Denning Edem Hotor is a
Ghanaian
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...
recording artist and entertainer who performs under the name Edem.
In 2015, he was awarded Best International Act-Africa at the Black Canadian Awards in Canada.
Early life
Edem hails from Dzogadze, a small town in Abor, in the
Volta Region
Volta Region (or Volta) is one of Ghana's sixteen administrative regions, with Ho designated as its capital. It is located west of Republic of Togo and to the east of Lake Volta. Divided into 25 administrative districts, the region is multi-et ...
of
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
.
Of two kids, Edem is the only son and Wendy Sefakor Agbeviadey. The young Edem spent most of his youth in
Accra
Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...
and
Aflao
Aflao is a town in Ketu South District in the Volta Region on Ghana's border with Togo. Aflao is the twenty-eighth most populous settlement in Ghana, in terms of population, with a population of 96,550 people.
In the 18th century, Aflao served a ...
. He completed his primary and Junior High education at the Amazing Love International Schools. As a product of the secondary school system in Ghana, he enrolled in
Bishop Herman College
Bishop Herman College, sometimes abbreviated to BIHECO, is a boys-only second-cycle institution located at Kpando in the Volta Region of Ghana.
History
Bishop Herman College was the first Catholic boys secondary school established by the Roman ...
for his senior high school education.
He lost his mother at age 13. He was left with his dad, a lawyer, and his sister. He lost his dad at age 16. His only immediate family at the moment is his sister. He grew up surrounded by music, ranging from
hip hop to
dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...
,
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
and
highlife
Highlife is a music genre that started in present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its Gold Coast (British colony), history as a colony of the British Empire and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It describes multiple local fusions ...
.
By age nine, Edem was usually caught pounding on tables, empty tins and any item that could produce good rhythm. He joined his first music group in junior high. In senior high, he formed a 6-member group called the Ringmasters. They performed at the school as well as at funfairs elsewhere. They usually sang, rapped and danced. After senior high school, he proceeded with his quest to build a commercial career in music. He recorded in the underground with artists including Kokromoti, Nival,
Trigmatic
Enoch Nana Yaw Oduro- Agyei, known by his stage name Trigmatic, is a Ghanaian musician, composer and songwriter from Accra, Ghana. On March 18, 2022, he hosted the debut edition of the Africa Music Business Dialogue at the SIlverbird Cinemas in A ...
, Vyroz, M.O.B and Osibo .
Music
Edem appeared on
Voice of America
Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...
where he talked about his "Nyedzilo" video, which features
Mavin Records' Reekado Banks
Ayoleyi Hanniel Solomon (born 6 December 1993), better known by his stage name Reekado Banks, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. He signed with Mavin Records in 2014 and left the label in 2018. He went by the stage name Spicy before his recor ...
, and his videos such as "The One", featuring
Sway that talks about Africa's liberation and his award-winning song Koene previously featured on Music Time Africa by
Heather Maxwell and
Vincent Makori
Vincent Makori is the anchor of ''Africa 54,'' Voice of America’s English television live news magazine show that broadcasts daily from Washington D.C. The program brings information about Africa, the United States, and the world to viewers acr ...
.
In 2006, he released his first radio hit single "Witine Woshi", which translates as "we came and they ran". It gained much popularity in his region and added to his underground reputation. That year, he got together officially with The Last Two Entertainment Group, headed by the hit maker
Hammer of The Last Two
Hammer of The Last Two (born Edward Nana Poku Osei; March 27, 1977) is a record producer in the Ghanaian music industry. He is the founder and CEO of The Last Two Music Group and is also known for grooming some of the best Ghanaian Hip Hop or ...
. This label is responsible for artists including
Obrafour
Michael Elliot Kwabena Okyere Darko popularly known as Obrafour, other names include Rap Executioner and Rap Sofo (born 1976) is a Ghanaian hiplife musician and rapper. Obrafour has a unique style of Twi rapping and storytelling. His popular and ...
in 1999,
Tinny, Kwaw Kesse in 2005.
