Hello Neoxian City!
This is my very first time entering the Neoxian City Talent Hunt, and honestly, it pushed me more than I expected. Dusting up my voice to sing a full, challenging song again was not easy at all. I had to warm up, retry parts, and remind myself to keep going. Creating the video came with its own struggle too, from setting to editing to this stage.

But at the very least, I got something better. I connect deeply with the song I chose for this cover. It speaks about being free from what has happened in the past, moving forward, accepting who I am, and still striving to become a better version of myself. That message alone made this song special to me, like I was speaking to myself.

The song itself is one of my favorites from the movie “Kpop Demon Hunters”, originally sung by Ejae & Andrew Choi. I love it's emotion and strength. Now, let’s be real, I’m not great with rap, but I still tried my best to sing Jinu’s part as well as I could. I also enjoyed doing a little duo play in the cover, switching between parts and energy.

And yes, the hair change was intentional. Just a tiny way to show who’s Rumi and who’s Jinu so don’t take it too seriously. This cover may not be perfect, but it’s honest, fun, and a big step for me. I’m proud I showed up and tried. Good luck to every other participants and thanks to the organizers of this hunt. Until next time, bye!!! ❤️

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A fruitful and Happy New Year to anyone reading this! We made it to Year 2026, congratulations!

I've shared a lot and enough about 2025 but for the very last time and my own way of ushering the new year in good spirit, I want to share one more thing I've been holding off until now because I needed to complete it no matter what.

A 31-Day "Face The Camera" Streak I started on the 1st of December 2025. Before that day, I didn't think I'd be able to even start than to complete it but here I am today looking back to it with a sense of pride and gratitude, I really did it.

What inspired making these videos was simply to groom myself in facing the camera doing more than just singing. Anyone who knows me know how easily I can sing to the camera, well, it's totally different for me when I have to talk to it.

So the video above is a compilation of all the videos I made through from 1st - 31st of the last month of the year. There were days I wanted to let it go, since I didn't have anyone who'd hold me accountable for missing a day but I didn't let go.

On my last video of the month, I didn't just talk a little, I sang a song of gratitude acknowledging that God has indeed held us together all year even when some things failed. It's one of my favorite gratitude song through out year 2025.

What do I plan to do with this streak in this new year? To be honest, I have no idea but I recently gained a new skill that might require me exploring more of using the camera and saying the things I know and I'm sure of that I can do.

I believe with my experience facing the camera, it's not as hard as I had first thought it to be even though most of what I said were on mute. I shared how my day went, told stories and mumbled words to myself, I can do a lot better.

One of my major 2026 plan using this completed streak challenge is to do more video content of me, not just singing but saying words that would impact the listeners. I'm not sure how I'll go about it yet but it's definitely a plan to succeed in.

I'd have asked for rating on my videos but I think there's no need, just providing evidence that I did finish all day of the month facing the camera for over 1 minute on each video. It was a feat that I'm glad I did completed. I got encouraged too.

P.S: This post was supposed to be published last throwback Thursday (New Year's Day) but I couldn't meet up to get it posted so here it is.

_{First image is mine and edited with Canva.
Videos are from my gallery.}

I've been procrastinating when to write about this event I witnessed late last month. It was an unplanned invite that I couldn't refuse and I was so glad I got to accept the invite. I went with a family friend and her family, the journey to the place is a story on it's own. It was so far away.

To make things worse, it rained heavily while we were on our way. It made me wonder if I should have rejected the offer but we were almost at the place so no turning back. Thankfully, we got to the venue and it turned out that we were among the first three persons who have showed up early.

The wait for the family's arrival was long but it got very lively when the mother came around and greeted her invitees. We all gathered in a room she had decorated for the surprise bash awaiting the arrival of the celebrant. We were told her grandmother took her out to buy us enough time.

Finally, Hadassah (the celebrant) arrived and was welcomed with a loud "Surprise!!!" and a beautiful saxophone play. I had never seen her before that moment except on pictures but I must say, she looked more beautiful than in the pictures. Her smiles and gratitude was massive.

