{"id":7939,"date":"2026-01-09T16:05:59","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T16:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/emerging-vocalist-victoria-ibek-is-one-to-watch-in-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T16:05:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T16:05:59","slug":"emerging-vocalist-victoria-ibek-is-one-to-watch-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/emerging-vocalist-victoria-ibek-is-one-to-watch-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Emerging Vocalist Victoria Ibek is One to Watch in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/511532017_18381375313192335_8265006016474395484_n.jpg\" width=\"1080\" height=\"721\" alt=\"\"><figcaption>Photo Courtesy of Victoria Ibek<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cEvery time I want to stop, I remember there\u2019s someone somewhere who is silently inspired by the things I do and that motivates me to keep going.\u201d \u2013 Victoria Ibek<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>If you ask emerging vocalist, songwriter and beat maker Victoria Ibek what her favorite music genre is, she\u2019ll tell you she\u2019s a #1 fan of pop, hip hop, dance, jazz, Latin, classical, funk\u2026<em> well, you get the idea<\/em>. It goes back to believing that \u201cgood music is good music\u201d and you simply know it when you hear it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>More from Spin:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2026\/01\/now-hear-this-jan-2026\/\">Now Hear This: Jan. 2026<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/12\/independent-artists-you-may-have-missed-in-2025\/\">Independent Artists You May Have Missed in 2025<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/12\/gatlinburg-shines-merry-and-bright-for-50th-anniversary-fantasy-of-lights-christmas-parade\/\">Gatlinburg Shines Merry and Bright for 50th Anniversary Fantasy of Lights Christmas Parade<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If there\u2019s one thing to know about Victoria, it\u2019s that she creates more than good music, whether it\u2019s from lyrical or drum beat making or her honey sweet vocal range that\u2019s slightly tinged in a Nigerian accent. The 24-year-old musician is inspired as much by<strong> <\/strong>Eartha Kitt, Aretha Franklin and Donna Summer as she is by Beyonc\u00e9, Victoria Mon\u00e9t, Normani and Chl\u00f6e x Halle.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When watching her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/xhjhSTJSBus\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube Shorts<\/a> channel she presents as a fearless hip hop artist with a steely gaze. Yet when you speak to her in person, she is poised, while politely explaining that she\u2019s really an introvert who just likes to perform. She prefers wine and game nights in with friends over club nights out with a crew. Although her music implies it\u2019s more about dance floors, relationship intelligence, and extreme confidence to express emotions from elation to anger.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The range expressed in her listening choices is reflected in Victoria\u2019s own music. One minute she\u2019s an R&amp;B crooner on the track, \u201cDreams,\u201d a melodic, vocally driven pop track, then the next she\u2019s telling a romantic interest exactly where they stand on, \u201cWish U Were,\u201d her current favorite song because of its sharp confidence and edge. You can imagine a producer getting a hold of \u201cTomorrow Night (feat. Jared Silao)\u201d with its flirtatious lyrics (delivered by both artists) and catchy beats to master a club banger heard from Vegas clubs to Dubai yacht parties. The track, \u201cDon\u2019t Leave Me,\u201d contains an upbeat, dance pop and R&amp;B quality that transcends into a hypnotic structure. All of Victoria Ibek\u2019s music suggests great possibility, whether her songs end up as chart-climbing pop hits or dance club sensations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<lite-youtube videoid=\"i4ETDaiyZsc\" style=\"bottom: 0; height: 100%; left: 0; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; width: 100%; max-width:100%;\"><\/lite-youtube>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Victoria is currently living in Los Angeles after winning a full <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.bandlab.com\/bandlab-opportunities-picks\/\" target=\"_blank\">BandLab Creator Grant<\/a> to pursue her music. She was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina then spent a few years growing up in her mother\u2019s native Nigeria. She and her sister lived there for six years until Victoria was 16 and returned to North Carolina to complete high school. Their mother took them there to connect the girls to their roots and African family before she passed away. Victoria says that when she lived in Nigeria, she had to figure out how to make music and write songs because she didn\u2019t grow up playing instruments. \u201cBut obviously I\u2019m Nigerian, so the infectious rhythms are always going to be a part of me.\u201d Her own upbeat track, \u201cGood Vibes Only,\u201d demonstrates that Nigerian sensibility with its celebratory vibe and <em>get-up-and-dance<\/em> rhythm, as the title implies. It feels like a throwback to her Mother\u2019s generation or even earlier.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mother wanted to give us a little bit of our culture and make sure that we understood where we came from, which is why I\u2019m also a big proponent of believing that you have to know where you\u2019ve been to know where you\u2019re going,\u201d she asserts. \u201cI spent six beautiful years there meeting people and learning about my family and I couldn\u2019t have been happier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The only traditional instrument she has mastered so far is the ukulele, a small four-stringed instrument in the lute family. It has a bright cheerful sound popularized in Hawaii although it is made from a fierce Portuguese machete. Somehow it feels like a metaphor for Victoria\u2019s own soul \u2013 cheerful on the outside yet built on strength and intent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps in-part because both her parents passed away when she was young, outside of her passion for creating music, Victoria has a deep desire to help children. <strong>\u201c<\/strong>My whole life I\u2019ve been obsessed with helping children. My mom ran a daycare center while we were growing up and my first real job was as a Certified Nursing Assistant, working with kids with disabilities. Now that I\u2019m an adult, I still work with kids doing music therapy. The whole reason I started playing the ukulele was because I was working at a music therapy center and they taught me how to play it for the kids. It\u2019s important to make sure we do as much as possible to help the future because the adults you see are a result of how they were treated as kids, you know?