AJ Nelson

Adjei Nelson Otumfour (born 5 May 1985), better known by his stage name AJ Nelson is a Ghanaian recording artist. He is most famous for the singles “Same Girl”, “Faith” and “Power to the People” and is currently the only rapper who fuses the Bono language with Ashanti Twi in his songs.[1] In 2015, AJ Nelson initiated a campaign titled “Power To the People” to empower the youth of his homeland, Ghana and of the African continent to speak against woes of society since he felt there was much corruption and conflicts on the African continent but the people mostly affected could hardly voice their thoughts and emotions to the leaders of society.[2] The campaign attracted the attention of important figures like Communication Director at World Bank, Mr. Kofi Tsikata k and Bella Mundi of GH One TV who joined the campaign.[3] In the same period, AJ Nelson released a hiphop song titled “Power to the People”.[4] In November 2015, the song was ranked the 3rd most downloaded Ghanaian Hiphop Song on iTunes. AJ Nelson was ranked the 3rd top selling artist on iTunes in November 2015.[5]

AJ Nelson
Birth nameAdjei Nelson Otumfour
Also known asAJ Nelson
Born (1985-05-05) May 5, 1985
Dormaa Ahenkro, Brong Ahafo Region, Ghana
GenresHiplife, Hip hop
Occupation(s)Rapper
Years active2009–present
LabelsGH Brothers', Corna Rock Entertainment
Associated actsAsumadu Okyeame Kwame Wiyaala Jay Ghartey
Websiteajnelsonworld.com

Life and career

Early life

Agyei Nelson Yaw was born in Dormaa Ahenkro, Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. He is the 5th of 7 children born to Mrs. Agnes Isha Yeboa Mensah, and Mr. Mohammed Amoani Mensah. He attended the Saint Dominic School and in school gained interest in rap music. He started writing his own songs and at the age of 14 started performing in High Schools and local shows. AJ Nelson later attended IPMC College of technology in Accra, where he studied diploma in Web & Graphic design.

Musical career

Nelson first began to gain recognition at the start of 2009 when he featured on a welcome song for the 44th president of the United States of America, Barack Obama's visit to Ghana. The song featured prominently on worldwide Television including the CNN.[6] After releasing underground singles in 2009 and 2010, AJ Nelson got a major record deal with his former record label, GH Brothers and proceeded to release his debut mainstream hit single, “Same Girl” featuring Quabena Maphia in September 2010. He subsequently released a second single titled “Dream” in 2011 but that didn't have a lot of commercial success compared to its forerunner. In the last quarter of 2011, he released a third single, titled “Faith” featuring Ghanaian-American music producer, singer, and songwriter based in New York City, Jay Ghartey and that was a major commercial success including its music video's air play on several Television channels outside Africa like MTV Base.[7] In 2015 AJ Nelson released “Power to the People” under the label, Corna Rock Entertainment.[8] Power to the people led Aj to be ranked 3rd on iTunes list of top selling Ghanaian Hiphop artists alongside fellow rappers Sarkodie and Obrafuor. In the week of November 23–29, 2015, “Power to the people” was the only Ghanaian song listed in the list of Best New Music of The Week on Wepluggoodmusic.com.[9] AJ Nelson was nominated as 2016 Ghana Carnival ambassadors[10] The power to the people crooner made makes some naughty suggestions on new song, "innuendo" [11]

Style

Nelson raps in English with a fusion of Asanti twi and Bono (the local language by natives of Brong Ahafo). It is for this reason he is nicknamed the BA Emcee (Brong Ahafo Emcee) because he represents the people of Brong Ahafo on the Ghanaian rap scene.

Album

The Corner Rock artiste AJ Nelson in October 2018 announced his debut album Africa Rise [12] The album which consist of sixteen tracks features Ghanaian acts, Cabum, Che Che, Worlasi, Ayat, Kliff Wonder and Guinea's Miking on Marafagni which literally means Love. Africa Rise album which preaches about Peace, Love, Hope and togetherness was officially released on November 23rd. [13]

Album Tracklist
  • "Kwanto" ft Kliff Wonder [14]
  • "Forward" ft Worlasi [15]
  • "Brother" feat. Cheche & Suzzy Blaq (Prod. by Cheche) [16]
  • "How Come" feat. Ohene Savant (Prod. by Cheche)
  • "I No Go Lie" (Prod. by Ohene Savant)
  • "Africa Rise" feat. Suzzy Blaq (Prod. by Genius Selection)
  • "Beautiful" feat. Jay Smalls (Prod. by Cheche)
  • "Marafagni (Love)" feat. Miking (Prod. by Cheche)
  • "I Pray" feat. Ayat (Prod. by Shizzy)
  • "Bibia" feat. Dee Tutu (Prod. by Azee Burner) [17]
  • "Tomorrow" (Prod. by Cheche)
  • "Weytin" feat. Cabum, De’ Lion & Lala (Prod. by Cabum)
  • "Mansa Ba" feat. Cheche (Prod. by Ohene Savant)
  • "V.O.A" (Prod. by Cheche)
  • "Message" (Prod. by Azee Burner)
  • "I Dey Here" (Prod. by Cheche)