This was the hall we were made to sit and wait for their arrival before the surprise bash. I and the family friend I went there with couldn't stay long enough to do the after surprise party but I thought the decorations were cool. We only got to take pictures and our gifts then we went home.

I think this was the first surprise birthday party I've attended. Even though it was a kinda low key, I saw the love and happiness in the faces of everyone who were there to celebrate the 16 year old girl. She couldn't stop smiling and embracing everyone who came to make a memory with her.

There were lots of gifts for her from family and friends. A beautiful cake, money cake, perfumes, Pam slippers, a doll, framed picture and a lot more. I think the most emotional part of the birthday bash was when she had a moment with her mother. From the story I heard, it's been a lot.

I'm sure she would remember that day for a long time and that was definitely the essence of throwing a party like that. I had fun watching in the scenes, taking shoots and singing birthday song to her. After the whole indoor celebrations, we didn't stay long to see the celebrant change for more activities to play out but it was all good.

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Hello Vibes Community!
It's always a pleasure to join in with the great musicians for the vibes week and so I'm glad to be here with my entry for this week. There are no theme chosen so I decided to take this chance to explore a song I've had on my playlist for a while.

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Hello Vibes Community!
It's always a pleasure to join in with the great musicians for the vibes week and so I'm glad to be here with my entry for this week's theme. I decided to go back to an old movie I saw long ago, a movie that held deep meaning for me when I saw it. The song is one of the best parts.

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Hello Vibes Community!
It's always a pleasure to join in with the great musicians for the vibes week and so I'm glad I am here with my entry for the no theme week. I decided to do a cover of a Korean drama OST, my favourite from the series "18 Again" and I bet you'd see why it's my favourite when you listen.

_{Image used is mine, edited with Canva}

Hello Vibes Community!
I've been feeling a lot better since the last time I shared about my health worries and I'm grateful about it. It's always a pleasure to join in with the great musicians for the vibes week and so I'm glad I am able to participate one more time, this time with my younger Bro for another duet cover.

No theme was chosen for this week and it didn't make deciding a song to cover easy but I had fun with the one I finally chose to do a cover of. There were two songs in mind but this one won it for us and I was glad my Bro accepted to do it with me, we should be having his own entry soon.

_{Image is mine, edited with inshot}

Hello my fellow music lovers in the Hive Open Mic community! I'm here with another entry for the special theme of this week "Holy Spirit". A theme that reminds me of the power of holiness.

A lot of spiritual songs fits this theme for me but I decided to go back in time with my brother using a medley we've once learnt because of it's powerful lyrics. Playing this song again after so many years felt nostalgic but more than that, it reminds me of God's love and kindness to man.

God and the Holy spirit work hand in hand to make everyone of us live right with our conscience judging us to keep us in check. One of God's attributes that humans should have especially in today's world is what the song medley I chose emphasised on, that is Merciful.

"Mercy/Touch The Sky" is a medley song by Caleb And Kesley, a husband and wife who has been touching lives with their spiritual medley songs. This particular song seem more like my favourite but if I am being honest, I love all their medley songs because every of their song lyrics has a deep message for it's listeners.

So my brother and I did a cover of this medley in response to the theme, we hope you enjoy listening especially to the lyrics. Let me know what you think about the song, share your feedback in the comments. Until the next week!

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Hello my fellow music lovers in the Hive Open Mic community! I'm here with another entry for the special theme of this week "The Last Time". A theme that reminds me of one word, "Closure".

I had a bit of a hard time finding a song that would fit this theme better but I'm sure it's because I had less time to find one since I have had it in mind to share my entry today. Well, I browsed through my playlist and a song sounded perfect for the theme so I decided to cover it.

The meaning of the theme that fits my song choice is... "While we feel it's the last time, it is also a start to something new and if we would learn to regret less, we would be happier in the future" and my song choice is "For The Lover That I Lost" by Sam Smith, expressing one's sadness towards saying final goodbye to a lover.

