Cynthia Morgan (born 23 September 1991 in Benin City, Nigeria) now known as Madrina is a professional singer, performer, and composer who has thrilled the Nigerian music industry with her illustrious Jamaican Creole (Patwa) style of music.
Born on 23 September 1991, in Benin City to a religious family, Cynthia Morgan is a multi-talented artist whose genre includes a mix of pop, hip hop, and dance hall. Cynthia is a mix of crazy and sassy comparable to the likes of American artist Lady Gaga.
She is a fierce, talented, and outspoken musician who is not afraid to express herself in the best way she can. The gorgeous musical sensation has undoubtedly breathed fresh air into the Nigerian music industry with her unique style.
Cynthia ventured into music at the early age of 3 when she was a backup singer for her mother’s musical band. Her mother is a very popular Gospel singer in Benin, Edo State. The singer also sang in the children’s choir in the church before she progressed to the youth choir and then into the church union choir. When she turned sixteen, Cynthia Morgan decided to become a professional musician. By the age of 17, she released her first single titled “Dutty Stepping” which featured General Pype, who has the same pattern of music as her. Following the release of the song that introduced her to the Nigerian music industry, Cynthia moved to Lagos in 2008 to have the opportunity to build a career and develop herself as a professional musician. The rest was history when she got signed to Northside Entertainment Inc., owned by Jude Okoye.
1. Cynthia Morgan Changed Her Name to ‘Madrina’ Because She Lost Her Royalties
Cynthia Morgan won the hearts of Nigerians with singles like “Don’t Break My Heart”, “Lead Me On”, and “I’m Taken” which shot her into the limelight in 2014. Morgan during this time was already signed to Northside Entertainment Inc. owned by Jude ‘Engees’ Okoye, the elder brother of the P-Square musical duo. With the record label, her fame skyrocketed with different singles released back to back.
However, a few years later, the singer gradually faded away as nothing was heard about her music career, and this only left her fans perturbed. The deafening silence from Cynthia and her music lingered until May 2020 when the singer came out to speak about her absence in music. Cynthia revealed in an Instagram live chat with Sandra Ogbebor that her relationship with her boss Jude Okoye gradually deteriorated as he was reluctant to shoot music videos for her and wanted her to renew her contract with the record label.
She was not allowed access to her official Instagram and Youtube accounts and this was bad for business. Royalties from her monetized Youtube account were cut and her influence in social media crumbled. She had issues logging into her VEVO account and opted to change her name to ‘Madrina’ which eventually made her lose several essential paraphernalia of her music career, including followership, royalties, and her official Instagram account.
Subsequently, her work relationship was frustrated and the online blame game concerning her fallout with the record label was too much to ignore. All these, with the fact that she became really sick while having some family issues, compelled her to take a break and take a hike from the entertainment scene. Following the misfortune, the German Juice singer reportedly moved to Benin to recover as well as save cost.
2. There Is Bad Blood Between Cynthia Morgan and Her Parents
Cynthia’s mother is Sherifat Morgan, a Benin-based Gospel musician. She is applauded to have single-handedly raised Cynthia in a religious home (Jehova’s Witness) where street and worldly music were forbidden. Her father (Name Unknown) abandoned her mother when she was just 20 years old and pregnant. Cynthia’s mother introduced her to music at an early age of 3 and it helped groom her for her future career ambition.
Sherifat is the one that registered Cynthia in the children’s choir before she worked her way up to be a Church Union Choir member. Sherifat did all she could to make sure her daughter had a good and better life, however, Cynthia suffers from psychological trauma caused by her single-parent status. Word on the street has it that the singer is always at loggerheads with her mother.
Sometime in the past, Cynthia went on social media and referred to her mother as a fool while replying to an Instagram post by former Big Brother Nigeria housemate Uti Nwachukwu. Uti’s post had stated how important family should be to people and how no one should turn their backs on family especially because of love. However, Cynthia Morgan’s reply that stated “family is the root of all evil especially when you have step-siblings and your mother is a fool” raised eyebrows among the public. Whatever the case, the parental relationship is out of place for Cynthia, and to make matters worse, she only met her father when she was seven (7) years old.
3. Her Rare Talent Drew Her to Jude Okoye
Cynthia dropped her first official single “Dutty Stepping” in 2009. Before then, she had started composing her own songs at age 16. She was greatly helped by Olayiwole Ibrahim Majekodunmi, professionally known as General Pype.
After she did the track with him, Cynthia became ready to lead a life of a musician and this made her leave Benin for the musical hub of Nigeria, Lagos. It was after her move to Lagos that she made the evergreen rap song “Ejo Le Fe Ro” with Adura Elijah (Jhybo); this is the track that caught the attention of Jude Okoye. In 2012, they met in Atlanta Georgia USA and they discussed their future together in the music industry.
In August 2013, she signed a four years record deal with Jude Okoye’s Northside Entertainment INC. Consequently, she released a plethora of songs, including “Don’t Break My Heart”, “Lead Me On”, “I’m Taken”, “German Juice”, and other smashing hits that catapulted to the hearts of her global fans and audience. Although this was the label that made her famous, her time with Northside Entertainment Inc. was short-lived.
4. Madrina Returned To Reveal That Her Shortcomings Led To Her Losing Her Stage Name
Following her revelations on the Instagram live chat with Sandra Ogbebor, massive backlash ensued with mixed reactions from the public. Jude Okoye was not spared at all by fans as well as colleagues who claimed to have had an ugly experience with him in the past. Furthermore, a movement to bring back Cynthia Morgan was started by Sandra Ogbebor who went ahead to open a GoFund Me account for the star to come back to music.
However, she came back later to reveal that she indeed erred and that the blame does not entirely lie on Jude Okoye. In an open letter directed to Nigerians, Madrina said that she was young in the industry and could have done things differently but did not. In the letter, she also went on to appreciate her former manager Jude Okoye for helping her build the Cynthia Morgan brand. She also asked fans to expect big things from her new brand ‘The Madrina’.
This gave more meaning to Jude Okoye’s side of the story which was that he didn’t stop her from using her stage name but only took over her Vevo account because she owed him N40 million. Jude had also released the copy of the contract the singer had signed when she joined his team.
5. Madrina Is Working Hard To Make A Comeback
With her new stage name, Cynthia has put the past behind her and is working on her new brand. There are rumors that the artist is set to release an EP, but Cynthia has urged her fans to remain patient with her. We’re not certain as to whether the singer is still based in Lagos but it is a fact that she has performed in various places in recent times.