Personal life

AJ Nelson is married to Salome Nelson Agyei since 2015.[18] AJ Nelson's branding genuinely made a social contribution which gave him the chance to compete with some Ghanaian musicians like Okyeame Kwame, Gasmilla, Stonebwoy and others for Woodin's brand ambassador 2016.[19]

Performance

AJ Nelson was booked to perform in Togo which many people were impressed by his performance. AJ gained a lot of fans over there.[20] AJ Nelson has performed on some platforms including the 4 Syte MVAs, High School Entertainers Awards as well as the High School Honors Awards. He has also been on the Okyeame Kwame's “OK in Your Zone” tour and his “Clinic” album launch. He also performed at the maiden Ghana Fashion Awards and Sarkodie's Rapperholic album launch.[21][22][23]

Videography
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Year Title Director Ref
2016 Power To The People Featuring Wiyaala Nana Yaw Berima [24]
2015 Pain Stip [25]
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gollark: What was?
gollark: Yep.
gollark: Wow, this handles unicode poorly.

References
  1. "AJ Nelson [Profile]". Ghanafilla.net. RudeBoi. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  2. "We Have Extreme Power - AJ Nelson". modernghana.com. Edmund Sakyi. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  3. "Kofi Tsikata, Wiyaala join power to the people campaign". www.newsghana.com.gh. News Ghana. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  4. "'Power to the people is a cultural expression' – AJ Nelson". kasapafmonline.com. Edward Acquah. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  5. "#Ghana iTunesChart: Becca,Sonnie Badu,AJ Nelson,Sarkodie,Obrafuor are the TOP selling artists on iTunes This Week". Ghanaflow. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  6. "AJ Nelson's New Single-FAITH, Featuring Jay Ghartey". ghanashowbiz.com. Pope Breezy. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  7. "A.J Nelson features Jay Ghartey on new single, 'Faith'". ameyawdebrah.com. Ameyaw Debrah. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  8. "AJ Nelson, Wiyaala to 'Empower The World' on Nov. 24". David Mawuli. Ghanaweb. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  9. "Best New Music Of The Week // November 23 – November 29, 2015". wepluggoodmusic.com. Ayo Adepoju. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  10. "AJ Nelson, Stonebwoy and Wiyaala nominated as 2016 Ghana Carnival ambassadors". News Ghana. Newsghana.com.gh. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  11. "aj nelson makes some naughty suggestions on new song, "innuendo"". mtvbase.com. Mtvbase. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  12. "AJ Nelson has finally announced his debut album, titled "Africa Rise"". David Mawuli. PulseGhana. Archived from the original on 5 December 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  13. "AJ Nelson delivers Afrocentric positivity with debut album". rebtel.com. Oral Ofori. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  14. "Kwanto (feat. Cliff Wonder)". itunes.apple.com. Apple Music. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  15. "Forward ft Worlasi". itunes.apple.com. Apple Music. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  16. "Brother ft Suzz Blaq". itunes.apple.com. Apple Music. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  17. "Bibia ft Dee Tutu". itunes.apple.com. Apple Music. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  18. "Rapper AJ Nelson ties the knot with girlfriend Sally Bakah". David Mawuli. Pulse.Com.Gh. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  19. "Rapper AJ Nelson to become Woodin's next brand ambassador?". David Mawuli. Pulse.com.gh. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  20. "Hip-hop Act Talks About Togo Tour Experiences, Future Collaborations And More". David Mawuli. Pulse.com.gh. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  21. "Wanlov, Flowking Stone, AJ Nelson, Eno, others to rock Kasoa Jan. 16". David Mawuli. Pulse,Com.Gh. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  22. "Video: NanaYaa, Worlasi, AJ Nelson, Pappy Kojo rocks Republic Bar". Blagogee. Ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  23. "Wiyaala, AJ Nelson & Dark Suburb to rock +233 Jazz Bar & Grill Dec. 12". David Mawuli. Pulse.com.gh. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  24. "Video AJ Nelson releases official trailer for "Power To The People" featuring Wiyaala". Pulse.com.gh. David Mawuli. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  25. "Video AJ Nelson – Pain". Pulse.com.gh. David Mawuli. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
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