From the first time I listened to this song, I felt it was so emotional even though I can't relate to losing a lover to death. But it is indeed a very sad experience nobody wants to go through. The song tends to be on a more positive light even though it has sad lyrics, the artist expresses gratitude for the time he had spent with his lover.

The pitch of the song is lower than my normal range at the end but I tried to sing as well as I could, I hope you enjoy my cover. Let me know what you think about the song, share your feedback in the comments. Until the next week!

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Hello Vibes Community!

I thought I'd miss out on sharing an entry for this week because I've been battling with cracked voice as I had cough and catarrh. The wait while I was treating it and hoping my voice will let me sing my song choice soon enough before deadline, was quite long and finally, I had to force the situation and do what I could with the voice.

Until this week's theme, I've never heard of the genre of music, EDM but from my research, I've listened to a lot of them without knowing they are music in that genre. I figured there are a lot of songs I love from this genre but I had to choose one that resonates with me and I could sing and dance to. I went from "Cascade" to "Alan Walker".

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Hello my fellow music lovers in the Hive Open Mic community! I'm here with another entry for the special theme of this week "Gift To Mum". A theme that will reminds us of "A Mother's love".

Mother's Day passed by like every other day for some but for some, it was one of the days to be reminded that their mothers have done a lot for them and some show a little appreciation through gifts, outings and even singing to them.

The meaning of the theme that fits my song choice perfectly is... "Our parents deserve our love too, after the love they've shown us growing up especially in their old age" and my song choice is "Kids" by Sasha Sloan, song that expresses that our "parents will become kids".

As much as we appreciate our mothers for their love, I always tend to think of my father too when I want to do something as a little appreciation to my mother. They have both impacted my life in many ways and I know some day, they will be no longer able to be as strong as they are now.

Sasha, in the first solo of the song directed it to her dad for all he did to save his sick father. Promising to take care of him like he did to his own father because she knows he will one day become like a kid that she has to take care of.

In the second solo of the song, it's directed to the mother, thanking her for the restless nights she had to go through just to make sure her children were fine and safe. Buying what she wants and taking care of her when she can no longer care for herself is a responsibility she will gladly take.

And there's also the bridge of the song that is like a prayer, hoping that our own children will take care of us when we grow old. I believe this is everyone's prayer and it's really the best gift one will give to his or her mum. So listen to the song.

The song is on a low pitch but I tried to sing it and bring my voice out to be heard. Let me know what you think about the song and any correction in the comment section. Until the next week!

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Image is gotten from Canva}

Hello my fellow music lovers in the Hive Open Mic community! I'm here with another entry for the special theme of this week "Through the rain". A theme that reminds me of "Resilience".

I'm better in health now so this song seem like a reminder to everyone else that it's never the end when it feels like it, I've come out through the rain of sickness and I'm well now, I'm glad to be here.

The meaning of the theme that fits my song choice perfectly is... "Life is full of ups and downs, it's a fact we must accept but never be too proud or feel strong to ask for help because we are all here for each other" and my song choice is "You Will Be Found" by Natalie Grant & Cory Asbury, song about "Looking to find help".

Personal experiences have taught me that we can never be beyond asking for help or needing assistance from another, whether family or friends. Choosing to go through the rain (a hard time) on your own doubles the downs of it on you, it can be minimal when we rely on others.

My brother @justin.ahama and I sang a duet cover of the song, the learning process was quite something to share about. Even at the time of presenting, we still struggled with some of the lyrics but we hope the outcome put a smile on your face and reminds you that you can be found.

It was nice singing with my Bro, we both had fun learning it and we hope you listeners have a nice time on it as much as we did. Let us know what you think about our cover and any correction in the comment section. Until the next week!

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Image is gotten from Canva}

Hello my fellow music lovers in the Hive Open Mic community! I'm here with another entry for the special theme of this week "Stronger". A theme that violates everything about weakness.

