Ghana, boasting a population of slightly over 30 million, is in no way an enormous country. Nevertheless, the country’s cultural impact on a global scale is more extensive than one might ever anticipate!
Ghana is widely acknowledged as the birthplace of highlife music, and its influence on the modern Afrobeats scene has been legendary. “10 UK Musicians Originally From Ghana” was a topic that we have previously covered.
Today, ten American musicians with Ghanaian ancestry are examined.
Listed Below Are The Top Ten Musicians Of Ghanaian Descent Who Are American
1. Nana (The King Is Nana)
Renowned by DJ Booth as “Los Angeles’ next great storyteller,” Nana is a Los Angeles-born American rapper from the Crenshaw neighborhood.
Nana Opong was born to Ghanaian immigrants in 1989. Pastor and bishop by profession, his father established one of the earliest African congregations in Los Angeles, while his mother was an entrepreneur.
Active since 2012, Nana formerly performed under the stage name Blaison Maven. However, in 2018, he abandoned the adopted stage name and resumed performing under his given name, Nana, which translates to “king” in Akan, the native tongue of his parents’ country, Ghana.
Having completed numerous projects and made recent appearances on the COLORS SHOW and MajorStage, Nana is unquestionably an individual to keep an eye on.
2. Blackway
Yaw Sintim-Misa Blackway is a Ghanaian rapper who is under contract with Republic Records.
Blackway, a son of the renowned Ghanaian actor and provocateur Kweku Sintim Misa (KSM), was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States of America. He relocated to Ghana in 2006, where he remained until the age of thirteen, before returning to Long Island, New York, to be near his mother.
Blackway made his professional music debut with the release of “Radiant Child” in 2013. In contrast, his breakthrough came in 2018 when his track “What’s Up Danger,” which he co-created with DJ duo Black Caviar, was included on the official soundtrack of the critically acclaimed animated film Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, which grossed over $375 million and won the 2018 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
The soundtrack album for “What’s Up Danger” was nominated for the 62nd Grammy Award for “Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media” and subsequently obtained RIAA Gold Certification.
Blackway has since collaborated with the legendary Busta Rhymes and had his music featured in the Ivy Park x Adidas collaboration by Beyonce entitled “Hall of Ivy,” EA Sports’ Madden NFL, Fortnite, the UFC, and The NBA on TNT. Additionally, his track “Heavyweight” was selected as the official NFL “Song of the Season.”
Listed Below Are The Top Ten Musicians Of Ghanaian Descent Who Are American
3. Moses Sumney
Alternative/Indie and Folk music are the genres in which Ghanaian-American singer, instrumentalist, and songwriter Moses Sumney is active.
Sumney, who was born in California on May 19, 1992, was raised by his Ghanaian reverend parents. Ten years of age marked his family’s relocation to Ghana.
At this age, he characterized his childhood as “Americanized” and lamented the challenges he encountered in adapting to Ghanaian culture, particularly the pastoral characteristics of his new surroundings.
He was raised on a livestock farm in Accra, Ghana, and traveled to school via public transportation. Sumney’s family relocated to Riverside, Southern California, upon their return at the age of sixteen.
Sumney, who attended UCLA to study creative writing and poetry, debuted on the Los Angeles music scene in 2014 with his self-produced debut EP titled Mid-City Island. Since then, between 2016 and 2021, Sumney has released four additional EPs, two studio albums, and a live album, all of which have received widespread critical acclaim.
Sumney has also toured with Solange and Sufjan Stevens and collaborated with artists such as James Blake and Bon Iver. His most recent endeavor is a self-directed concert film titled Blackalachia.
4. Amaarae
Ama Serwaa Genfi, better referred to as Amaarae, is a producer, sound engineer, and Ghanaian-American vocalist.
Born in the Bronx, New York, on July 4, 1994, to Ghanaian parents Ama Bawuah and Kwadwo Boateng Genfi, she spent her childhood alternating between Atlanta, New Jersey, and Accra.
Her eldest sibling is two children. Her mixtape-making career began in high school, and by the age of seventeen, she had secured an apprenticeship at a music studio.
During our 2018 interview, Amaarae disclosed the following: “At the age of 13, I composed my initial composition, which was a reinterpretation of “Same Girl” by R. Kelly and Usher.” Upon her return to Ghana in June 2017.
