MzVee

Vera Hamenoo-Kpeda (born 23 June 1992)[1], better known by her stage name MzVee, is a Ghanaian singer, afropop, dancehall and R&B artiste. Her debut solo album[2][3] features several hit singles including 'Borkor Borkor', 'Natural Girl' and 'Dancehall Queen'. MzVee was signed to the record label Lynx Entertainment and was the winner of the New Artiste of the Year award at the 2015 Ghana Music Awards.[4][5] She parted ways with Lynx Entertainment in the year 2019.

MzVee
MzVee being interviewed at the 2017 Wave Concert
Background information
Birth nameVera Hamenoo-Kpeda
Born (1992-06-23) 23 June 1992
Accra, Ghana
GenresAfro pop, Hiplife, R&B, Dancehall
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active2012–present
Associated actsStonebwoy, Shatta Wale, Richie Mensah, Efya, Didier Awadi, Pappy Kojo,M.anifest
Websitemzveegh.com

Early life

MzVee was born in South La Estates, Accra to Ernest Hamenoo-Kpeda, a businessman, and Florence Hamenoo-Kpeda, a caterer. She has two older sisters and a brother and attended St Martin de Porres School in Accra in her early years . She moved on to St. Mary's Girls' Senior High School and is now studying Business Administration at Ghana Telecom University.[6]

Music career

2012 – 2013: Early beginnings

MzVee first burst onto the Ghanaian music scene in the summer of 2012 as the lead singer of Lynx Entertainment’s girl band D3.[7] The band, released hit singles such as 'Good Girls Gone Bad' and 'Gyani Gyani' before splitting at the end of 2013 due to educational commitments of the young group members.[8]

2014 – present: Breakthrough

MzVee launched her solo career with debut single ‘Borkor Borkor’ released in January 2014.[9] She followed this with hit single ‘Natural Girl’[10] and went on to win the 'Unsung Artiste Award' at the 2014 Ghana Music Awards.[11] Her debut album was released in November 2014[2] and features collaborations with several award-winning artistes such as Stonebwoy, VIP, Shatta Wale, Richie Mensah, M.anifest and Didier Awadi.

Following the success of her award-winning debut album, MzVee released her second album titled Verified in November 2015 to rave reviews.[12][13] The album has earned MzVee 7 nominations at the 2016 Ghana Music Awards[14] including 'Album of the Year' and 'Record of the Year' for the single 'Abofra' which features Efya. Her highly anticipated third album DaaVee was released in May 2017.[15]

2017-2019: Hiatus

MzVee took a two year break from the Music Industry from 2017 to 2019. In an interview with TV3 on Monday, January 5th 2020, she revealed that her reason for leaving the music industry was a massive depression which she was going through[16]. This has dismissed pregnancy rumors that some people were saying is the reason for her absence from the Music Industry[17]. Throughout the two year period MzVee found help from her friend Efya who kept supporting and encouraging her until she overcame depression[18][16]. She has announced that as of 2020 she is back to music and will be releasing a single she has titled "Sheriff"[16].

Musical style and recognition

MzVee’s music contains elements of afropop, R&B and dancehall and her strong vocal abilities earned her a nomination for 'Female Vocalist of the Year'[19] at the 2015 Ghana Music Awards and the award for 'Most Promising Act' at the 2015 Ghana Music Honors.[20] She is regarded as one of the stars of Ghana’s dancehall scene and received the award for 'Best Female Vocalist of the Year'[21] at the 2015 Ghanaian dancehall awards, BASS awards. Her trademark natural African hair and hit single ‘Natural Girl’ has made her an inspiration to young girls across Africa who want to celebrate their natural look.[22]

MzVee's impressive rise to the top continued with a nomination in June 2015 in the 'Best International New Artist' category[23] at the BET Awards 2015. This brand new fan-voted category celebrates rising stars from across the channel’s international footprint.[24]

In October 2015, MzVee was appointed the World Bank Ambassador for their 'End Extreme Poverty Campaign'.[25] She released the official campaign song titled 'End Poverty'[26] and became a World Bank #Music4Dev Guest Artist; a role which has been held in the past by a number of award-winning artists including D'Banj and Fally Ipupa.[27][28]

MzVee was named in MTV Base's list of the top African artists to watch out for in 2016. This list featured the breakthrough hit makers of 2015 on the African continent.[29][30] She has also been nominated in the ‘Best Urban Artist’ category at the 2016 KORA Music Awards[31][32] and received 7 nominations at the 2016 Ghana Music Awards[33] including Songwriter of the Year[34] with Richie Mensah and Efya, Album of the Year[35] and Best Female Vocalist.[36]

On May 20, 2016, MzVee was nominated for the BET Awards 2016 - Best International Act: Africa category and became the first Ghanaian female musician to be nominated for a major BET Award.[37] She was also nominated in the Best Female category in October 2016 for the MTV Africa Music Awards.[38]

