Ola Dake is from Ghana. He is a  worship leader, a song writer, and an award winning architect. He was until recently the pastor in charge of praise and worship at the headquarter church of Victory Bible Church Int. where Bishop N. A. Tackie Yarboi pastors. Video: We Are Here by Ola Dake & The Accra City Mass Choir

For 14 years, he has been leading praise and worship across the country and in the UK and USA .The experiences of his ministry is clearly felt in his maiden album release, MARVELLOUS. The album was recorded live, bringing together the best musicians and singers across the country in an awesome night of praise and worship with praise songs as marvelous, living God, and worship songs like we are here, holy spirit, and worthy …..  these songs were all written in the month of fasting and prayer. A song like ‘We are here’ was received directly in a dream.  Ola Dake believes songs should be a direct result of a merry heart to God and a spiritual sacrifice.

The album is currently attracting a global audience as the quality of production equals any international production house. He says one of the work of the holy ghost is destroy the spirit of heaviness and give us the garment of praise to be continually joyful.

His ministrations are characterized by intense spiritual upliftment, brokenness in his presence. zHe believes we should come boldly before the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

The album marvelous will be released in November and will be available in all bookshops and distributors. He is currently pioneering a branch church . He is also the director of TerraCotta a consulting firm and Exceeding Music, a music label that seeks to pioneer a new genre of music .

Related:

• Video: We Are Here by Ola Dake & The Accra City Mass Choir

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Label: R2Bees Entertainment
Director: Phamous People
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Watch Video: I Dey Mad by R2Bees

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Director: DQ
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Album: Emere
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Director: Phamous People
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Watch Video: Emere by Josh Laryea feat. Nacy

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Josh Laryea was uncovered on Allo Tigo to elaborate on his new album. Watch what other people had to say about him.

Watch Video: Joshua Laryea opens up

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Label: R2Bees Entertainment
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Watch Video: Yawa Girl by R2Bees

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• Video: I Dey Mad by R2Bees

Derek Andrew Safo (born 5 September 1982) is a British hip hop rapper of Ghanaian origins, who uses the stage names Sway DaSafo or simply Sway; he is also a full-time producer, establishing DCypha Productions.
Sway was born in Hornsey, London, in 1982.

His mother had travelled from Amsterdam to Heathrow on her journey to Ghana, from which she originated and spoke the dialect of Twi. Whilst in London, she gave birth to Derek Safo. Sway began experimenting with music at the age of 11, rewriting the lyrics of his favourite artists. At secondary school, he spent his spare time using the school equipment for musical production. Producing tracks for local artists, he was told to use his personality to write songs by adding his humour with his lyrical talent.

At the age of 16, Sway had a place in the grand final of an open mic session at Dingwalls in London. He lost to Chester P of Task Force. It was at this age that Sway was a member of Tottenham-based hip-hop trio “Phynix Crew”. Following his defeat at Dingwalls, Sway got into the finals of Choice FM’s ‘Rapology ‘99′ with his rap group where they lost. Phynix Crew merged with two other rap groups to form “One”.

Sway was now studying at college, as well as having a part-time job and producing ringtones for a company. Sway began to create a studio in his bedroom with the money he earned so that he could start to produce his own songs.

Sway produced many solo singles despite being in a rap group and his first break was under the name ‘Sway DaSafo’ on the track Still On My Own which reached the A-list of BBC Radio 1Xtra when the station was launched. He continued to produce music. When One released their first debut album, called Onederful World, 50% of the 10-track CD was produced by Sway.

A member of the ‘MOBO Unsung’ committee enjoyed it and nominated it for the ‘MOBO Unsung’ competition, which resulted in the group reaching the final five of the competition. They did not win, however, DJ Tim Westwood of BBC Radio 1 and DJ Semtex of BBC Radio 1Xtra began giving them airplay.[1]

In 2003, Sway started to pursue a solo career in the British music scene. He was invited by his cousin, DJ Ink, to feature on some of his drum and bass tracks and he became a member of the group “Fifth Element”.[1] In 2004, Sway established DCypha Productions to enable him to release his mixtapes and debut solo album, This Is My Demo. At DCypha, Sway produces his beats and songs alongside his long-time friends Pyrelli and Bigz.

