Entertainment of Tuesday, 10 May 2016

Source: Albert Ali

Ghana invades New York

Okyeame Kwame Okyeame Kwame

Ghana’s most versatile entertainer, Okyeame Kwame, a successful rapper, linguist, philanthropist, an advocate for positive change and one of Ghana's top 100 most influential people is set to take over The Big Apple with a roof-raising performance at The Standard, East Village on Tuesday, May 17th after successfully raising funds to support Ghana’s Paralympics Team to facilitate their travels last month.

The show will mark the climax of a promotional tour of New York for his latest single, “Small Small”; and also give ‘OK’ an opportunity to touch base with the Ghanaian and African community in the ‘Empire State’, introducing his music- which is a fusion of strong African Royal Music interlaced with high life, afro music and hiphop and is usually done in a local language to a broader audience.

The East Village appearance is at the invitation of Annie Ohayon, a New York based enthusiast and champion of authentic original music. Her “Annie O. Music Series”, which is described by The New York Times as “a connoisseur’s roster”, is a showcase for both local and international musicians, and has featured some of the best talents in the music scene, including Moby, Angelique Kidjo, John Forte, formerly of The Fugees and Rahzel from The Roots.

The guest-list only show is scheduled to last for two hours (7-9pm) and will welcome a distinguished audience of about 200 people. Okyeame has, in his career, performed at several international events in the USA, notably at The Apollo Theater and The Constitution Hall in Washington DC; and has shared the stage with chart-busting international acts including Busta Rhymes and Fat Joe.

OK aka the “Rap Dacta” clutches a gallery of awards including: Artiste of the year 2009 for the Ghana Music Awards, African Music Awards [Best West African Act, 2010]; World Bank Music for Development Award, 2011-- ; Music of Ghanaian Origin [MOGO Artiste of the Year, 2015] and the Ghana Music Award, [Songwriter of the Year, 2011 & 2012].

On this tour, the “Rap Dacta” is scheduled for a burst of interviews with over 20 major New York media networks including Hot 97.1 for the exclusive series “Beyond Borders” and WBLS 107.5 for a live broadcast; Music Times Magazine and What's Happening Now Magazine and celebrity online networks including: Thisis50, All Access Music [music.allaccess.com], Stardom Magazine [stardom101blog.com], INtune Magazine [intunemagazine.ca], OurWorld Media Magazine, Billboard Magazine, Glamsensedivas.com, and Thedaily411.com. OK is also scheduled to meet with top international music consultant, David Miller of Sevengrand Entertainment.

As part of his New York “invasion”, OK is scheduled to make some select club appearances.