Vera Hamenoo-Kpeda (born 23rd June 1992), better known by her stage name MzVee, is a

Ghanaian The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of ...

singer,

afropop African popular music (also styled Afropop, Afro-pop, Afro pop or African pop) can be defined as any African music, regardless of genre, that uses Western pop musical instruments, such as the guitar, piano, trumpet, etc.Olabode, O. (2023, J ...

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 ...

and R&B artiste. Her debut solo album features several hit singles including 'Borkor Borkor (meaning – Slowly), 'Natural Girl' and 'Dancehall Queen'. MzVee was signed to the record label

Lynx Entertainment Lynx Entertainment is a Ghanaian people, Ghanaian record label founded in 2006 by the producer and singer-songwriter Richie Mensah. The label successfully launched the solo careers of the Ghanaian musicians Richie Mensah, Richie, ASEM, Irene Log ...

and was the winner of the New Artiste of the Year award at the 2015

Ghana Music Awards The Ghana Music Awards, also known since 2024 by the sponsored name Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMAs), formerly Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs), is an annual music awards event in Ghana established in 1999 by a local event organizer and p ...

. She parted ways with

in the year 2019. She is currently a solo artist.

Early life

MzVee was born in South La Estates, Accra to Ernest Hamenoo-Kpeda, a businessman, and Florence Hamenoo-Kpeda, a caterer. She hails from Keta in the Volta Region of Ghana. She has two older sisters and a brother and attended St Martin de Porres School in Dansoman, Accra in her early years. She moved on to St. Mary's Girls' Senior High School where she studied Home economics. She was studying

Business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

at Ghana Telecom University, later in 2016, she abandoned school.

Music career

2012 – 2013: Early beginnings

MzVee first burst onto the Ghanaian music scene in the summer of 2012 as the lead singer of Lynx Entertainment's girl band D3. The band had popular hits like "Good Girls Gone Bad" and "Gyani Gyani" before disbanding at the end of 2013 due to the young members' educational commitments.

2014 – 2016: Breakthrough

MzVee launched her solo career with debut single ‘Borkor Borkor’ released in January 2014. She followed this with hit single ‘Natural Girl’ and went on to win the 'Unsung Artiste Award' at the 2014 Ghana Music Awards. Her debut album was released in November 2014 and features collaborations with several award-winning artistes such as

Stonebwoy Livingstone Etse Satekla (Born 5 March 1988), better known by his stage name Stonebwoy, is a Ghanaian people, Ghanaian Afro pop music, Afropop, Afro-dancehall and reggae musician from Ashaiman, Accra. He is the CEO of Burniton Music Group. He w ...

, VIP,

Shatta Wale Charles Nii Armah Mensah Jr., (born 17 October 1984) known by his stage name Shatta Wale, formerly Bandana. is a Ghanaian reggae-dancehall artist. Shatta Wale started with stage name "Bandana'' after senior high school and released the hit trac ...

Richie Mensah Richie Mensah (born 17 May 1986), better known by his stage name Richie, is a Ghanaian singer-songwriter and record producer. After producing records for several artists, Richie set up Lynx Entertainment record label and released his debut albu ...

M.anifest Kwame Ametepee Tsikata (born 20 November 1982), known professionally as M.anifest, is a Ghanaian musician, rapper and record producer. He won Best Rapper and Hip-Hop song of the year at the 2017 Ghana Music Awards. He has worked with Damon Alba ...

and

Didier Awadi Didier Awadi is a Senegalese rapper and a significant figure in Francophone West African hip hop. As a founding member of Positive Black Soul (PBS) with Duggy Tee, Awadi toured around the world contributing to the international popularity of Hi ...

. Following the success of her award-winning debut album, MzVee released her second album titled ''Verified'' in November 2015 to rave reviews. The album has earned MzVee 7 nominations at the 2016

including 'Album of the Year' and 'Record of the Year' for the single 'Abofra' which features

Efya Jane Fara Fauzzier Afia Boafowaa Yahaya Awindor (born April 10, 1987), better known as Efya, is a Ghanaian people, Ghanaian singer, songwriter, and actress from Kumasi. She is the daughter of Nana Adwoa Awindor, a filmmaker and celebrity host of ...

