Women Singers

"“I try to speak with my friends and my family, I went into therapy, and I use the gym also as a way to listen to my own thoughts. I spend a lot of time talking to my son as well. He surprises me when he talks about me or when we are sharing thoughts, he also gives me a lot of enlightenment,”"

"“Finally getting out of the camps was a great day. It felt so good to get out of the gates, and just know that you were going home…finally. Home wasn't where I left it though. Getting back, I was just shocked to see what had happened, our home being bought by a different family, different decorations in the windows; it was our house, but it wasn't anymore. It hurt not being able to return home, but moving into a new home helped me I believe. I think it helped me to bury the past a little, too, you know, move on from what had happened.""

"Everyone sings in my family. But I’m the only one who dared to sing ‘for real'"

"I never took singing lessons. I was like my daughter, singing in front of videos with a hairbrush as a microphone! Probably because I was imitating the songs I watched on TV. I thought it was great"

"When I was younger, I studied pattern making and I really wanted to be a pattern maker. It takes so much patience, though, and that’s not my forte. I quit in spite of myself simply because I couldn’t. That was my closest relationship with fashion"

"I was studying fashion at La Courneuve. I wanted to be a designer, but I stopped enjoying it, so I sang"

"At the beginning of my career, I was rather skeptical about this idea of a role model. But it is a reality: I have influence"

"“I don’t know if other mothers can relate but after pregnancy and giving birth, everything felt mushy. Everything was soft. It was like I couldn’t walk or move like the way I used to before,”"

"“I wanted to be active with him, I want to take walks with him, I want to ride a bike, I wanted him to watch less TV,”"

"“I am the happiest I have ever been,” she tells me when I ask how she is."

"But now I'm happier, I'm thinner, I'm sexier. When my son was born, I was at my heaviest, and I wasn't happy, I was performing because my songs were popping. The only thing that kept me going was because...my baby boy. Being a mom has just elevated me ... I want to be fit for myself."

"“I feel like life is good, I am truly blessed. I can’t complain.”"

"Sometimes, some labels just preach a lot before they sign you, but you get in there and you don't see anything. I remember when I actually was with Universal when I recorded Ojorley, they didn't want the song. And that's my biggest song too. That's how funny it was. I actually got signed to the Universal Music record label, and I'm independent again, I have been independent for a longer time."

"It's hard to penetrate the Ghanaian music market, your music probably won't sell, people wouldn't like you, some people who have grown in the industry will tell you that your music won't sell. Sometimes these comments can break you and you tend to ask yourself would this music that I'm doing yield results at all...Even people would sometimes sabotage you."

"I think finding your sound or what makes you unique is always the hardest part because there are a million artists around the world. Even in Ghana, there are thousands, so what will make you stand out? It’s like at every point, you find a different type or different side of you."

"There is something called psychology in music, psychology is just studying peoples behaviour and my background as a psychology student has influenced the kind of things I say in my songs and people say my music is therapeutic."

"“Working with Beyoncé really did change my entire mindset. I realised that she’s in her late 30s and she is still in the game,”"

"When I started music people used to look down on me because I was smallish. There were some instances where I went to events and the organisers asked how old I was and I added five years to my age."

"I went through a lot since Kgosi came onto this earth. I know a lot of people have been saying that I'm quiet... I haven't been feeling like making happy music. I have been making music and thank God that I can do that all the time,"

"So the thing about me is, I’ve always considered myself to be a very versatile artist. From the very first EP, all five to six songs on are completely different and I’ve never wanted to box myself."

"Going for a reality show developed me as an artist. Vodafone Icons helped develop me as an artist, I am Cina Soul because of my time on Vodafone Icons, I may not have won but being on the show gave me an identity. I know a lot of people out there have faith and believe in me so I have to make everyone proud by giving it my all."

"My music career began in school but got firm and strong after I had completed and put in much effort in to building it."

"It was for a moment. I released an EP called Ga Mashi during that moment, so it makes sense to be that persona for that moment. If I've gone past that project and released an EP called For Times We Lost that is very Afrobeats/HipHop, whu do I keep doing that? All this is intentional, I like to be different persona with every project I put out. I love to stay different all the time."

"My glam team don't sleep, they are always on point and always trying to make me look good because my image is really important...every space am in, they want me to stand out."

"What ever sound that comes to me in the studio, that’s what comes out be it highlife, Afro beat, or Afro-pop."

