Koby Maxwell, (born 25 November 1978, as Maxwell Koby Okwensy) 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 ...

musician, singer, actor and producer who currently resides in Washington, D.C. in the United States. He says that his goal is to maintain the authenticity of African music, while incorporating the sounds of others. In June 2010, he became a film producer and executive producer when he hired a US film production company to produce his first

Nollywood Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there ...

feature film, entitled '' Paparazzi Eye in the Dark''. In 2016 he started producing a show on the North American TV channel ABC2 called ''Nollyhot TV'' which was first aired on 6 January that year. The show captures happenings within the Nigerian entertainment industry of Nollywood for an American audience. Nollyhot TV is also broadcast on the DCW 50 and The CW television channels in the USA. Koby Maxwell Productions in association with Lafa Media & Zealmatic Pictures also came out with a 2019 movie titled The Wrong One.

Family and early life

Koby Maxwell is the oldest of six children. Since arriving in America in 2000, he has performed in prominent places such as the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

and the

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

in New York City. He has shared the stage with artists including Nancy Wilson,

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...

and

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...

. In August 2006 he performed with reggae star

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques OD (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican rapper and singer who is regarded as one of dancehall's most prolific artists. Paul's singles "Get Busy" and "Temperature" topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the ...

Barrington Levy Barrington Ainsworth Levy (born 30 April 1964) is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist. Career Levy was born in Clarendon, Jamaica. He formed a band called the Mighty Multitude, with his cousin, Everton Dacres; the pair released "My Blac ...

, Sanchez,

Ziggy Ziggy is a masculine given name, often a diminutive form (hypocorism) of Zigmunt and other names. It is also a nickname. Notable people with the name include: Nickname or hypocorism * Ezekiel Ansah (born 1989), National Football League play ...

and Stephen Marley,

Bunny Wailer Neville O'Riley Livingston (10 April 1947 – 2 March 2021), known professionally as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and percussionist. He was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. ...

and

Salif Keita Salif Keïta () (born 25 August 1949) is a Malian singer-songwriter, referred to as the "Golden Voice of Africa". He is a member of the Keita royal family of Mali. Biography Early life Salif Keita was born a traditional prince in the village o ...

Reggae on the River Reggae on the River was an annual reggae festival active from 1983 until 2019 in Humboldt County, California. It was frequently held on the last weekend in July or on the first weekend in August. History Reggae on the River began in 1984 as a be ...

. Maxwell also gained additional recognition as a key performer in Detroit's 21st African World Festival.

Discography

Filmography

Awards

* 2009 Award of Excellence & Outstanding Performer: Next Vision Entertainment * 2010 Humanitarian Award: Doctors for the Village * 2010 USA Excellence in African Music: 3G Media * 2011 Producer Achievement Award: Nollywood USA * 2013 Best Film in Diaspora NAFCA 2013 * 2013 Favorite Male Artist Nafca 2013 * 2014 Outstanding Entertainer at DD Records * 2014 DMV African movie producer of the year * 2015 Caribbean Movie Festival, for achievement in the film industry

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell, Koby Ghanaian record producers 1975 births Living people Ghanaian film producers