. Her highly anticipated third album ''DaaVee'' was released in May 2017.

2017– 2019: Hiatus

MzVee took a two-year break from the Music Industry from 2017 to 2019. In an interview with TV3 on Monday, 5 January 2020, she revealed that her reason for leaving the music industry was a massive depression which she was going through. This has dismissed pregnancy rumors that some people were saying is the reason for her absence from the Music Industry. Throughout the two-year period MzVee found help from her friend

who kept supporting and encouraging her until she overcame depression. She has announced that as of 2020 she is back to music and will be releasing a single she has titled "Sheriff".

2020 – 2021: inVeencible

One other thing MzVee said when she returned from her depression-induced hiatus from music was that she will be releasing two albums. However, she obviously could not release the two albums as she promised due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. She rather managed to release one album dubbed inVeencible. The album which featured Sarkodie,

Mugeez Rashid Abdul Mugeez, professionally known as Mugeez, is a Ghanaian singer and songwriter. Born in Tema, Bimbila (Accra, Northern region, Ghana), he became known through the influential Afrobeats, Afrobeat/Hiplife duo R2Bees (Refuse To Be Broke) ...

Medikal Samuel Adu Frimpong (born 5 April 1994), popularly known as Medikal, is a Ghanaian hip hop musician born to Portia Lamptey and James Frimpong in Sowutuom, a suburb of Accra. Early life and music career He comes from Sowutuom, a suburb in Acc ...

Kelvyn Boy Kelvyn Brown (born 1 April 1991), better known by his stage name Kelvyn Boy is a Ghanaian Afrobeat singer from Assin Foso, Assin Fosu, Central region of Ghana. He got signed to Burniton Music Group owned by Stonebwoy and due to some controversi ...

Kojo Funds Errol Kojo Bellot, known professionally as Kojo Funds ( ; born 30 March 1995), is an English singer, rapper and songwriter. His music blends West African and Caribbean sounds with road rap, dancehall and pop. Kojo Funds featured on Yxng Bane ...

, as well as

Falz Folarin Falana (born 27 October 1990), better known by his stage name Falz, is a Nigerian rapper, songwriter, and actor. He began his career in secondary school after forming a group called The School Boys with a friend, before launching his p ...

and Navy Kenzoo, was released on 11 December 2020. In March 2021, she partnered with

TRACE TV Trace Urban (formerly MCM Africa then Trace TV) is a French pay-TV music video television channel, that is owned by TPG Capital. It is the parent channel of the various Trace music channels like Trace Africa and Trace Latina. It is the third m ...

to release her music video for her song 'You Alone'.

2022: 10 Thirty

On 24 June 2022, MzVee released her fifth album, titled 10 Thirty inspired by her 10th year as a musician and to celebrate turning 30 years. 10 Thirty, a ten–tracked album featured Nigerian musicians,

Bella Shmurda Abiola Ahmed Akinbiyi (born 27 January 1996), known professionally as Bella Shmurda, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence in 2019 with the release of the song "Vision 2020", and a follow-up remix which featured Olamide. He i ...

Yemi Alade Yemi Eberechi Alade (born 13 March 1989), known professionally as Yemi Alade, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, actress and activist from the Akoko part of Ondo State. Her music is a mixture of Afropop, highlife, dancehall, pop music, pop and Rh ...

Tiwa Savage Tiwatope Omolara Savage (born 5 February 1980), known professionally as Tiwa Savage (), is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and actress. Savage sings in English, Nigerian Pidgin and Yoruba; her music is a blend of afrobeats, R&B, afropop, p ...

and Ghanaian musicians

and

Kofi Kinaata Martin King Arthur (born 15 April 1990), popularly known as Kofi Kinaata, is a Ghanaian musician and songwriter from Takoradi. Known for his Fante rap and freestyle, he is often referred to by the moniker of ''Fante Rap God'' (FRG). Early lif ...

