Hello world!

2021 was all about a fresh start, the beginning of a new phase of life, and a hope for a better year. The year saw the emergence of new music from across the globe with artists like Kanye West, Drake, and Adele dropping long-awaited albums. But while these artists thrived and conquered the world in their already established genres, another genre was slowly making a name for itself in the global scene, Afrobeats.

Nigerian star; Wizkid, became the first Afrobeat artist to enter the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Essence’. Ckay released one of the biggest songs of the year and als0 became the first Afrobeat artist to top the YouTube charts. While it seemed like Nigerians were the only ones in charge, a 27-year-old Ghanian American artist was slowly making her mark in the industry.

Amaarae (born Ama Serwah Genfi) was born in New York and grew up listening to Britney Spears, Usher, and Fela. She fell in love with music at a very young age and wrote her first song when she was just 13 years old. After spending over 2 decades in the US, she returned to Accra, back to friends who advised her to leave the western music she was into and dive more into Afrobeats.

Like her music, Amaarae was nonchalant about their advice and found a way to beautifully fuse the two genres together. The result was evident in The Angel You Don’t Know, an album that brought her recognition both home and abroad. The album received praise from critics across the globe with many applauding her ability to blend in R&B, alté, mall-rock, Southern rap, Afrobeats and pop into a grasping debut album.

Listeners could feel the confidence she has in herself from her unpretentious lyrics and the boldness in her delivery. Even her fashion sense is an exhibit of the kind of woman she is and that led her to be featured in a 2018 article in Vogue Magazine Online, an article that highlighted four women across the globe with buzz haircuts.

2021 was a tremendous year for Afrobeat and Amaarae as she became the first Ghanian artist to enter the Billboard Hot 100 with Sad Girlz Luv Money” also becoming the first Ghanian song to top the USShazam Chart. I don’t make songs/Bitch I make memories.” is a line from her debut album and with songs from there charting across the globe, it’s only fair to say that she meant every single word she said.