Aakowa was born in Kumasi, Ghana (West Africa). His parents moved him and his older siblings to North America when Aakowa was a child, based on a scholarship his father was given by the Ghanaian government to study overseas. However, soon after settling, tough times arrived for the young immigrant family.
There was an uprising in Ghana, and given Aakowa’s father was formerly in the military, the new Ghanaian administration requested for the family to return to the country. Fearing danger upon return, because many of his friends had already gone missing or been killed, Aakowa’s father chose to stay. By consequence, the scholarship was revoked.
Aakowa could not help but absorb some of the turmoil, as the family began to struggle with poverty and cultural barriers. He began to write as a way of his own escape, and found a sense of freedom that subdued many of the troubles in his reality. It was then that he began to take his creative gifts seriously.
In those early years when battling with feelings of loneliness and uncertainty about his surroundings, Aakowa developed a very vivid imagination. In times of hardship, he started off writing in private journals, and would often escape into his own created worlds, with characters and plots that proved more welcoming and interesting than his own.
Once he was introduced to writers, such as Shakespere, C.S. Lewis, and many others of the past and present, Aakowa understood the power of words and storytelling — he inherited a belief that he could be just as effective with his pen and mind.
Soon after, when a close friend taught him how to use recording equipment: another gift was discovered. With music, Aakowa began to express the emotional aspects of his reality.
Aakowa now has a mission to use his creative work – as a writer/director and singer/songwriter – not only to entertain, but to use his work as a vehicle to help others in their own journey for growth and healing.
