Ghameli

Ghanaian-British Film maker Amma Asante has received her  Most Excellent Order of the British Empire  (MBE) some three month after she was honoured by the Queen of England during her birthday Honours. Asante received her  MBE  from Prince Charles, the Prince of Wale late last week at the Buckingham Palace. The honour was in recognition of her services to the film industry. An MBE is Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, and is an award given by the Queen to an individual for outstanding service to the community or local ‘hands on’ service. Amma Asante was born in London to Ghanaian parents. She trained at the Barbara Speake Stage School. Kwame Kwei-Armah, Michelle Gayle and Naomi Campbell were some of her schoolmates. Asante was a member of the cast of BBC’s Grange Hills, and also appeared in other productions in the late 80’s and early 90’s. She owns Tantrum Films, and was head writer for BBC2 series  Brothers & Sisters. She speaks fondly of

U.S. Based Ghanaian Digital Entrepreneur Benoni Tagoe is working on a new project with Basketball star Lebron James. The former will be consulting on digital strategy and the development of   UNINTERRUPTED,  a podcast network owned by the Cleveland Cavaliers player. Tagoe is a Business Development Executive of  Issa Rae Productions,  and is the brain behind web series  The Bizz Plan  that profiles entrepreneurs as they explain their thought processes and motivations in everything they do. A feature on Benoni Tagoe published in 2015 The Internet has opened up a number of opportunities for young people. Some have created a livelihood for themselves by creating web series that have gone viral. US Based Ghanaian Digital Entrepreneur  Benoni Tagoe  falls into the above category. ”I consider myself to be a digital entrepreneur.” he told  livefmghana.com  in an interview “I’ve worn many hats in the world of digital, from producing to being a curator of content. The web is a

Nana Rogues, a UK Based Ghanaian Producer says music by Ghanaian music legend, Daddy Lumba is one of the reasons why he decided to pursue music production. Rogues told the folks at  Genius , his Ghanaian mother played songs by Lumba, and other notable artistes at home.  He is the brain behind Drake’s song ‘ Passion fruit ‘ off his recent music project ‘ More Life. ’ The song peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. He also spoke about meeting Drake, thought process behind the instrumental, how he started creating beats, inspiration and a lot more. “The vibe is weird. Every time I explain to people, people look at me funny. So basically, when I made the beat I was thinking of clouds. Like clouds in a jungle filled full of love. But not love from a girl. Love from life, and appreciation just a nice fluffy, bouncy. I was making the beat, I did think of Drake but it was one of those ones when you’re a producer, you make the beat, you think, ‘Who am I gonna get on it?’ He wa

Award-winning actress Viola Davis wore a dress by Ghanaian-American Mimi Plange over the weekend. Davis was in the snakeskin trim and merinowool dress during  BAFTA: A Life in Pictures! held in London. The ‘ Fences’  spoke discusses the highlights of her career and what needs to change about the industry The event is based on the life of the biggest stars around the world who take a look back at their life in pictures. The likes of former U.S First Lady Michelle Obama, Vanessa Hudgens, Serena Williams, Rihanna, Paris Hilton, Michelle Trachtenberg and Janelle Monae have also worn dresses designed by Plange. Mimi Plange launched her own ready-to-wear label in 2010, after a decade working in the New York fashion industry. She is a graduate of the San Francisco Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, and holds a degree in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley. She has received acclaim for her work in the fashion industry, winning such accolades as

Ghanaian-American Fashion Designer Mimi Plange says dressing Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States of America for her appearance on a major talk show confirmed her “belief that anything is possible.” In 2012, Mrs. Obama wore a Mimi Plange dress when she appeared on  The View  as a special guest. Plange, who was born in Ghana and raised in San Francisco spoke to the folks at  fashionista.com about what it meant to her to have dressed Mrs. Obama. “ Dressing Michelle Obama gave us an immense sense of hope, and confirmed our belief that anything is possible. The honor meant that our clothes could touch great and powerful women and it gave us lasting inspiration that we still pull from today, ” remarked Plange. “We dressed Michelle Obama in the first few years of establishing our brand. She gave us a chance, and it meant everything.” She also revealed dressing the U.S First lady drew more attention to the brand. “It made people pay attention and gave us a new voice, a

