Efua Baker ( ; born c. 1967 in

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 ...

) is a British

celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

fitness

expert An expert is somebody who has a broad and deep understanding and competence in terms of knowledge, skill and experience through practice and education in a particular field. Informally, an expert is someone widely recognized as a reliable s ...

and trainer who also had a music career in the 1990s.

Career

In 1993, Baker, then known as just Efua, released three

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

: "Down Is the Drop", "Strawberry Boy", and "Somewhere". "Somewhere" was her biggest hit, reaching the top 50 in the UK, and the top 20 in Australia. "Strawberry Boy" charted on the US ''Billboard''

Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart. An

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''Dream Juice'', was released in June 1993 in the US, and in November 1993 in Australia. Prior to releasing her own music, Efua worked as a model and a dancer, and appeared in a number of music videos for other artists, including

Clive Griffin Clive Griffin is a British pop vocalist, best known for his hit duet, "When I Fall in Love" (US No. 23) with pop singer Celine Dion. Clive was discovered by producer/composer Richard Niles who got him a deal with Phonogram/Mercury Records. ...

's "The Way We Touch" and "Don't Make Me Wait",

Lil Louis Marvin Burns (born May 13, 1962), known by his stage name Li'l Louis (sometimes expanded to Li'l Louis & the World and Li'l Louis & the Party), is a Chicago-born house-music producer and DJ .Larkin, Colin (1999) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Da ...

's "I Called U",

Soul II Soul Soul II Soul are a British musical collective formed in London in 1988. They are best known for their two major hits; 1989's UK number five and US number eleven " Keep On Movin'", and its follow-up, the UK number one and US number four " Back to ...

's "A Dreams a Dream" ''(sic)'', and one of the two videos filmed for

Maxi Priest Max Alfred "Maxi" Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. He was one ...

's " Close to You". In 1996, she appeared in

Yazz Yazz (born Yasmin Evans; 19 May 1960) is an English pop singer, who remains perhaps best known for her 1988 UK number one single " The Only Way Is Up". Some of her records are credited to Yazz and the Plastic Population. Career Yazz was born ...

's music video for "Good Thing Going". In 2019, Baker appeared in the music video for

FKA Twigs Tahliah Debrett Barnett (born 17 January 1988), known professionally as FKA Twigs (stylized as FKA twigs), is an English singer, songwriter, and dancer. Born and raised in Cheltenham, she became a backup dancer for numerous famous musicians aft ...

' "

Cellophane Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose. Its low permeability to air, oils, greases, bacteria, and liquid water makes it useful for food packaging. Cellophane is highly permeable to water vapour, but may be coated w ...

". N.B. Efua Baker is listed in the video credits displayed beneath the video. Baker's best known work as a fitness expert was on the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

programme ''Fat Nation - the Big Challenge'' in late 2004.

Personal life

She is married to

frontman

Jazzie B Trevor Beresford Romeo OBE, (born 26 January 1963) better known as Jazzie B, is a British DJ and music producer. He is the founder of Soul II Soul. Life and career Jazzie was born in London UK to parents of Antiguan descent in Hornsey, Londo ...

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

EfuaBaker.comEfua - Somewhere, ''(YouTube.com)''
Living people Ghanaian emigrants to the United Kingdom Ghanaian women singers British women singers 1960s births {{UK-singer-stub