Raquel To Release Her Debut Album “Raquel@25” In April

April 2009, in a small suburb in Accra metropolis in an area called Center –Maria, I stood in a relatively underground typical Ghanaian studio listening to a hip-hop beat by a young producer called Nii-King of Accra.

But I was not alone in the studio. Standing in the booth; there was a young Guru attempting to write to the instrumental, I was hearing him spit Kasahere .

Not long before a young gentleman walks in with a straight face and another man enters and introduces himself as Angel. The youngman he was with was called Sarkodie.

In the midst of time another fellow comes in and is introduced as E.L, a rapper and a producer. By this time I had also noticed a young Lady sitting in the far right corner of the studio clutching on to her pen and a note pad listening, bopping heads and writing.

The young lady was introduced as the beautiful Raquel, a songstress about to record her first vocals here in Ghana after coming back from the U.K to continue her music from the U.K hear in Ghana.

Whether you knew her then or you are just getting to know her this story will remind you of all her releases starting from 2009 to 2013. Let’s begin with her first song Get Wild ft Guru and Sarkodie which
was leaked and only aired on YFM, the song was however never officially released.

From there the budding musician produced a mix tape ,released under Trublackstarz Musiq record label, the mix-tape consisted of hit underground songs such as ‘Pressure’ with Guru, ‘Minsumobo’ ft JB, ‘Be In love’ ft Skonti, ‘Undecided Love’, ‘Kyer3 mi nia wupe’ where she sang the chorus for (Buda) Rakimalist and Genie Mama.

‘This Is Me’ (Produced by Bronzy) of D2 Studio’s was then used as one of the scores for the movie ‘Sting in a Tale’ which also featured Chris Attoh and produced by Shirley Frimpong-Manso. From there she released her official single ‘Odo’ which followed with a beautiful video that showed some of the most beautiful scenery’s and waterfalls of Ghana. The video was shot by ‘OM Studios’. ‘Odo’ gained a 4syte nomination in 2011 and also had a reggae remix ft IWAN and a hip-life version ft Dadia Opanka.

In 2011 Raquel gave Ghana, now one of the biggest Afro-pop/Hip-life songs of the decade the famous ‘Sweetio’ ft Sarkodie. The song swept 5 VGMA’s nominations and unfortunately did not receive one yet after that, the video was released and hugely criticized by Ghanaians. However the song is now an internationally acclaimed hit single, with the infamous video on rotations on Channel O. Raquel then released ‘Set Me Free’ which has been a favourite in South Africa and U.K then soon after ‘Shake Your Body’ ft Samini.

Then we got another straight hit from the now unstoppable musical harem ‘Lovi Dovi’ which is now slowly overtaking Sweetio as the critics say. The Lovi Dovi video certainly warmed hearts of the fans and has brought a new dimension to the ever growing Raquel brand introducing her professional acting capabilities and warming personality. And now we have a beautiful love song as the current single off the debut album called ‘Let You Go’ ft D Black which is now vastly growing on fans across Africa and Europe.

Raquel has also featured on several other songs and as at now the songbird is the most featured female artist in Ghana. The time has now come for the Debut Album release. Raquel herself mentioned
a release date of the 25th March but it has been confirmed that the date has indeed been pushed a little further. A member form BlackStar SR Entertainment has given hints for the 25th April, 2013.The album features artists such as Sarkodie, D Black, E.L, Jayso, Flowking Stone (Bradez) and producers such as De Genius Selections, Jayso, E.L, Sammie Blacc and Teey Mix (Nigeria).

Since we are almost entering the month of April all we can say is we look forward to hearing the @ 25 Debut Album. The album photography concept and artwork design was created and executed by ‘Miggified Photography’, ‘Lightville Studios’ and Design by ‘Nicholas Foli’. Raquel says that the 12 track list @25 Debut Album shows different genres of her music influence and represents who she was in 2009 and who she is now @25. She also adds that there are elements of music for everyone including Opera lovers, Reggae lovers, RnB lovers, Hip- Life lovers, Afro Pop lovers and more including album versions of Sweetio, Lovi Dovi and Set Me Free.

Speaking to some members of BlackStar SR Entertainment’s team over the weekend they hinted that there will be special @25 gifts that will be given to fans prior to the release of the album.

Management also hinted fans should visit www.raquelmusiclive.com and also subscribe to www.youtube.com/raquelmusiclive and follow on twitter @raquelmusiclive and @trublackstarz for more information and gifts as part of the debut album release celebrations. For now on behalf of our Princess, the Award winning Raquel and BlackStar SR Entertainment, courtesy TruBlackStarz Musiq and Akutu Media we present to you the Official ‘Raquel@25’ Debut Album Cover.

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