Emmanuel Kwesi Danso Arthur Junior (born 18 December 1994), known professionally as Kwesi Arthur, is a Ghanaian rapper, singer and songwriter from

Tema, Ghana Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic coast of Ghana. It is located east of the capital city; Accra, in the region of Greater Accra, and is the capital of the Tema Metropolitan District. As of 2013, Tema is the eleventh most pop ...

. He rose to fame in 2017 with the hit single "Grind day" which received wide spread acclaim and a co-sign from rap heavyweights Sarkodie and

Medikal Samuel Adu Frimpong (born 4 April 1994), popularly known as Medikal, is a Ghanaian hip hop musician born to Portia Lamptey and James Frimpong in Sowutuom, a suburb of Accra. Early life and music career He comes from Sowutuom, a suburb in Acc ...

. In 2019, his second EP ''Live from Nkrumah Krom Vol II'' garnered more than 2 million streams in the first week of its release. Arthur has won several accolades, including Rapper of the year and Hip Hop Song of the year at the

Vodafone 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 ...

as well as a Viewer's Choice Best International Act nomination at the 2018 BET Awards. He became the second Ghanaian rapper to be nominated for BET Hip Hop Awards Cypher after Sarkodie's nomination in 2019.

Early life and education

Kwesi Arthur was born on 18th December, 1994 in

Tema Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic coast of Ghana. It is located east of the capital city; Accra, in the region of Greater Accra, and is the capital of the Tema Metropolitan District. As of 2013, Tema is the eleventh most popul ...

. He was raised in Tema Community 9, and is the second of four children with a brother named Dayonthetrack, who is also a musician. After completing his high school education at Temasco in 2013, Kwesi's plans of furthering his education to study

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

and Law at the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

came to a standstill due to a lack of funds. This led the rapper to consider a job offer as a security guard in Tema. Although he was accepted for the security job, Kwesi decided to pursue his music career at a local recording studio instead. Here, he made a deal with the owner of the recording studio to learn music production and record for free; in exchange, Arthur had to perform menial tasks around the studio like sweeping and general maintenance. In 2016, he met management from Ground Up Chale, a social media movement for young artists in West Africa, where he recorded his hit record ''Grind day'' at their studios a year later.

Music career

Kwesi Arthur started writing raps after listening to

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

's debut album, ''

Thank Me Later ''Thank Me Later'' is the debut studio album by Canadian rapper and singer Drake. It was released on June 15, 2010, by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Universal Motown Records. Production for the album took place at various re ...

''. In 2017, he released the lead single "Grind Day" from his debut EP, ''Live from Nkrumah Krom'' (2017). The record was released under his independent outfit and supported by a social movement called GroundUp Chale. He later released the remix for "Grind Day", featuring Sarkodie and

. Kwesi Arthur has collaborated with numerous Ghanaian musician, including Sarkodie,

KiDi Dennis Nana Dwamena, better known as KiDi, (born August 18, 1993) is a Ghanaian high-life and afrobeats singer-songwriter. He is signed to Lynx Entertainment and is best known for his global hit single Touch It. The remix features American rapp ...

, Jason E LA,

R2Bees R2Bees is a Ghanaian hip hop and hiplife duo from Tema made up of two cousins, Faisal Hakeem and Rashid Mugeez. They were nominated at the 2013 BET Awards. In March 2019, the duo released their third studio album ''Site 15''. Career 2007–2 ...

, B4bonah, M3dal,

M.anifest Kwame Ametepee Tsikata (born 20 November 1982), known professionally as M.anifest is a Ghanaian musician, rapper and record producer. He won Best Rapper and Hip-Hop song of the year at the 2017 Ghana Music Awards. He has worked with Damon Albarn ...

, EL,

Stonebwoy Livingstone Etse Satekla (born 5 March 1988), better known by his stage name Stonebwoy, is a Ghanaian Afropop, dancehall and reggae musician. He is the CEO of Burniton Music Group. He won the Best International Act: Africa category at the 201 ...

Shatta Wale Charles Nii Armah Mensah Jr., (born 17 October 1984) is a Ghanaian reggae-dancehall artist. He is known by his stage name Shatta Wale, formerly Bandana. His best-known singles are "Dancehall King", "My level" and "We taking over" .He is also know ...

and South African rapper

Nasty C Nsikayesizwe David Junior Ngcobo (born 11 February 1997), known professionally as Nasty C, is a South African rapper, songwriter, and record producer. After releasing three mixtapes, one being "Undisputed" and two EPs, Ngcobo released his debu ...

. He was nominated for Best International Act at the 2018 BET Awards. Kwesi Arthur is one of the most successful artists in Ghana, with his music being internationally recognised and awarded. In 2020 his song "Live From The 233" was one of the most streamed African songs on the streaming service

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

Discography

EPs

*''Live from Nkrumah Krom'' (2017) *''This Is Not The Tape, Sorry 4 The Wait'' (2019) *''Live from Nkrumah Krom Vol II Home Run'' (2019) *''This Is Not The Tape, Sorry 4 The Wait II'' (2020)

Studio albums

*''Son Of Jacob'' (2022)

Singles

Awards and nominations

Ghana Music Awards

BET Awards

3 Music Awards

Videography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arthur, Kwesi Living people Ghanaian rappers People from Tema 1994 births 21st-century Ghanaian male singers 21st-century Ghanaian singers Musicians from Accra