German based Ghanaian rapper and songwriter, Louis Roland Moreaux alias Da Mayniacz is set to introduce his brand of new generation hiphop to Ghana and indeed the rest of the world. Together with some of his colleagues, Da Mayniacz scored a hit with the teens of Germany with the single, ‘Broke My Heart’, which is now available on his debut solo album, ‘Before I Rise’
The heavy pop influenced ‘Broke My Heart’ has elements that make the production come off as a cross between Sean Kingston and Lil Wayne, therefore not surprising that it resonates well with the youths across Europe. A professional music video was shot at the end of November 2009 for ‘Broke My Heart’ and it became an instant hit on the video sharing site, YouTube. The video was transmitted brand new on the MTV channel in March and is also running on Yavido TV. The rapper, who is currently visiting Ghana to promote his songs, hints that the video would also be available on Ghanaian television soon.
The album contains 13 amazing tracks produced to appeal to a modern, open and liberal audience. It appeared in March 2010 on CD and for digital download. The 19 year rapper describes the album as strongly influenced by pop and the ‘dirty south’. With such a strong international character, his music has been able to attract fans world wide, proving that new generation hip hop has a place in Germany, his place of birth. Now his challenge is to be a Ghanaian artist who appeals to the Ghanaian market and the rest of the world as an international act. The cosmopolitan young artist, whose family comes from France, US and Ghana, is a modern citizen of the world who thinks global and act local, so should be able to surmount that challenge with time. Although Mayniacz was born in Germany, he visits Ghana very regularly and even schooled at Labone SDA for a bit. He speaks Twi quite fluently as well.
His first musical experiments date from mid-2006 when he and his group members attracted the interest of well known producers, such as Static and Rieke Boomgardens. But it was only through collaboration with producer Gitdatbeats (Markus Utke) that he experienced the musical freedom which gave him enough creative space to put his ideas into practice. The song, ‘Diz Gurl’, soon attracted the interest of the Myspace community and there was a huge demand for an album from his fans. This gave him the impetus to concentrate on his music.
The young rapper also has many performances to his credit. He has been a supporting act for the likes of DMX, Elephant Man, Redman, Method Man, Mobb Deep, Hot Rod and Wyclef.
According to him, he loves live performances and has a tour across Germany and other countries on the cards. He also adds that he is hoping to do some great collaboration with Ghanaian artists while in Ghana.