One of the best things about writing for Weekly Music Commentary is that readers sometimes learn about artists they may not ever know about at all. Because they took a moment to read a short article, they learned about someone making music from another corner of the world. However, after eight years of the music blog’s existence, many times fans are introduced to an artist that actually is from their corner of the world. Are there any examples? Certainly! I have featured artists from the continent of Africa many times, many from West Africa. Because of that fact I have gained some readers from that part of the world, but this week marks a first – a featured artist from Ghana. This week Weekly Music Commentary features the young sensational entertainer MzVee.
I am most likely the first to always enjoy hearing and viewing young entertainers from around the globe. More than anything else I enjoy viewing the unique qualities of each artist. This week is no exception. MzVee adopts the afropop, dance hall and R&B styles prevalent in today’s West African music, but she does so with her own personal flair. From the first time I heard and witnessed one of her performances, I knew she was going to gain fans from her corner of the world, and perhaps some other corners.
Vera Hamenoo-Kpeda, better known by her stage name MzVee, was born in Accra, Ghana June 23, 1992. MzVee was born in Accra to Ernest Hamenoo-Kpeda, a businessman, and Florence Hamenoo-Kpeda, a caterer. She has 2 older sisters and a brother and attended St Martin de Porres School in Accra in her early years.
MzVee first burst onto the Ghanaian music scene in the summer of 2012 as the lead singer of Lynx Entertainmentâs girl band D3. 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. In fact, MzVee combined studying in Ghana Telecom University and music after the split of the group. MzVee admits it was difficult but she was able to enjoy the schedule after some time. In an interview with EnewsGH at the time, MzVee spoke about her perseverance in the music industry. “Let me just say you should always persevere or push to achieve your goals even if people think it wonât or canât be possible and try to talk you out of it. My parents did not believe it will be this great especially because of the stories they had heard about the music industry. It was hard but I pushed through and they are now very proud of me.”
Like so many young artists of our day, MzVee seemingly erupted upon the scene and gained fame very fast. From her beginning with girl group D3 in 2012, her solo career and acclaim all took place just two years later – during 2014. MzVee launched her solo career with dĂ©but single âBorkor Borkorâ released in January 2014. She followed this with hit single âNatural Girlâ and went on to win the ‘Unsung Artiste Award’ at the 2014 Ghana Music Awards. Her dĂ©but album was released in November 2014 and features collaborations with several award-winning artistes such as Stonebwoy, VIP, Richie Mensah, Manifest and Didier Awadi.
Many of her earlier songs have towed the line of the dance hall genre but MzVee surprised her âtip toe followingâ with a beautiful highlife song in July 2014 which featured reigning artiste of the year Shatta Wale â proving again that she can rub shoulders with the best in the business. The dashing songstress also has many other songs in her repertoire such as âCarpenter,â âGimme Dat,â Revolution, Format, Boomerang and crowd favorite âRe-Vee-lationâ which was specially recorded for her fans and happens to be the title of her dĂ©but album.
Following the success of her award-winning dĂ©but album, MzVee released her second album titled ‘Verified‘ in November 2015 to rave reviews. The album has earned MzVee 7 nominations at the 2016 Ghana Music Awards including ‘Album of the Year’ and ‘Record of the Year’ for the single ‘Abofra’ which features Efya.
In only four years, MzVee gained great recognition within the Ghana music scene. Others outside of Ghana took notice of her music and more. Her trademark natural African hair and hit single âNatural Girlâ has made her an inspiration to young girls across Africa who want to celebrate their natural look. According to Ghanaian web site Eveyo.com, “Following the release of her instant hit single âNatural Girlâ which features Stonebwoy, the dance hall trend setter has recently reached out to all African girls who are confident about their God-given beauty, to film videos of themselves singing (miming) the chorus of the song.”
MzVee’s impressive rise to the top continued with a nomination in June 2015 in the ‘Best International New Artist’ category at the BET Awards 2015. This brand new fan-voted category celebrates rising stars from across the channelâs international footprint. In October 2015, MzVee was appointed the World Bank Ambassador for their ‘End Extreme Poverty Campaign’. In an interview with Live FM, MzVee who could not hide her excitement said; âitâs a great privilege to be chosen among the lot to embark on this worthy course. Firstly, I thank the World Bank for this opportunity. I believe that, together we can help eradicate extreme poverty, we need to work together to shed light on the devastating effects of poverty, and we need to educate people on how we can stand together to find ways forward. I trust that there is hope and things will get better.â
There is a lot to like about young, budding world superstar MzVee. At twenty-five years old there should be a lot more music to come. Her highly anticipated third album ‘DaaVee‘ was released in May 2017. Trust me it is very good. It would not surprise me if MzVee took another step toward international success with this album and music. I encourage you to download or stream her music. Even if you are not a fan of dance hall or afropop, I think there is a lot for “music” fans to enjoy.