Sarkodie is a Ghanaian hip hop and hiplife recording artist who is the first Ghanaian to win the BET Award for Best International Act: Africa category; that was in 2012. He is held in Ghana as one of the leading music artists in the country. Sarkodie is also considered one of the major artistes who brought the Azonto genre and dance back to life in Ghana and the world at large. Among these already known facts about the rapper are more lesser known facts that haven’t crossed your mind.
In this article, BuzzGhana brings you everything you need to know about Sarkodie. Enjoy your reading!
Sarkodie was born Michael Owusu Addo, in Tema, Ghana. It is quite a few Ghanaians who know his real name as Sarkodie seems to have swallowed it up to the extent that when you mention Michael Owusu Addo, virtually no neck would turn as opposed to when Sarkodie is mentioned.
He is the fourth of five children of his single mum Emma Maame Aggrey. He started rap in his childhood in the year 1992 at the age of four. From Achimota Preparatory School to Tema Methodist Day Senior High School, Sarkodie was known for his outstanding talent in music till he made the mark. He later proceeded to IPMC where he earned a degree in Graphic Designing.
Sark is said to have been born on the 10th of July 1988. However, the artiste has on several occasions said that public claims about his age have all the while been wrong. On these occasions, the rapper had always dismissed question on his actual age, saying it is one of the things he has decided to keep to himself.
Sarkodie has a long time girl friend and baby mama, Tracy. The rapper started dating her right before his shot to limelight. They both have a cute daughter named Adalyn, and everyone is expecting them to tie the knots sooner than later.
This may sound incredible but it is a fact which was gotten from the rapper’s very own words. See him testify to this:
I never smoked or drank alcohol before. Unfortunately, it is the general belief that anyone who is vibrant on stage or in his field of endeavour in the entertainment industry is suspected of doing drugs but I beg to differ and stand to be counted out as an exception.”
He is a Brand Ambassador for Breastfeeding
Sarkodie was unveiled as the ambassador of breast-feeding in Ghana in 2014. Other brands the rapper has represented include Samsung Mobile, Fanmilk Ghana and Tigo TeleCommunications Ghana.
Sarkodie owns Sarks Collection, a clothing brand which was launched on April 27, 2013. The clothing line deals on wears and accessories for men, women and children. The brand was worn by former Chelsea star, Malouda. Ranked in the 2017 Forbes Top 10 Richest African Musicians, Sarkodie remains one of the richest musicians in the continent.
Sarkodie remains one of the most famous and followed African musicians on social media.
In 2015, he topped the list of Most Influential Musicians on Social Media. The following year 2016, he became the first Ghanaian musician to hit one million followers on Instagram. The rapper also won the Best Subscribed YouTube Channel Award in Ghana same year.
On July 13, 2013, Sarkodie launched Sarkodie Foundation which is tasked with the mission of supporting underprivileged children. He also made donations of items worth thousands of Ghana cedis to the Royal Seed Home Orphanage in Kasoa.
On December 25, 2014, The Sarkodie Foundation embarked on a “feeddakids” campaign in Tema, where they provided thousands of kids with eight sacks of rice, yogurt and beverage cans. They also gave away school bags, water bottles, hats and other items.
Ghanaian teen rapper Awal also confessed to benefiting from Sarkodie’s philanthropy. These are however, just few instances out of the numerous humanitarian contributions the rapper has made to the society.
How It All Started
Sarkodie made his breakthrough in Ghana music through his clever, quick and freestyle rapping which he does in a native language (Twi). He started pursuing his dream in music through off-hand rap show on Adom 106.3 FM named ‘Kasahare Level’ hosted by Duncan Williams. Gradually he took himself to the top emerging as the best rapper in Tema. It was through this show he met his manager who was then the host of the rap show. It was also there that he was noticed by one of the best contributors in Ghana music, Edward Nana Poku Osei, also known as Hammer, and other popular musicians like Edem and Castro. Hammer then helped the trio to release ‘You Dey Craze’ . Even though Sarkodie was already known then, this track got his name on the lips of Ghanaian youths till he released his first hit track ‘Baby’. This track which featured Mugeez of the R2bees made Sarkodie a household name in Ghana till his debut album. Sarkodie is now making waves with both Twi and English raps and songs.
