Shatta Wale
Imbued with energy, confidence, and bravado, the music of Ghanaian dancehall artist, actor, and producer Shatta Wale has won multiple awards. He self-released numerous albums, mixtapes, and singles throughout the 2010s including his signature song, 2014's "Dancehall King." This activity caught the attention of Beyoncé, who invited him to guest -- with Major Lazer -- on "Already," a track from her 2019 Grammy-nominated album The Lion King: The Gift, which ultimately enjoyed over 200 million streams. Wale's autobiographical Wonder Boy was issued the same year, followed by Maali in 2023, an uncharacteristically relaxed set that fused his dancehall style with traditional African rhythms.
He was born Charles Nii Armah Mensah, Jr. in Accra's Police Hospital, in 1984. Following his parents' divorce, it was his father -- a public figure working in politics, business, and law -- who played the largest part in raising him. While at Seven Great Princes Academy in Dansoman, Wale developed an enthusiasm for the performing arts and was cast in a play which ran at the National Theatre of Ghana. On leaving Winneba Secondary School, he began to make reggae and dancehall music, inspired by regular visits with his father to stay with their U.K.-based Jamaican relatives. He initially used the moniker Doggy before switching to Bandana in time for "Moko Hoo," a 2004 collaboration with Tinny that received a Ghana Music Award nomination. Although that track brought him a level of fame, he was unable to create an effective follow-up single. Subsequently, the music he made over the next decade remained very much part of the underground.
In 2014, he successfully re-emerged as Shatta Wale, releasing both the Green Times mixtape and Answers: The Hybrid Album. The latter featured the crackling, in-your-face "Dancehall King," which enjoyed enough exposure that he was named Artist of the Year at the Ghana Music Awards. This sharp and significant change in fortune led to his casting in Selorm Martinson, Jr.'s film Never Say Never, which premiered that September. Keen to consolidate his newfound success, Wale issued no fewer than six long-players in 2015, including four mixtapes: Up a Road, Times & Season, Million Miles, and Magical Year. In 2016, he co-starred alongside Martha Ankomah in Ikechukwu Onyeka's Shattered Lives, before releasing After the Storm, the first album issued on his own Shatta Movement Empire. Produced by Willis Beatz, the bubbling and accessible March 2017 single "Taking Over" was a huge success that saw him collaborate with emerging dancehall artists Captan, Addi Self, and Joint 77, while that October's Cloud 9 EP found him delving into hip-hop. Reflective of his upward trajectory, Avance Media named Shatta Wale 2017's Most Influential Musician on Social Media.
The drama-infused single "Ayoo" was named Song of the Year at 2018's inaugural 3Music Awards, just prior to the premiere of Kejetia vs Makola: The Trial of Shatta Wale, a cinematic vehicle that led to his first lead acting role. "My Level" -- a skittering, commercially focused track, and a key part of his canon -- was issued in collaboration with Zylofon Music later that year, just prior to Reign, an accomplished project which hit the Top Ten of Billboard's Top World Albums Chart. In 2019, only a few months before his career-changing Beyoncé cameo, Shatta Wale won eight 3Music Awards, his largest haul at a single ceremony. After 2019's Wonder Boy, an EP, The Manacles of Shatta, arrived in early 2020 before he became the first Ghanaian artist to organize an online concert during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, he teamed up with the Accra hip-hop artist Medikal for the Cross Roads EP. He released the flowing, unhurried Maali in 2023.
© James Wilkinson /TiVo
Ähnliche Künstler
-
Azaa
Hip-Hop/Rap - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Empire, Digital Distribution By Mipromo am 15.11.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Packaging (feat. Medikal)
Afrika - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Empire, Digital Distribution By Mipromo am 20.04.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
GOG CHAFF
Dancehall - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Empire, Digital Distribution By Mipromo am 19.11.2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Manacles of a Shatta
Dancehall - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Empire, Digital Distribution By Mipromo am 17.04.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Only One Man
Dancehall - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Empire, Digital Distribution By Mipromo am 05.03.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sm Cultural Anthem
Afrika - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Empire, Digital Distribution By Mipromo am 15.11.2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
1 Don
Dancehall - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Empire, Digital Distribution By Mipromo am 10.01.2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Trust No Telephone
Dancehall - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Empire, Digital Distribution By Mipromo am 24.12.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Be My Bae
Reggae - Erschienen bei SM 4 Lyf Records am 13.07.2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brutally Honest
Dancehall - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Empire, Digital Distribution By Mipromo am 24.09.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Neighborhood Hero
Reggae - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Empire am 06.07.2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Time No Dey
Afrika - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Empire, Digital Distribution By Mipromo am 28.11.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
So Long
Dancehall - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Empire, Digital Distribution By Mipromo am 14.07.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Thunder Fire (feat. SM Militants)
Dancehall - Erschienen bei Zylofon Music, Digital Distribution By Mipromo am 31.05.2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sm Assasin
Dancehall - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Empire, Digital Distribution By Mipromo am 27.11.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Prophecy
Dancehall - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Empire, Digital Distribution By Mipromo am 27.09.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Hate Nonsense
Afrika - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Empire, Digital Distribution By Mipromo am 01.11.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dancehall Dweet
Ska & Rocksteady - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Records am 11.02.2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Little Tip
Dancehall - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Empire, Digital Distribution By Mipromo am 01.03.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
2 Pah Pah (100,000)
Afrika - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Empire, Digital Distribution By Mipromo am 02.07.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Open n Close
Reggae - Erschienen bei Shatta Movement Empire am 28.02.2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo