Kwabs | |
|---|---|
 Kwabs on stage in 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kwabena Sarkodee Adjepong |
| Born | 24 April 1990 London, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Labels | Atlantic |
| Website | kwabsmusic |
Kwabena Sarkodee Adjepong (born 24 April 1990),[1] better known by his stage name Kwabs, is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known for his international hit "Walk".
Born in London,[2] Kwabs was raised in Bermondsey, Southwark, to Ghanaian parents.[3] At The Charter School, his music teacher Xanthe Sarr and manager of the Southwark Youth Orchestra, introduced Kwabs to the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. Accepted in the programme, he became the lead singer of the orchestra for four years. He also studied jazz at the Royal Academy of Music.
In 2011, Kwabs was in the BBC television show Goldie's Band: By Royal Appointment of drum-and-bass musician Goldie, a UK nationwide platform to search for young talented musicians, and one of twelve artists chosen to create some musical pieces for a special performance at Buckingham Palace. This culminated in Kwabs appearing in a 2011 presentation,[3] performing a rendition of "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child".
In 2012, he released cover versions of "Like a Star" by Corinne Bailey Rae and "The Wilhelm Scream" by James Blake. The Kwabs version went viral on YouTube. He signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records collaborating with a number of artists for his debut EP Wrong or Right with critical acclaim.[4]
The subsequent EPs Pray for Love and Walk EP have a more pop-oriented sound, with Walk EP containing the hit single "Walk", Kwabs' best known release, launched on 5 October 2014 on Atlantic Records.[5] It was a minor hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number 71, but became hugely popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It was also number one on the iTunes Music charts.
In April 2015, Kwabs released the single "Perfect Ruin", and on 11 September 2015, he released his debut studio album Love & War.
| Title | Details | Peak positions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [6] |
AUT [7] |
BEL (Fl) [8] |
GER [9] |
HUN [10] |
NL [11] |
SWI [12] | ||
| Love + War |
|
26 | 44 | 39 | 26 | 24 | 23 | 12 |
| Title | Details | Notes | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wrong or Right |
|
| |||||||||||||||
| Pray for Love |
|
| |||||||||||||||
| Walk |
|
|
| Year | Title | Peak positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [6] |
AUT [7] |
BEL (Fl) [8] |
BEL (Wa) [13] |
GER [9] |
NL [11] |
NOR [14] |
SWI [12] | ||||||||||||
| 2014 | "Wrong or Right" | — | — | 67[A] | — | — | — | — | — | Love + War | |||||||||
| "Walk" (solo or featuring Fetty Wap) |
71 | 3 | 53[A] | 59[A] | 1 | 98 | 12 | 4 | |||||||||||
| 2015 | "My Own" | — | — | 84[A] | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| 2021 | "Signals"[19] (with Regard) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |||||||||
| "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Year | Title | Peak positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [6] |
AUS [20] |
FRA [21] | |||
| 2015 | "Willing and Able" (Disclosure featuring Kwabs) |
70 | 78 | 116 | Caracal |
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2014 | "Wrong or Right" |
| "Pray for Love" | |
| "Walk" | |
| "Saved" | |
| 2015 | "Perfect Ruin" |
| "Fight for Love" | |
| "My Own" | |
| "Cheating on Me" |
