Birth name Samuel Koyire Kobina Years active 2009–present | Origin Ghana, West Africa | |
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Also known as Uno, Psalm Uno, Spoken Word King, Psalm One, Vimming Born November 19, 1991 (age 25)
Ridge, Accra ( 1991-11-19 ) Genres Rap, hip hop, poetry, spoken word, afro pop, gospel Occupation(s) rapper, poet, spoken-word artist, musician, artist coach, event organiser | ||
Samuel Koyire Kobina, popularly known as Psalm 1, the Christ Junkie is an award-winning Ghanaian poet rapper, spoken word artist, musician, artist coach and event organizer. He is one of the few along with the rap group Heavens Connection to have pioneered a new wave of gospel music known as gospel-rap or Christian rap also referred to as urban gospel music in Ghana. With his group Heavens Connection, they introduced Ghanaian youth to gospel rap/hip-hop locally. He has toured and performed at more than 350 shows since 2009. He is also a member of a Christian creative arts group, SASA (Speaker's and Singer's Association).
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History
In 2009, Psalm 1 joined the group Heavens Connection as one of its 2nd generation members. The group, established in 2005 went on hiatus after some years as members relocated, travelled to school amongst others. Notable among the 1st generation is Ian Jazzi. After joining the group, Psalm 1 sat back to help the group with stage craft and performances. Rehearsal breaks allowed Psalm 1 to casually freestyle and rapped verses or lines he had written down. He was always motivated by then group leader Jae Milla to rap and join the group on stage which he always rejected. However, in the last quarter of 2009, Jae Milla along with the group succeeded in convincing Psalm 1 to feature on a song performed but never released "Jehovah Dey Bee" after hearing his verse. This gave Psalm 1 his first performance on stage which did not turn out great and so he was put on probation to help him develop his craft and master his stage performance. Psalm 1 developed himself during this period and bounced back at Action Chapel International's youth outreach in Ghana Christian High School in 2010 which he was adjudged best performer by his group members. Months later he helped put together the hit single "Chaley More Vim" and kept performing and touring with the group until in 2013, after releasing "Mr.Attitude" the group went on hiatus. He released his first single "Encore", a re fix of Jay Z's song of the same title to critical success in 2011. He followed up with "Insomnia" also in 2011. He further released his rendition of "How Great is our God" originally by Chris Tomlin in 2013.
Spoken word
In 2011, Psalm 1 officially started focusing on spoken word and poetry which he started championing in Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and Kumasi even though he had casually been doing it in 2010. With his group, SASA (Speaker's and Singer's Association), they introduced spoken word to the student populace. However, in 2012 with MoonlightCafe, Psalm 1 was able to reach out to majority of the student populace and his popularity skyrocketed after being named best performer. In 2013, Psalm 1 reached legendary status and was the most sort after artist in KNUST up till he graduated in 2014. In 2014, he staged his first concert, Psalm 1 and Friends to a great success and was booked by the former pro-vice chancellor of KNUST, Professor Samuel Nii Odai, to entertain students and guests at the opening of the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use which had the former vice chancellor, Professor Otoo Ellis present.