"I love Cina Soul. I put her on my shows because I want to give her the kind of exposure that I didn't get when I was starting my music career with the kind of music that I was doing. And she has a beautiful talent that I think is gonna grow to become amazing and I'm here to support her as much as I can..."

"I for do what I can till I’m gone You touch me, you touch fire Let no man ever touch my crown."

"I think she (Cina Soul) is actually extremely good. Soul’s voice is like something that can represent us (Ghana) on an international scale. I know she’s gonna get there. I don’t know which song [will take her there]. When I saw King Promise I knew. But I didn’t know how. But I knew he was gonna be huge. And Cina Soul has that approach."

"Cina is a nice person and I like her vibe and I'll spend the whole day with her and even more. She is talented, I like her vibe and performance on stage and I'm a big fan."

"It's my try to give strong voice to my homeland, to Crimea. The centuries of the Russian Empire, then Soviet Union, now Russia - they did a lot of propaganda to shut us up. Then they told the whole world we did not exist."

"“Jr wanted to sign me for three years. There was a bit of drama when I didn’t want to sign the contract. That’s why I’m not even on the Jobe music video.”"

"People trying to get you to sign contracts so that they can hold you down. I went through a couple of songs where I didn’t get any money from them. Jobe is one of those."

"“Jr met Jobe and after a video of me promoting the song went viral on Twitter they wanted me on the track. The song was already done and I put my vocals on it."

"she stated that she did not look up to any SA celebrity while growing up but she is a fan of Busiswa’s performances."

""Cassper is still the biggest artist but he still has to convince people that he is the best. I don’t want to go through that personally. There’s only so much you can do in your own country. Fill Up was the biggest so what’s next? It’s easy to get to the top but it’s hard to stay there.”"

"“I didn’t even know that the Jobe song had splits.”"

"“I never signed to Major League. It’s just an association signing. I’m signed to myself. I met Mojar League at Moja Cafe when they were performing. That was there the first time they saw me. The asked me to come into the studio and started doing gigs with them.”"

""Someone released music under my name , which is wild like why would you do that babe ??”"

"I will rule my destiny I’m unique, I’m not common Let me tell you where I come from In the ghetto, not London Mama told me you’re a champion You gon make it on the long run."

"I go like spend my life with somebody like you Give me the ring I will collect Mama I'm coming home, tell Papa am coming home Take my hand and carry me go."

"Through the process of her opening up, she realized that maybe it is a possibility, and maybe she does have that side of her that she wants to see what that’s about"

"I am a winner; I am a superstar How you see yourself is just how you are No compromising, no second-guessing Stay true to yourself and you’re gonna make it far! Can’t stop my Destiny, it’s my Identity!!."

"I always see Wiyaala on TV. I sing MzVee's songs everyday. Today I am seeing them. I think I am dreaming."

"MzVee and I work together a lot so we spend a lot of time together. We have become good friends and nothing more, there is nothing romantic between us."

"MzVee is a woman I feel. She is beautiful, intelligent and has the shape I want from my ideal woman. Most of all, she is a Dancehall artiste and based on this, the two of us click very well."

"We both wanted everything to feel grounded and really raw. The first time I met Ezekiel, I was like, ‘Yeah, this makes sense. He's perfect for this role.’ So, this is a great feature debut for him, and he really knocks it out of the park."

"If she (MzVee) says she does everything on her own, I wrote most of her songs, I don't think it's disrespectful. I wrote Daavi, Come and See My Mother featuring Yemi Alade, and I Don't Know so she didn't do anything by herself. She doesn't do stuff on her own, as she claims. I have helped, so I'm just hoping that she will appreciate rather than making it look like I never did anything for her. Because I never took even GHS1 from her."

"I watched MzVee's recent interview with Delay, she is not cured. MzVee is still depressed because depression is not cured - it's manageable. The church does not manage depression, it would rather give you false hope. MzVee currently into the music scene is no different from the depressed MzVee. She broke bounds from the house, an indiscipline behaviour that she should be disciplined."

"Yes - her (MzVee) colleague musician Efya could offer help but that's not enough. The last time I watched her interview with Delay critically, she's still going through depression. When you're treated properly out of depression, the sort of things that earlier made you feel bad, you'll be okay with it now no matter how long they say to offend you. We call it total recovery in professional counselling. She needs to seek professional counselling if she wants to go ahead with her music, else whatever happened to her when it's being repeated, she'll break down."

"Well, I am that kind of person who just does her work and any awards that comes surprises me. I don't put my mind on awards or anything like that so when they come they do surprise me."