Iwan: The Newest Lyricist

Iwan It is not quite an easy thing to drop a debut album and automatically make a hit out of it, but it seems Iwan, one of the newest faces on the Ghanaian music scene, is set to break that phenomenon.

Iwan, a student of the University of Ghana reading Theatre Art, Music and Dance, is the kid to watch out for this year.

From Bullhaus Entertainment, the force behind the hiplife duo 5five, Iwan is expected to take the music industry by storm with some interesting rhythms from his debut album titled after himself.

The album which is still “cooking” has tracks like 'Still Love Me,' 'Wind For Me' featuring Lil Shaker who has a rendition of T.I's 'Live Your Life' dubbed 'Fear God' enjoying airplay on some radio stations.

Otherwise called Abdul Razak Issahaku, Iwan hails from the northern part of Ghana, and belongs to the Dagomba tribe.

Born in Accra to Mr. Issahaku Atta and Mrs. Ajara Mamudu, he is the last among three boys and four girls. He describes himself as a humble, quiet, tolerant, hardworking and creative person.

Iwan completed St. John's Junior Sec. School in 2001 and proceeded to the Accra High School where he became the entertainment prefect in his third year. He participated in many school events, and represented the school in competitions outside campus.

He thus took music seriously from the secondary school and started penciling down commercial songs. In his bid to further build his musical career, he took a course in sound engineering. He took his studies seriously and in less than a year he had mastered the art of producing his own tunes.  

Iwan then started recording his album in various studios he found himself working at. He worked with Step 2 Studios, formerly called Family Fun, GH Studios, Rich City Studios, 5th Project and a few others where he mastered his art.

In a couple of months, he had recorded 6 songs, before joining Bullhaus Entertainment.

“I felt they are the best to handle me after I have realised what they had achieved with 5five,” he says of Bullhaus Entertainment.

Since he became part of the Bullhaus family, he has featured in the remix version of 5five's 'Afrikan Gurls' together with Kwaw Kese, 4x4 and Gyino.

Since then, Iwan has been climbing every stage with 5five and they did shows like the following together: Miss Ghana 2008, Joy FM's Nite with the Stars, Exopa Fashion Nite, Kwaw Kese Beach Bash, Sound Splash among others.

His first solo act on stage was at the just-ended 4syte video awards, and then at the Ghana Music Awards festival.

By Francis Addo