Sway has released two independent mixtapes, called This Is My Promo Volumes 1 and 2. They were underground successes, and his debut LP This Is My Demo was released on 6 February 2006. Its second single, “Little Derek”, headed in at #38 on the UK national charts. Remixes are also available featuring Baby Blue.

His debut has become controversial amongst UK hip-hop artists due to his criticism of many modern rap artists “over hyping” themselves and glorifying themselves using elements from gang culture and street violence to make themselves seem ‘harder’ than they are and thus sell records to people who are potentially ignorant of the true roots of hip-hop.

Sway was the main support act for The Streets’ UK tour, which began in Manchester on 27 April 2006, and ended in Leeds on 12 May 2006. He has also been performing solo around Europe to promote This is My Demo. He created a song in 2005 dedicated to his profile on MySpace. He also appeared on The Mitchell Brothers’ popular single Harvey Nicks alongside The Streets’ Mike Skinner.

Sway announced at the The Dotted Lines Mixtape release party that he is producing a second album named The Signature LP with a mention of a release date of 5 May 2008 on the mixtape itself. However, the album was delayed to September 29, as announced on his MySpace profile. Again, the album was delayed and the official release date now stands at October 6, 2008.

The first single release from The Signature LP was F Ur X featuring female MC $tush. The video for the song was released in May 2008. The music video features actors from Kidulthood and Adulthood and also includes Ashley Walters, Bashy and also Chipmunk.

The second single to be released was “Saturday Night Hustle” featuring British soul singer Lemar.
The track list for the album will be:
Fit 4 A King
Say It Twice
Saturday Night Hustle (featuring Lemar)
Silver And Gold (featuring Akon)
F UR X - (featuring $tush)
Jason Waste
Look After My Girl (featuring Darren B)
Pray 4 Kaya
Walk Away
Upload
Stereo
Letters To Heaven (featuring Leo)
End Of The Road (featuring Coco)
Special Place

His reputation rose from underground to mainstream after coming into the public eye by winning a MOBO award in September 2005 for Best Hip Hop Act. Sway defeated heavyweight hip-hop artists 50 Cent and The Game to collect the award. He was also nominated for the second year running in the best hip-hop category for the MOBO awards held at the end of September 2006.

In July 2006, Sway’s album This Is My Demo was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize but the award was won by the Arctic Monkeys at the ceremony on September 6.

In November 2006, Sway won a BET Hip-Hop Award for “Best UK Hip-Hop Act”, beating the likes of Blak Twang, Plan B, Dizzee Rascal and Kano. By being nominated and winning the BET for “BEST UK Hip-Hop Act”, Sway was seen by millions across America in a video showing himself in a cipher with Saigon, Remy Ma, and Rhymefest freestyling on a rooftop in New York.

This freestyle can also be heard on DJ Kay Slay’s mixtape Drama Season Begins Now. His song “Hype Boys” is used in the video game Need For Speed: Carbon.

The US Sway argues with the UK Sway that Sway DaSafo should not use the same name. Sway appeared briefly on Sky News to discuss the controversy over the “N” word.

Sway is the cousin of former Arsenal footballer, Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, who is currently playing for Birmingham City. Owusu-Abeiye claims he is an accomplished rapper too.

Sway travelled to Sierra Leone in December 2007 to support a development project with the likes of Dawn Angelique Richard and Samata Angel.

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Accra/Dar es Salaam/Kampala/Johannesburg/Kinshasa/Lagos/Nairobi, 7 October 2008: The biggest radio hits of the year are to be recognised with a dedicated award category at the MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain (MAMA).  Starting 13 October, MTV and FM radio stations in the DRC, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda will be asking listeners to pick the nominees for the prestigious Listener’s Choice Award, reflecting the tracks and artists who triumphed on the radio airwaves in 2007/8.

