Rashid Abdul Mugeez, professionally known as Mugeez, is a Ghanaian singer and songwriter. Born in Bimbila ( Northern region,

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

), he became known through the influential

Afrobeat Afrobeat (also known as Afrofunk) is a West African music genre, fusing influences from Nigerian (such as Yoruba) and Ghanaian (such as highlife) music, with American funk, jazz, and soul influences. With a focus on chanted vocals, complex i ...

Hiplife Hiplife is a Ghanaian musical style that fuses Ghanaian culture and hip hop. Recorded predominantly in the Ghanaian Akan language, hiplife is rapidly gaining popularity in the 2010s throughout West Africa and abroad, especially in the United Ki ...

duo

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 ...

(Refuse To Be Broke), which he formed with his cousin Faisal Hakeem (aka Omar Sterling) in 2007. The last album by R2Bees, Site 15, from 2019, made it into the top 10 on the Billboard Chart. He has also worked with

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

Boa Me "Boa Me" is a single by English-Ghanaian recording artist Fuse ODG, featuring vocals from Ed Sheeran and Mugeez. The song was released in the United Kingdom as a digital download on 10 November 2017. The song peaked at number 52 on the UK Single ...

. In April 2019, Mugeez founded his own record label, Extrial Music, to promote his solo projects as well as up-and-coming artists.

Early life

Rashid Abdul Mugeez developed his love for rap while attending school, which led to him and his cousin forming R2Bees in 2007.The duo released their debut album, Da Revolution, in 2009. A follow-up, Da Revolution II, came in 2012, before the pair were nominated for Best International Act at the

2013 BET Awards The 13th BET Awards were held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, California on June 30, 2013. The awards ceremony recognized Americans in music, movies, sports and other fields of entertainment over the past year. Comedian and actor ...

. Various R2Bees singles appeared over the next few years, while Mugeez also struck out on his own, featuring on singles with the likes of Criss Waddle, Mr. Eazi, and

DJ Breezy DJ Breezy is a Ghanaian DJ, songwriter, record producer and audio engineer. He was nominated in the "Producer of The Year" category at the 2015 All Africa Music Awards and won "Producer of The Year" at the 2015 Ghana Music Awards. He is currently ...

. In 2017, he was featured on

Fuse ODG Nana Richard Abiona (born 2 December 1988), better known by his stage name Fuse ODG, is a Ghanaian-English singer, songwriter and rapper. He came to attention with his first Top-10 song on the UK singles chart, " Antenna" (#7 in 2013), and for ...

's single "Boa Me," alongside

. The two cousins lived in the same house and also attended the same primary, junior, and senior secondary schools in Tema. Beginning their career early, they started off representing their school in school music contests. This led them to participating in the popular radio competition Kasahare, which they won. Their continuous performance gained them popularity within their community.

Career

2007–2012: Foundation of R2Bees and "Da Revolution" – First Album R2Bees

In 2007, the two cousins officially formed the music duo

in Ghana. Mugeez is the lead vocalist of R2Bees, while Omar Sterling is the rapper and the CEO of R2Bees Entertainment and

KillBeatz Joseph Kwame Addison, popularly known as KillBeatz, is a Ghanaian music producer and sound engineer. He is a member of music group R2Bees, R2bees and is also the CEO oLegacy Life Entertainment which has signed the Ghanaian musician King Promise. ...

's Joseph Addison is R2Bees’ official producer. R2Bees’ lyrics are in

Twi Twi (; ) is the common name of the Akan literary language of Asante and Akuapem. Effectively, it is a synonym for 'Akan' that is not used by the Fante people. It is not a linguistic grouping, but more of a common name used by inland Akans as ...

and

Ghanaian Pidgin English Ghanaian Pidgin English (GhaPE) is a Ghanaian English-lexifier pidgin also known as Pidgin, Broken English, and Kru English (''kroo brofo'' in Akan). GhaPE is a regional variety of West African Pidgin English spoken in Ghana, predominantly ...

languages and their music is a mixture of

and

, a Ghanaian music style that fuses Ghanaian culture and Hip Hop.

