If some older musicians’ careers have been characterized as “retired musicians,” then Okyeame Kwame, the rapper from Ghana, is not one of them. His tale is radically dissimilar.
He is a musician in his late 40s who has been performing for 26 years. He is a contestant for this year’s Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA) with the song “Insha Allah,” which features King Paluta.
He was nominated for Hiplife Song of the Year for the song, and he faces tough competition from up-and-coming artists like Oseikrom Sikani, Jay Bahd, and King Paluta.
While Okyeame Kwame, also known as Rap Dacta, should probably be giving himself a lot of credit for continuing to be nominated for Ghana’s biggest music awards after all these years in the business, he told Graphic Showbiz in a chat that he is actually working hard to win Artiste of the Year, the top prize, which he last won in 2009, fifteen years ago.
“It feels really great to be nominated even in my 26th year in music and that tells me that people appreciate what I’m doing. That is not to say that I would have been bothered if I missed out but it encourages me to do more.
“Besides, it is the more reason why I’m working hard to win the ultimate Artiste of the Year award again. It’s a must for me so I need to change the narrative by dropping a massive album, hopefully this year. I will put in more work to achieve the goal,” he said.
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Okyeame Kwame, whose real name is Kwame Nsiah Apau, has certainly shown perseverance and hard effort in a field that quickly “retires” older performers after a certain amount of time.
Okyeame Kwame, one half of the now-defunct musical duo Akyeame, won the Ghana Music Awards Group of the Year and Hiplife Song of the Year in 2000. Resurrecting from nearly a decade as a solo artist, Okyeame Kwame won the Artiste of the Year award in 2009.
Many years later, the father of two has persevered in pushing for nominations to the esteemed music awards, despite overwhelming odds. Undoubtedly, it’s a distinction that none of his fellow natives from the 1990s can make.
He listed a number of factors that contributed to his success, including having a youthful staff that is aware of how the existing system is operating, learning from others, having a strong management team in place, and offering something new to listeners.
