From A Dancer To A Record Breaking Dominating Artist, The Journey of The “Nation Champion”, Fancy Gadam
Let me borrow the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. According to him, “The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.”
On this note, let me welcome you to Ghana’s Hub For Pop Culture & Urban Entertainment News – www.nydjlive.com.
On August 16, 1988, a star was born.
A star whose lights will shine bright beyond his home territory. One who will not only derive happiness and satisfaction from what he does but will through his works bring happiness to his family, friends, region and the world at large.
But just like refined gold, he had to begin the journey from somewhere and it did not start as beautiful as we see it today.
Born Mujahid Ahmed Bello in Tamale (the Northern part of Ghana), we love know and call him by his stage name, Fancy Gadam.
At age 12, he started performing during school events and made public appearances during occasions. With musical influences from Kaya, B.F.G’s, Banky W , Wizkid and Davido, Fancy Gadam started visiting different recording studios where he developed skills in beat production.
Starting off as dancer with a great passion for excellence, Fancy Gadam teamed up with friends to form a dance group B13 Dancers which by dint of hard work eventually became the first powerful dance group from the North.
The group in 2009 auditioned for the Malta Guinness Street Dance Championship and qualified to represent the 3 Northern Regions in Ghana. They eventually placed third and this is when the drive to be a “nation champion” was reignited.
Signing on to 5M/ Fad Entertainment in 2010, Fancy Gadam put together his debut album LAH’ZIBSI (Wonders) which left many in the North talking. Despite having other hit songs on the album including Alkawle which featured Iwan, Bamba, Ojema ft Bamaba, Nyaqsim, Lahazibsi, Fancy Gadam solidified his place with the very hit single Kalypo.
The launch of the album was welcomed with a sold out concert.
Since then, Fancy Gadam kept working on his music and built connections with other tops artists paving way for him to perform on major music platforms that were raised in Tamale, his place of birth.
He since then performed with Wizkid, Davido and a few others.
Two years after the release of his debut album, Fancy Gadam wrapped up plans for the release of a second one. Yes, he saw no need to rest or become comfortable with the first album.
Titled Ashili and released on January 4, 2012 at Picorna Gardens in Tamale, the album had songs such as Dawgu and Alkaida which all became hit songs. However, his success rested only among his people in the North and the Zongo communities until May 20, 2016 .
Yes!! This was indeed the magical day that brought the nation’s attention to the star boy of the North.
With pictures flying all over social media about an artist who had sold out 12,000 capacity stadium, the country was eager to know who this talent really was?
3 months after this national appeal, Fancy Gadam teamed up with BET Award winner Stonebwoy for the Gadam Nation X BHIM Nation Concert at the Tamale Sports Stadium which saw over 16,000 people attending.
To many, this was possible simply because Fancy Gadam had so much support in his home region and could be a failure if he staged any show elsewhere in the country.
Poised to prove critiques wrong, break boundaries and tear territories, Fancy Gadam together his team and the support of no any popular musician sold out the National Theatre on November 6 2016, a venue which eventually was too small for an artist of his type as more than twice the number present in the auditorium could not get tickets to centre since they were sold out.
With works still in progress, Fancy Gadam returned to his homeland Tamale on July 1 2017 and launched his 3rd studio album Mujahid. The launch of the album saw him double the numbers he had previously done at the Tamale Sports Stadium. He indeed rewrote history making him one of the best to have come out of the North in recent times.
Fancy Gadam would however not rest on his laurels as he pushed beyond Tamale and Accra staging another breath taking show at the Heroes Park (Baba Yara Sports Stadium) in Kumasi on August 26, 2017. Despite heavy rainfalls that evening, Kumasi still defied the odds by attending the event making it a huge success.
Boasting of one of the biggest collaborations of 2017, the Gadam Nation and Sark Nation (with whom they record Total Cheat) staged another well attended show at his home grounds, the Tamale Sports Stadium which saw many fans winning gift items from sponsors of the event.
As I write, Fancy Gadam’s superiority in the North surpasses that of any artist and would have to be billed for any event up North before it is well attended.
Since hitting the spotlight with his music, Fancy Gadam has won for himself some awards including New Artiste of the year (JIGWE AWARDS 2016), New artiste of the year (BASS AWARDS 2016) and the most talked about New artiste of the year at the prestigious Vodafone Ghana Music Awards 2016 beating heavy contender Medikal.
His concert with Stonebwoy also won the best regional event at the 2016 Ghana Events Awards.
Other awards:
Best artiste -Dakpema awards .
Best artiste -Northern music awards(NMA) 2 consecutive years
Most popular song NMA
Best artiste -Best artiste -Northern(NEA) entertainment awards Northern Region .(NEA)
Best artiste -For the 3 Northern Regions .NEA
Most popular song Northern -NEA
Most popular song 3 Regions .NEA
Best video concrete-NMA
Best collabration -NMA
Fancy Gadam is currently singed to and managed by Sultan Incorporation in partnership with 5M Music. His successes cannot be mentioned without making reference to an occult following he calls GADAM NATION.
Ghana’s Hub For Pop Culture & Urban Entertainment News – www.nydjlive.com is reliably informed that Fancy Gadam will soon be announced as an ambassador for tourism in the three Northern regions of Ghana by the Ministry of Tourism And National Commission on Culture.
He also intends to put up another concert in Accra in November, The Gadam Nation Concert in November 2017.
