Nana Kwame Abrokwa (born 5 October 1968) is a

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

ian born

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

and DJ, performing under the pseudonyms Nana or Darkman. Nana is not an actual first name, but is rather a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

title of nobility. His 1996 '' self-titled debut album'' was certified Platinum in Poland and Gold in Germany and Switzerland. The album spawned the 1997 hit single, " Lonely", which reached number-one in Germany and Switzerland, and was certified Platinum in Germany.

Early life

Nana arrived in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, Germany, with his mother and his brothers at the age of 10.

Musical career

Beginnings

At the beginning of the 90s, his debut consisted of DJing in hip-hop clubs. He also co-produced and rapped in some songs of DJ David Fascher ("Here We Go", "Make The Crowd Go Wild"), under the alias MC Africa True.

1995: Eurodance project and departure

In 1995 he joined the Eurodance project Darkness as a rapper, which was produced by Bülent Aris and

Toni Cottura Toni Cottura (born 7 June 1971), better known by his stage name Smooth T., is an Italian-born German Eurodance and hip hop producer and rapper. Musical career He started his career in 1988 as a hip hop producer with David Fascher and later work ...

. The song "Dreams" became a club hit, but Nana did not feel very comfortable with the style Darkness adopted and the group separated. However, his current scene name, Darkman, originated from this time.

1996-1997: Debut album and commercial success

In 1996 Aris and Cottura founded the

Black Music Black music is a sound created, produced, or inspired by black people, people of African descent, including African music traditions and African popular music as well as the music genres of the African diaspora, including Caribbean music, Lat ...

label Booya Music, which Nana joined as the first artist. The first single, "Darkman" reached the top 10 of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

's official single-chart by

Media Control Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

. The following single, "Lonely", became the most successful euro-rap song, being number-one for several weeks. The album, ''Nana'', released in 1997, is more on the mainstream, American style of rapping. It features numerous other members of the Booya Family, such as Jan van der Toorn and Alex Prince.

1998: ''Father''

The second album, ''Father'', was released in May 1998 and contains slower pieces and more personal lyrics. The songs "

Too Much Heaven "Too Much Heaven" is a song by the Bee Gees, which was the band's contribution to the "Music for UNICEF" fund. They performed it at the Music for UNICEF Concert on 9 January 1979. The song later found its way to the group's thirteenth origina ...

" and "War" were also featured on the tribute albums ''Love The Bee Gees'' and ''Hands on Motown''.

1999-2004: Single releases and hiatus

At the end of 1999, Nana's released the single "I Wanna Fly", which flopped, due to a decrease in euro-rap's popularity and the growing importance of hip-hop played in

. Nevertheless, Nana still recorded two further albums with Booya Music, which were not released due to legal problems. At the beginning of 2001 Nana released the German-language song ''Du wirst sehen'', a gesture which was not appreciated by international fans. The single flopped, and the planned bilingual album ''Global Playa'' was canceled at the request of the record company.

2004: ''All Doors in Flight No. 7''

After a long break, in the summer of 2004, Nana finally released the album ''All Doors In Flight No. 7'', featuring Jan van der Toorn and Manuell, on his own label, Darkman Records. The album was distributed exclusively over the Internet, through Nana's website.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Awards

* 1997: Comet Award for "Best German debut" * 1998:

ECHO In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

for "Most successful German debut" * 1998:

for "Most successful German artist" * 1998: Comet Award for "Best German act"

Notes

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nana 1968 births German rappers Ghanaian rappers Living people Eurodance musicians Echo (music award) winners