Michael Owusu Addo, popularly called Sarkodie, is a Ghanaian rapper and entrepreneur. He bagged his Graphic Design degree from IPMC.
He started his music career as an upcoming rapper by featuring in Adom FM’s popular rap competition Kasahare Level. Sarkodie’s meeting with musicians Eden and Castro, who availed him the opportunity of getting being introduced to Hammer of The Last Two, at where he was able to record two tracks for his album ‘Volta Regime’. His debut album ‘Makye’, was released under his collaboration with Hammer. But, Sarkodie’s single ‘Baby’ shot him to stardom, as the song was a hit music that occupied the number 13 spot on the Joy FM’s top 50 2009 songs.
His second studio album ‘Rapperholic’, stood Sarkodie’s feet firm in the music world with a nationwide tour to support the album, and which subsequently won him his first BET Award. Sarkodie was also featured on the BET Hip Hop Awards cypher with Talib Keli, Jean Grae, and Ab-Soul. He was the only African act featured on the cypher.
In 2012, Sarkodie went on a musical tour to the United States, and later in the year performed ‘How Low’ with Ludacris at the 020 Live concert. He released his third album ‘Sarkology’ in 2014, the recording which was done in Ghanaian indigenous language ‘Twi’, featuring numerous African artists.
Sarkodie is highly recognized for carving out his own niche of rapping in his local language ‘Twi’, and is considered a “multifaceted rapper” due to his exuberance in displaying various musical styles. Sarkodie is often regarded as one of Africa’s greatest hip hop
artists. He was ranked sixth by MTV Base on its list of the Hottest African MCs in 2014. In 2015, The Guardian listed him as one of its top five hip hop acts on the African continent. He was ranked 8th on Forbes and Channel O’s 2013 and 2015 list of the Top 10 Richest/Bankable African Artistes.
In the stance of philantropy, Sarkodie launched The Sarkodie Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to supporting underprivileged children. He is also an entrepreneur with his Sark by Yas clothing line. Sarkodie is currently in partnership with Tigo Telecommunications Ghana, a brand that sponsored his 2013 Rapperholic tour. On 30 October 2019, he was appointed as an ambassador for the ‘Year of Return’ campaign; the honour was conferred on him at the Creative Arts Industry Forum.
Sarkodie has had several awards and honors added to his cart.
