Kwabena Sarkodee Adjepong (born 24 April 1990), better known by his stage name Kwabs, is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known for his international hit "

Walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ov ...

Early life

Born in London, Kwabs was raised in

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckha ...

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, to Ghanaian parents. At The Charter School, his music teacher Xanthe Sarr and manager of the Southwark Youth Orchestra, introduced Kwabs to the

National Youth Jazz Orchestra The National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO) is a British jazz orchestra founded in 1965 by Bill Ashton. In 2010. Mark Armstrong took over as Music Director of the flagship performing band, and Artistic Director of the organisation; Bill Ashton becam ...

. Accepted in the programme, he became the lead singer of the orchestra for four years. He also studied jazz at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke ...

Career

2011–12: Beginnings

In 2011, Kwabs was in the BBC television show '' Goldie's Band: By Royal Appointment'' of drum-and-bass musician

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in t ...

, a UK nationwide platform to search for young talented musicians, and one of twelve artists chosen to create some musical pieces for a special performance at Buckingham Palace. This culminated in Kwabs appearing in a 2011 presentation, performing a rendition of " Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child". In 2012, he released cover versions of "Like a Star" by

Corinne Bailey Rae Corinne Jacqueline Bailey Rae (; born 26 February 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 2006 single "Put Your Records On". Bailey Rae was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2006 in an annual BBC po ...

and "The Wilhelm Scream" by James Blake. The Kwabs version went viral on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

. He signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records collaborating with a number of artists for his debut EP ''Wrong or Right'' with critical acclaim.Spex.de: Kwabs: Soul, reloaded

2014–present: ''Love + War''

The subsequent EPs ''Pray for Love'' and ''Walk EP'' have a more pop-oriented sound, with ''Walk EP'' containing the hit single "

", Kwabs' best known release, launched on 5 October 2014 on Atlantic Records. It was a minor hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number 71, but became hugely popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It was also number one on the iTunes Music charts. In April 2015, Kwabs released the single "Perfect Ruin", and on 11 September 2015, he released his debut studio album '' Love & War''.

In popular culture

*"Saved" was used in a number of promotional trailers for the second series of the BBC's ''

The Musketeers ''The Musketeers'' is a British period action drama programme based on the characters from Alexandre Dumas's 1844 novel ''The Three Musketeers'' and co-produced by BBC America and BBC Worldwide. The series follows the musketeers Athos, Aramis ...

''. *"Walk" was used in the soundtrack of

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network ...

video game ''

FIFA 15 ''FIFA 15'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released on 23 September 2014 in North America, 25 September in Europe and 26 September in the United Kin ...

'', along with promotional trailers for the BBC's coverage of the 2015 general election. It was also used in an ad for the WeAreUs August 2015 ad for Boohoo.com.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

;Non-charting *2014: "Fight for Love" *2014: "Pray for Love" *2015: "Perfect Ruin" *2015: "Look Over Your Shoulder" *2022: "Hurt A Little"

As featured artist

Music videos

References

Notes

A Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts. For Ultratip peaks, add 50 positions to arrive at an equivalent Ultratop position.

Sources

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwabs 1990 births Living people 21st-century Black British male singers English people of Ghanaian descent British contemporary R&B singers English male singer-songwriters English soul singers People from Bermondsey Singers from London