Kweku Sackey AKA K.O.G

“Everybody’s crazy. Sometimes that thing is what unlocks the dream.”

Kweku Sackey AKA K.O.G grew up in Ghana and loved music from a young age. From what began in church – “you can’t join a band in Ghana” – is now an internationally renowned career spanning music, art, and songwriting.“Where I come from inspires everything. All those stories matter. As soon as you accept you and what makes you different, that is when things happen.”“I had all these ideas. I had something in me I wanted the world to see. I realised i was doing things to please other people but when i came to the UK I found people who understood me.”“People heard me sing and said I should be doing it, so I left my job at the old people’s home and started performing. It was like a weight I couldn’t ignore. That thing you are scared of — that is the thing that unlocks the dream.”Kweku’s band K.O.G blends traditional African rhythms and storytelling with operative vocals, hard-hitting patios, live brass and percussion. The band has toured the UK, releasing its first album in 2019.Kweku plays the Balafon, Djembe, Kpanlogo, shekere. He collaborates and writes with many international artists including Wiyaala, a female Ghanaian pop star with a growing audience in the UK. In 2018 he won the prestigious Young Commonwealth Performer of the Year and performed for Nelson Mandela’s family in Melbourne Australia.“Surround yourself with people that inspire you. Find friends who when you tell them ideas they get excited.”Kweku’s mission is to bring the music, storytelling and culture of West Africa to all that he creates, effortlessly blending these rhythms and styles with hip hop, jazz, soul and funk. He has taught vocal and percussion workshops in schools, community centres and at festivals. He has collaborated with the Dr Afua Twum-Danso Imoh at the University of Sheffield for the Festival of the Mind, Sept 2018, to create a live performance to tell the story of colonial childhoods in Ghana.Live performances are where Kweku particularly excels – in both vocal delivery and in energy and style. Shows at Glastonbury, Shambala, Kendal Calling in the UK and across Europe are testimony to the infectious musical vibe that is created every time he takes the stage.“Base success on your peace of mind.”Words by Molly McGreevy.