This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2009)

Legon
Coordinates: 5°39′N 0°11′W / 5.65°N 0.183°W / 5.65; -0.183
Country	Ghana
Region	Greater Accra Region
District

Legon, a suburb of the Ghanaian capital city Accra, is situated about twelve kilometres north-east of the city center. Legon is home to the main campus of the University of Ghana. The word "Legon" is derived from the indigenous Ga language of the people of Greater Accra; NI-LEY GON (NI-LEY means KNOWLEDGE and GON means HILL) therefore "Hill of Knowledge". Ghanaians also loosely refer to the University of Ghana simply as Legon. Legon is also home to Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School (PRESEC-Legon). Legon is adjacent to one of the most prestigious residential suburbs of Accra - East Legon and only about 20 minutes drive from the Kotoka International Airport.

The University has its own private elementary and middle schools known commonly as the University Primary and Junior Secondary School (UPS). Students who attend this school are primarily kin to the lecturers and workers of the University campus. Many of them go on to attend the University of Ghana.

External link[link]

• University of Ghana website.

Coordinates: 5°39′N 0°11′W / 5.65°N 0.183°W / 5.65; -0.183

This Ghana location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008)

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson
in 1934
Born	Luther Robinson (1878-05-25)May 25, 1878 Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Died	November 25, 1949(1949-11-25) (aged 71) New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Dancer, actor
Spouse	Lena Chase (1907–1922) Fannie S. Clay (1922–1943) Elaine Plaines (1944–1949)

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson (May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949) was an American tap dancer and actor of stage and film. Audiences enjoyed his understated style, which eschewed the frenetic manner of the jitterbug in favor of cool and reserve; rarely did he use his upper body, relying instead on busy, inventive feet, and an expressive face.

A figure in both the black and white entertainment worlds of his era, he is best known today for his dancing with Shirley Temple in a series of films during the 1930s.

Life and career[link]

Early years[link]

Robinson was born in Richmond, Virginia to Maxwell, a machine-shop worker, and Maria Robinson, a choir singer. He was raised by his grandmother after both parents died in 1885 when he was 7 years old—his father from chronic heart disease and his mother from natural causes. Details of Robinson's early life are known only through legend, much of it perpetuated by Robinson himself. He claimed he was christened "Luther"—a name he did not like. He suggested to his younger brother Bill that they should exchange names. When Bill objected, Luther applied his fists, and the exchange was made.

Career[link]

At the age of five, Robinson began dancing for a living, appearing as a "hoofer" or busker in local beer gardens. He soon dropped out of school to pursue dancing as a career. In 1886, he joined Mayme Remington's troupe in Washington, DC, and toured with them. In 1891, at the age of 12, he joined a traveling company in The South Before the War, and in 1905 worked with George Cooper as a vaudeville team. He gained great success as a nightclub and musical comedy performer, and during the next 25 years became one of the toasts of Broadway. Not until he was 50 did he dance for white audiences, having devoted his early career exclusively to appearances on the black theater circuit.

In 1908, in Chicago, he met Marty Forkins, who became his lifelong manager. Under Forkins' tutelage, Robinson matured and began working as a solo act in nightclubs, increasing his earnings to an estimated $3,500 per week. In 1928, he starred with Adelaide Hall on Broadway in the hugely successful musical revue Blackbirds of 1928 written by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh, in which he performed his famous stair dance. In 1930, he returned to Broadway to star with Adelaide Hall in Brown Buddies.

The publicity that gradually came to surround him included the creation of his famous "stair dance" (which he claimed to have invented on the spur of the moment when he was receiving an honor from the King of England, who was standing at the top of a flight of stairs – Bojangles' feet just danced up to be honored); his successful gambling exploits; his bow ties of multiple colors; his prodigious charity; his ability to run backward extremely fast; his argot, most notably the neologism copacetic;^[1] and such stunts as dancing down Broadway in 1939 from Columbus Circle to 44th St. in celebration of his 61st birthday.

Little is known of his first marriage to Fannie S. Clay in Chicago shortly after World War I, his divorce in 1943, or his marriage to Elaine Plaines on January 27, 1944, in Columbus, Ohio.