I've been missing the past weeks because I've still been sick but thankfully I'm here today and it's a sign I'm getting better, so don't mind my sick face. I just had to face the camera and sing away.

The meaning of the theme that fits my song choice perfectly is... "Believing in oneself, being courageous that you are free to be whoever you want to be with no fear and that is strength in itself" and my song choice is "No Longer Slave" by Bethel Music, about strong belief in freedom.

Our version of the song "No Longer Slave" is a freestyle, didn't do much practice as I only decided to join in today and asked my Bro to join me so it comes out better than I'd have done on my own hehe. It's an old song and one we learnt a long time ago with our friends from before.

I don't believe in having physical strength to be called strong, it's more about the mindset and what and how well you can do what you choose to do at any given point in time. One thing I've learnt that takes our strength away is fear, getting rid of fear is a show of strength and courage too.

I chose this song for the theme because it focuses on the meaning from the direction of, I am fighting fears every day to become a stronger version of myself and I hope it came out well enough for you listeners. Until the next week!

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Image is gotten from Canva}

Hello to the Hive learners community!
It's a new week, a beautiful week for me as it's starting with the creative Sunday initiative and this time, I'm sharing recipe of one of my tribes native meal that I prepared some weeks ago, Banga soup (also called Amiedi) as we call it in my tribe, there's also banga stew but this isn't it.

It's one of my favourite soup for many reasons and one of them is that, it becomes sweeter the longer it stays. I know it's weird but it's that kind of soup, anyone who loves the soup never gets tired of it till the soup finishes and it can serve as a multipurpose, to take swallow or parboiled rice.

The process of making the meal isn't as easy as it looks though but the result is always worth it if well prepared. It's one of the meals I learnt how to prepare from my dad, I just add my style here and there trying out for a better different taste but it's always going to have that palm fruit taste.

Here's how I prepared the soup, these are the ingredients I used in preparing my Banga soup.

• Palm fruits
• Meat and iced fish.
• Cowskin.
• Periwinkle.
• Pepper and onions.
• Vegetables (beletete and bitter leaf)
• Crayfish, maggi, salt and banga spices.

The Process
First, I boiled the palm fruits for about 30 minutes and extracted the juice from it. Note, palm oil isn't used for this soup as the juice is already having enough oil. While the palm juice is boiling, I added my ingredients starting with the meat and cowskin as I didn't steam them separately.

I added the rest ingredients as shown in the video and the result came out looking like this. One hack I do with my meals is, I use fresh ingredients for fresh proteins. For this soup, I used fresh pepper because the meat and fish are fresh ones, it tastes better when I use this style.

So tell me, will you try this recipe? Have you prepared this before, How do you prepare yours?

I do hope you enjoy watching the video. Your comments will be very much appreciated. It's always a pleasure to participate in this initiative and I'm grateful to the community for the opportunity and support. Until next time...

_{Images are mine and designed with inshot}

Hello my fellow music lovers in the Hive Open Mic community! I'm here with another entry for the special theme of this week "Be Reborn". A theme that reminds of the great word "Change".

It's a bit sad I missed last week's theme for health reasons but I'm much better now and glad to hop on this one before deadline. I had a bit of a difficulty deciding which song I'll go for though.

The meaning of the theme that fits my song choice perfectly is... "To start again, a new life, a fresh memory, a change in belief" and my song choice is "Older" by Sasha Sloan, a song about steady & slow realization and a change in belief.

Older is a song I've had on my playlist for a while now, one of my favourite from this relatable artist. This song of hers is about what's happening in the real world, where we have parents who aren't perfect but we think wrongly.

Even I, at some point, thought my dad was some kind of superhero that shouldn't make mistakes but over time, I've come to understand that we are all humans who have to make mistakes to learn some things. My thoughts have changed.

I chose this song for the theme because it talks about a change in belief from childhood to adulthood (a life's reborn) and I hope it came out well enough for you listeners. Until the next week!

_{Song lyrics in the video subtitle
Image is mine and designed with Canva}