2019: Foundation of Extrial Music

After the Site 15 album featuring Afrobeat artists

Wizkid Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990), better known as Wizkid, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. Born in the Ojuelegba suburb of Surulere, Lagos, Wizkid is a voice in the emerging Afrobeats movement. His music is a blend of Afrobea ...

Burna Boy Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu (born 2 July 1991), known professionally as Burna Boy, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. He gained recognition in 2012 after releasing "Like to Party", the lead single from his debut studio album '' ...

, King Promise and

Kwesi Arthur Emmanuel Kwesi Danso Arthur (born 18 December 1994), known professionally as Kwesi Arthur, is a Ghanaian rapper, singer and songwriter from Tema. He rose to fame in 2017 with the hit single "Grind Day", which received widespread acclaim, a co-s ...

with tracks like "Over", "Sunshine", "Yesterday" and "My Baby". Mugeez founded his own record label, Extrial Music to promote his own solo projects as well as support up-and-coming artists. Kicking things off, Mugeez released the singles "Regular" with Sarkodie and "Your Number" with

Juls Julian Nii Ayitey Adjin Nicco-Annan (born 25 October 1985), better known by his stage name Juls, is a British-Ghanaian record producer, disc jockey, and musician. He is known for his music contributions, particularly in Afrobeats circles, and fo ...

and King Promise. Mugeez also signed Tecknikal, an artist from Ghana, as the first artist under his record label. After the foundation of Extrial in April 2019, Mugeez teamed up with DJ Mic Smith and Kwesi Arthur to release the single "Dripping". "Chihuahua" is Mugeez's first solo single in 2020 and was released on March 27 after an exclusive pre-release on Audiomack. On 8 May 2020 "Six In Da Morning" was released.

Awards and nominations

BET Awards

, - ,

BET Awards 2013 The 13th BET Awards were held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, California on June 30, 2013. The awards ceremony recognized Americans in music, movies, sports and other fields of entertainment over the past year. Comedian and actor ...

, rowspan="1", R2Bees , rowspan="1", Best International Act: Africa ,

Ghana Music Awards

, - , rowspan="3", 2015 , rowspan="1", R2Bees , Group of the Year , , - , rowspan="1", Lobi , Highlife Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="1", Killing me softly , Afro Pop Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="5", 2014 , rowspan="3", R2Bees , Group of the Year , , - , Hiplife/ Hip Hop Artist of the Year , , - , Artist of the Year , , - , rowspan="2", "Slow down" , Best Collaboration of the Year , , - , Vodafone Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="9", 2013 , rowspan="3", R2Bees , Artist of the Year , , - , Hiplife/ Hip Hop Artist of the Year , , - , Group of the Year , , - , ''Slow down'' , Best Collaboration of the Year , , - , ''Life'' , Vodafone Song of the Year , , - , "Odo" , Highlife Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="1", Bayla Trap , Hip Life/Hip Hop Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="1", Odo , Male Vocal Performance , , - , rowspan="1", Mugeez , Song Writer of the Year , , - , rowspan="3", 2011 , rowspan="2", Kiss your hand , Afro Pop Song of the year , , - , Collaboration of the Year , , - , rowspan="1", R2Bees , Hip pop/Hiplife Artist of the Year ,

The Headies

, - , style="text-align:center;",

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, rowspan="2", R2Bees , rowspan="2", Best African Artist , , - , style="text-align:center;",

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Nigeria Entertainment Awards

, - , style="text-align:center;",

, rowspan="2", R2Bees , Western African Artist or Group of the Year , , - , style="text-align:center;",

, African Artist of the Year (Non-Nigerian) ,

Selected videography

References

External links

* *{{IMDb name, id=8962873 Dagbani-language singers Ghanaian musicians Ghanaian rappers 1990 births People from Tema Living people