\u201d What she calls her \u201cwhole second life outside of music\u201d has been dedicated to children\u2019s care to make sure \u201cthey are good enough to help the future that we all want to see.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<lite-youtube videoid=\"dYIu6BOWfQs\" style=\"bottom: 0; height: 100%; left: 0; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; width: 100%; max-width:100%;\"><\/lite-youtube>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>As a child herself, she claims to have started making music as soon as she could talk. \u201cI would be singing songs, not the right words, just singing as many words as I could remember in the song that I liked.\u201d Her earliest musical memory was of Rihanna. \u201cMy sister and I had matching pink and blue radios, and we had one CD (Rihanna\u2019s <em>Good Girl Gone Bad<\/em>). We never had another CD in my life. We would share back and forth because we\u2019d never listen at the same time. I remember the first song that I ever learned how to sing correctly was \u2018Umbrella.\u2019 I genuinely thought I was Rihanna at the time.\u201d The next record Victoria remembers is Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s <em>I Am\u2026 Sasha Fierce<\/em> because everyone in her household knew the \u201cSingle Ladies\u201d dance so she was expected to know the routine front to back. \u201cI am a dance person. I need to be able to move. I need people to be able to move. And I feel like between the music videos of \u2018Umbrella\u2019 and \u2018Single Ladies,\u2019 I just have to dance, and people must be dancing with me. Something has to be shaking when I\u2019m singing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why today she finds herself making music that makes people feel something physical beyond simple emotion. \u201cIf you like music that\u2019s loud and in your face, but is meaningful, then that\u2019s the type of music I make. I love a good party song but if you listen to the lyrics, you\u2019ll find out that I\u2019m usually singing about something deeper than just having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Victoria got older, people suggested that she join <em>this band<\/em> or <em>this choir<\/em> <em>group, <\/em>but she decided to make her own music instead. \u201cI got into making my own music and writing my own songs. I actually had to learn software and teach myself how to make my own beats, write, produce, mix and master. So, I started BandLab<strong> <\/strong>in the early days around 2018. I was one of the more active creators, I would say. I just started to brand myself, connect myself, meet people here and there, and go out and perform. I did as much as I could to be in my passion project because I wasn\u2019t one of those people who grew up being trained in music.\u201d She currently has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bandlab.com\/victoriaibek\" target=\"_blank\">15.7K followers<\/a> on the music creation and collaboration platform.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/VI-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-651817\" style=\"width:1081px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/VI-1.jpeg 1000w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/VI-1-340x340.jpeg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/VI-1-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/VI-1-498x498.jpeg 498w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo Courtesy of Victoria Ibek<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Today, she sees moving to LA as her life-changing opportunity to purely focus on music. \u201cUp until then, I had spent most of my life focused on school\u2026 getting my Bachelor of Science in Pre-med at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte because I didn\u2019t want to study music. I wanted to make sure I had something else on the educational side. So, when I finished college, I decided that now was the time to really pursue my music. Getting the opportunity with BandLab to participate in their program really helped me get my feet wet and create music. Every week we wrote, produced, made new songs and got feedback. Everything turned around in a week. Now, a year later, I have my whole project done and everything that I\u2019m releasing is from that. It\u2019s been a beautiful time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Victoria claims that, for her, writing lyrics is purely in the moment. It truly depends on what\u2019s going on in her life at that exact moment. \u201cUnfortunately, I\u2019m an empath, and I say unfortunately, because I cannot help but write exactly where I am in every day, every time I pick up the pen. If I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m feeling, after I write a song, I know I\u2019m still mad at who I\u2019m writing about or that I don\u2019t talk to the person anymore or I\u2019m still in love with that person. I think about it spiritually when I write lyrics and make music because I can\u2019t help but be connected to a song in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Outside of BandLab, you can find Victoria playing live shows in Los Angeles at clubs like The Peppermint Club, The Dime and Soul of LA Lounge. \u201cI\u2019m doing everything an aspiring musician does \u2013 going to all the venues, trying to meet as many people as I can and network.\u00a0 I\u2019m scoping the land out, figuring out where I need to be to stay elevated. I like living in LA because I like to be wherever the music is. I like to be close to where everybody is more of a community, and I didn\u2019t find that in Charlotte. You have to go where the people are. As an aspiring artist, you must believe in yourself more than the money. So, for right now, we\u2019re following our hearts instead of the money (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2021\/07\/the-greatest-rock-stars-of-all-time\/?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=bottomlink&amp;utm_campaign=yahoolink\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Photo Courtesy of Victoria Ibek \u201cEvery time I want to stop, I remember there\u2019s someone somewhere who is silently inspired by the things I do and that motivates me to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[214,213],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ad-takeover","category-partner"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7939\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}