Photos: 9 things you have to know about Samini

He changed his name from Batman to Samini to honor his dad

His father never supported his decision to embark on a musical career. It was late into his musical journey that he finally got his dad’s blessing, and to honor him, he changed his stage name from Batman to Samini – his father’s real name.

He used to carry food on foot from Nima to Dansoman

With his fathers’ opposition to his music, he made Samini carry left-over food from Nima to Dansoman on foot every Saturday just to keep him from going to Funworld at the National Theatre.

Samini is the definition of a mama’s boy

He really loves his mum and it’s on public record. Samini says putting his mum on a plane for the first time is just one of the many things he has done to appreciate his number one fan.

He started music with a group called ‘Trinity’

Trinity was a trio with Kokovelli and K.K in the 90’s. He walked in the shadows of Trinity on many night shows throughout Accra and he featured on tracks with several more artistes. But shadowing artiste? It didn’t last forever. Stars create shadows- they are not shadows. The group broke up. It was messy but necessary.

The first money he earned with music was 5GHC

A rough diamond at nineteen, Samini earned his first 5GHC (then 50,0000 cedis) following music in the 90’s. He was at that time working with Mary Agyapong on a second single at TV3. That money was enough to pay for transport, buy a beer and – give out GHC2 to his mum.

His first chart topping single was “Linda”

And then his debut album, Dankwasere, released in 2004 hit the airwaves. The track Linda from the album was a popular hit. It topped the local music charts for weeks and won two awards at the Ghana Music Awards.

He was a real ‘bad boy’ in his school days

He had his secondary education at St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic School at Dansoman, Accra. During his second year, he was punished for organizing jams during final exams and he led a revolt to refuse sitting for Elective Maths because it was introduced late in Form 2.

He holds a diploma in music production

Samini has a Diploma in Music production from a college in East London and it’s his dream to study intellectual property law.

The meaning of his signature ad-lib “KPOOI”

Asked what the meaning of ‘Kpooi’ is, Samini says it’s a gunshot sound and that is his signal. It comes with every composition that he does. The gunshot is meant for all the back bitters – “We kill them dead”, he said.

Enjoy Linda below: