Samini

Samini is a songwriter, performer and recording artist. He stands as one of the most outstanding Ghanaian musicians in the past decade. He terms his brand of music Samini Music which is a mixture of African melodies, dancehall, reggae, hip-hop, and R&B. From the year 1999 to 2007, he was known as Batman (an acronym for Best of All Time Man). The year 2007 saw a re-birth of his brand and a new stage name Samini, through the release of a self-titled album. Samini recorded his first album at Ashanti International in Ghana and signed a record deal with Lexifri Productions. After a while, he started his own record label - Samini Music, now known as Highgrade Family.
He was born Emmanuel Andrews Samini on the 22nd of December in Accra but he originally comes from the Northern part of Ghana. He had his basic and high school education both in Accra. Not only did he participate in many entertainment events that took place in his high school and out, but he also tasked himself with organizing raves for the students. His carefree spirit and intelligence while in school made him very likable.
His hard-work, lyrics and stage work coupled with his untamed energy comes to define his success journey as many of the youngsters look up to him as a ‘godfather’. Through his hard work and versatility, he has 6 studio albums to his name and brand. His albums are as follows:
Dankwansere (2004)
Samini (2007)
Dagaati (2008)
CEO (2010)
Next Page (2013)
Breaking News (2015)
Before his 4th studio album was released, Samini left Ghana to pursue a Music Production diploma at Point Blank Music College in London. He completed his course with high grades and currently self-produces some of his tracks. Apart from his officially released albums, he has a music bank of many singles and mix-tapes. All his sounds and music have been extremely successful in the commercial market across Africa and internationally.
The big break for Samini was when he released his first single ‘Linda’ in 2004. Linda stayed number one on the charts in Ghana for a long time – it was and still is very popular. The Capricorn star has worked extensively with many talented artists in Ghana and out. Samini has shared the same stage with the likes of Sean Paul, Akon, Kevin Little, Shaggy, Wayne Wonder, Damian Marley, Beenie Man, JayZ, Chaka Demus and Pliers, Culture, Steel Pulse (to mention a few) on various international platforms. He has collaborations with Etana, Steel Pulse, Popcaan and Busy Signal. He has played several concerts across USA, UK, Netherlands, Canada, Germany, Italy et al. In Ghana, Samini has helped usher in Ghanaian acts like Mugeez (of R2Bees), Stonebwoy, Ghetto KB (of blessed memory), Kaakie, Kofi Kinaata, and Jah Lead – they've all had major cuts and are very visible in the Ghana Music Industry and beyond per his tutoring.
Apart from being the first-ever Ghanaian to receive a MOBO award in the UK, Samini has so many awards to his name.
New Artiste of the Year - Ghana Music Awards (2005)
Hiplife Artiste of the Year - Ghana Music Awards (2005)
Best African Act - MOBO Awards (2006)
Artiste of the Year - Ghana Music Awards (2007)
Pop song of the Year - Ghana Music Awards (2007)
Record of the Year - Ghana Music Awards (2007)
Reggae Artiste of the Year - Ghana Music Awards (2007)
African Artiste of the Year - Headies (2008)
Best performer - MTV Africa Music Awards – MAMA (2009)
Best African Entertainer - IRAWMA (2010)
Most Gifted Reggae Dancehall Video Artiste - Channel O Music Awards (2011)
Album of the Year - Ghana Music Awards (2011)
Artiste of the Year - Bass Awards (2013)
Best Performer (Reggae / Dancehall) - Bass Awards (2013)
Best Dancehall Artiste - Bass Awards 2013
He has a bag of nominations to his name as well. A few of them are:
2006 MTV Europe Music Awards 2006 - Best African Act
2008 MTV Africa Music Awards - Best Performer
Black Canadian Awards 2014- Best International Act
Ghana Music Awards 2014 - Artist Of The Year
Ghana Music Awards 2014 - Reggae Dancehall Song (Scatter Badmind)
Ghana Music Awards 2011 - Artist Of The Year
Ghana Music Awards 2011 - Afro Pop Song Of The Year
Ghana Music Awards 2011 - Album Of The Year
Ghana Music Awards 2012 - Reggae Song Of The Year
Bass Awards 2013 - Most Popular Dancehall Song
Bass Awards 2013 - Best Collaboration (Time Bomb ft. Wizkid)
Bass Awards 2013 - Best Dancehall Music Video
MAMA Awards 2010 - Best African album
Ghana DJ Awards - Song Of The Year
SaminiFest, an annual event by Samini which happens in the 1st week of December has successfully and consistently seen 3 editions – in 2014, 2015 and 2016. In the first year of SaminiFest – December 2014, the event pulled over 15,000 audiences and has maintained that level of patronage and hype since its inception. SaminiFest is a week-long event stringed with other Afrocentric and entrepreneurial activities to celebrate Samini as well as Ghana's Farmers' Day activities (which falls the same time of the country's event calendar) - it comes with outreach Programmes too such as clean-up exercises, charity work by the Samini Foundation and sporting activities where fans get to connect more directly with him.
Apart from music, Samini has also engaged in other ventures like an ultra-modern Restaurant & Lounge called "DanceStardom" in his home city which serves both local and continental cuisine. Another laudable initiative born by Samini is the "Light A Million Lives" project - an initiative he has partnered with some stakeholders to distribute at least 1 million solar lanterns to deprived communities and remote places at the countryside where there is no or not enough electricity as well as disabled societies.
Samini has become more of an "entrepreneurial brand" than just a musician; according to him, he seeks to enter other ventures like agriculture and technology where he can engage mostly the youths to transform Ghana, Africa and the world at large.