Robinson served as a rifleman in World War I with New York's 15th Infantry Regiment, National Guard. The Regiment was renamed the 369th Infantry while serving under France's Fourth Army and earned the nickname the "Harlem Hellfighters". Along with serving in the trenches in World War I, Robinson was also the 369th "Hellfighters Band" drum major and led the regimental band up Fifth Avenue on the 369th's return from overseas.^[2]

Toward the end of the vaudeville era, a white impresario, Lew Leslie, produced Blackbirds of 1928, a black revue for white audiences featuring Robinson and other black stars. From then on, his public role was that of a dapper, smiling, plaid-suited ambassador to the white world, maintaining a tenuous connection with the black show-business circles through his continuing patronage of the Hoofers Club, an entertainer's haven in Harlem.

Consequently, blacks and whites developed differing opinions of him. To whites, for example, his nickname "Bojangles" meant happy-go-lucky, while the black variety artist Tom Flatcher claimed it was slang for "squabbler."^[3] Political figures and celebrities appointed him an honorary mayor of Harlem, a lifetime member of policemen's associations and fraternal orders, and a mascot of the New York Giants major league baseball team. Robinson reciprocated with open handed generosity and frequently credited the white dancer James Barton for his contribution to his dancing style.

After 1930, black revues waned in popularity, but Robinson remained in vogue with white audiences for more than a decade in some fourteen motion pictures produced by such companies as RKO, 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures. Most of them had musical settings, in which he played old-fashioned roles in nostalgic romances. His most frequent role was that of an antebellum butler opposite Shirley Temple in such films as The Little Colonel, The Littlest Rebel, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Just Around the Corner, or Will Rogers in In Old Kentucky. Robinson was the first African–American male to appear on film dancing with a Caucasian girl, Shirley Temple (The Little Colonel 1935).

Rarely did he depart from the stereotype imposed by Hollywood writers. In a small vignette in Hooray for Love he played a mayor of Harlem modeled after his own ceremonial honor; in One Mile from Heaven, he played a romantic lead opposite African-American actress Fredi Washington after Hollywood had relaxed its taboo against such roles for blacks. He only appeared in one film intended for black audiences, Harlem is Heaven, a financial failure that turned him away from independent production.

In 1939, he returned to the stage in The Hot Mikado, a jazz version of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta produced at the 1939 New York World's Fair, which was one of the greatest hits of the fair. His next performance, in All in Fun (1940), failed to attract audiences. His last theatrical project was to have been Two Gentlemen from the South, with James Barton, in which the black and white roles reverse and eventually come together as equals, but the show did not open. Thereafter, he confined himself to occasional performances, but he could still dance well in his late sixties, to the continual astonishment of his admirers. He explained this extraordinary versatility—he once danced for more than an hour before a dancing class without repeating a step—by insisting that his feet responded directly to the music, his head having nothing to do with it.

Death[link]

Despite earning more than US$2 million during his lifetime, Robinson died penniless in 1949, at the age of 71 from heart failure. His funeral, which was arranged by longtime friend and television host Ed Sullivan, was held at the 369th Infantry Regiment Armory near Harlem and attended by 32,000 people. Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. gave the eulogy, which was broadcast over the radio.^[4][5] Robinson is buried in the Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn, New York.

Legacy[link]

A statue of Bill Robinson sculpted by Jack Witt in Richmond, Virginia, at the intersection of Adams and West Leigh Streets.

Robinson was dogged by lifelong personal demons, having great success despite the obstacle of racism. A favorite Robinson anecdote is that he seated himself in a restaurant and a customer objected to his presence. When the manager suggested that it might be better if Robinson leave, he smiled and asked, "Have you got a ten dollar bill?" Politely asking to borrow the manager's note for a moment, Robinson added six $10 bills from his own wallet and mixed them up, then extended the seven bills together, adding, "Here, let's see you pick out the colored one." The restaurant manager served Robinson without further delay.^[6]

A man with a big heart, he was a soft touch for anyone who was down on their luck or had a good story. Despite earning and spending a fortune his haunting memories of surviving on the streets as a child never left him, prompting many acts of generosity. In 1933, while in his hometown of Richmond, he saw two children risk speeding traffic to cross a street to get their ball, because there was no stoplight at the intersection. Robinson went to the city and provided the money to have one installed. In 1973, a statue of "Bojangles" was erected in a small park at that intersection.

Bojangles co-founded the New York Black Yankees baseball team in Harlem in 1936 with financier James "Soldier Boy" Semler. The team was a successful member of the Negro National League until it disbanded in 1948, after Major League Baseball was desegregated and began to absorb the top Black talent available.

In 1989, a joint U.S. Senate/House resolution declared "National Tap Dance Day" to be May 25, the anniversary of Bill Robinson's birth.

Robinson was inducted into the National Museum of Dance C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame in 1987.