Amaarae swiftly established herself as a prominent figure in the burgeoning Alté scene. In November of that year, she released her debut EP titled “Passionfruit Summers,” which served as an official declaration of her entry into the music industry.
After a span of three years, Amaarae finally published her debut studio album, titled “The Angel You Don’t Know,” on November 12, 2020. Said with Moliy’s assistance, “Sad Girlz Luv Money” emerged as a standout track from the album.
A remix of the song featuring Colombian diva Khali Uchis peaked at number one on the global Spotify Viral chart, the TikTok U.S. Top Tracks chart, and the Shazam US chart, all of which generated significant chatter on US radio.
Subsequently, the composition debuted at number 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, establishing her and Moliy as the initial Ghanaian female artists to achieve this historic achievement.
Listed Below Are The Top Ten Musicians Of Ghanaian Descent Who Are American
5. Coptic
Ghanaian-born and residing in New York Production mastermind Eric Kwabena Matlock, better known by his stage name Coptic, is credited with creating the number-one hip-hop single “I Need A Girl” on behalf of P.Diddy and his Bad Boy Entertainment label.
He has collaborated with notable figures in the hip hop industry, including the late Black Rob, the Notorious B.I.G, G-Dep, and Jermaine Dupri, KRS-One, Mase, Memphis Bleek, and Ice Cube. Born in Kumasi, Coptic spent the majority of his childhood in Accra and Awukugua.
At age 13, he departed Ghana for the United States in January 1983, initiating the commencement of an illustrious career. Through his “Rising Stars of GH” compilation series, Coptic has collaborated closely with some of Ghana’s finest lyricists, including Kwaw Kese, Edem, Sarkodie, M.anifest, E.L, and D-Black, and established his own record label, “The Black Star Line.”
Listed Below Are The Top Ten Musicians Of Ghanaian Descent Who Are American
6. V.I.C
Victor Grimmy Owusu, best known by his stage name V.I.C, was born on July 20, 1987 in Atlanta, Georgia. He is an American rapper.
However, he was born in Queens, New York, to a mother who was a native of New York and a father who was a Ghanaian African immigrant. Ten years old, he composed his first composition, an elementary school rap about drug awareness.
His family and he relocated to College Park, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb, later that year. He continued his craft development after graduating from high school by regularly competing in local open mic contests.
Young Mogul Entertainment, the label recently established by Michael “Mr. Collipark” Crooms, signed VIC. This was his major break. The release date of his debut album, Beast, was August 26, 2008.
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The Soulja Boy-produced club-jumping debut single “Get Silly” and the infectious party track “Wobble Wobble” established the rapper’s reputation. Regrettably, the rapper appeared to vanish from the musical sphere subsequent to the triumph of his debut album, as all endeavors to resurface appeared in vain.
7. YahZarah
YarZarah, whose actual name is Dana Nicole Amma Williams, is a music producer, songwriter, and Ghanaian-American singer. Beverly Brown and Thomas Kojo Oduro Kwarten, a Ghanaian activist, were her parents. She was adopted by her stepfather, Clarence Williams, on June 24, 1978. She spent her childhood alternating between Germany and Washington, D.C.
Williams began singing in the parish choir at the age of seven. At the age of ten, she won a local youth talent audition, which sparked her interest in music. “YahZarah” is a moniker she opted to bear in honor of her grandmothers, Yaa Asantewaa and Sarah, respectively.
YahZarah entered the recording industry in 2000 when she provided background vocals for Erykah Badu. YahZarah was featured in the music video for Badu’s Bag Lady and performed as the opening act for Badu’s “Mama’s Gun Tour” alongside Erykah Badu.
YahZarah signed with Keo Music Records later that year and immediately began producing her debut album. YahZarah released her debut studio album, Hear Me, in 2001.
The singles “Feel Me,” “Love Is You,” and “Natural” were taken from the album. YahZarah released three additional solo albums between 2003 and 2010, including “Black Star,” “The Prelude,” and “The Ballad of Purple St. James,” the latter of which was nominated for a Grammy in six distinct categories.
YahZarah released “The Ceremony,” a 12-track album, on February 21, 2021, following an 11-year absence. The album featured the Ghanaian rapper M.anifest on the track “Nsorma.” The name Nsorma means “Star” in “Twi,” the indigenous language of Ghana.