His family Influenced His Career and Stage Name
Sarkodie’s family has always been a ‘musical’ family- his mother is a singer, along with his little brother. His dad too is a strong fan and admirer of Michael Jackson and that was exactly what inspired his birth name, Michael. The rapper strongly believes that there is a link between his real name, Michael; his stage name, Sarkodie and his success in the entertainment industry. He also revealed that his father had two wealthy friends who go by the name ‘Sarkodie’. He therefore equaled the name to wealth.
Also known as ‘Obidi Pon Bidi’
Aside Sarkodie, Michael also goes by the nick name, Obidi Pon Bidi.
He once had his stage name inscribed on floor tiles at the 2014 BET Awards gala venue.
Illuminati Rumours
Sarkodie has been severally accused of being a member of the secret society known as ‘Illuminati‘ as a result of some controversial display of their signs and symbols in his music. Some of the typical examples include his performance at the Apollo Theatre in New York where he used slides reflecting the “all seeing eye” symbol of the popular occultic group. The rumours started in December 2011 when he released the video of his song ‘Saa Okodie No’ which allegedly had some satanic connotations.
Also See: Sark Music, Others Are Satanic – Boateng
In the bid to dismiss the already heated rumours in the media space, he recorded the song “Illuminati” and subsequently released the video for it in August 2013, with a part of the lyrics reading, ‘you believe in juju, I believe in power’.
All the same, he has continued this trend of stirring up Illuminati rumours since that time, as in January 2015, he still used slides of the ‘all seeing eyes’ in the video of his hit song, Revenge Of The Spartans.
Sakodie currently has three award-winning albums to his credit. They are: “Rapperholic” (2012), “Sarkology” (2014) and “Mary” (2015). He is set to release his fourth album ‘Highest’ on Friday, September 8, 2017.
Sarkodie won the following awards at the 2010 Ghana Music Awards: Artist of the year, Discovery of the year, Hip hop/hiplife artist of the year, Best Rapper of the year and Album of the Year (Makye). He also won the Best Collaboration of the Year for “Lay Away” (feat. Sway from UK) at the Sound City Music Video Awards (Nigeria) and Best Editing Video at 4syte TV Music Video Awards same year.
In 2011, he won the Best Hip-Hop Video, Best Editing Video, Best Collaborating Video at the 4syte TV Music Video Awards.
In 2012, the rapper was honoured with Artiste of the Year, Most Popular Song of the year (U Go Kill Me), and Best Rapper of The Year at the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards.
The same year, he also grabbed the very prestigious BET Awards Best International Act – Africa, Headies Awards African Artiste of the Year, Award for Achievement in Music at the National Youth Achievers Award, and 4syte TV Music Video Awards Best Hip-Life Video.
4syte TV Music Video Awards Best directed music video, Most popular video, Best hip-hop video, Best story line video, and Caribbean American African Nations Music Awards Best West African Act.
Ghana Music Awards Hip-life/Hip-hop Artist of the year, Best Rapper of the year, Album of the year, Hip hop song of the year, African Muzik Awards Magazine’s Best Rap Act, 4syte TV Music Video Awards Best Hip-Life Video and Most Influential Artiste, MTV Africa Music Awards Best Hip-Hop, Independent Music Awards Rap/ Hip-Hop Song of the Year, The Headies African Artiste of the Year, and Ben TV Awards African Artiste of the Year.
Sarkodie’s favorite meal is Rice and Egg Stew, and his most preferred T. V show is “Keeping up with the Kardashians”.
Sarkodie once revealed in an interview that he is easily attracted to women wearing glasses or shades. He emphasized his attraction to them by saying he sees them as serious-minded people who boldly go for whatever they want.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.
