When you think of a regular student who spends half their time working hard in class, and the other half building a career as an internationally revered, chart-topping music sensation – only two people come to mind. Hannah Montana is of course the obvious one. But now, Gyakie – a hot new Afro-fusion, Ghanaian-born artist – can also say she’s living the best of both worlds.
From Monday to Friday, Gyakie is knuckling down studying International Business at the University of Science and Technology in Ghana. Out of class, her hit single “Forever” has already ranked third on the Billboard Global Top Triller Chart, as well as placing above Burna Boy and Davido on the UK’s Official Afrobeats Chart Top 20. But unlike Miley Cyrus in 2006, Gyakie’s music success is no hidden secret.
She’s in Nigeria at the moment, taking time away from the pool to have a chat about her music, her life, her aspirations, and how her sharp ascent to a charting artist with a fresh Sony Music record deal has left her classmates understandably starstruck. “Most of the time when I close from school, some of the people that love my music come around and they want to talk to me and take pictures. Sometimes I want to be like a normal person,” Gyakie explains modestly, before adding: “It’s a nice feeling because it’s a compliment for someone to walk up to you and tell you I love your music, I’m a fan… It’s a very nice feeling.”
All clothing by LAKOPU .
All clothing by LAKOPU .
Originally, the 22-year-old wasn’t aware music would take over her life. Although her Mum used to encourage her to put on a performance in front of guests most weeks at their home, and Gyakie quickly found her confidence as a singer at centre stage, she stresses that she has – first and foremost – always been an entertainer rather than just a musician. “She did it almost every week! That’s how bad it was. She’d give me something to grab as a microphone, she tells you to move around a little bit, be lively. So it gave me some sort of confidence to be able to stand in front of people.”
“I fell in love with music and entertainment when I was about 6-years-old,” Gyakie continues. “You could put me in a drama group and I’ll be a very good actor for you. I could do poetry a little bit, and I could dance. Anything that has to do with entertainment that had music around I was so interested in.” To describe Gyakie’s creative side as multi-faceted would be an understatement. Instead, her approach to entertainment is nothing but a reflection of her multi-hyphenate self, highlighted by her ability to juggle her studies, music, interests in film and literature, as well as trying to employ her greater ambitions as an artist and bring about genuine change in society. Her biggest hits to date, “Forever” and “Forever (Remix) ft. Omah Lay” – with almost four million combined streams on Spotify alone – have been opportunities for Gyakie to “speak details when it comes to love.” “The fact that this song reached different countries and reached a lot more ears and a bigger market, I feel like the kind of message I wanted to deliver has actually reached a huge number of people,” she shares. “It makes me feel very honoured that a lot more people are going to discover my talent, and discover my potential as an artist. It’s cool.”
Having released her first EP “Seed” this year, Gyakie wants to grow and blossom as an artist, releasing music as and when it feels right. She continues to open up, adding how she is always truly shocked by the reception of her art and capabilities. Why? It wasn’t until she started putting out music that she realised she could write. And even though the thing she is most excited for at the moment is to share her upcoming projects with her fans, beyond her music, it is her underlying goals as an artist that motivate her every day to continue doing what she does best.
All clothing by LAKOPU .
All clothing by LAKOPU .
Somewhere down the line, Gyakie wants to use her entrepreneurship and her love of business to establish a music school, training musicians, and making donations that can help give children the encouragement they need to realise that anything they set their mind to is possible. “I want to make sure I don’t give up on this work that I’m doing, no matter how difficult, you understand? I always think about those two or three people that are looking up to me. I always have that in my mind. Even if I wanted to give up, there could be this girl in some primary school somewhere who just loves Gyakie, loves her music, loves everything about her. Because of that young girl, I am not going to stop what I’m doing.”
Gyakie talks honestly about young girls’ tendencies to shy away from their dreams. She wants to represent possibility, and be a testament to the fact that their time will come. “I didn’t know 4 years ago that in 2021 I’d have a very good song that’s charting in countries,” she smiles. “If someone told me this 4 years ago, I would’ve been like, “Nah, I don’t think so. But there’s time, there’s always time. And everybody’s time is going to come.” For Gyakie, this time is now.
