I am a Ghanaian artiste but I live in London and did a lot of work in Nigeria – Amaarae

The face and voice behind the ever-growing Alté scene in Ghana, Amaarae has confirmed her identity as a Ghanaian artiste.

Born Ama Serwah Genfi, to Ghanaian parents in Accra, the singer and producer known professionally as Amaarae whose nationality has often come up for questioning confirmed she is not a Nigerian artiste.

The first of two children, the “Sad Girlz Luv Money” musician told Giovani and AJ Sarpong on the 3FM Drive that her journey to international acclaim started in Nigeria after she and her ‘momager’ decided to do a lot of press activities and events in the West African Nation.

“I live here, I just work a lot but I’m mostly based in London to be able to get to other places quickly. Ghana is the home. I live here and my family lives here.

My musical journey began in Ghana when I moved back in 2017. I had learnt to become a sound engineer. I was working on my friend’s rap project and I met another guy who was helping with my visuals. As far as the alternative scene in Ghana is concerned I tried for a year but it didn’t work so I told my mum for us to invest in Nigeria,” she disclosed

Amaarae said the strategy with her mum proved very successful and things picked up in Nigeria where she appealed to the audience before setting her eyes on the United Kingdom to execute a similar strategy.

“We went to Nigeria and instead of just shooting the video with Sante for Rapid Fire and returning, I said let’s do a press run for TV, radio and do a show as well…so instead of doing just 6 activities we did like 14 activities and my mum and I moved to London where she stayed with me for a month but I stayed for three months doing PR, relationship and media for my music,” she said.

Listed as Apple Music Africa’s Favourite New Artists in April 2017, Amaarae explained that crossing borders at the onset of her career was a prudent decision because there was space for artists who did fusion to thrive and grow.

“There’s a space for fusion. Even if you look at the Nigerian Afrobeats scene all of these guys are fusing Afrobeats, RnB and other Western sounds so I just think they have a better understanding of the kind of music I do,” she added.

Amaarae is the daughter of Kwado Boateng Genfi, Board Chairman of the Ghana Export-Import Bank (EXIM) and  Ama  Sarpong Bawuah, the first female board chair of Access Bank Ghana.

She mentioned that she grew up mainly between Atlanta, U.S.A and Accra, Ghana.