Edem appeared at live shows such as the opening act for the
John Legend
John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Ever ...
concert at the International Conference Center in Accra in 2007. Before his debut album, he collaborated with other acts such as Obrafour.
After two years in the studio (2006 December to 2008 December), he came up with his first single "Bougez". It received airplay across the country. His first album featured new as well as established acts such as Tinny,
Kwaw Kese
Emmanuel Kofi Botwe , known by his stage name Kwaw Kese and popularly called Abodam (''craziness''), is a Ghanaian hiplife artist. Kwaw Kese is well known for his hit album ''Abodam 2007'', for which he won five awards at the 2008 edition of the ...
, Sarkodie, Obour, Asem, K. k. Fosu, Tuba,
Samini
Emmanuel Andrews Sammini (born 22 December 1981 in Accra, Ghana), known by his stage name Samini (formerly as Batman Samini), is a Ghanaian Reggae and Dance hall recording artiste from Wa, Ghana. His genre of music is a melodious mixture of h ...
, Jayso, Trigmatic, El and Gemini.
Edem appeared on shows such as Stars of the Future Season 3 Finales, Ghana Music Awards (2009) and all major university concerts. He has been a part of the University of Ghana's Commonwealth Hall week, Akuafo Hall week, Evandy Hostel(Legon) week celebration, Pentagon Hostel week celebration, Miss WA Poly, Miss Ho Poly, KNUST's Unity Hall week celebration and University Of Cape Coast's Kwame Nkrumah Hall Week 2013.
Debut album: ''Volta Regime'' (2009)
His Debut Album ''The Volta regime'' was released in January 2009.
This album is a result of two years of recordings in Accra. All the lyrics were written by Edem. The compositions were produced by Hammer of The Last Two who doubled as the executive producer.
Second album: ''Mass Production'' (2011)
''Mass Production'' was to be a transition from his first. The album, he said, holds a mixture of unique beats produced by various engineers including hammer. Edem says, "...It basically is a transition from me being an artiste with a first album and now trying to put music out that will be appealing to everybody that has supported me. Now the album is Mass Production because it is going to be made easily available and affordable to everybody in a sphere of life in the country." In an interview with Peacefmonline.com, Edem disclosed that his favorite song on the album is "Kate" the only track produced by Hammer of The Last Two. "Anytime I hear that song it reminds me of my beginning", he said. On why he decided to drop Ayigbe from his name, he said "This has nothing to do with image crisis."
"The intention of ''Volta Regime’'' as an album was to make a statement for my region to be respected...this statement was to make everybody know that you can use your dialect and sell anywhere across the world and in doing that I wanted to also make sure the people from my region take pride when they are derogatorily called Ayigbe people or anything."
"Two years along the line after executing ‘Volta Regime’, I know a lot of people who take pride in the name now", he explained. He said the purpose of using Ayigbe has been fulfilled hence his decision to stick to only Edem which is still an Ewe name.
His videos include "Delaila" ft
M.I, "The One remix" ft
Sway, "Only in Ghana", "Wicked" and "Bad" ft Coded (4x4), Koene, "Over Again remix" and "Not on my level (heyba)", which featured on BET 106 &Park, ChannelOTV and TraceTv. "Not on My Level? reached 49th position on Reflexfm Urban top100 chart in Netherlands.
''Books & Rhymes''
His next album was ''Books & Rhymes''.
EP release 2020
In 2020, he announced the release of a six-track audio-visual EP, titled 'Mood Swings' expected to come out on July 24, 2020. He dedicates the EP to his mother who died while He was a teenager.
Recognition
Edem won the Best International Act-Africa at 2015 Black Canadian Awards.
He beat
Mafikizolo
Mafikizolo is a South African Afro-pop music duo formed in 1996, consisting of composer Theo Kgosinkwe and lead singer Nhlanhla Nciza. The duo rose to fame after they released their singles "Ndihamba Nawe kuphela", "Kwela Kwela", "Sibongile", "U ...
(South Africa), Yemi Alade (Nigeria),
Davido
David Adedeji Adeleke (born November 21, 1992), popularly known by his stage name Davido, is an American-Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. His music blends traditional African elements with global mainstream pop. Davido is widel ...
(Nigeria), Eddy Kenzo (Uganda), Oritse Femi (Nigeria), and Teeyah (Ivory Coast) to win the award.
Edem won 2015 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards Album of the Year ''Books and Rhymes'',
Afropop
African popular music (also styled Afropop, Afro-pop or Afro pop), like African traditional music, is vast and varied. Most contemporary genres of African popular music build on cross-pollination with western popular music. Many genres of po ...
song of the year with "Koene" and Video of the Year with "The One" video featuring
SwayUk.
He topped the 2014 4syte TV Music Video Awards with 3 awards for Best Directed, Best Photography and Most Outstanding Video for "The One" featuring SwayUK directed by Gyo Gyimah.
When the nominations list for the 2010
Ghana Music Awards
The Ghana Music Awards, currently known as the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs) for sponsorship reasons, is an annual music awards event in Ghana established in 1999 by a local event organizer and planner company known as CharterHouse to origi ...
was released, Edem's maiden album had earned seven nominations.
Philanthropic
Edem offered various items and a cash amount to the maternity ward of the Mamobi Polyclinic in Accra in September 2009.
After hearing Father Campbell, the priest in charge of the Weija
Leprosarium
A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. '' M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East Af ...
calling for help, Edem donated some items and money to the Weija Leprosarium on 10 October 2009 and in the spirit of charity, he offered items and a cash amount.
Edem made a donation to the parents of Michelle Koranteng, a 4 month old baby who was suffering from a congenital brain disorder. He also made a donation to the maternity ward of the Hohoe General Hospital and called on the government to do more to reduce malaria .
Personal life
Edem started music in high school where he formed a 6-member group called Ringmasters, he is the only son to his parents who are both dead . Edem rose to fame in 2006 with his first hit single "WOTOME WOSHI" and he got signed to The Last Two Entertainment Group that same year. Edem is a student of the Meridian pre-university. In February 2011, the rapper became a father after the birth of his daughter and claimed to be in a committed relationship with marriage plans. He is married with two children.
List of awards
WatsUp TV
WatsUp TV is a 24 hour digital entertainment Television channel made for the Pan-African Bi-Lingual community and also aired on various television channels across Africa founded by Abd Traore.
Its award, the WatsUp TV Africa Music Video Award ...
Africa Music Video Awards
!Ref
, -
, rowspan="5", 2016
, rowspan="5", Nyedzilo
, African Video of the Year
,
,
, -
, Best African Combo Video
,
,
, -
, Best African Dance Video
,
,
Discography
* The Story of Efo Kodjo
*Nyedzilo
* Kpordawoe
* The One
* Koene
* Wicked and Bad
* Ohene
* Gogaga
* Bakowa Bani
* Angels and Demons
* Zero to Hero
* I Am Blessed
* March
* Delaila
* February
* Weed and Liquor
* Girlfriend
* Badder dan dem
* Best Rapper
* January
* Latex
* Go Harder
* Koowa da Koowa
* City Gyal
* Give it 2 me
* Sika ye moya
* Belembe
* Ghetto Arise
* Love jeje
* Heyba
* Ø The Volta Regime
* Bougez
* Bra fremi fremi
* Give it up
* Nyornuviade
* Emmre sesa
* De afor tome
* Lorlortor
* Menye wokoe
* Je,tempri
* Lorm nava
*
Books and Rhymes'
External links
* www.iamedem.com
Edem wins Artist of the year at City People's Award (Nigeria)* Edem Humanitarian Award at 3G Awards in New Yor
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edem, Ayigbe
1986 births
Living people
Ewe people
Ghanaian musicians
Ghanaian rappers
Bishop Herman College alumni