Listen out for the special Listener’s Choice promos and tracks on RTGA FM (DRC), Joy FM (Ghana), Capital FM (Kenya), Kiss FM (Kenya), Cool FM (Nigeria), 5fm (South Africa), Clouds FM (Tanzania), Sanyu FM (Uganda) and KFM (Uganda) to review a shorlist of each region’s 10 biggest radio hits of the year.   Pick your all-time favourite radio star and they could soon be walking down the red carpet at the MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain in Abuja, Nigeria on 22 November.

Commented Alex Okosi, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, MTV Networks Africa, ‘No African music award ceremony can or should ignore the value of radio to African music fans.  Not all music fans get to see music videos on TV, so we’ve created a special MTV Africa Music Award to reward and recognise the stars who have made the biggest impact on radio on the Continent.’

To vote for the radio tracks that rocked your world in 2007/8, music fans in DRC, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda should listen out for the special MAMA Listener’s Choice slots between 13-20 October 2008.  Fans from all mobile networks are eligible to vote by sending the keyword ‘MAMA’, the artist’s name and the title of the song to the relevant shortcodes: DRC - 4444 (text/SMS messages cost $0.20); Ghana – 1778 (text/SMS messages cost Gp 50); Kenya - 2929 (text/SMS messages cost KShs 10); Nigeria – 33004 (text/SMS messages cost N50); South Africa – 33007 (text/SMS messages cost R1.50); Tanzania - 15555 (text/SMS messages cost Tsh 500); Uganda – 7197 (text/SMS messages cost Ugx 220).
The MTV Africa Music Awards consist of 13 separate award categories.  Nominations for Listener’s Choice Award will be chosen by radio audiences across Africa and revealed on 27 October 2008.  No nominations will be published for the MAMA Legend award, which is chosen at the discretion of MTV.  Nominations for the My Video award are submitted by members of the public and can be viewed and submitted at mama.mtvbase.com.

MTV Networks Africa is a pan-African music and entertainment platform which is responsible for broadcasting Viacom music, kids and entertainment channels in sub-Saharan Africa.  The network distributes MTV, VH1, MTV base and Nickelodeon.  Part of MTVNI’s Emerging Markets group, MTV Networks Africa reaches in excess of 50 million TV viewers in sub-Saharan Africa via a combination of pay-tv and terrestrial distribution.  The network also includes the dynamic online portal www.mtvbase.com.

MTVNI’s Emerging Markets group is one of the fastest growing regions in MTVNI’s portfolio of multi-platform businesses. The Emerging Markets group manages 26 television channels, 24 websites, one broadband channel and three mobile TV channels encompassing the MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, VIVA and Comedy Central brands in Central & Eastern Europe, Russia, Africa and the Middle East. MTVNI is owned by Viacom Inc (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).

Zain is a leading emerging markets player in the field of telecommunications aiming to become one of the top ten mobile groups in the world by 2011.  Zain was established in 1983 in Kuwait as the region’s first mobile operator. Since 2003, it has grown significantly becoming the 4th largest telecommunications company in the world in terms of geographic presence with a footprint in 22 countries spread across the Middle East and Africa providing mobile voice and data services to over 50  million active customers (as at 30 June  2008). In Africa Zain operates in Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Zain’s mobile network in Ghana is scheduled to start operations in 2008.

The Zain brand is wholly owned by Mobile Telecommunications Company KSC, which is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (Stock ticker: ZAIN). The company had a market capitalization of over US$ 25.8 billion on 30 June 2008.  For more information please visit www.zain.com.

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What was expected to have been a memorable event in remembrance of popular highlife musician Michael Dwamena last Saturday, turned out to be a dull quickly-to-be-forgotten funeral that drew only a handful of mourners. Watch Video: Ngozi by Michael Dwamena feat. Nii Lante

Perhaps signs of the controversy that led to the poor organisation and attendance were there for all to see long before the funeral day.

