• View all from Kween
  Artistes Kween
  Album KweenDom Come
  Year 2007
  Writer Queen Chinyere Onokala
  Language English, Yoruba
  Video URL http://www.youtube.com/?v=jmrAAm0xxkU

Part 2 of the interview with Becca
Check out Part 1 here

Museke: What challenges do you face in the Ghanaian music industry?
Becca: When you get into the industry, what you need to know is that many people are watching you. You should be very vigilant, because you are considered a role model. The positive side is you get inspiration, people praise u, they like the work you do, you r encouraged, and you get the opportunities to do things
Because people are watching you, it gets really hard for you to do things that you wanna do. You should be careful. People will be talking about various things and spreadin rumours. It comes like that. The negative things and downfalls, they encourage me to work harder. There are always gonna be haters, they are like critics, they inspire you to work harder. I take criticism in a positive way.
You must find the right people and you’ll be okay.
For piracy, selling CDs is a bit hard. It is left for singers to come together and educate ourselves. We need to know how to deal with these things.

This interview was done on March 11, 2008 at the house of Kwame Yeboah, a producer. It was set up by Kiki Banson of EKB Records.

Museke: Can you tell us about your background, family and education?
Becca: I was born on 15th August 1984 in Kumasi (Oseikrom). I am the 5th born in a family of 9 children.
I attended Golden age nursery, and then Morning star school in Accra till the end of Junior Secondary School. I then went to Alywin high in London. I came back to Ghana to join Wesley Girls High School and was among the graduating class of 2003. I proceeded to Croydon college, and came back to Ghana in 2006. I studied child care education.

Museke: How did you get into music and what was your first break?
Becca: I’ve always been singing. I did talent shows in schools, and sang in the church choir.
As for my big break, I met my producer, Kiki Banson of EKB records at a show. The show was being hosted by Reggie, I had gone there and I was talking to him (I am a friend of Reggie’s). Kiki met me and invited me to come and try singing in the studio. The first couple of days I didn’t go but went there on the 3rd day. That day we recorded ‘U lied to me’.

Philipa Baafi, the 27 year old singer, songwriter, musician and philanthropist is a native of Manhyia, a community which is about 50 minutes drive from Kumasi, the regional capital of Ashanti. Touted as the queen of gospel icons, Philipa sees her career more as a ministry than a mere profession. Philipa is one of a handful of superstars who can still shift merchandise to their favour even when they have not released a new project for a relatively long time.

Singing started for her when she was just an infant in a basic school. This was very much against the wishes of her parents, her mother particularly. She however continued the musical talent through her secondary school (St. Monica’s Secondary School) at Mampong where she still had time for her singing even when she was in her final year. By the time she completed school in 2000 she had recorded her first album as the Head girl, “Nyame Honhom sane” which literally means Descend upon us, Thou Holy Ghost.

Suzanna Lubrano is a Cape Verdean Zouk singer based in Rotterdam. On December 6, 2003 she was awarded the Kora All African Music Award for Best Female Artist of Africa of the year 2003. Suzanna's music can be best described as a mix of Zouk and R&B.

Check out some of her videos

I entered a music shop the other day to see what compact discs I could find. The Ghanaian and African music CDs were many compared to their foreign counterparts. But guess what made up their composition. Did you guess? Yes? Yes. Gospel. More gospel. SOme more gospel. Plenty gospel. Folks, meet the highest selling genre in Ghana - gospel.

Here is a collection of some popular Liberian music videos. More would follow. As at now, we feature Sundaygar Dearboy, Jodi, 2C, and L.I.B. Queen (who is actually based in Ghana). Please post more links to your favorite Liberian music videos

Ever since hiplife became part and parcel of Ghanaian music, the female hiplife artistes have been holding it down. Talk of Abrewa Nana, Triple M (Manye Mercy), Mzbel, LA (made up of Lateefah and Asantewaa), Ras Nigga, etc - they have been matching their male counterparts boot for boot. They have been making music in native Ghanaian languages but 2006 and 2007 is seeing the rise of music in English from Ghana, so why not some female hip hop artistes? Ghanaian Missy Elliot/Eve wannabes? You got them. One right here, she's called Tiffany. And there's more to come.