MzVee continues to receive both critical and commercial acclaim for her work and was awarded the Best Female Artist Honour[39] at the Ghana Music Honours on 4 March 2017. She was also nominated for Reggae/Dancehall Artiste of the Year, Best Female Vocalist and Overall Artiste of the Year at the 2017 Ghana Music Awards.[40]

Discography
  • Re-Vee-Lation (2014)
  • Verified (2015)
  • DaaVee (2017)

Awards and nominations
YearOrganizationAwardWorkResult
2014Ghana Music AwardsUnsung Artiste of the YearHerselfWon[41]
4syte Music Video AwardsBest DiscoveryHerselfWon[42]
2015Bass AwardsBest Female Vocal ArtistHerselfWon[43]
Ghana Music HonorsMost Promising ActHerselfWon[44]
Ghana Music AwardsArtiste of the YearHerselfNominated[45]
Ghana Music AwardsReggae/Dancehall Artiste Of The YearHerselfNominated[45]
Ghana Music AwardsBest New Artiste Of The YearHerselfWon[46]
Ghana Music AwardsAlbum Of The YearRe-Vee-LationNominated[45]
Ghana Music AwardsReggae Dancehall Song Of The YearNatural GirlNominated[45]
Ghana Music AwardsBest Female Vocal PerformanceMy EverythingNominated[45]
BET AwardsBest New International ArtistHerselfNominated[23]
2016KORA Music AwardsBest Urban ArtistHold Me NowNominated[31]
Ghana Music AwardsAlbum of the YearVerifiedNominated[35]
Ghana Music AwardsSongwriter of the YearMzVee, Richie Mensah and EfyaNominated[34]
Ghana Music AwardsBest Female Vocalist of the YearHold Me NowWon[36]
Ghana Music AwardsReggae Song Of The YearHold Me NowNominated[47]
Ghana Music AwardsAfro Pop Song Of The YearAbofraNominated[48]
Ghana Music AwardsRecord Of The YearAbofraNominated[49]
Ghana Music AwardsReggae/Dancehall Artist Of The YearHerselfNominated[50]
BET AwardsBest International Act AfricaHerselfNominated[51]
Nigerian Entertainment AwardsAfrican Female Artist (Non-Nigerian)HerselfNominated[52]
AFRIMMABest Female West AfricaHerselfNominated[53]
MTV Africa Music AwardsBest FemaleHerselfNominated[38]
2017Ghana Music HonoursReggae/Dancehall Artist HonourHerselfNominated[54]
Ghana Music HonoursBest Female Artist HonourHerselfWon[39]
Ghana Music HonoursPeople's Choice Artist HonourHerselfNominated[54]
Ghana Music AwardsReggae/Dancehall Artiste Of The YearHerselfNominated[40]
Ghana Music AwardsBest Female VocalistNobody ElseNominated[40]
Ghana Music AwardsOverall Artiste of the YearHerselfNominated[40]
4syte Music Video AwardsBest Female VideoRewindNominated[55]
4syte Music Video AwardsBest Choreography VideoRewindNominated[55]
BASS AwardsArtiste of the YearHerselfNominated[56]
BASS AwardsReggae Song of the YearNobody ElseNominated[56]
BASS AwardsPerformer of the YearHerselfNominated[56]
BASS AwardsFemale Vocalist of the YearNobody ElseNominated[56]
BASS AwardsReggae Collaboration of the YearNobody Else (feat. Black Prophet)Won[57]
BASS AwardsDancehall Artiste of the YearHerselfNominated[56]
BASS AwardsReggae Video of the YearNobody ElseNominated[56]
2018Ghana Music AwardsFemale Vocalist of the YearHerselfNominated[58]
Ghana Music AwardsReggae/Dancehall ArtisteHerselfNominated[59]
Ghana Music AwardsReggae/Dancehall Song of the YearRewindNominated[60]
Ghana Music AwardsCollaboration of the YearSing My Name (feat. Patoranking)Nominated[61]
Ghana Music AwardsAfropop Song of the YearSing My Name (feat. Patoranking)Nominated[62]
Ghana Music AwardsAlbum Of The YearDaa-VeeNominated[63]
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References
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  2. "MzVee drops album on November 21". Daily Guide Ghana. Archived from the original on 2014-11-27.
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  5. "Full list of winners at 2015 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards". myjoyonline.
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  8. "Music group D3 splits". Ghana Web.
  9. "MzVee Borkor Borkor". Ghana Ndwom.
  10. "MzVee releases Natural Girl featuring Stonebwoy". Modern Ghana.
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  12. "MzVee ups her game with verified album launch". Ghana Web.
  13. "MzVee ups her game with verified album launch". Nigeria News24.
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  16. "Depression forced me to leave music industry- MzVee". www.myjoyonline.com. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
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