The rise of J. Derobie shows no sign of slowing down, with the dancehall artiste lined up to perform at next month’s Ghana Meets Naija concert.
The 24-year-old’s single Poverty – an inspiring message about overcoming its trappings – has attracted over 1.2 million YouTube views.
Just as importantly, it has turned some of the genre’s biggest names into his fans, including Stonebwoy, Shatta Wale, Popcaan and Kranium.
His biggest supporter of all though is Mr Eazi, who selected him as part of his continent-wide emPawa talent search for 100 emerging musicians.
emPawa funded, produced and hosted the hugely popular video and J. Derobie, born Derick Obuobie Junior, hopes to follow in his mentor’s footsteps.
However, success hasn’t changed the emPawa winner, who still volunteers at the Madina branch of the Births & Deaths Registry.
J. Derobie describes himself as “just a normal person with a passion for music” whose mission is “making the people know me and have a feel of every bit of what I have in me”.
That humility is why he didn’t enter the emPawa competition with overconfidence, having been unlucky in the past both when telling girls he likes them and attending job interviews.
He said: “emPawa has changed my life so much already. The future is so bright and I am working hard to make things happen, beyond imagination.”
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