Ikechukwu Onunaku, known professionally as Ikechukwu or Killz, is a Nigerian rapper, singer, and actor whose crossover into Nollywood via a leading blockbuster franchise added a screen career to an already-established music legacy.

Born on October 20, 1981, in Manassas, Virginia, to Nigerian parents, Onunaku was raised in Lagos and completed his secondary education at King’s College before moving to the United States for further study. He returned to Nigeria after roughly a decade abroad and released his debut album Son of the Soil in 2006, featuring the hit single My Name is Ikechukwu, which topped regional charts in the East for 21 weeks and in Lagos and Abuja for several weeks more.

Onunaku followed his debut with Life and Times of Killz Volume 1, produced by Don Jazzy and featuring D’Banj and Wande Coal, and went on to release The Alliance Reconstructed, home to further hits including Critical and Now Is the Time. His acting career began with a short film, The Wages, written and directed by Walter Taylaur, which screened at AFRIFF in 2014 and won Best Short Feature at the 2015 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards.

After a significant cameo in the Ndani-produced Gidi Up, Onunaku secured a role in the record-breaking 2016 film The Wedding Party, reprising the part in the 2017 sequel The Wedding Party 2: Destination Dubai. His filmography since has expanded to include Gbomo Gbomo Express, City Crimes, and the acclaimed Netflix drama Òlòtüré.

Onunaku married British model Ella, who hails from Imo State, in 2019, and continues to balance his recording career with acting, remaining one of the more notable examples of a Nigerian musician who has successfully built a parallel filmography in Nollywood.