Kwabena Sarkodee Adjepong (born 24 April 1990), better known by his stage name Kwabs, is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known for his international hit "

Walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an "inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults over ...

Early life

Born in London, Kwabs was raised in

Bermondsey Bermondsey ( ) is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, ...

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, to Ghanaian parents. At The Charter School, his music teacher Xanthe Sarr and manager of the Southwark Youth Orchestra, introduced Kwabs to the

National Youth Jazz Orchestra The National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO), established as the London Schools' Jazz Orchestra in 1965, is a British jazz orchestra. History The National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO) was founded in 1965 by Bill Ashton. Based in the Royal Arsenal ...

. Accepted in the programme, he became the lead singer of the orchestra for four years. He also studied jazz at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

Career

2011–12: Beginnings

In 2011, Kwabs was in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television show '' Goldie's Band: By Royal Appointment'' of drum-and-bass musician

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is an English music producer, DJ, and actor. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musi ...

, a UK nationwide platform to search for young talented musicians, and one of twelve artists chosen to create some musical pieces for a special performance at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

. This culminated in Kwabs appearing in a 2011 presentation, performing a rendition of "

Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child", also "Motherless Child", is a traditional spiritual. It dates back to the era of slavery in the United States. An early performance of the song was in the 1870s by the Fisk Jubilee Singers. "Blue Ge ...

". In 2012, he released cover versions of "Like a Star" by

Corinne Bailey Rae Corinne Jacqueline Bailey Rae (; née Bailey; born 26 February 1979) is a British singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 2006 single "Put Your Records On". Bailey Rae was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2006 in an a ...

and "The Wilhelm Scream" by James Blake. The Kwabs version went viral on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. He signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records collaborating with a number of artists for his debut EP ''Wrong or Right'' with critical acclaim.Spex.de: Kwabs: Soul, reloaded

2014–present: ''Love + War''

The subsequent EPs ''Pray for Love'' and ''Walk EP'' have a more pop-oriented sound, with ''Walk EP'' containing the hit single "

", Kwabs' best known release, launched on 5 October 2014 on Atlantic Records. It was a minor hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number 71, but became hugely popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It was also number one on the

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

Music charts. It became a hit after it was added as a part of the FIFA 15

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

. In April 2015, Kwabs released the single "Perfect Ruin", and on 11 September 2015, he released his debut studio album '' Love & War''.

In popular culture

*"Saved" was used in a number of promotional trailers for the second series of the

's ''

The Musketeers ''The Musketeers'' is a British period action-drama TV series based on the characters from Alexandre Dumas's 1844 novel ''The Three Musketeers'' and co-produced by BBC America and BBC Worldwide. The series follows the musketeers Athos, Aramis ...

''. *"Walk" was used in the soundtrack of

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

video game '' FIFA 15'', along with promotional trailers for the

's coverage of the 2015 general election. It was also used in an ad for the WeAreUs August 2015 ad for Boohoo.com.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

;Non-charting *2014: "Fight for Love" *2014: "Pray for Love" *2015: "Perfect Ruin" *2015: "Look Over Your Shoulder" *2022: "Hurt A Little"

As featured artist

Music videos

References

Notes

A Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts. For Ultratip peaks, add 50 positions to arrive at an equivalent Ultratop position.

Sources

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwabs 1990 births Living people 21st-century Black British male singers 21st-century British male singers English people of Ghanaian descent British contemporary R&B singers English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters English soul singers People from Bermondsey Singers from the London Borough of Southwark