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Ghanaian-American musician Amaarae was this week named BET’s Amplified International Artist for February. The news follows her announcement as an Apple Music Africa Rising artist in January.BET Amplified is a monthly initiative by London-based network BET International to highlight the brightest new voices in music. Under the programme, the network shines a spotlight on emerging artists through feature stories and video content.
“BET Amplified is our seal of approval on the next big thing in music,” BET International said, adding that the programme would “build awareness around Amaarae to core audiences globally and will highlight her work in a multitude of ways, including linear and digital programming across the BET Jams, BET Her, BET Soul and BET International channels.”
Also a producer, sound engineer and DJ, Amaarae was born Ama Serwah Genfi in New York City and raised between Ghana, Georgia and New Jersey. Her compositions are a fusion of Afro-fusion, pop-punk, alt-R&B and progressive house.
She is the author of 2017’s Passionfruit Summers EP and her 2020 debut album The Angel You Don’t Know, which she says epitomises today’s quintessential young African woman, her experiences and her approach to life.
In a recent interview with Music In Africa, Amaarae acknowledged that a global perspective was forming around her music. She added: “I enjoy finding new ways of expression and new ways of storytelling that I know can propel the next generation of artists further into their ways of thinking and doing.”
Amaarae is also curating Spotify’s Black to the Future playlist as part of Black History Month, which the streaming service says will “help capture Afrofuturism in all its wild, otherworldly musical dimensions.”