the range, 5 ft 9 in (175 cm), is the figure this article uses as its working answer. It is the BuzzNigeria figure, it sits between the Net Worth Forum and I Like To Dabble numbers, and it matches how Olamide looks next to his peers: taller than Wizkid and Davido on stage, shorter than Asake, and well below Burna Boy. The one-line answer: Olamide is about 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) tall, with published sources ranging from 5 ft 8 in to 5 ft 10 in.

Why No Official Figure Exists

Celebrity heights are usually settled by one of three things: a sports record, a modelling profile, or the celebrity saying so. Olamide has none of the three. He is not an athlete, so there is no combine measurement. He is not a model, so there is no agency listing. And in fifteen years of interviews he has never been asked his height on the record, or answered if he was. What the biography sites print instead are listings — numbers copied from other listings, rounded, converted, and occasionally mistyped. BuzzNigeria’s “118 cm” is the proof: 118 cm is under four feet, which no adult man is. Somebody typed the wrong number once, and the page kept it. That is why this article treats every figure as a listing and gives the range instead of a false precision.

The same logic applies to the weight. I Like To Dabble lists 165 lbs, and that number circulates on its own. It is plausible for a man of his build, and it is the only published figure — but it is a listing too, and this article labels it as one. The honest position on Olamide’s physical stats is a short one: about 5 ft 9 in, about 165 lbs, both unmeasured, both drawn from the published listings that exist.

Bariga To The World: The Early Years

Olamide Gbenga Adedeji was born on March 15, 1989, in Bariga, a working-class area on the Lagos mainland. Bariga in the late 1980s and 1990s was dense, loud, and poor — the kind of neighbourhood that produces rappers the way other places produce footballers. Olamide grew up speaking Yoruba at home and hearing it on the street, and Yoruba would become the spine of his music: he raps mostly in Yoruba, with English folded in, a choice that made him a street hero in Lagos long before it made him a star anywhere else.

He started young. By his late teens he was recording, and in 2010, at 21, he released “Eni Duro”, the single that broke him out of Bariga and onto Lagos radio. The song’s title means “keep your mouth shut” in Yoruba, and its swagger — street talk over a heavy beat — became his signature. A year later, at 22, he released his debut album Rapsodi (2011) on ID Cabasa’s Coded Tunes label. The album did not make him rich. It made him known, and in Lagos in 2011, known was enough to build on.

Eni Duro And The Breakthrough At 21

“Eni Duro” did two things at once. It announced a new voice in Nigerian hip-hop, and it announced a new language for it. Before Olamide, Nigerian rap that crossed over tended to be in English; Olamide rapped in Yoruba and dared the mainstream to follow him. The mainstream did. His second album, YBNL, arrived in November 2012, when he was 23, and by then he had made the decision that would define his career: he left Coded Tunes and founded his own label, YBNL Nation. The name stands for “Yahoo Boy No Laptop” — a slogan about earning a living honestly, without internet fraud, in a scene where the “Yahoo boy” label was everywhere.

The albums came fast after that, one a year, each one bigger than the last: Baddest Guy Ever Liveth (2013, age 24), Street OT (2014, age 25), Eyan Mayweather (2015, age 26), a joint album with Phyno, 2 Kings (2015), The Glory (2016, age 27), Lagos Nawa (2017, age 28). The hits stacked up alongside them: “First of All”, “Durosoke”, “Bobo” (2015), “Wo!!” (2017), “Science Student” (2018), “Pawon” (2019). By his late twenties he was the street’s favourite, with a shelf of Headies Awards and a catalogue that Lagos knew by heart.

YBNL Nation: The Label That Changed Afrobeats

YBNL Nation is Olamide’s biggest legacy, and it may outlast his own records. Founded in 2012, when he was 23, the label became the most reliable hit factory in Nigerian music. Its model was simple: find young talent in Lagos, give them Olamide’s beats and his platform, and let the street decide. The names it launched read like a roll call of modern Afrobeats: Adekunle Gold, who arrived in 2015 and left as a star; Lil Kesh, who broke through in 2014; Fireboy DML, signed in 2018 and launched with “Jealous” the same year; Asake, signed in 2022, who became one of the biggest Afrobeats acts on the planet within two years; and Muyeez, the latest breakout of 2025 and 2026.

The label’s power is that Olamide treats it as a family business, not a corporation. He produces, he features, he shows up in the videos. When Asake left YBNL, he said in March 2026: “Till the end of time, my ex-boss will forever remain Baddo.” That is the relationship Olamide built — artists leave, and they still call him boss. YBNL now operates through a joint venture with the American distributor Empire, which gives the label’s records a global pipeline without losing its Lagos identity.

