Sarkodie has released a new single titled “Labadi” in anticipation of his upcoming Jamz album.
Dubbed ‘Labadi’, the mid-tempo Afrobeats amapiano-leaning track features Ghanaian vocalist King Promise and is produced by Nigeria’s DJ Coublon. The song’s debut was accompanied by visuals directed by Babs Direction and Capone and shot in a variety of locations across Ghana and Greece. The visual features lavish ocean scenes and a vacation vibe.
“JAMZ” will come as Sarkodie’s 8th professional studio album and follows his 2021 hip-hop or rap album, No Pressure. The album spawned popular hit songs such as ‘Coachella’, featuring Tema-based rapper, Kwesi Arthur, and ‘Non-Living Thing’, featuring Nigerian afropop artiste, Oxlade.
“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to rap. I fell in love with this art form as a youth. Growing up in Tema gave me a lot to talk about and I always had an idea about the kind of career I wanted, so I had to stay true to myself. My second album is already 10 years [old] and I am on my 8th album, still doing it my way. It takes a lot to stay motivated, but you can’t be in a rush to skip the process, you still have to deal with everything that comes with it.”
Sarkodie’s highly danceable tracks have made him an ambassador of hiplife, a hybrid genre that combines hip-hop with the highlife sounds native to his home country.
His third album, 2014’s 30-track behemoth Sarkology, boasts features from Burna Boy, Fuse ODG, and Davido. The LP won Album of the Year at the 2014 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards. In 2019, he won the first-ever Best International Flow prize at the BET Hip Hop Awards. That same year, he took home Artiste of the Decade honors at the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards.
