[ 2014-10-13 ]

Okyeame Kwame, The definition of versatility in Ghana Music
It's quite unfortunate that the expectations of
fun-loving Ghanaians has been cut short by the
exit of the Black Stars of Ghana from the World
Cup. I find it difficult to believe that Ghana has
been axed from the World Cup despite the prophesy
by a Man of God that we would win the World Cup
for the very first time.

By the way, what do you think of Kweku Bonsam now
especially when he was boasting around that he had
''worked'' Portugal's Ronaldo and that the World's
Best Player wouldn't be able to play in the World
Cup? What excuse would he give Ghanaians having in
mind that Ronaldo was fit and even scored against
Ghana?

I also find it amazing the kind of blood that
flows in the veins of the Tom and Jerry of the
Ghanaian Team. Are you wondering who Tom and Jerry
are? Keep on wondering and guessing as I switch to
the main issue at hand. It's another edition of
Celebrations with Ebenezer Narh Affum. Frankly, I
go through a hell of a time in deciding who to
celebrate in a particular week as I have a long
list of personalities worth celebrating. I hope
you have been enjoying the column and I would
continue celebrating our stars. For this week, I
present to you Okyeame Kwame.

Okyeame Kwame is a showbiz name but his real name
is Kwame Nsiah Apau and he hails from Nsuta in the
Ashanti Region of Ghana. He is the third of five
boys and also has a sister. He is the elder
brother of Bradez made up of Kwaku Nsiah-Boamah
(Stone –Flowking) and Kwaku Nsiah Amankwah
(Kuntakinte) who announced their presence on the
music scene in 2004.

Okyeame Kwame's parents hoped that he would become
a doctor but then his dream was to become a
professional musician. He started writing music
right from his primary school days and also had
lessons in music when he continued his education
at Kumasi Anglican Secondary School. His present
spectacular stage presence and performance can be
traced to his performances and the confidence he
built up whilst performing on various stages at
school.

After secondary school, he got admission to the
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
(KNUST) ,where he read Akan and Sociology. Under
the tutelage of Agya Koo Nimo, he also had the
opportunity to study Classical Guitar and Applied
Music and finally graduated with a degree in
2010.

Okyeame Kwame's music career started in the late
90's when he teamed up with Daniel Quophi Amoateng
a.k.a Quophi Okyeame to form Akyeame. As a duo,
they were very successful but as should be
expected, the two gentlemen decided to go solo.
Okyeame Kwame wanted to pursue higher dreams in
his music career, hence went solo to set up his
own record label, One Mic Entertainment. It would
interest you to know that he also has his own
recording studio.

Impressively, after more than fifteen years in the
music industry, Okyeame Kwame is still relevant
unlike other artistes. As a very talented
musician, Okyeame Kwame has played a pivotal role
in the success stories of his colleague artistes
by way of his input in collaborations. He has
collaborated with artistes such as Samini, Tinny,
Kwabena Kwabena, Oheneba Kissi, Daasebre Dwamena,
Obour, Bradez, Old Sodja, Ofori Amponsah, Kofi
Nti, Olu Maintain, Jay Ghartey, Richie, Akatakyie,
Quarme Zaggy and a host of others.

He is currently working on an album''African
Connection''which features some of the best
artistes on the African continent. It would
surprise you to know that the idea of ''African
connection'' was hatched as a result of my article
which was published in Flex Newspaper.

Okyeame Kwame is one artiste who uses his
celebrity status to affect the society in a
positive way. Since 2009, he has been offering
free Hepatitis B screening to the general public
with support from MTN Ghana Foundation, MDS-Lancet
Laboratories and Japan Motors. Without
exaggerating, I can say that he has been able to
screen at least 5000 people. He is currently
building a Hepatitis B Centre at Tamale.

Okyeame Kwame, as an entrepreneur, is a partner in
a shoe manufacturing company called Horseman. He
has worked with Coca Cola, MTN and other corporate
institutions as a Brand Ambassador. Apart from
music which is his first love, Okyeame Kwame has
featured in some movies such as Ties That Bind,
The Comforter and Amsterdam Diary as well as some
reality shows.

In as much as a musician is expected to churn out
hits for the general public, it becomes quite
disappointing if a musician is unable to win any
award within his or her music career. As I
celebrate Okyeame Kwame, I can say with all
confidence that with the number of nominations and
awards he has, it goes a long way to prove how
hard he has worked over the years.

At the 2014 Ghana Music Honors, Okyeame Kwame
received the Hiplife Legend award for his
contribution in building Hiplife as a music genre
in Ghana. In 1999, he got nominated for Hiplife
Song Of The Year, Artiste Of The Year, Song Of The
Year and Music Video of the Year for the Ghana
Music Awards. He picked up the award for Hiplife
Song of the Year. In the year 2004, 2008, and 2010
and for the same Ghana Music Awards, he got
nominated in the Best Collaboration of the Year
category.

In the year 2009, Okyeame Kwame went home with
five awards at the Ghana Music Awards. The awards
were Song writer of the year, Best Hiplife/Hip-hop
artiste, Best Video of the year, Hip-hop Song of
the Year and the Artiste of the year. At the 2012
Ghana Music Awards, apart from winning the awards
for Song writer Of The Year and Best Collaboration
of the year, Okyeame Kwame got nominated for Most
Popular Song Of The Year, Best Hiplife/Hip-hop
Artiste, Artiste Of The Year, Hiplife Song Of The
Year, Best Music Video Of The Year, Best Rapper Of
The Year and Record Of The Year.

Without any doubt, Okyeame Kwame is one artiste
who has been and still very successful. In the
2009 Africa Music Awards (UK), he got nominated
for Best West African Artiste, Best African Video
and Best Song. In the same 2009, he got nominated
for Best West African Artiste, Most young and
Talented Artiste, Best Hiphop Video and Video of
the year at the Channel O Music Video Awards. For
the Suncity Music Video Awards, Okyeame Kwame 's
''woso'' music video got nominated as Best African
Video in 2009 and in 2012, he again got nominated
for the same award with the ''faithful'' music
video.

In the year 2011, as a result of his persistent
hardwork and determination, Okyeame Kwame had a
fair share of awards and nominations. He received
the Music for Development award from World Bank
and the High School Role Model of the year award
from Hi-Skull Entertainment Awards. He got
nominated for Best Hiplife Video and Best Male
Video at the 4SYTE Music Video Awards as well as
Best Cameo at the Ghana Movie Awards.

In the 2013 edition of Ghana Music Awards, Okyeame
Kwame won only the award for Song Writer Of The
Year even though he got nominated for Best Rapper
Of The Year, Record Of The Year, Album of the Year
and Best Collaboration Of The Year. In the year
2004 at the Ghana Music Awards (Italy), Okyeame
Kwame got nominated for Best Hiplife Song,
Songwriter of the year and Best Collaboration of
the Year.

Based on these elaborate achievements by Okyeame
Kwame so far, I hope you agree with me that it was
a good idea to celebrate him in Celebrations with
Ebenezer Narh Affum. He has been on the scene for
the past 15 years and he has no intention of
retiring anytime soon. Congratulations to Okyeame
Kwame, you are a true son of Ghana helping to
promote the country through music. Keep up the
good work.

Source - Ghanamusic

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