Muhammed Hakeem Mahoney born in Gambia, also known professionally as Gambino Akuboy, is an

Afrobeats Afrobeats, not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing, is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Ghana, Nigeria, and the UK in the 2000s and 2010s. Afrobeats is less of a st ...

singer & songwriter, actor and screenwriter. Born in

the Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

, he now lives in

the UK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Gambino is known for acting and film script writing and has written for Gambia national TV. In 2016 he won the ''Best Music'' Video at the Wah Sa Halat Music Awards in The Gambia and his music is frequently played on BBC radio. Gambino together with Ousman Jarju founded RebelVZN, an independent multimedia production company, that produced short films like ''MEBET''. In May 2024, Gambino appeared as a contestant on

Series 17 Series 17 or Season 17 may refer to: * Lego Minifigures (theme)#Series 17, the toy line by Lego * Roland TD-17 Series, a Drum Sound Module by Roland Corporation is a Japanese multinational manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, elect ...

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global '' Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquial ...

, where he reached the semi-finals, before being eliminated.

Early life and acting/Screenwriter career

Gambino was born in

Banjul Banjul (, (US) and ), officially the City of Banjul, is the capital city of The Gambia. It is the centre of the eponymous administrative division which is home to an estimated 400,000 residents, making it The Gambia's largest and most densely ...

, capital of the Gambia. As a teenager he started his career as an

Actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and played several lead roles. Movies he starred in were also aired on Gambia's National Television. In 2006 Gambino wrote the film "Calabash".

British Army/Music career/Film industry

After traveling to the UK to study multimedia, Gambino joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

for eight years. In the summer of 2013 he was posted to

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, where he met the Kenyan rapper Chieftain, with whom he recorded his first song. In 2015 he left the army to start his music career and to continue his work in the

Film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production company, production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre- ...

. At the start of 2016, Gambino released the song ''Dancefloor'' on which he featured ''Saint Da Gambian'', known well in the Gambian

rapping Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

circles. The video was produced by David Nicol-Sey and adjudged Best Music Video at the Gambian Wah Sa Halat Music Awards. In December 2016, Gambino Akuboy released the song ‘Wish You Well’ with a video shot by Enos Olik in Kenya.

Music releases

During 2017 Gambino released several songs including: ''Chameleon'' (with Kenyan singer Sati), ''What A Bum Bum'' (with Gambian rapper MLK) and Tsunami. In October 2017 the song ''Worry Them'', a collaboration with the London rappers Yun Kilz and Uncle Bimz, was released with a video published on GRM. 2018 was the year Akuboy released further singles like the

Dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

track ''Kolo'', featuring ENC, which was aired on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Introducing and 6 Music, ''African Baby'', and ''The Ding Dong Song – NG10 is Calling'', which also aired on BBC Introducing. The single ''No Man No Cry'' featuring Uncle Bimz and Yun Kilz, produced by Killmatic, one of

R2Bees R2Bees is a Ghanaian hip hop and hiplife duo from Tema, comprising two cousins, Faisal Hakeem and Mugeez, Rashid Mugeez. They were nominated for the 2013 BET Awards. In March 2019, the duo released their third studio album, ''Site 15''. Career ...

beat-makers is from 2018. ''Shining Star'' was Gambino Akuboy's first releases of 2019, it also aired on ''BBC Introducing''. In 2019 he released ''Party Alien'' and ''Ready to Go''. One of his 2020 singles released in the spring of that year is called ''Corona'' which featured Uncle Bimz and S.Kay.

Selected discography

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akuboy, Gambino 1985 births Living people Gambian singers Gambian emigrants to the United Kingdom British Army soldiers