Most artists in the world develop and nurture their singing abilities in churches and Ghanaian musicians are no exception to this development. Some of these musicians in Ghana virtually had to go through the normal church ways of doing things before they finally rose to prominence. This article seeks to throw light on some of the musicians in Ghana who went through these processes before they became professional.
George Kwabena Adu (Kwabena Kwabena)
He realized he could achieve some feat in the music circles so he started playing guitar in church at the age of 14 and he also led the church choir. He then started hanging around Hush Hush studios featuring on various songs. He got introduced to Hammer of the Last 2 and ever since, he is been one of the Gurus so far as highlife music is concerned in Ghana. The contemporary highlife musician emerged after featuring Kontihene’s 2004 hit, Esi. He also featured Kontihene on his own debut hit, Aso.
Rebecca Akosua Acheampomaa Acheampong (BECCA)
Known as Becca in Ghanaian music scenes was quite active in church and school activities during her childhood days. She started her career with her church singing group and later gradually transitioned into becoming a great singer of the denomination. The Ghanaian singer, songwriter and actress first gained recognition as a contestant on the second season of TV3’s annual singing competition Mentor. She earned her five nominations at the 2008 Ghana Music Awards through her album’s lead single “You Lied to Me”.
Eugene Kwame Marfo (Kuami Eugene)
Kuami Eugene’s interest in music led him to sing in the church from a very young age where he also learned how to play the drum, keyboard, and guitar. He dropped out of school because of his love for music and spent some months studying music in a studio located in the Eastern Region without informing his parents and school authorities. He was expelled from his school Salvation Army Senior High school located at Akim- Wenchi after it was discovered that he is left without anybody’s notice. He is known for tracks such as confession, Angela, and a host of them.
Dennis Nana Dwamena(KiDi)
The former Accra Academy student started his career gradually in church until in 2015 when he took a leap of faith by joining the MTN Hitmaker competition. KiDi shot to prominence in 2017 when he released “Say You Love Me” a song he did not only composed but also arranged and produced. KiDi established himself as one of the fastest rising stars in Ghana when he released yet another song titled “Odo” in July 2017, the remix with Nigerian artist Davido and Mayorkun in December 2017, and Adiepena in April 2018.
Emmanuel Andrews Sammini(Samini)
He started singing in a church choir at the age of 14 and became a professional musician after a musical collaboration with another musician in 1999. Samini’s success and recognition began when his first single, Linda, was released and subsequently appearing on other successful singles by other artists. He is won a lot of awards since he joined the music industry.
Kurl Songx
The Jennifer Lomotey singer is a music director at his church and that where he started with his music career. Despite releasing his hit song “Jennifer Lomotey” which was considered secular in the Christian circles, He still remains the music director of the church. His Jennifer Lomotey song received massive airplay and went viral and even sparked some controversy in certain parts of the country.
Adina Thembi Ndamse
Adina started singing when she was a young girl at church. She shot to prominence in the Ghana music scene when she competed in the music reality show ‘Stars of the Future’ organised by Charter House Ghana and eventually became the winner. Her eighth music single titled “Too Late” won her two awards which was the Record of the Year and Best Female Vocalist of the Year at the 2018 Ghana Music Awards.