Amaarae

Amaarae was born on July 4, 1994, in New York, USA and raised between Atlanta, USA and Accra, Ghana[5] to Ghanaian parents Ama Bawuah and Kwadwo Boateng Genfi. She is the eldest of two children. Amaarae started her music journey at the age of 13, when she wrote her first song.[7] During her teenage years, she began to enjoy watching music videos. She stated one of her most vivid memories was watching the music video for the Kelis song “Young, Fresh n' New”. She recalls Kelis' unique expression being an inspiration for her journey into the music industry.[8]

During high school, she started making mix tapes. By the age of 17, she took up an internship at a music studio. At tertiary institution, she undertook voice training and honed her songwriting skills while studying English literature and she returned to Ghana in June 2017.[5]

Amaarae released her debut project Passionfruit Summers[9][10][11] in 2017. The album features the standout song, "Fluid", which was complemented by a critically acclaimed music video.[12]

Recognized both locally and internationally, she was named one of Apple Music Africa's Favourite New Artist in April 2018[5][13][14][15] and later that year became an Apple Music Beats 1 featured artist[16] for her debut project Passionfruit Summers which she released through her independent record label, Golden Child LLC on November 30, 2017.[6] She performed with Teni, Boj of DRB LasGidi and Odunsi at ART X Lagos, an art fair in Lagos, Nigeria on November 3, 2018.[17]

Amaarae has also been acknowledged for her style and fashion sense.[18][19] In 2018, she was featured in Vogue Magazine online in an article on 4 women across the globe with buzz haircuts[20][21] and snagged a mention as one of Vogue online's Top 100 Style Influencers of 2018, in addition to being nominated as Artist of the Year at the Glitz Style Awards in Ghana.[22][23][24] She has also patronized Ghanaian fashion brand Free The Youth.[2]

On March 23, 2019, Amaarae became one of the acts chosen to perform at the first-ever Boiler Room event to happen in Accra, Ghana alongside La Meme Gang (A Collective comprising Nxwrth, RJZ, KwakuBS, Darkovibes, Kiddblack and $pacely) and Award Winning Rapper Kwesi Arthur.[25][26][27][28]

Amaarae has since collaborated with Stonebwoy, Kojey Radical, M3NSA, Santi, Blaqbonez, Buju, Odunsi, B4bonah.[10] In 2019, she collaborated with the Nigerian Singer-songwriter Wande Coal.[29]

On November 12, 2020, Amaarae released her debut studio album, The Angel You Don't Know. Owen Myers of Pitchfork stated, "The Angel You Don't Know crackles with innovation, a pacesetter at a time when industry bigwigs are waking up to the long-held truth that Africa is setting the global tempo for pop music."[30]

• Official website