In popular culture[link]

• Fred Astaire paid tribute to Bill Robinson in the tap routine Bojangles of Harlem from the 1936 film Swing Time. In it, Astaire famously dances to three of his shadows.
• Duke Ellington composed "Bojangles (A Portrait of Bill Robinson)", a set of rhythmic variations as a salute to the great dancer.
• Bill Robinson's biography was published in 1988 and a made-for-television film entitled Bojangles was released in 2001. The film earned the NAACP Best actor Award for Gregory Hines' performance as Bill Robinson.
• While Jerry Jeff Walker's 1968 folk song "Mr. Bojangles" is often thought to be about Robinson himself, it was actually inspired by Walker's encounter with a street performer in the New Orleans first precinct jail.
• Arthur Duncan, an exceptional tap dancer in his own right, frequently paid homage to Bill Robinson with the stair routine on The Lawrence Welk Show.
• Is mentioned in the Larry Norman song "Nightmare" from the album So Long Ago the Garden.
• Bojangles is also the name of a franchise fried chicken restaurant chain in the southeastern U.S.
• In the "All in the Family" episode "Lionel Steps Out" Robinson's dancing with Shirley Temple were referenced.

Filmography[link]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	Dance portal

• Racism in the United States
• Blackface

Notes[link]

References[link]

Sources

• Some biographical material is from the International Tap Association Newsletter, May/June 1993. The biographical material was extrapolated from The American Dictionary of Biography and Webster's American Biographies.
• Haskins, James; Mitgang, N. R., Mr. Bojangles: the biography of Bill Robinson (New York: William Morrow, 1988). ISBN 0-688-07203-8

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Bill Robinson

• "Bill Robinson". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=879. Retrieved May 14, 2009. 
• Bill Robinson at the Internet Broadway Database
• Bill Robinson at the Internet Movie Database
• Bojangles at the Evergreens Cemetery

j

Fats Waller
Background information
Birth name	Thomas Wright Waller
Born	(1904-05-21)May 21, 1904
Origin	New York, New York, U.S.A.
Died	December 15, 1943(1943-12-15) (aged 39)
Genres	Dixieland, jazz, swing, stride, ragtime
Occupations	Pianist, singer, organist
Instruments	Piano, vocals, organ
Years active	1918–1943

Fats Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943), born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer.

Early life[link]

Thomas Wright Waller was the youngest of four children born to Adaline Locket Waller and the Reverend Edward Martin Waller. He started playing the piano when he was six and graduated to the organ of his father's church four years later. At the age of fourteen he was playing the organ at Harlem's Lincoln Theater and within twelve months he had composed his first rag. Waller's first piano solos ("Muscle Shoals Blues" and "Birmingham Blues") were recorded in October 1922 when he was 18 years old.

He was the prize pupil, and later friend and colleague, of stride pianist James P. Johnson. Fats Waller was the son of a preacher and learned to play the organ in church with his mother. Overcoming opposition from his clergyman father, Waller became a professional pianist at 15, working in cabarets and theaters. In 1918 he won a talent contest playing Johnson's "Carolina Shout", a song he learned from watching a player piano play it.

Career[link]

Waller was one of the most popular performers of his era, finding critical and commercial success in his homeland and in Europe. He was also a prolific songwriter and many songs he wrote or co-wrote are still popular, such as "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Squeeze Me". Fellow pianist and composer Oscar Levant dubbed Waller "the black Horowitz".^[1] Waller composed many novelty swing tunes in the 1920s and 1930s and sold them for relatively small sums. When the compositions became hits, other songwriters claimed them as their own. Many standards are alternatively and sometimes controversially attributed to Waller.

The anonymous sleeve notes on the 1960 RCA (UK) album Handful of Keys state that Waller copyrighted over 400 new songs, many of which co-written with his closest collaborator Andy Razaf. Razaf described his partner as "the soul of melody... a man who made the piano sing... both big in body and in mind... known for his generosity... a bubbling bundle of joy".^{[citation needed]} Gene Sedric, a clarinetist who played with Waller on some of his 1930s recordings, is quoted in these same sleeve notes recalling Waller's recording technique with considerable admiration. "Fats was the most relaxed man I ever saw in a studio, and so he made everybody else relaxed. After a balance had been taken, we'd just need one take to make a side, unless it was a kind of difficult number."

