Kwesi Arthur

Kwesi Arthur finished school at Tema Secondary in 2013 and could not afford university; he was about to take a job as a security guard. Four years later "Grind Day" made him a star, and its remix brought in Sarkodie and Medikal.

Background

Emmanuel Kwesi Danso Arthur was born on 18 December 1999 and grew up in Tema Community 9, the second of four children; his brother Dayonthetrack is also a musician. He started writing raps after hearing Drake's Thank Me Later.

Music

"Grind Day" led his debut EP, Live from Nkrumah Krom (2017), released independently with support from the GroundUp Chale movement. The sequel EP in 2019 passed 2 million streams in its first week. The BET Awards shortlisted him for its viewers' choice international act prize in 2018, and he was later picked for a BET Hip Hop Awards cypher. The Ghana Music Awards gave him their hip-hop song prize two years running, in 2018 and 2019, and has worked with KiDi, Stonebwoy, Shatta Wale and Nasty C. "Live from the 233" (2020) was among the most-streamed African songs on Apple Music.