8. Nana Kwabena
Nana Kwabena Tuffuor, more commonly referred to as Nana Kwabena, was born on March 25, 1986. While residing in the United States, Kwabena is a rapper, vocalist, songwriter, and sound engineer.
Nana Kwabena was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Dinah Akosua Tuffuor and Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie, both of whom were Ghanaian immigrants. His mother founded an elementary school in Ghana and specializes in accounting, while his father is an entrepreneur and computer engineer.
Nana Kwabena has collaborated with Jidenna, Janelle Monáe, John Legend, Kanye West, Rick Ross, Kimbra, Seun Kuti, Mr. Eazi, Goldlink, and Quavo as a music producer.
However, his most renowned work is co-producing Jidenna’s certified platinum single, Classic Man, for which he received a Grammy nomination in 2015 for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 58th annual Grammy Awards.
Additionally, he has completed production on “Yoga,” a track featuring Jidenna, and “Made To Love” by John Legend.
Listed Below Are The Top Ten Musicians Of Ghanaian Descent Who Are American
9. Nabeyin
Edgar ‘Nabeyin’ Panford is a Ghanaian music producer of American descent. Nabeyin, the son of Ghanaian immigrants Mr. Ernest Panford and Madam Felicia Ennin, was raised with two siblings and two sisters in the northern portion of San Bernardino, California.
Early in Nabeyin’s musical career, his elder brother KGee, a rap artist and one half of KGPM, a Ghanaian hiplife duo from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, was a significant influence. During an interview with New Day on TV3, NaBeyin disclosed:
“Previously, my brother KGee was a member of a group known as KgPM.” In 2001, he relocated to the United States. Thus, he was without his producer, Hammer, at that time. Consequently, he endeavored to educate himself on the art of producing rhythms. As a result of that, I acquired it. “He was instructing me on how to construct various objects.”
Nabeyin has collaborated with Kanye West, Drake, Nas, Rocky Dawuni, The Game, Miguel, Reason, Isaiah Rashad, Wale, and Dave East during his approximately fourteen years in the industry.
His work on Kanye West’s critically acclaimed “Donda” earned him two Grammy nominations—one for “Best Rap Album” and the other for “Album of the Year”—at the 64th Grammy Awards.
Listed Below Are The Top Ten Musicians Of Ghanaian Descent Who Are American
10. Vic Mens
Professionally recognized as Vic Mensa, Victor Kwesi Mensah is an activist, rapper, performer, and record producer from the United States. Mensa was born in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, on June 6, 1993, to a Ghanaian father and a European American mother.
During his freshman year at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, he encountered Chancelor Bennett, who later became known as Chance the Rapper. Since then, the two have frequently collaborated.
In 2009, Vic Mensa rose to prominence as a member of the adolescent ensemble Kids These Days. In May 2013, following the release of two projects—an EP entitled “Hard Times” and a compilation entitled “Traphouse Rock”—the group will dissolve.
After Chance The Rapper and a multitude of other Chicago-based musicians, Vic will co-found the hip-hop collective Savemoney. Following his 2013 début on the highly regarded mixtape ‘Acid Rap’ by Chance the Rapper, he issued his debut single ‘Down on My Luck’ in June 2014.
2017 marked the publication of Mensa’s debut album, “The Autobiography,” which was signed to Roc Nation. Vic released a multitude of EPs and singles over the subsequent several years, including collaborations with Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, King Promise, M.anifest, Small God, Black Sherif, and other Ghanaian A-listers.
Mensa stated in an interview with Essence:
“I was extremely fortunate to have a childhood filled with an understanding of my heritage and culture, which has since been taken away from the majority of the individuals I hold dearest in this world……
In recent years, my time spent in Ghana has significantly increased. While I commenced returning home at the age of 11, it wasn’t until possibly 2020 that I began developing my own relationships and traveling independently.
“The Black Star Line Festival” is the most recent endeavor of Mensa; he and his longtime collaborator and childhood friend Chance The Rapper conceptualized it.
By means of this festival, the Chicago-born performers hope to engage black people in global cultural dialogues through the mediums of art and music. Accra has been designated as the venue for the inaugural Black Star Line Festival, which is scheduled for January 2023.