	You Got Everything A Sweet Mama Needs But Me You Got Everything A Sweet Mama Needs But Me, sung by Sara Martin with piano accompaniment by Fats Waller in 1922.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

	'tain't Nobody's Bus'ness If I Do 'tain't Nobody's Bus'ness If I Do, sung by Sara Martin with piano accompaniment by Fats Waller in 1922.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Waller played with many performers, from Nat Shilkret (on Victor 21298-A) and Gene Austin to Erskine Tate to Adelaide Hall, but his greatest success came with his own five- or six-piece combo, "Fats Waller and his Rhythm".

His playing once put him at risk of injury. Waller was kidnapped in Chicago leaving a performance in 1926. Four men bundled him into a car and took him to the Hawthorne Inn, owned by Al Capone. Waller was ordered inside the building, and found a party in full swing. Gun to his back, he was pushed towards a piano, and told to play. A terrified Waller realized he was the "surprise guest" at Capone's birthday party, and took comfort that the gangsters didn't intend to kill him. According to rumor, Waller played for three days. When he left the Hawthorne Inn, he was very drunk, extremely tired, and had earned thousands of dollars in cash from Capone and other party-goers as tips.^[2]

In 1926, Waller began his recording association with Victor Records, his principal record company for the rest of his life, with the organ solos "St. Louis Blues" and his own composition, "Lenox Avenue Blues". Although he recorded with various groups, including Morris's Hot Babes (1927), Fats Waller's Buddies (1929) (one of the earliest interracial groups to record), and McKinney's Cotton Pickers (1929), his most important contribution to the Harlem stride piano tradition was a series of solo recordings of his own compositions: "Handful of Keys", "Smashing Thirds", "Numb Fumblin'", and "Valentine Stomp" (1929). After sessions with Ted Lewis (1930), Jack Teagarden (1931), and Billy Banks's Rhythmakers (1932), he began in May 1934 the voluminous series of recordings with a small band known as Fats Waller and his Rhythm. This six-piece group usually included Herman Autrey (sometimes replaced by Bill Coleman or John "Bugs" Hamilton), Gene Sedric or Rudy Powell, and Al Casey.

Waller wrote "Squeeze Me" (1919), "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now", "Ain't Misbehavin'" (1929), "Blue Turning Grey Over You", "I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling" (1929), "Honeysuckle Rose" (1929), and "Jitterbug Waltz" (1942). He collaborated with the Tin Pan Alley lyricist Andy Razaf. He composed stride piano display pieces such as "Handful of Keys", "Valentine Stomp" and "Viper's Drag".^{[citation needed]}

He enjoyed success touring the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1930s. He appeared in one of the first BBC broadcasts. While in Britain, Waller also recorded a number of songs for EMI on their Compton Theatre organ located in their Abbey Road Studios in St John's Wood. He appeared in several feature films and short subject films, most notably "Stormy Weather" in 1943, which was released July 21, just months before his death. For the hit Broadway show, "Hot Chocolates", he and Razaf wrote "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue" (1929), which became a hit for Ethel Waters and Louis Armstrong.

Waller performed Bach organ pieces for small groups on occasion. Waller influenced many pre-bop jazz pianists; Count Basie and Erroll Garner have both reanimated his hit songs (notably, "Ain't Misbehavin'"). In addition to his playing, Waller was known for his many quips during his performances.

Between 1926 and the end of 1927, Waller recorded a series of pipe organ solo records. These represent the first time syncopated jazz compositions were performed on a full sized church organ.

Death[link]

Waller contracted pneumonia and died on a cross country train trip near Kansas City, Missouri on December 15, 1943, after making a final recording session with an interracial group in Detroit that included white trumpeter Don Hirleman. He was on his way back to Hollywood for more film work, after the smash success of "Stormy Weather". Ironically, as the train with the body of Waller stopped in Kansas City, so stopped a train with his dear friend Louis Armstrong on board.

Revival and awards[link]

A Broadway musical revue showcasing Waller tunes entitled Ain't Misbehavin' was produced in 1978. (The show and a star of the show, Nell Carter, won Tony Awards.) The show opened at the Longacre Theatre and ran for over 1600 performances. It was revived on Broadway in 1988. Performed by five African American actors, it included such songs as "Honeysuckle Rose", "This Joint Is Jumpin'", and "Ain't Misbehavin'".

Recordings of Fats Waller were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honour recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance".