Musical style and recognition

MzVee's music contains elements of afropop, R&B and dancehall and her strong vocal abilities earned her a nomination for 'Female Vocalist of the Year' at the 2015 Ghana Music Awards and the award for 'Most Promising Act' at the 2015 Ghana Music Honors. She is regarded as one of the stars of Ghana's dancehall scene and received the award for 'Best Female Vocalist of the Year' at the 2015 Ghanaian dancehall awards, BASS awards. Her trademark natural African hair and hit single ‘Natural Girl’ has made her an inspiration to young girls across Africa who want to celebrate their natural look. MzVee's impressive rise to the top continued with a nomination in June 2015 in the 'Best International New Artist' category at the

BET Awards 2015 The 15th BET Awards was held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California on June 28, 2015 and was televised on BET. This year marked the ceremony's 15th anniversary and the milestone was celebrated throughout the show, which was hosted ...

. This brand new fan-voted category celebrates rising stars from across the channel's international footprint. In October 2015, MzVee was appointed the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

Ambassador for their 'End Extreme Poverty Campaign'. She released the official campaign song titled 'End Poverty' and became a World Bank #Music4Dev Guest Artist; a role which has been held in the past by a number of award-winning artists including

D'Banj Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo (born 9 June 1980), known professionally as D'banj ( ), is a Nigerians, Nigerian singer, rapper, music executive, event host and television personality. He signed with American rapper Kanye West's record label GOOD Music ...

and

Fally Ipupa Fally Ipupa N'simba (born 14 December 1977), known professionally as Fally Ipupa, is a Congolese musician and dancer. Often referred to as the "Prince of Rumba", he is known for his tenor vocals and his fusion of contemporary and traditional ...

. MzVee was named in MTV Base's list of the top African artists to watch out for in 2016. This list featured the breakthrough hit makers of 2015 on the African continent. She has also been nominated in the ‘Best Urban Artist’ category at the 2016 KORA Music Awards and received 7 nominations at the 2016 Ghana Music Awards including Songwriter of the Year with

and

, Album of the Year and Best Female Vocalist. On 20th May 2016, MzVee was nominated for the

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

Awards 2016 – Best International Act: Africa category and became the first Ghanaian female musician to be nominated for a major BET Award. She was also nominated in the Best Female category in October 2016 for the MTV Africa Music Awards. MzVee in concert

MzVee continues to receive both critical and commercial acclaim for her work and was awarded the Best Female Artist Honour at the Ghana Music Honours on 4 March 2017. She was also nominated for Reggae/Dancehall Artiste of the Year, Best Female Vocalist and Overall Artiste of the Year at the 2017 Ghana Music Awards. She is the first Ghanaian musician to be featured on the Grammy's Press play at home''' platform.

Discography

*POM (2024) *''Re-Vee-Lation'' (2014) *''Verified'' (2015) *''DaaVee'' (2017) *''InVeecible'' (2020) *10 Thirty ''(2022)''

Controversies

Ebony Reigns

In 2017 when MzVee went silent for a while after the release of her “Daavi” album, that same year the late

Ebony Reigns Priscilla Opoku-Kwarteng (16 February 1997 – 8 February 2018), known by her stage name Ebony Reigns, was a Ghanaian singer known for her hit songs "Poison" and "Kupe". Ebony was discovered by Bullet from Ruff n Smooth, and was the first Ghana ...

became very hot which made some social media nitizens claim MzVee’s career has been ended in the heat of Ebony Reigns. But in an interview MzVee debunks every single claim about her career being dead due to the reign of Ebony and gives reasons as to why she was on a low at the time Ebony rose with hits after hits.

Zee TM

In 2020, Zee TM a Ghanaian music group accused singer MzVee of using a beat that belonged to them without seeking their consent. Adekid, a member of the Zee TM group in an interview with MzGee on 3FM expressed surprise on how an A-List brand like MzVee would use their beat without doing the needful.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Lynx Entertainment

inVeencible Album
{{Authority control Ghanaian musicians 1992 births Living people St Mary's Senior High School (Ghana) alumni 21st-century Ghanaian musicians Dancehall singers Ghanaian singer-songwriters 21st-century Ghanaian women singers Musicians from Accra