First, the obituary that appeared in last Tuesday’s edition of the Daily Graphic, suggested that the dead man was open to a charge of bigamy as two widows in the persons of Mrs Gloria Dwamena and Mrs Felicia Dwamena were announced.

Secondly, one of the supposed wives of the late musician came on Peace FM to register her objection to a decision by some members of the family to organise a concert in honour of Dwamena at the Trade Fair Centre which was a different venue from the VAG Club House which they had hired for the final funeral rites.

Thirdly, the funeral arrangements of Dwamena lacked the expected publicity as is usually accorded other late artistes such as Suzzy Williams, Terry Bonchaka and Kwame Owusu Ansah among others.

All these signs and fears were translated into reality during Dwamena’s funeral. In the absence of prominent artistes in the entertainment industry, except veteran musicians Gyedu Blay Ambolley, Mac Tontoh, Zapp Mallet and Charles Amoah the scene at the funeral of the Ngozi man, which was held at Dansoman was like a funeral of an ‘ordinary man’.

Obviously, there was some degree of rift between the family members, as after the burial service which was also held in the same Dansoman house, there came an announcement that suggested that mourners were expected to converge at the VAG Club House after the burial at the Osu Cemetery for the final funeral rites and not anywhere else.

The scene at the VAG Club House was no different. There was nothing ‘extraordinary’ happening except for a band stand with a few singers who tried to provide comfort for the mourners.

According to Theo Jones, a cousin of the deceased, a part of the family including himself, decided to boycott the funeral in allegiance to Dwamena.

“How can they treat Michael as though he was an inferior person or just someone on the streets with no reputation? If I attend the funeral at Dansoman, that will mean disrespecting Michael.

There’s so much going on that I can’t say now, but you’ll hear from me,” he said.

In effect, they decided to organise their own funeral at the Trade Fair Centre just about the same time that the burial service for Dwamena was in session at Dansoman.

At the Trade Fair Centre where a concert was to take place for Dwamena, at about 2:30 pm as against the stipulated 10 am, the venue which was decorated with balloons, ribbons and portraits of Dwamena had a handful of sympathisers with no sign of the concert taking off.

Speaking to Showbiz, Mr Kwabena Adu-Poku, a younger brother of the deceased, said: “I’m angry and hurt at this development.

We had dreams that never came true. You know, before his death and some years back when I was staying with him in the UK, he told me that he was going to be a star, go to the US and he did. But his promise to take me to the US never materialised, he’s dead,” he said in despair.

A visibly shaken sister, Nana Akua from the UK, told Showbiz that she would remember Michael for his jokes, sense of humour, generosity and his ability to bring the family together.

“He was like a pillar that supported the entire family with his love, presence and was able to pull all of us together.

He organised parties whenever he visited UK or US, it was his way of bringing us together.

“Although he’s gone, I will forever remember him for the lovely person he was and the impact he made in the lives of those who were fortunate to have known him,” she said.

As for Ewurama, a younger sister resident in Germany, she would never forget Michael, “particularly, when he is trying to catch your attention in conversation, he goes like, Some k-i-n-d way; Won tell wo anaa and Se woahu nea mee pe akyere no.

He was always in a good mood.”

The death of Michael Dwamena hit the airwaves in Ghana last July.

He died after a short illness in Texas, USA. Dwamena came to the limelight in 1999 with his Tibidi song from his Mene Wo Beye album.

Ngozi from his latest album, Omo Moti is the favourite of most music lovers and fans in the country.

A native of Kwahu Mpraeso, Michael was the sixth of seven children born to Mr Kwame Siaw Dwamena and Mrs Esther Dwamena in Sekondi on May 30, 1964.

He attended Takoradi Secondary School and lived close to 26 years abroad. According to family sources, he began his music career at a very early age and left the country for Nigeria when he was about 17 years old.

Michael returned to Ghana but left again for Belgium where he joined the Belgium Army.

While there, he studied Law and IT and later relocated to London and then to the US where he was based till his death. During his lifetime, he married Anne, a Belgian, Gloria and Felicia.

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• Video: Ngozi by Michael Dwamena feat. Nii Lante

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