Stonebwoy
In present day Ghana and Africa, you can’t make a list of top five best Dancehall music performers without inking the name of Livingston Setakla Este.
Around the world, he is known for his vocal and lyrical prowess. Arguably, he is one of artistes in Ghana with an elite fan base and debatably, the only dancehall act with a huge annual outdoor free concert.
Born a twin but destined to walk alone in fame, Livingston Etse Setakle best recognised as Stonebwoy is a Ghanaian Dancehall music performer and an entrepreneur.
From the bellies of Greater Accra region in Ghana, Ashaiman, the place of birth, this personality has lived a remarkable life and being celebrated by millions of Ghanaians and among dignitaries across borders.
Being under the umbrella of legendary reggae musician Samini, Stonebwoy sparked the love of reggae dancehall music in Ghana even though there had been some past performers.
Stonebwoy after graduating from senior high school joined Samini then Batman to pursue his music career, even though the duo were good friends, Samini became the master head since he had already garnered some attention in the industry and will have to groom young Stonebwoy under his clout.
Stonebwoy thereafter longed on to establish a fanbase and a record label for himself, BHIM Nation and Burniton Music Group respectively, as a professional musician.
After his 2012 “Grade 1” album which was released under “Samini Music”, Stonebwoy had his name appearing at the music scene with great recognition with some wonderful singles such as “Climax and Ghetto Love”.
In 2014, Stonebwoy gave the Ghanaian a better reason to enjoy African music where he produced a twenty-nine track album “Necessary Evil” with a nationwide single “Baafira”.
The acronym “Stonebwoy” then became a household name and there he started to be considered a celebrity where both albums credited him numerous award nominations including the prestigious ‘Ghana Music Awards’ even though he was a starter.
Thereafter comes the evergreen “Epistle Of Mama” 24 track album which features international artists such as , Sean Paul, Burna Boy and King Promise.
Few months after its release, the album clocked number 13 on billboard chart top 200 world best albums.
In 2018 ‘Epistles Of Mama (EOM)’ was rated the second-best album in the world according to reggaeville.
The Album was honoured by YouTube for hitting over 10 million views.
Stonebwoy aside music is a philanthropist. He is the CEO of Livingstone Foundation. He has been listed as part of the 2019 50 (fifty) young CEOs, by YCEO and Avance media this year.
The list which was launched earlier in 2018, was set out to honour distinguished young individuals pursuing the course of providing solutions to some of Ghana’s pertinent problems.
Stonebwoy has become the lead of African Dancehall after he emerged the first African Dancehall act to claim a BET plaque.
In 2015, after winning Best Artiste Of The Year Award at the VGMAs, he went ahead to claim a BET plaque where he was announced as “The Best International Act” of the year.
Adding up to his credence, Stonebwoy has risen among peers to become the first Ghanaian Musician to be honoured a Billboard Plaque.
The honour was given to the ‘Kpo Keke’ hitmaker for his contribution to the album “I’m Yours” released in 2017 by Jamaican Reggae artiste Sizzla Kalonji.
The album after being on the Billboard chart for 15 weeks peaked at number 2 on the Reggae Albums Chart.
This achievement called for the honour of the rapper and the featured artistes.
Stonebwoy refused to be appraised with a local champion attribute and for that matter, he has worked around the globe to book his name in the list of international Showbiz pundits.
Stonebwoy has traveled around the globe with his talent and has received great endorsement worldwide.
As early as 2014, The BHIM boss kick start his world tour in the Euro-zone in August 2014.
He performed in Germany, Italy, Spain and Austria. His 2016 Canada-America tour saw him perform in New York City, Ohio, Philadelphia and Ontario.
In the same year, he rocked Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sidney all in Australia. His second Euro tour saw him travel to the Nordic to thrill fans in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden in the last quarter of 2017.
Stonebwoy performed at Reggae Sumfest, Afro nation festival in Portugal, Rotterdam reggae festival, Uppsala Reggae Festival. Rototom Sunsplash in August 2019.
These and many more can we say about a character who is living to become the lord of music.
A huge brand, A respectable personality, The Pride Of Ghana and African Music hero, Stonebwoy will forever has his name registered on the chest of the world for his great talent display
