Emmanuel Owusu-Bonsu, known by his stage name Wanlov the Kubolor (born September 8, 1980, in

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Blejoi commu ...

, Romania) 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 ...

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

musician and film director born to an

Akan Akan may refer to: People and languages *Akan people, an ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire *Akan language, a language spoken by the Akan people *Kwa languages, a language group which includes Akan *Central Tano languages, a language group w ...

father and a Romanian mother. Kubolor is a Ga word that essentially means

truant Truancy is any intentional, unjustified, unauthorised, or illegal absence from compulsory education. It is a deliberate absence by a student's own free will (though sometimes adults or parents will allow and/or ignore it) and usually does not refe ...

, but can be understood to be a wanderer or vagabond. He is the brother of the television show host, model, and musician Deborah Owusu-Bonsu.

Early life

Kubulor's parents moved to

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 ...

before he was a year old, and he grew up in an artistic household where both parents were avid collectors of music and had an interest in the arts. He attended Adisadel College. It was while he was at Adisadel that he began rapping his favourite lyrics with high school friends and performing the local circuit in

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guinea ...

and Takoradi. It was here that his enduring musical partnership with the songwriter M3NSA was formed. He then moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for college in 2000 where he attended the University of Mary Hardin Baylor. He dropped out after two years of studying computer science and business administration, to dedicate himself fully to his musical career.

Musical career

Kubulor released his debut album "Green Card" in late 2007 on his return to Ghana after a 7-year stay in the USA. Wanlov the Kubolor has collaborated with

Gyedu-Blay Ambolley Gyedu-Blay Ambolley is a Ghanaian highlife musician, songwriter, producer, and composer. The first musician from Ghana and the world to formally incorporate rap forms into local highlife rhythms, Ambolley created the musical genre Simigwa. Career ...

, Ghana's rap pioneer/

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 ...

legend, and

Reggie Rockstone Reggie Rockstone (Reginald Yaw Asante Ossei, "the Godfather of Hiplife") is a Ghanaian rapper. He was born in the United Kingdom but lived his early years in Kumasi and Accra. He has been living in Ghana continuously since he pioneered the Hip- ...

, the godfather of

Hiplife Hiplife is a Ghanaian musical style that fuses Ghanaian culture and hip hop. Recorded predominantly in the Ghanaian Akan language, hiplife is rapidly gaining popularity in the 2010s throughout West Africa and abroad, especially in the United K ...

, among other artists worldwide. He has campaigned for the cause of OAfrica, a charity for out-of-home children and various similar causes, in particular, those linked to ecology or pollution in Ghana. In 2017, he told members of Blogging Ghana that he "is considering making a third installment to his Ghanaian Pidgin-English musical

Coz Ov Moni ''Coz Ov Moni - The First Pidgen Musical Film in the World'' is a 2010 musical film produced by the FOKN BOIS and directed by independent Ghanaian filmmaker King Luu. The film is a musical entirely spoken in Ghanaian Pidgin English, but subtitles ...

Discography

Solo albums

*2007 -"Green Card" *2010 - "Yellow Card - Stomach Direction" *2012 - "Brown Card - African Gypsy" *2017 - "Orange Card: Fruitopian Raps"

FOKN Bois Albums

*2010 - “Coz Ov Moni” OS - Movie Soundtrack *2011 - “Coz Ov Moni - The Kweku Ananse Remix EP” - EP *2011 - “Coz Ov Moni - The DJ Juls Dw3t3i Remixes” - EP *2011 - "FOKN Dunaquest in Budapest" - EP *2012 - "FOKN Dunaquest in Budapest Remixes" - EP *2012 - “FOKN Wit Ewe” - Album *2013 - “Coz Ov Moni 2 (FOKN Revenge)” OS - Movie Soundtrack *2016 - "FOKN Ode to Ghana" *2019 - "Afrobeats LOL"

Awards

*2006 WCS International Song Contest - Winner (World) - "Human Being" *2006 International Songwriting Competition - Finalist (World) - "Never Die" *2007 Peacedriven Songwriting Award - Runner Up - "Human Being" *2008 Ghana Music Awards - Nominated for Discovery Of The Year, Record Of The Year (Smallest Time), Video Of The Year (Kokonsa), & Hip-hop Song Of The Year (Kokonsa)

Activism

He is an activist for the rights of LGBT+ people in Ghana. In 2021, when the Ghanaian anti-LGBT bill was introduced, he spoke against the intent of the bill. He collaborated with Angel Maxine and Deborah Owusu-Bonsu to use their music as a form of activism against homophobia in Ghana. He is also an activist for plastic waste Ghana.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kubolor, Wanlov the 1980 births Living people Ghanaian people of Romanian descent People from Ploiești Ghanaian musicians Romanian people of Ghanaian descent Alumni of Adisadel College