Damarea Ogbuewu
Damarea Ogbuewu (/d:uh'M:ah'Ree"uh ' O:bweh:woo/; born August 8, 2005) is a Nigerian-American singer, songwriter, and author. Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Ogbuewu began her career in the 2018 writing competition Speak Out!, and rose to prominence for her poetry piece, Still I Rise, and her role as the title character in the musical version of the Ghanaian Broadway play, Anowa. In 2019, Ogbuewu won gold in her second round of the Speak Out! with her song/rap piece, I Will Still Rise. After she grew interested in pursing a music career, she recorded song covers on YouTube, and eventually independently released her own songs. Her first debut album included a Christmas album, Wrapped in White (2020), which was set to be released on October 5, 2020.
Damarea Ogbuewu was born on August 8, 2005, in Columbia, South Carolina. She is the eldest daughter of a Nigerian father and a mother of Hispanic, Asian, and British descent. She refers to herself as Nigerian-American. With this ethnic background, she speaks four languages, which include Igbo and Swahili. Ogbuewu took interest in gymnastics and eventually reached a level 10 by 2015, and continued until age thirteen. As a child Ogbuewu performed with the Children's Theater, playing her first role as the title character Anowa. She performed in the musical version of the plays Romeo and Juliet and Elf.
In 2018, Ogbuewu began writing short stories, in which she was nominated for the South Carolina Young Book Award. She wrote her first book Dear Pope Francis which was marketed under Lulu Publishing in February of 2019. The book reflected Ogbuewu's life as a Catholic teen in America's society. In March of 2019, Ogbuewu had announced the idea of her new book, Act Like a Classy Lady; Know Your Worth, which was a self-help guide for women.
Ogbuewu won bronze with the position of third place in the Speak Out! National Competition after the performance of her song piece, Still I Rise which was a poem which spoke against bullying. In May of 2019, Ogbuewu performed her song-piece I Will Still Rise, winning gold. Radio personality Beasy Baybie promoted her piece which allowed Ogbuewu to perform it again at an Anti-Bullying Statewide walkout.
The following month, Ogbuewu was invited to sing at an International Women's Day Event, in which Ogbuewu sang the 2012 hit, "Girl on Fire" by Alicia Keys. On October 5, 2019, Ogbuewu was invited to sing at a Breast Cancer Awareness Month event for National Today. Ogbuewu temporarily changed her approach to music after singing as a Catholic choir member, from 2018 to June of 2020. Afterward, Ogbuewu sang covers on YouTube once more during the Corona virus pandemic, eventually starting fresh in October with the release of her first Christmas album, Wrapped In White, which featured Christmas classics such as Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel, and others Christmas singles in which Ogbuewu independently wrote.
Ogbuewu has a three octave soprano vocal range. Ogbuewu has been known to almost hit the vocal range of Leona Lewis who holds a four octave vocal range. Critics separately say that both Leona Lewis and Damarea Ogbuewu "let their vocals tell the story".
At the age of thirteen, Ogbuewu volunteered twice at the American Red Cross, packaging over one hundred gift packets for patients and staff during the Valentine's Day season. In December of 2019, Ogbuewu volunteered at St.Peter's Catholic Church feeding the city's homeless. Within this event, Ogbuewu individually met with each attendee and contributed to preparing the food in which was given. In January of 2019, the teen singer attended a Pro-Life event in the city of Downtown Columbia, marching against abortion. She has also attended a foreign event, helping translate languages for medical patients.
Ogbuewu identifies as Catholic, but still stands as a supporter of homosexuality. She also believes in the Kabbalah teaching. believing "the basis lies in the idea that if you're kind to others, good things will happen to you." She also stands in support of LGBT rights.
