Ghanaian artist, Kwesi Arthur, has found a spot on the Billboard US Afrobeats chart with his song ‘Drama’.
The song, off his recently released album ‘Son of Jacob’ debut number 39 on the chart. On ‘Drama’, he collaborated with Bigg Homie Flee, and the song was produced by Rexxie.
Kwesi made his official debut back in 2017, and from then on has commanded a core fanbase that’s immensely loyal and closely follows his every move. His debut project, the 5-track Extended Playlist (EP) ‘Live From Nkrumah Krom’, hosted a breakout single ‘Grind Day’, which launched the young rapper brimming with zeal and talent into the limelight.
Although he has dropped further projects since then, such as his second EP ‘Live From Nkrumah Krom, Vol II: Home Run’ as well as two projects, ‘This Is Not The Tape’, ‘Sorry For The Wait Eps’, Kwesi Arthur’s fans have been ‘fiending’ for a full-length project from the award-winning rapper all the while. The album, ‘Son of Jacob’, was undoubtedly the most anticipated debut album in recent times.
Meanwhile, the unforeseen delay in the album’s release still had its advantages, particularly when it came to the rapper’s creative output. According to Kwesi Arthur, the delay gave him more time to do what creatives do before they create; “experience life”.
“I feel like us slowing it down and pushing it to this point made perfect sense because it helped us put it together better. Throughout all that period I went through other experiences that inspired certain songs even on the album now”.
Kwesi Arthur
‘Son of Jacob’ represents where Kwesi Arthur currently is as a creative. Part rap and part Afropop, the album is loaded with solid collaborations. ‘Toxic’ featuring Nigerian singer, Adekunle Gold, is one of such solid collaborations.
“Adekunle is ‘hard guy’, you feel me?” Kwesi remarked in a recent interview. “I connect to his music. Making ‘Toxic,’ we felt like Adekunle with his voice and his approach to songs would fit it best. And he killed it, shouts to him”.
Speaking on why the album is more collaboration-heavy than his usual solo singing, Kwesi said: “I’m not really into collabs like that. But I feel like with this one I opened myself to putting people on my wave, and I feel like it really worked out”.
‘Son of Jacob’ portrays the duality of Kwesi. The rapper explaining his versatility prowess noted that “on one hand, I am a rapper with a pop affinity who makes music that would comfortably sit at the top of afrobeats charts. On the other hand, I am a hard-headed rapper who’s ever ready to remind every and any skeptic exactly who I am”.
A debut album in the music industry is like a rite of passage for artists, and not many recording artists arrive at Kwesi Arthur’s level of stardom without one. It may seem like a long time since he started his career, but having finally crossed that all-important first album milestone, one can confidently say the superstar rapper’s career is just beginning.
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