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Emmanuel Kwesi Danso Arthur Junior (born 18 December 1994), known professionally as Kwesi Arthur, is a Ghanaian rapper, singer and songwriter from Tema, Ghana. He rose to fame in 2017 with the hit single "Grind day" which received wide spread acclaim and a co-sign from rap heavyweights Sarkodie and Medikal.[1][2] In 2019, his second EP Live from Nkrumah Krom Vol II garnered more than 2 million streams in the first week of its release.[3]

Kwesi Arthur
Kwesi Arthur performing at Alliance Francais.
Background information
Birth name	Emmanuel Kwesi Danso Arthur Junior
Also known as	Diidaday, Heavy Hitta, Young Arthur
Born	(1994-12-18) 18 December 1994 (age 27) Tema, Ghana
Origin	Ghana
Genres	Hip hop, Afrobeats
Occupation(s)	Rapper
Years active	2017–present
Labels	Independent

Arthur has won several accolades, including Rapper of the year and Hip Hop Song of the year at the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards as well as a Viewer's Choice Best International Act nomination at the 2018 BET Awards. He became the second Ghanaian rapper to be nominated for BET Hip Hop Awards Cypher after Sarkodie's nomination in 2019.[4]

Early life and education

Kwesi Arthur was born on 18th December, 1994 in Tema. He was raised in Tema Community 9, and is the second of four children with a brother named Dayonthetrack, who is also a musician. After completing his high school education at Temasco[5] in 2013, Kwesi's plans of furthering his education to study Psychology and Law at the University of Ghana came to a standstill due to a lack of funds. This led the rapper to consider a job offer as a security guard in Tema.[6] Although he was accepted for the security job, Kwesi decided to pursue his music career at a local recording studio instead. Here, he made a deal with the owner of the recording studio to learn music production and record for free; in exchange, Arthur had to perform menial tasks around the studio like sweeping and general maintenance. In 2016, he met management from Ground Up Chale, a social media movement for young artists in West Africa, where he recorded his hit record Grind day at their studios a year later.[7]

Music career

Kwesi Arthur started writing raps after listening to Drake's debut album, Thank Me Later.[8]

In 2017, he released the lead single "Grind Day" from his debut EP, Live from Nkrumah Krom (2017). The record was released under his independent outfit and supported by a social movement called GroundUp Chale. He later released the remix for "Grind Day", featuring Sarkodie and Medikal.[9]

Kwesi Arthur has collaborated with numerous Ghanaian musician, including Sarkodie, Medikal, KiDi, Jason E LA, R2Bees, B4bonah, M3dal, M.anifest, EL, Stonebwoy, Shatta Wale and South African rapper Nasty C . He was nominated for Best International Act at the 2018 BET Awards.[1][2]

Kwesi Arthur is one of the most successful artists in Ghana, with his music being internationally recognised and awarded. In 2020 his song "Live From The 233" was one of the most streamed African songs on the streaming service Apple Music.

Discography

EPs

• Live from Nkrumah Krom (2017)
• This Is Not The Tape, Sorry 4 The Wait (2019)
• Live from Nkrumah Krom Vol II Home Run (2019)[10]
• This Is Not The Tape, Sorry 4 The Wait II (2020)

Studio albums

• Son Of Jacob (2022)[11]

Singles

Year	Title	Production credit	Ref
2017	Grind Day	Kayso	[12]
	Grind Day Remix feat Medikal and Sarkodie (rapper)		[13]
2018	Anthem	Barking by Ramz
2018	Woara (meaning - It Is You)	Shotto Blinkz	[14]
2018	Don't Keep Me Waiting feat Kidi	NytWulf	[15]
2019	Zombie	TwoBars	[16]
2020	Turn On The Lights	Yung D3mz
2020	Live from 233	Juiczxx
2020	Baajo feat Joeboy	Yung D3mz
2021	Winning feat Vic Mensa	Juiczxx

Awards and nominations

Ghana Music Awards

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result	Ref
2018	Himself	Hip Hop Song of the Year	Won[17]	[18]
		Hiplife/Hip Hop Artiste of the Year	Nominated
		New Artiste of the Year	Nominated
2021	Himself	Hiplife/HipHop Artist of the Year	Nominated	[19]
	Himself	International Collaboration of the Year	Won	[19]

BET Awards

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result	Ref
2018	Himself	Viewers Choice Best International Act	Nominated	[20]

3 Music Awards

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result	Ref
2019	Himself	Hip Hop Song of the Year	Nominated	[21]
		Hiplife/Hip Hop Artiste of the Year	Nominated
		Hiplife/Hip Hop Act of the Year	Nominated
		Song of The Year	Nominated
		Music Man of The Year	Nominated
		Breakthrough Act	Nominated
		Digital Act of the Year	Nominated
		Hiplife Song of the year	Nominated
		Best Collaboration	Won

Videography

Year	Title	Director	Ref
2017	Grind Day[22]	Mickey Johnson	[23]
2017	Grind Day Remix[24]	Lex Maccarthy	[25]
2018	Anthem	Akwaada Nyame	[26]
2018	Woara	Yaw Skyface	[27]
2018	Don't Keep Me Waiting feat Kidi	Andy Madjitey	[28]
2018	Fever feat Rayf	RocxNoir	[29]
2019	Nobody feat Mr Eazi	Yaw Skyface	[30]

References

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