Sarkodie, born Michael Owusu Addo, is a Ghanaian rapper and entrepreneur located in Tema who has won a slew of international accolades.
He has received numerous honors for his services to the Ghanaian music industry from both local and international awarding agencies.
Sark has been hailed as one of Africa’s most successful rappers. The rapper is considered as one of the most prominent proponents of the Azonto dance and genre. Since releasing his first song over a decade ago, he has been setting standards in the music industry.
He has amassed a sizable social media following as a result of his impressive skills and good appearance. He is highly respected by all for his came composure on social media as well.
Early Life And Education of Sarkodie
He was born on July 10, 1985, in Koforidua, Ghana to Mr. and Mrs. Owusu Addo. He is the fourth child of five children.
The rapper attended one of Tema’s Montessori schools for both his primary and junior secondary studies. He enrolled at Tema Methodist High School, where he received his Senior School Certificate, and later got admission to IPMC to undertake a degree in graphic design. From there, he began his career in music.
His Professional Life
Since he was a child, Sarkodie has been rapping. From the age of four, he knew what he wanted out of life and was not afraid to pursue it.
Furthermore, a rap show called Kasahare Level on Adom FM confirmed his relevance in the music industry, thus launching his career. Fortunately for him, the show’s host, Duncan Williams, took a keen interest in his outstanding talent and went on to become his manager following the radio contest. During his time on the show, he met Edem and Castro, who introduced him to Hammer of The Last Two, a well-known and talented record producer.
Hammer was impressed by the Landlord’s prowess so he generously gave Sark the chance to record two tracks on Edem’s maiden album dubbed “Volta Regime”.
Sarkodie’s discography includes more than 100 singles and nine albums. Some of the prominent albums and EP he released are as follows Makye, Rapperholic, Sarkology, Highest, Alpha, Black Love, No pressure and Jamz. These albums and EP featured celebrated international and local artistes like Efya, Mr Eazi, Oxlade, Black Sherif, Kwesi Arthur, King Promise, Medikal Samini, Wizkid, R2Bees, Davido, Burna Boy, Tiwa Savage, Obrafuor, Banky W, Diamond Platnumz, Shatta Wale and many other great musicians.
He went on several tours in and out of Ghana. He visited foreign cities such as New Jersey, Ohio, New York, Chicago. He even went on a worldwide tour to promote his recent album “Jamz”.
Due to his influence on the continent, Obidi Hover was featured on the Africa Rising Campaign in June 2014. The artiste collaborated with Diamond Platnumz, Davido, Tiwa Savage, Lola Rae and Mi Casa to record a song titled “Rising Africa for the said campaign. DSTV as behind this strong campaign to empower Africans to take part in community-based social investment projects.
He has been a brand ambassador for the following brands, Samsung, Pepsodent, Fan Milk, Standard Chartered Bank, Guiness etc. In october 2019, he was also appointed as the ambassador for “Year of Return”. It is an initiative of the governement of Ghana in partnership with the Adinkra Group, a U.S.-based organization. The aim of the initiative is to entice Africans living abroad to return to Africa, primarily Ghana, to settle and make investments.
The landlord has also signed an ambassadorial deal with First Atlantic Bank in February, 2024.
We cannot discuss the talent’s professional life without mentioning his own clothing line “Sark by Yas” which was launched on 27th April, 2013. The clothing line has accessories for ment, women and children.
Awards
Sarkodie participated in several projects and got numerous prizes and nominations in 2010, which was the early pinnacle of his magnificent career.
For his debut album Makye, he received five major nominations at the 2010 VGMAs.
In the same year, he was also a part of the historic Ghana cypher that appeared on the international broadcast of the 2010 BET Hip Hop Awards. He became the first African artist to win the Best International Flow title at the BET Hip Hop Awards in October 2019.
His Rapperholic album won him his first BET nomination and subsequent win.
Sarkodie, Africa’s most decorated rapper. He has had about 200 nominations for major music awards and has won over 100 of them.
Popular names of Sarkodie in Ghana and Beyond
Below is a list of some few names fans have given to the rapper to date;
- King Sark
- Sarkcess
- Obidi
- Obidiponbidi
- Kabutey (used by critics/trolls)
- Obidi Hover
- Landlord
Personal Life and Family
Sarkodie and his long-time fiancée, whom he married in 2018, have two children. Sarkodie’s wife, Tracy Sarkcess, is an entrepreneur who runs her own company.
What is Sarkodie (Landlord)’s Net Worth?
Obidi is one of Africa’s wealthiest rappers, with an estimated net worth of $15 million. His fortune, however, is not simply based on his musical profession, as he owns various enterprises that are kept out of the public eye.
The celebrated rapper owns a fleet of high-end automobiles. Sarkodie owns a large residence in Ashally Botwe, in addition to his luxury car collection (Accra).
Sarkodie’s home in the United Kingdom is also a work of art, believed to be worth $250,000.
Controversies
Beautiful Ghanaian actress, Yvonne Nelson, release a Memoir named “I am not Yvonne Nelson”. This memoir took over the internet because of its content. It featured some famous personalities including Sarkodie. In the book, Yvonne recounted the secret sexual relations she has with the king of rap. She went ahead to mention how she became unexpectedly pregnant for the King of rap and had to abort it. Due to this information the musician was lashed on social media even though a section of people still defended him.
A short while, the artiste also entered the studio and brought out a song (Try me), in response of Yvonne’s claims.
Additionally, Samini called Sarkcess out for disrespecting him. Samini mentioned that Obidiponbidi ignore his texts after reaching out to him for a collab. Following this accusation, he apoligized to Samini and went ahead to state that his colleague’s accusation might not be have been his true intention.
Incidents
The respected rapper, narrated the near death experience her had with Delta Airline. The distressing case included an emergency landing on a remote Island in Portugal.
