Nana is the stage name of Nana Kwame Abrokwa, a Ghanaian-born German rapper and DJ, also known as Darkman. He is born in Accra, Ghana, and moves to Hamburg at the age of 10. His name is not a first name but a Ghanaian title of nobility.

Career

He begins DJing in hip-hop clubs in the early 1990s and also appears as MC Africa True on tracks by DJ David Fascher, including “Here We Go” and “Make the Crowd Go Wild”. He releases his debut solo single, “Darkman”, in 1996, and it becomes a success across Europe. His breakthrough follows with “Lonely” in 1997, which tops the German charts for more than a month.

Albums and singles

Nana’s debut album, Nana - The Album, includes the singles “Let It Rain”, “He’s Comin’”, and “Too Much Heaven”. Other tracks on the album include “One Second”, “Why?”, and “1,2,3 Are U Ready?”. The record also features collaborations with Jan van der Toorn, Jonestown, Pappa Bear, Alex Prince, and other members of the Booya Family.

Later work

In 2008, he announces 12.Y.O, a double album marking 12 years since “Darkman”. It contains re-recordings of earlier hits alongside new material. Tracks on the release include “No Sun”, “Where You Belong”, “Any 1 Out There”, and “My Get Away”, which is the lead single. Collaborators on the album include Braheem, O.O.D, Sibela, Manuellsen, and Romanian musicians Korekt and Lavinia.