Kirani Ayat

Kirani Ayat, born Ayat Maqwam Salis on 10 July 1990, is a rapper, singer and producer from Madina in Accra. His hits include Kudi, I Don't Know You, Play For Keeps (Soyaya), Dodo and Guda.

Early life

He attended Madina Islamic JHS and West Africa Secondary School, where he started recording as Mr. Ayat. He studied IT at IPMC and won a university place, but dropped out to make music full-time.

Many names

From 2010 he recorded as Billy Banger. His song Ain't Easy got an honourable mention in the hip hop category of the 2011 International Songwriting Competition, out of more than 17,000 entries. After the 2014 EP The TrapLife 2.0 he went back to his birth name Ayat, which means "life" in Arabic, and later became Kirani Ayat.

Career

In 2016 he says he sold most of his belongings to stage the first MADFEST (Music of African Descent Festival), with Akan, Worlasi, M.anifest, AJ Nelson and Medikal on the bill. His debut EP Zamani came in 2017, and Her Vibe Is Right followed in 2019 with Efya, Magnom and Joeboy. The Guda video won Best Overall Video at the 2019 4syte TV Music Video Awards. In 2022 he released his debut album, Aisha's Sun, with Worlasi, Sarkodie and Morell. The same year he publicly objected when clips from the Guda video appeared in a government tourism promotion without his permission.