Wiyaala

Wiyaala's 2013 hit "Rock My Body" took two prizes at the maiden All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) in 2014, where she was named the continent's most promising act and its revelation of the year. She sings in Sissala, Waala and English, often within one song.

Upper West upbringing

Noella Wiyaala Nwadei was born in Wa on 22 December 1986, and was raised in Funsi and Tumu with her three sisters. Her mother, a church choir singer, gave her her first lessons, and she was performing by five. At Kanton Secondary School in Tumu she was a tomboy who played midfield and starred in school shows. She also studied art and design at Takoradi Polytechnic. Wiyaala means "the doer" in Sissala.

Career

She earned her first pay singing in a Tamale bar and worked as a session singer around Echo Soundz studio in Wa. Her first album, Tuma, came out in 2009. She later built a following through TV talent shows in Accra, and her bold, androgynous look drew attention. She has worked with UNICEF Ghana and the gender ministry on campaigns against child marriage and child poverty, headlined the 15th London African Music Festival, and was named among the 3Music Awards' 30 most influential women in music in 2021.

Private life

In 2018 she said she had been married for four years, at a small ceremony with only her parents, a lawyer and a judge present. She has not named her husband.