#GhanaXchange - Meet the artists

Find out more about the three artists behind Mievado (We've Arrived)

Stormzy

21 year old South London ambassador, Stormzy, has ignited a new generation of UK rap with his neo-grime flow and his utopian and progressive attitude towards commercial music. The rapper has gained an unprecedented amount of support from his contemporaries including some of the forefathers of the genre. Artists such as Wiley, Skepta, Krept & Konan, Lethal Bizzle and Wretch 32 have vouched for the young prospect and have claimed that he is the future.

Raised in Croydon, Stormzy calls himself “a child of grime” who rejected slick US hip-hop for Britain’s harder, grittier scene. At the age of 11, he was winning rap battles at his local Youth Club, Rap Academy, and his charismatic freestyles have earned him a huge following on YouTube.

The first unsigned rapper to play Jools Holland, he also won a MOBO award in 2014 on the strength of a solitary EP – The Dreamer’s Disease, and was named number 3 on the BBC's Sound of 2015 list.

Speaking about the Ghana Xchange, he said: "I’m most excited about going back to the roots of where I come from. I’ve got family in Ghana but I haven’t been there for about ten years and a lot has happened in that time! I think it’s going to be sick!"

JayVades

JayVades, real name Jay Busia, is a young, talented music producer hailing from the depths of East London, Canning Town precisely. At just 21, Jay has an extremely impressive musical catalogue and has racked up over 13 years experience in music engineering, having begun his journey at the tender age of just 8 years old. However, after leaving University at the beginning of 2014, he decided to take his passion for music to another level and pursue it full time.

Heavily influenced by Timberland and The Neptunes, Jay Vades has produced music for a variety of artists, ranging from No. 1 songstress Jess Glynne to Xfactor vocal coach & songwriter Ali Tennant.

Being discovered via BBC Introducing to partake in the Ghana Xchange project has been a magical moment for Jay Vades. As well as being given the opportunity to collaborate with other great, emerging musicians, it also gave him the chance to travel home and revisit his hometown, which gave a vibrant boost to his musical influences.

After recently signing to Music Publishing and Record Label, The Portfolio Music, Jay Vades is now one half of production duo Dr Vades. The pair are currently working on music in the House, EDM, R&B and Pop genres and are looking forward to releasing brand new music.

Jojo

Hailing from the Volta Region of Ghana, Jojo moved to the United States at a young age where she cultivated a fragmented sense of cultural identity. Though she was surrounded by African music while growing up, making music of any sort was never on Jojo’s horizon until she discovered her latent vocal prowess one night at a Brooklyn pub in 2011. “I didn’t go looking for music. Music found me and knocked me off my feet. It helped me define and connect with myself”

Soon after this discovery, Jojo took what was supposed to be a short holiday trip to Ghana for her grandmother’s 95th birthday. Before she knew it three months had turned into three years and over the course of her extended stay Jojo found herself flourishing within Accra’s burgeon- ing DIY arts scene.

Creating across continents, Jojo divides her time between Accra, Copenhagen and New York City where she has surrounded herself with like-minded creative communities. Jojo's live shows encapsulate the mesmeric nature of her music and with each performance she taps deeper into the unbridled energy that has prompted comparisons to Erykah Badu while retaining her own unique approach to storytelling.

Asked about the #GhanaXchange project, she said: "It was an incredible and unique opportunity to challenge myself as an artists working with people I had never met before from various backgrounds and cultures. With just a week to spare we've created something that I hope attests to the times we're living in as young people." She added "Being in Ghana was refreshing, challenging and inspiring. I'm grateful for this experience and look forward to sharing it with the world!".