Meet Victory: The Singer from Calgary with a Voice that Soars

Calgary singer- songwriter Victory has beautiful smooth voice and she hits high notes like they're nothing. She remembers the first time she relealized she could really sing. She was 9 or 10 when her brother heard her singing and told her "You're not bad!" The next day lunch he told his friends and they all asked her to sing for them so she did. She sang Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" and tells me, "That's when I realised not only do I love music but I could see myself potentially making it."

When Victory was 13 years old, she studied with a local opera singer in Calgary. "I didn't actually know she was an opera singer!" Victory says."As we started, she said 'I actually have a lot of opera training and I want to train you as an opera singer' and I was like 'Oh... that's cool" Given the stunning high notes that Victory easily hits, it's no wonder the teacher took her in that direction. Victory didn't study opera for very long but she says still benefits from the skills she learned.

Around the same time as her vocal training, Victory, who is Nigerian Canadian, was performing at a lot of events including local Nigerian events. But her singing also crossed the border. "I was getting random opportunities to go to the US and sing," she says. "I auditioned for a junior choir and we went to Carnegie Hall. I also had this whole talent search experience in LA. That was a really cool and fun experience."

Victory loves Nigerian music as it embodies enjoying life and having a good time."Even though I haven't released any Afro-beat music yet, I do have some in the works," she reveals.

Victory is currently a student at the University of Toronto, studying remotely from Calgary because of the pandemic. She is majoring in Health Sciences and double minoring in Biomedical Communications and Professional Writing. Since she began university, taking courses that require a lot of writing, it's given her confidence.  She says "I'm much more comfortable as a song writer. Before I was like 'I'm not even really good at English, how am I supposed to actually approach writing a song?' But now I think I've taken the stress away from it."

Victory has always recorded in her room so the restrictions haven't really changed anything for her in that way.  But she does feel more of a sense of urgency. "I've definitely pushed myself more since the pandemic," she says. "It's helped me be more time conscience and aware."

Victory is one of three finalists from Alberta in the Jim Bean/ Canadian Music Week Virtual National Talent Search. She is working on new music which she hopes to release soon.

CLICK HERE to hear her latest single "Up"

Find her on TikTok at VictoryMusicc and on Instagram at Victory_M.A

Check out her cover of "Driver's License"!