Sheer Music announces six new signings from West Africa

The list, which comprises three Ghanaians and three Nigerians, forms part of the company’s expansion efforts after it was acquired by Downtown Music Holdings in May 2020. In early June, Sheer’s managing director, David Alexander, was appointed as Downtown’s senior vice-president.

The new additions are Ghana’s Wendy Shay, Bullet and Kaywa as well as Nigeria’s Eedris Abdulkareem, Ado Gwanja and Tunde. They join fellow West African act Iyanya, whom Sheer signed in March.

Bullet is a former member of the music group Ruff n Smooth. He runs RuffTown Records, which manages Wendy Shay. Wendy Shay was introduced to the music scene by Bullet, who released her maiden single ‘Uber Driver’ in 2018. Since then, she has gone on to release two albums, namely Shay On You and Shayning Star. She is also behind the Shay Foundation, a humanitarian agency that seeks to alleviate poverty.

Kaywa, an accomplished music producer and sound engineer from Tema, has released numerous hits. He was named Best Producer of the Year at the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards in 2012 and 2013. Tunde Tdot is best known as the founder of the group Styl-Plus. In 2021, he left the band to pursue a solo career, his latest album being Sounds of Lugica.

Veteran hip hop act and social activist Abdulkareem spent the early years of his career performing with The Remedies. He went on to build a formidable solo career with several highly successful albums to his name. Abdulkareem also established his own record label, LaKreem Entertainment in 2005. Ado Gwanja, who doubles up as an actor, is among the most influential musicians in northern Nigeria, boasting a number of successful albums including Ganga Sa Waka and Gidan Biki.

Sheer says the signings were acquired by its senior copyright administrator and client liaison for West and Central Africa, Seidu Iddrisu, with the goal of expanding the company’s client base in Africa.

“Seidu has worked extensively with artists across the globe to ensure musicians are compensated for their works,” Sheer said. “Aware of the struggles faced by West African artists when it comes to industry structures, Seidu regularly travels between West African countries providing well-needed music copyright education. This educational programme, dubbed ‘Africa Agenda’ teaches songwriters, composers and authors how to make money from their works.”