Nana Mensah has earned a second nomination for her ‘ Man From Nebraska ‘ role. Mensah was nominated in the ‘ Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play ‘ category by the Outer Critics Circle, an organization of  writers covering New York theatre for out-of-town newspapers, national publications and other media beyond Broadway. ‘Man From Nebraska’  is a play about a man’s loss of faith and his journey to regain it by American playwright Tracy Letts. The awards scheme honours excellence in the field of theatre. Winners will be announced on Monday, May 8, 2017. The 67th edition of the event will be held on Thursday, May 27 at the legendary Sardi’s Restaurant, New York City, United States of America. Nana Mensah is a Ghanaian-American writer, director, actor and producer. She wrote, directed and stars in the forthcoming film  Queen of Glory  and also plays the role of Sade in the popular series,  An African City  (2015 Golden Movie Award Winner, 2016 AMVCA Nominee). She starre

US based Ghanaian Singer and Songwriter, Ruby Amanfu was “honoured” to have contributed to Beyonce’s 2016 album ‘Lemonnade.” She did backing vocals on the song ‘Don’t Hurt Yourself’ off the sixth album by the American Grammy winning act. In an interview with Billboard.com, she shared how the song came together. “I sang sounds, not lyrics — my vocals were recorded before completion of the lyrics. So I’m just honored that my voice was already present when the lyrics were being put to the track. Music can be inspiring to lyricists in the same way that lyrics can inspire music, and I think that sometimes we forget the former.” The quality of ‘Lemonade’s visual quality caught her by surprise: “ Jack reached out to me the weekend the HBO special came out to congratulate me. I had no idea what the HBO special would be about or contain, so of course I scurried to turn on HBO Go and load up the show. I was so mesmerized by the visuals and pure art of Lemonade that I didn’t even real

Ghanaian-American actress/movie producer, Maame-Yaa Aforo talks to livefmghana.com about Hollywood movie, Beyond the Lights, her career, future aspirations and a lot more. Please introduce yourself (Nationality, Educational and family background) My name is Maame-Yaa Aforo. I am a Ghanaian-American born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. My parents hail from the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. My mother is from Sunyani and my father from Jepekrom. I am the only girl and middle child of 3 including my brothers Kwasi and Nana. My parents left Ghana in the early 80s but have made sure our culture was always at the forefront of our lives. I received my undergraduate degree in Political Science from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia with aspirations to become a Political Journalist. During my junior year at Spelman (6 years ago), I had the opportunity to study abroad with the NYU in Ghana program. I lived, learned, and volunteered in Accra for 4 months. One of the most

Ghanaian-Libyan actress and model, Briggitte Appiah exuded calm confidence and self-belief talking about her craft on a hot Thursday afternoon in the month of March in her Spintex Road apartment. It was the kind that would even make the biggest cynic a believer. “I believe in myself. I find insecurity and not believing in yourself unattractive. It’s an energy that puts people off,” explained Appiah to  livefmghana.com  during the interview. “It didn’t happen overnight; I had to work on it.” The interview was about Appiah’s nearly 15-year work in the entertainment industry in Ghana, and around the world. In 2018, Appiah nabbed the biggest gig as yet of her career – the role of a Rwandan Journalist in Netflix and BBC 2’s war crimes drama,  Black Earth Rising . The eight-part series shot partly in Ghana examines the prosecution of war criminals after the 1994 Rwanda genocide. It follows Kate Ashby (Michaela Coel) rescued as a young child during the genocide and adopted by Eve

Over the decades, the “Ghanaian sound” has had a huge influence on Nigerian music but its artists have often struggled to gain mainstream clout there. In August 2018 during their performances in Nigeria, two of Ghana’s biggest artists – Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale were left licking sore wounds on their return to Ghana after, what fans observed to be, a “cold” reception. Some are of the opinion that the concert, powered by Zylofon Media, was a necessary step in the quest by Ghanaian artists to become household names in the Nigeria music industry – a difficult terrain as shown by records over the years. But is the quest necessary? “ It is not necessary for Ghanaian artists to become mainstream in Nigeria before they can be seen as successful,” says Osagie Alonge, head of editorial and editor-in-chief of Pulse Africa. “Focusing on Nigeria alone is detrimental to your career as you should focus on growing your home base first – Conquer Your Territory.” Alonge adds that for