Citizen Kay
Birth nameKojo Owusu-Ansah
BornKoforidua, Ghana

Citizen Kay is an Australian Canberra-based hip hop artist.[1]

Citizen Kay's EP Demokracy was nominated for ARIA Award for Best Urban Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2015.[2]

Citizen Kay's debut album, With the People, was nominated the next year.[3]

Biography

Kojo Owusu-Ansah was born in Ghana and moved to Australia (in 2000[4]) when he was six.[5] He is the older brother of Genesis Owusu.[6]

He released this single, "YES!" in 2013 and followed it up the next year with an EP called Demokracy, released in November 2014.[7] The EP was nominated for Best Urban Album at the ARIAs and Best Independent Hip-Hop Album Release at the AIR Awards of 2015.

In October 2015 he released his debut album With the People.[8]

Citizen Kay released Belly of the Beast in August 2017.[9]

Discography

Albums

Title Album details
With the People
  • Released: 16 October 2015[10]
  • Format: CD, Digital download
  • Label: Asphalt Records (ASR003)
Belly of the Beast
  • Released: 25 August 2017[11]
  • Format: CD, Digital download, streaming
  • Label: OneTwo (Onetwo006)

Extended plays

Title EP details
High Evolution Funk
  • Released: June 2005[12]
  • Format: LP, Digital download
  • Label: Sensei (SNS020)
All About the Drums
  • Released: May 2007[13]
  • Format: LP, Digital download
  • Label: Sensei (SNS027)
Demokracy
  • Released: November 2014[14]
  • Format: CD, Digital download
  • Label: Asphalt Records (ASR001)

Singles

List of singles, showing year
Title Year EP
"Yes!"[15] 2013 Demokracy
"Raise a Glass" (featuring BKBB)[16]
"Alive Again" (with Kilter)[17] 2014 non album single
"Freedoom"[18] Demokracy
"Wax On Wax Off"[19] 2015 With the People
"MyoMy" (with Kirklandd)[20] non album single
"Life Gives You Lemons"[21] With the People
"Hey Did You Know?" (with Oliver Sol)[22] 2017 non album single
"These Kicks" (featuring Georgia B)[23] Belly of the Beast
"Static" (featuring Mondescreen)[24]
"Ego"[25] 2019 TBA
"Funny Business" (featuring Genesis Owusu)[26] 2020

Awards

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
AIR Awards of 2015[27] Demokracy Best Independent Hip Hop/Urban Album Nominated

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2015 Demokracy Best Urban Album Nominated
2016 With The People Best Urban Album Nominated

National Live Music Awards

The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
National Live Music Awards of 2016[28] themselves ACT Live Voice of the Year Won
National Live Music Awards of 2017[29][30] themselves Live Hip Hop Act of the Year Nominated
National Live Music Awards of 2020[31] themselves ACT Act Voice of the Year Nominated

References

  1. ^ "Update: Citizen Kay is getting With The People for national album tour", Triple J, 12 October 2015
  2. ^ "ARIA Awards 2015: Courtney Barnett, Vance Joy dominate nominations", The Sydney Morning Herald, 7 October 2015
  3. ^ Zuel, Bernard (5 October 2016), "ARIA Award nominations have a hairy surprise among the Flumes and Avalanches", Sydney Morning Herald
  4. ^ "Genesis Owusu Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  5. ^ Rae, Harvey (3 December 2015), "Demokracy at work for Citizen Kay", The West Australian
  6. ^ Bloul, Scherry (12 August 2015), "Rapper Genesis Owusu hits right beat to make Triple j Unearthed High top five", Canberra Times
  7. ^ Staff Writer (4 November 2014), "streams", Themusic.com.au
  8. ^ Fuamoli, Sosefina (15 October 2015), "Citizen Kay takes us through new album With The People track-by-track!", The AU Review
  9. ^ D’Apice, James (24 April 2017), "Album Reviews", The Music
  10. ^ "With the People(EP)". Apple Music. 16 October 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Belly of the Beast (EP)". Apple Music. 25 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  12. ^ "High Evolution Funk (EP)". Apple Music. June 2005. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  13. ^ "All About The Drums (EP)". Apple Music. May 2007. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Demokracy (EP)". Apple Music. November 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  15. ^ "California - single". Apple Music. March 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Raise a Glass - single". Apple Music. November 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  17. ^ "Alive Again - single". Apple Music. July 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  18. ^ "Citizen Kay - Freedoom". YouTube. September 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  19. ^ "Wax On Wax Off - single". Apple Music. August 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  20. ^ "MyoMy - single". Apple Music. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  21. ^ "Citizen Kay - Life Gives You Lemons". YouTube. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  22. ^ "Hey Did You Know? - single". Apple Music. February 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  23. ^ "These Kicks - single". Apple Music. May 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  24. ^ "Static - single". Apple Music. November 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  25. ^ "Ego - single". Apple Music. July 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  26. ^ "Funny People - single". Apple Music. 7 February 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  27. ^ "1 Dads, Courtney Barnett Lead This Year's Independent Music Award Nominations". MusicFeeds. 7 September 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  28. ^ "Nominees 2016". NLMA. 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  29. ^ "NLMA reveal 2017 Nominees". NLMA. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  30. ^ "Winners 2017". NLMA. December 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  31. ^ "Nominees announced for 2020 National Live Music Awards". NLMAs. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
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