Without a doubt, Ghanaian born multiple award winning musician, Fuse ODG, is one of the nation’s biggest music export making the headlines on several mainstream platforms globally.
For the third year in a row, Fuse ODG has won the coveted Best African Act at the MOBO Awards, making him the first African artist to ever achieve such a feat. He also ended last year on a high with a successful tour and live performance on the XFactor UK Finals to an audience of twenty million with Reggie & Bollie.
The performance on the XFactor UK Finals stage caught the attention of several millions of people including Coldplay front man Chris Martin who shared his adoration of Fuse’s performance on twitter.
After buying a mansion in a prime area in the nation’s capital, East Legon, on his last birthday, Fuse ODG is certainly a happy man laughing out loud at the moment with all the fame, revenue and endorsement deals coming his way.
This is evident in his latest released single, “Laugh Out Loud” which features the King of African Dancehall and fellow award winning Ghanaian musician, Shatta Wale, who brings his shine to the song.
With the first time airplay on BBC’s 1 Xtra a couple of weeks ago, “Laugh Out Loud” is gradually becoming a street anthem currently receiving heavy airplay in Ghana, United Kingdom, the rest of Europe and the United States of America.
“Laugh Out Loud” talks about Fuse ODG’s journey into the world of music and narrated how critics wrote him off and doubted his ability to make a major impact, not to talk about making financial gains from music.
About his motivation, Fuse ODG said “God has been the secret to how far I have come in the music industry and all I have achieved to date is thanks to him. Also, I have always worked hard to ensure I remain relevant and get to the top and stay there. It isn’t as easy as one might think but I remain committed to this course and God is blessing myself and the team”.
The past few years have seen the UK based Fuse ODG sell millions of singles with five top 10 hits songs in the UK with an ever-growing fan base and now has over 150 million views on YouTube.
His hit record ”Dangerous Love” which featured Sean Paul was featured on the hit US TV show Love and Hip Hop in 2015. In addition, his collaboration with global hit maker, Major Lazer, titled “Light it up” is also setting the world ablaze.
Throughout his career, Fuse ODG has been a trailblazer for African music globally. He has a unique ability to capture hearts and minds across the world through his music as well as his performances.
In November 2014 Fuse wrote a well-received piece for The Guardian’s Comment is Free (CiF) section entitled “Why I Turned Down Band Aid”. His article become one of the most read pieces on CiF in the whole of 2014, receiving over 1.3million hits to date and has been shared over 80,000 times.
“It takes a certain amount of self-belief, integrity and courage for a relatively new upcoming artist to say no to a man like Sir Bob Geldof, someone not renowned for taking no for an answer, and very dicey to turn down the opportunity to appear on an iconic charity record with some of the biggest names in pop. The easy thing to do would have been to say yes and use it as an opportunity for self-promotion”.
It is obvious Fuse ODG isn’t an opportunist. Rather, he believes in his “This Is New Africa” (TINA) campaign to redefine Africa to the rest of the world by showcasing its unique attributes.
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