Kuami Eugene, born Eugene Kwame Marfo, has looked back on days past when he promised his mother he would change their lives at age 25.
The Highlife/Afrobeats star happily noted he fulfilled that promise six years earlier.
“I always had a dream and an ambition. There’s a certain level I should get to. So I’ve dedicated all my life and time to getting to that level. I’m still not there yet but I’m proud of myself. I mean, I used to tell my mom that by 25, I’d change our lives [and], by 25, I would be driving a car. I got it at age 19,” Eugene said.
The multiple award-winning singer-songwriter and record producer first tasted success when he signed to Richie Mensah’s Lynx Entertainment record company, subsequently releasing his Killbeatz-produced Highlife megahit “Angela”.
“At 19 years, I had Angela and it was banging everywhere – young boy,” he recalled.
26 years old now, Eugene thought back on the times gone by during which he sacrificed playtime and socialization to acquire skills that have made him one of the most significant stars the African continent boasts of currently.
“I’m proud of myself. I mean, besides God being on my side, I’ve tried as much as possible to acquire a lot of knowledge about what I am doing today. When I was in Fadama, I didn’t do a lot of partying or clubbing, I didn’t go out there to go and play and all. It was just learn, learn, learn more. I had to learn how to produce, write, mix, master, and edit – I was learning everything that I could get my hands on. I think it’s paying off today. Besides God being on my side, that’s the reason why I’ve been able to come this far.”
Kwami Eugene
Kuami Eugene confirmed he used to skip school to visit a recording studio owned and operated by a Gospel music programmer called Kobina Jam.
“I love him and I think I owe part of the reason I am here today to him. He gave me an opportunity. Even though he didn’t teach me what I know, he gave me access to his machines,” he further stated.
“I want to do something for him that he can live with for the rest of his life because he’s given me something special I am living with for the rest of my life,” he emphasized.
Kuami Eugene disclosed he has a timeline for the commitment and it’s getting really close.
Rags to Riches is the first song on a new 13-track album, Love & Chaos, by the 2020 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) Artist of the Year. On it, he sings: I want to move from rags to riches, I had that dream aged 17.
Missing The Life Before Fame
Highlife/Afrobeats artist Kuami Eugene assessed his current life revealing that it’s not like it used to be.
Noting that life used to be fun before stardom, Eugene underscored that he seems not to have fun in stardom.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t like that life because we wanted the fame, we wanted all the attention when we go out [but] now, you have it all and it seems you don’t have that [fun] life anymore. I try, I try. It’s interesting. I actually try. I miss that life so much,” he ironically said.
“To escape and ease up, I call my friends to go play football on Sundays. I get some of them to come to my area, we go to a low-key, a low profile field somewhere, pay and play amongst my friends because I miss that kind of life,” the Open Gate hitmaker revealed.
He further noted that these are friends from the neighborhood he grew up in, Fadama, a suburb of Accra with a notorious slum.
The Lynx and EMPIRE Africa star reminisced times past when he and his friends would play football at the Fadama Park, bemoaning he could not do that anymore. However, he said, he visits from time to time and whenever he does, he gifts people there money.
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