I must win Artiste of the Year again - Okyeame Kwame

If the title ‘retired musician’ has manifested in the careers of some older musicians, well, not that of Ghanaian rapper Okyeame Kwame. His story is very different.

He is in his late 40s, he has been doing music for the past 26 years, and is in this year’s Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA) race, with his song Insha Allah featuring King Paluta. 

The song earned him a nod in the Hiplife Song of the Year category, and he comes up strongly against younger acts such as King Paluta, Jay Bahd and Oseikrom Sikani, among others. 

While he probably should be patting himself on the back big time for still getting nominated in Ghana’s biggest music awards despite his many years in the industry, Okyeame Kwame, aka Rap Dacta, told Graphic Showbiz in a chat that he is rather working hard to, once again, grab the topmost prize, Artiste of the Year, which he won it 15 years ago in 2009.

“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. 

Born Kwame Nsiah Apau, Okyeame Kwame has undoubtedly been a testimony of resilience and hard work in an industry that is very quick to “retire” older artistes after some years. 

After winning the Ghana Music Awards Group of the Year and Hiplife Song of the Year in 2000 as one-half of the now-defunct music duo, Akyeame, Okyeame Kwame came back stronger after almost a decade as a solo artiste to win the Artiste of the Year award in 2009. 

Many years later, the father of two has defied the odds and continues to push hard to get nominations in the prestigious music awards. Certainly, a feat that none of his compatriots in the 90s can boast of. 

He attributed several reasons for his status, noting that having a good management team in place, bringing something fresh to listeners, learning from others, as well as having a young team that understands how the current system is moving has been to his advantage.