5 Ghanaian artistes who still made huge impact after going solo – Reagan Mends writes

Breaking up from a group and still maintaining relevance is like a blight in the Ghanaian music scene.

On the bridge of working on their journeys, some of these stars who made up the bands end up realising their separation was a bad idea only after their journeys fail drastically.

Some of them put away their pride and work hard to mend their bands to their former glory, but that is as difficult as winning the hearts of fans.

However, some Ghanaian artistes who broke up from their respective groups have been able to still make huge impacts. They have stayed relevant even after going their separate ways.

In this article, Ghanaweekend profiles five of these artists.

1. Captain Planet[4X4]

Captain Planet was the leader of celebrated Ghanaian defunct music group 4X4. The group made up Captain Planet, Coded and Fresh Prince became a household name after releasing ‘Siklitele’ in 2003.

Captain Planet after going solo was able to uphold the trio’s reputation as a monster hit maker with his songs such as ‘Obi Agyi Obi Girl’ and ‘Abordie”.

2. Afriyie [Wutah]

Afriyie was an ardent member of the multiple award-winning Ghanaian music group, Wutah. Wutah, made up of Wutah Kobby, and Afritie parted ways in 2010.

They reunited in 2017 and split again in 2019. They are known for hit songs such as ‘Big dreams’ and ‘Kotosa’.

Ever since Afriyie went solo, he has been able to uphold the reputation of the group by churning out hit songs such as ‘Love Of my life’ and ‘Here to Stay’. These songs won him ‘Best Male Vocal Performer of the Year’ award at the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards.

3. Efya [Irene & Jane]

Irene & Jane was formed after contesting in the first edition of the defunct reality show ‘Stars of the Future’ in 2006. The duo with their silky voices went solo some 15 years ago.

While Efya went on to grab top awards and was adjudged the best vocalist of the year consecutively, Irene went private and in her own words, she experienced major setbacks including addiction and depression.

Efya won Best Female Vocal Performance at the Ghana Music Awards in four succession. In March 2021, 3Music Network included Efya on its list of the Top 30 Most Influential Women in Music.

4. Sparqlyn (Dunsin)

Dunsin, a celebrated Hiplife music group then made up of Ernest Obeng aka Omega, Ernest Wiafe-Koranteng aka Sweet Lips and Ahmed Kenneh Larweh aka Sparqlyn have records including “fefeefe”, “Oyadieyie” and “Falaa” which was formed in 2003, started recording professionally in 2005 and got their first smash hit ‘Oyeadieyie’.

Sparqlyn, after going solo has released a lot of good songs such as ‘Your Body’, and “Tumpa” that are doing very well on various streaming platforms.

5. Dada Hafco [Mframa]

Terry Asare Boamah, known by the stage name Dada Hafco is a Ghanaian high-life musician. He was formerly of the group called Mframa before going solo.

His song “Yebewu Nti” was nominated in the 2018 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards as the Highlife Song of the Year. He was also nominated for the Highlife Artiste of the Year in the VGMA for two years in a row.