In popular culture[link]

• Subject of the Irish poet Michael Longley's "Elegy for Fats Waller".^[4]
• Waller's organ music is prominently featured in the David Lynch film, Eraserhead.
• He was caricatured in several Warner Brothers animated shorts, most notably Tin Pan Alley Cats.
• In the 2008 film, Be Kind Rewind Fats Waller was a major theme and influence over the storyline.
• Italian comics book artist Igort published a comic book about Waller entitled Fats Waller on Coconino Press in 2009.
• Some of Waller's music (Jitterbug Waltz) is used in the video game series BioShock.

Key recordings[link]

^[5]

Filmography[link]

^[5]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Fats Waller piano rollography
• Red Hot Jazz, a selection of Fats Waller's Recordings
• Fats Waller Forever, a digital exhibit of Fats Waller's musical career
• Fats Waller memorabilia
• Fats Waller, a tribute to the King of Stride Piano (French and English)
• Fats Waller Stride Piano & Sheet Music
• Allmusic
• Fats Waller selection on a Grand Piano

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Tagged since July 2011. The notability of this article's subject is in question. If notability cannot be established, it may be listed for deletion or removed. Tagged since February 2010. It contains weasel words: vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. Tagged since March 2010. It may need to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Tagged since January 2011.

Denning Edem Agbeviadey (born in the mid 1980s) is a Ghanaian recording artist and entertainer who performs under the name Ayigbe Edem or Edem for short. Edem is his middle name and Ayigbe is a local Akan word with reference to the Ewe ethnic group that occupies most part of the Volta Region of Ghana. He rose to fame with the release of his maiden album, The Volta Regime in 2008, which has songs like the hit ‘U dey craze’, ‘Bra fremi fremi’, ’ Nyornuviade’, ‘Give it up’, ‘Emmre Sesa’ and ‘Lorlortor’. This album was produced and executive produced by the music maker, Edward Nana Poku Osei, aka Hammer of The Last Two Edem collaborated with other Ghanaian acts such as the sensational Samini, the tongue-twisting Sarkodie, the ‘mad’ artist Kwaw Kesse, the love – laced Kwabena Kwabena, KK Fosu,Obrafour, Tinny, the Ga sensational rapper, the yet to come up Tuba and EL, Ruth of Mentor and A.S.E.M Asem.

Currently, Edem does all his music in the local Ewe language and is the most notable rapper in the dialect at the moment. Aside writing and recording music and being a student, he has also ventured into philanthropic works. He has made quite a number of donations to needy patients to undergo surgery, donations to the Maternity Ward of the Mamobi polyclinic and to the Weija Leprosarium.

Early life[link]

With both parents late, Edem was born in Dzodze in the Volta Region of Ghana. He is the only son of his parents and has one sister, Wendy Sefakor Agbeviadey who resides in Accra. The young Edem spent most part of his toddler and teenage years in Accra and Aflao. He started his primary education at the Amazing Love School, and then continued there for his junior high school. As a product of the secondary school system in Ghana, he proceeded to Bishop Herman College for his senior high school education. He lost his mum at age 13. He was left with his dad, a lawyer, and his sister. He lost his dad at age 16. His only immediate family at the moment is his sister, whom he adores very much. He grew up surrounded by music in his locality and music from across the world ranging from hip hop to dancehall, reggae and hi life.

By the age of nine, Edem was usually caught hitting tables, empty tins and any item that could produce good rhythm. He took off with his first music group in junior high. In senior high, he formed a 6 member group called the Ringmasters. They performed at the school’s entertainment programs as well as at funfairs held in other schools. They usually did singing, rapping and dancing. After completion of senior high school, he proceeded with his quest to build a commercial career in music for himself. he recorded uncountable songs in the underground with the likes of Kokromoti, Nival, Trigmatic, Vyroz,M.O.B and Osibo .

Music[link]

In 2006 he released his first radio hit single “WOTOME WOSHI” which literally translates as “we came and they run”. It gained much popularity in his region and added to his underground reputation as a talent to look out for. It was in this same year that he got together officially with The Last Two Entertainment Group, headed by the hit maker Hammer of The Last Two. This record label is responsible for bringing up artists like Obrafour (an Akan artist) in 1999, Tinny (a Ga artist in 2002) and the madman Kwaw Kesse (a Fante artist) in 2005.

During his career advancement, Edem also made a lot of appearances at live shows, the major of which was as the opening act for the John Legend concert organised by Charterhouse and held at the International Conference Center in Accra in 200-- . Before his debut album, He did a lot of collaborations with other acts, the major one being with Obrafour for a TiGo telecommunications promotion. He went on a national tour with him, sponsored by TiGo. After spending two years in the studio (2006 December to 2008 December), he came up with his first single “bougez” which received a lot of airplay from radio stations across the country. He later came up with his first album which featured a lot of new as well as established acts such as Tinny, Kwaw Kesse, Sarkodie, Obour, Asem, K. k. Fosu, Tuba, Samini, Jayso, Trigmatic, El and Gemini.

