7 minute read
THE GROWTH OF GYANKIE
Her father is highlife legend Nana Acheampong, but thanks to chart hit ‘Forever’, Gyakie is finding fame on her own terms with her fanbase of ‘Gyakie Chans’ going global
The release this year of ‘Seed’, the debut EP by Ghanaian star Gyakie, may have introduced the talents of the singer born Jackie Acheampong to many with its lead single “Forever’ proving a West Africa-wide chart hit, but one look at the cover art of the five-track release reveals the 22-year-old has been making music since she was a small child.
“The artwork is a photo of me in the studio when I was recording a song called ‘Lollipop’, which I wrote at age eight!” Gyakie tells me.
Fans of Ghanaian highlife music will also notice that the faded Polaroid not only shows Gyakie and her younger brother Justin, both at the microphone with their headphones on, but also highlife legend Nana Acheampong, their father.
The album cover and the subsequent promotion for ‘Seed’ represented the first time Gyakie had gone public with this famous familial connection. Her father is one of the biggest names in Ghanaian music and one half of The Lumba Brothers, who pioneered the Burger Highlife genre of music in the late 1980s.
Gyakie is her father’s biggest fan. “I believe my dad has been legendary within the music scene and had made a mark that will last forever,” she says. However, identifying herself by the stage name Gyakie and keeping her highlife heritage a secret when releasing her first singles in 2019 – ‘Love Is Pretty’ and “Never Like This’ – was a deliberate move to have her music judged on its own merits.
SOLO - Gyakie wants to show she has her own unique sound
Images courtesy of Gyakie and Jackie Acheampong
She says: “During the beginning of my career, I never spoke about my Dad publicly. I believed it was a journey that I was embarking on and I didn’t want to feed off my father’s fame either.”
With ‘Seed’, Gyakie acknowledges her father’s influence while emphasising she is an artist in her own right with her own unique sound incorporating elements of afro beat, r’n’b and reggae.
“The entire idea of the EP was to introduce my sound to the listeners and to make them understand how versatile I could be,” Gyakie says. “I am my father’s seed, planted into the music industry and with the hard work from my manager and I the seed will be watered until it grows.
Destiny
“I also believe as humans, regardless of our lineage, we have distinct paths and destinations and mine happened to be within the other genres. However, the African sound, highlife, remains at the core of it all.”
Just as Nana Acheampong looks proudly on at his young children on the cover of Seed, he must be immensely satisfied at what his daughter is achieving as a young woman. In just under two years, Gyakie already has a string of hits, culminating in the release of ‘Forever’. It’s a song, which Gyakie says, “makes you want to fall in love” and it has certainly captured the hearts of music lovers. The soulful track made it into Billboard’s top Triller global charts, was a number one in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya and took just a few months to reach more than 11 million streams worldwide.
The Kumasi-born singer is delighted by her rapid rise to fame, but is keen to point out it is not as overnight as some might think. A lot of work has gone on to get where she is now.
“Even today I am still astonished at how my music is travelling across the globe,” she says. “I mean, I know the music is good, but sometimes it takes a little while for people to accept your sound as an artiste. One thing I always say is ‘hard work pays off eventually’ and that is what is manifesting right now. My management [Ghana’s Flip the Music] and I have had sleepless nights! The goal was to take Ghana music to the world, which we knew would happen someday, but never expected it to be this soon.” Helping spread the word on Gyakie’s music is a fervent fanbase, known as the ‘Gyakie Chans’. “The name was given to the fans by my fans,” laughs the singer. “I sent out a tweet for ideas on what I could call my fans, and the majority of them choose that name and it makes a lot of sense because the legendary actor “Jackie Chan” is known for being a great fighter! My fans don’t give up on anything, they’d fight anyone that’s comes off as a villain to Gyakie music, you know the vibes!”
DEGREE - The singer is nearing the end of her studies in Kumasi
Images courtesy of Gyakie and Jackie Acheampong
While Gyakie gets a kick out of interacting with her ‘Chans’ on social media and keeping them updated on her latest moves, when it comes to creating her music the singer prefers it to be a solitary experience. She tells me the distinctive warm vocal tones that make listening to a Gyakie track such a soothing experience are recorded with all the lights out in the studio.
She says: “Creating music in dark places makes me feel and see my imagination the more. Most of the songs I write come from things I imagine in my head. I don’t get distracted when the place is dark because I don’t get to see anything. It’s a very spiritual and therapeutic feeling.”
Songs over study
The unusual recording technique is certainly working. In just a short time, Gyakie has become a big name even beyond Ghana’s borders and the success has convinced her that music is her future. She hasn’t always felt that way. Despite growing up in a family in which music was such a big
part of everyday life, she initially hadno plans to follow in her father’s footsteps,setting her sights on a businesscareer instead.
“Growing up, I was a lover of musicand entertainment, but I never sawmyself doing music as a profession,”she says. “I wanted to be an entrepreneur.I wanted to run my ownbusiness, to be a CEO. I loved whatmy dad was doing and I had so muchinterest in entertainment but I neverdrifted my attention to the fact thatI had a unique voice until I dropped‘Love is Pretty’”.
Kumasi girl
The aspiring entrepreneur wona place at the Kwame NkrumahUniversity of Science & Technology(KNUST), in Kumasi, to study businessat degree level. She is now atthe business end of the three-yearcourse with final exams looming, justas her music career has taken off. “Itis tough juggling music and schooland it gets tougher each day butI’m trying my very best to get goodgrades and graduate school in grandstyle,” she says.
Once she has graduated, she nowintends to dedicate herself to makingmusic. “Yes, music lives within meand I can’t leave it behind,” she says.“People have invested their souls intomy music as well so I can’t leave themdisappointed. I’m hoping to be able todo this till eternity.”
Gyakie has been able to both studyin the Ashanti Region capital andtap into its thriving music scene. Sherecorded ‘Forever’ at a studio hereand says the city dubbed ‘Kumerica’for its rising US-influenced rap andhip-hop scene is a hotbed of musicaltalent. “The Kumasi music scene hasgrown really big and most of the new school talents in Ghana are from here.Currently, I’m feeling Kofi Jamar andKojo Cue. Both super talented artistesfrom Kumasi.”
Her father, who also has links to thecity, attending the Kumasi TechnicalInstitute as a young man, has notonly been an inspiration in Gyakie’syounger years, but is now there tooffer an insider’s insight into how tonavigate the music business now hercareer is on the rise.
“My Dad really talks to me aboutthe pros and cons in the music industryand shares advice with me as andwhen he can.”
These are large footsteps to follow,but Gyakie hopes her music will standthe test of time like her father’s. Theseed is becoming a star.
“I hope to leave a legacy and toheal and inspire hundreds of thousandsof people with my music. I wantmy music to live for a lifetime. If I’mable to have a long musical career likemy Dad, that would be a plus, if not,it’s enough to know I did what I coulddo and it was good.”
MUSICAL FAMILY - The Seed EP cover
Images courtesy of Gyakie and Jackie Acheampong
Find out more
‘Seed’ by Gyakie is available to buyor stream online now. Follow Gyakieon Instagram @gyakie_