The Albums That Built The Catalogue

Olamide’s catalogue is one of the deepest in Afrobeats: eleven studio albums, two collaborative albums, and two EPs across fifteen years. The run after the early yearly albums slowed into a steadier rhythm, but the quality held. Carpe Diem (2020, age 31) arrived in the pandemic year and became one of his most-streamed records, carried by “Infinity” with Omah Lay. UY Scuti (2021, age 32) followed a year later. Unruly (2023, age 34) kept the run going. Then came the self-titled Olamidé (June 19, 2025, age 36): seventeen tracks featuring Wizkid twice, Asake, Seyi Vibez, Young Jonn, Darkoo, Popcaan and Dr. Dre — a statement album from a veteran who had nothing left to prove and proved it anyway.

The numbers behind the catalogue are the kind that explain a $12 million fortune: hundreds of millions of streams, sold-out arenas, and a label that earns from other people’s hits as well as his own. In 2025, Billboard magazine listed Olamide as one of its Global Power Players — recognition not of one song, but of fifteen years of influence.

The Kingmaker Years: Fireboy, Asake And The YBNL Tree

The most remarkable part of Olamide’s thirties is that his biggest hits were not always his own. Fireboy DML, the singer he signed in 2018, broke out with “Jealous” and then went global with “Peru” — a song Olamide shepherded from a Lagos studio to the world’s charts. Asake, signed in 2022, released a run of hits — “Omo Ope”, “Sungba”, “Bandana” with Fireboy, “Terminator” — that made him, for two years, the biggest Afrobeats act alive. Both men are Olamide’s artists, and both men made him a kingmaker: the rapper who could spot a star, build one, and step aside.

The height of the YBNL tree is a running joke among fans, and it is worth noting here because it is how most people actually see Olamide’s height — standing next to his artists. Asake, most often listed at 5 ft 11 in, towers over the boss on stage. Fireboy, listed at 5 ft 9 in, stands eye to eye with him. The photographs tell the same story as the listings: Olamide in the middle of his artists, neither the tallest nor the shortest, the boss in the middle of the frame.

2025: Wembley, Billboard And The Self-Titled Album

2025 was a landmark year. On June 19, 2025, the self-titled album Olamidé arrived with seventeen tracks and a guest list that crossed generations — Wizkid, Asake, Seyi Vibez, Young Jonn, Darkoo, Popcaan, Dr. Dre. In the same year, Billboard named him one of its Global Power Players. And on November 23, 2025, he headlined the OVO Arena Wembley in London, selling out the 12,500-capacity room — his first London headline show since 2016, and proof that a rapper who built his name in Yoruba could fill a room in English-speaking London nine years later.

The Wembley night mattered because it closed a circle. Olamide had spent the 2010s as a Lagos star with a Nigerian audience; the 2020s made him an international one. The crowd in London sang the Yoruba hooks back at him, word for word. He was 36, fifteen years into a career that started in Bariga, and he was playing the biggest rooms of his life.

2026: Formation, Burukutu, Time & Space And The O2

At 37, Olamide is having one of the busiest years of his career. On April 9, 2026, he reunited with Adekunle Gold on “Formation”, a collaboration between the YBNL boss and one of his earliest signees. In the same month he released “Zion” with Teni, and sat down with content creator Korty EO for a candid interview about his stage anxiety — explaining that past incidents where aggressive fans snatched personal items such as his hat or jewellery had left him tense before shows. It was a rare admission from a veteran: the man who commands arenas still gets nervous walking onto them.

September brought a swerve: on September 25, 2026, he launched a visual art brand, “Alagemomerindinlogun by Olamide”, with the caption: “I got tired of waiting for Baddo to complete his project, so I’m now working with this guy.” October brought the music back. He released the single “Burukutu” and announced his next album, Time & Space, for release on November 16, 2026 — ten tracks, his 13th studio album, arriving five months after Olamidé. The announcement followed confirmation, on October 19, 2026, of a headline show at London’s O2 Arena on March 25, 2027 — the biggest London stage of his career, and the first time he will headline the O2. At 37, with a new album four days away and the O2 on the calendar, Olamide is not slowing down. He is scaling up.

Personal Life: Family, Faith And Privacy

Olamide is married to Adebukunmi Aisha Suleiman, and the couple have two sons. He keeps his family life private — a deliberate choice in a scene where other stars post everything. His wife and children rarely appear on his social media, and he almost never discusses them in interviews. What is public is the shape of it: a stable marriage, two boys, and a home life kept separate from the YBNL machine.

