Amerado

On 4 December 2024 Amerado became only the third Ghanaian artist to receive an Audiomack plaque for 100 million streams. Nine years earlier he had finished third in a freestyle contest on Kumasi's Solid FM.

Early life

He was born Derrick Sarfo Kantanka on 14 February 1995 and grew up in Ejisu, near Kumasi. He attended KNUST Senior High School and has studied political science at the University of Ghana.

Career

After the 2015 Solid FM Freestyle Show, Azee Ntwene signed him to MicBurnerz Music. His first single, "I AM", and the EP Rapmare came out in 2017, and a verse on Sarkodie's "Biibi Ba" in 2018 introduced him nationally. He worked with Shatta Wale on "Ahodwo Las Vegas" in 2020, freestyled for Tim Westwood on Capital Xtra in London in August 2021 and released the EP Patience that October. His debut album, G.I.N.A, followed on 25 October 2022, and he has kept up a steady run of EPs since, including Young and Strong (2023), The Gold Coin (2024) and Against All Odds (2025).

Since 28 December 2023 he has headlined his own year-end concert, My Motherland, at Okese Park in Ejisu. He is also an ambassador for Ghana-made chocolate under a Ghana Cocoa Board initiative.

Awards

Patience won EP of the Year and he was named Rapper of the Year at the 2022 3Music Awards. At the 2023 Ghana Music Awards he won Rap Performer of the Year for "Obiaa Boa", and "Kwaku Ananse" won Highlife Song of the Year at the 2024 3Music Awards.