Edem has appeared on major shows like Stars of the Future Season 3 Finales, Ghana Music Awards (2009) and all major university concerts. He has been a part of the University of Ghana’s Commonwealth Hall week, Akuafo Hall week, Evandy Hostel(Legon) week celebration, Pentagon Hostel week celebration, Miss WA Poly, Miss Ho Poly and KNUST’s Unity Hall week celebration.

He has become a household name in neighboring Togo as they share the Ewe language.

Debut Album: Volta Regime (2008)[link]

His first album titled the Volta regime was released onto the Ghanaian market in January 2008.

This album is as a result of two years of recordings in the hush hush studios in Accra. All the lyrics of the songs on this album were written by Edem himself. The compositions for all the songs were produced by Hammer of The Last Two. He also doubled as the executive producer of this album.

The hit single ‘bougez’ featuring Ruth, Kwaw Kesse and sarkodie is part of the compilation for this first album. The album has a general introduction consisting mainly of the historical background and the migration of the Ewe tribe from notsie to Ghana. Each song has an intro that briefly talks about the track. All these intros were done by Jeremie Van Garshong. Other songs on this album are nyornuviade feat Kwabena Kwabena,bra fremi fremi feat tinny,give it up feat sarkodie, emmre sesa feat tuba

Sophomore Album: Mass Production (2011)[link]

Mass Production, is going to be a transition from his first and unlike his previous album which was solely produced by producer/sound engineer, Hammer of The Last Two, the album, he said, holds a mixture of unique beats produced by various engineers including hammer. Edem says, “…It basically is a transition from me being an artiste with a first album and now trying to put music out that will be appealing to everybody that has supported me. Now the album is Mass Production because it is going to be made easily available and affordable to everybody in a sphere of life in the country.” ^[1]

Awards and Honors[link]

When the nominations list for the 2010 Ghana Music Awards was released, Edem's maiden album had clocked seven nominations. His record must have made it to some other categories under the "industry awards". this will increase his number of nominations.^[2][3]

Philanthropic work[link]

Before he became this popular, Edem promised himself and God that should he make it, he will make it a point to help those in need. In his own small way, he has done a number of philanthropic works and is fast gaining ground as one artist in Ghana with a passion for charity.

Following this passion, on Monday 7 September 2009, he made a donation of various items and a cash amount of ------ to the maternity ward of the Mamobi Polyclinic in Accra.

After hearing Father Campbell, the priest in charge of the Weija Leprosarium calling for help, Edem went to the Weija Leprosarium on 10 October 2009 and in the spirit of charity, he donated ---------items and a cash amount of ------. In a short speech at the presentation, he told Father Campbel that he felt responsible enough to help them in his own small way. In an interview with Myjoyonline, Edem also said “I was touched by what I saw on the TV some weeks ago where Father Campbell spoke about the plight of the Leprosarium....“my priority is making people who need help get help. People do not have to be rich before they can donate and help the needy in society.”^[4]

While watching and listening to the prime time news on TV3, he sympathized with the parents of Michelle Koranteng, a 4 month old baby who was suffering from a congenital brain disorder. The poor girls’ condition touched him enough to make yet another donation to aid her medical bills and surgery. This was on 3 December 2009. On the same day, he travelled to Hohoe in the Volta Region and made yet another donation to the maternity ward of the Hohoe General Hospital.

He also has expressed his displeasure over government’s inability of providing adequate malaria health care to the many Ghanaians.^[5]

As of 2011, Edem has plans to start a Volta Regime Foundation which will be a full time charity organization.

Personal life[link]

Edem's uniqueness is in three-fold: language, rhythmic quality and depth of lyrics. He is currently a student of the meridian pre university. In February 2011, the rapper became a father after the birth of his daughter and claims to be in a committed relationship with plans to get married.^[6]

Discography[link]

• Ø The Volta Regime
• Bougez
• Bra fremi fremi
• Give it up
• Nyornuviade
• Emmre sesa
• De afor tome
• Lorlortor
• Menye wokoe
• Je,tempri
• Lorm nava

External links[link]

• Edem's Profile on Ghana Music.com Check out Edem's Videos, photos and stories on Ghana Music.com

References[link]