The privacy extends to his public image. Olamide does not court controversy, does not feud on social media, and does not explain himself to the press. His nickname, Baddo, suggests a street edge, but his public conduct is that of a businessman: early to the studio, loyal to his artists, careful with his name. At 37, the Bariga kid who rapped about the street is a label boss, a husband, and a father — and the street still claims him as its own.

How Tall Is Olamide Compared To His Peers?

Afrobeats fans argue about height the way football fans argue about pace, and the comparison table is where Olamide’s 5 ft 9 in lands. He is taller than the two biggest names of his generation’s first wave, about the same height as his own signee Fireboy, shorter than Asake, and well below Burna Boy. The figures below come from this site’s own verified height articles where they exist, and from the named sources otherwise.

The table explains why the question gets asked so often. Olamide shares stages with men of very different heights — Wizkid at 5 ft 4 in, Burna Boy at 6 ft 1 in — and the eye is a poor measuring tool when the stage is crowded and the lights are moving. The photographs that fuel the debate are the same photographs that prove the range: Olamide standing a head above Wizkid, eye to eye with Fireboy, and a clear few inches below Asake and Burna Boy. Every figure in the table is a listing, not a measurement, and the article says so for each name — including Olamide’s own.

Net Worth At 37: What The Money Looks Like

The question that follows Olamide everywhere is what fifteen years of hits and a hit-making label added up to. The honest answer is a range: $10 million to $15 million, anchored at $12 million. Net Worth Forum lists him at $12 million; BuzzNigeria puts him at $12.5 million. One outlet, I Like To Dabble, prints $25 million — this article treats that as an unsourced outlier, far above every other published figure, and does not use it. No audited figure exists: Olamide has never confirmed his wealth, YBNL is private, and streaming payouts are not public.

What is on record is the shape of the money. The catalogue — eleven studio albums, two collaborative albums, two EPs — earns from streaming and licensing. The label earns from other people’s hits: Fireboy’s “Peru” and Asake’s run of number ones both flow through YBNL. The live business earns from arenas: a sold-out OVO Arena Wembley in November 2025, and an O2 Arena headline in March 2027, are the kind of rooms that pay a headliner well. And the brand earns from endorsements and partnerships that a fifteen-year career in Nigerian music brings. Put together, a $12 million anchor inside a $10 million to $15 million range is the defensible reading — a fortune built from the street up, in Yoruba, without a major-label machine behind it for most of the way.

Age, Weight And The Physical Questions

Olamide is 37 years old in 2026. He was born on March 15, 1989, in Bariga, Lagos State, and turned 37 on March 15, 2026. He turns 38 on March 15, 2027. One profile, FamousToday, prints 1987 in its summary table — but its own article text says he was born on March 15, 1989, and Wikipedia, BuzzNigeria, ThrillNG and Blessed Records all agree on 1989. The 1987 figure is an outlier with no support, and this article does not use it.

His weight is listed at about 165 lbs (75 kg) by I Like To Dabble — the only published figure, and a listing rather than a measurement, like the height. His build is lean and athletic, the product of an energetic stage show and a career spent on the road. In April 2026 he spoke candidly about stage anxiety in an interview with Korty EO, explaining that past incidents where aggressive fans snatched personal items such as his hat or jewellery had left him tense before performances. It was a rare glimpse behind the Baddo persona: the man who looks untouchable on stage still feels the crowd’s hands reaching for him.

Height At Every Milestone: The Timeline

Sources & Reporting

Height figures: Net Worth Forum (5 ft 8 in, 1.73 m; net worth $12 million); BuzzNigeria (5 ft 9 in; net worth $12.5 million; birth March 15, 1989); I Like To Dabble (5 ft 10 in; weight 165 lbs); FamousToday (5 ft 7.5 in; birth-year table says 1987, text says 1989). Birth date and career facts: Wikipedia’s Olamide profile (born March 15, 1989, Bariga; discography; YBNL founded 2012). 2026 projects: Daily Economy (Time & Space announced, October 21, 2026, release November 16, 2026, 10 tracks); QNC News (October 21, 2026); RealBlog NG (“Burukutu”, October 24, 2026); ThrillNG (Wembley sell-out November 23, 2025; “Formation” April 9, 2026; art brand September 25, 2026); Blessed Records (O2 Arena, March 25, 2027; career timeline, October 2026). Peer heights: Guide Net Worth’s own verified articles — Wizkid (5 ft 4 in), Davido (5 ft 6 in), Asake (5 ft 11 in); Fireboy DML 5 ft 9 in per BuzzNigeria. Where outlets disagreed — mainly the height listings and the 1987 birth-year outlier — this article prints the range with named sources rather than the highest or lowest number. If new reporting emerges, this article will be updated and the change noted here.

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