Obaro Ejimiwe (born 18 January 1983) is a British singer, songwriter and musician better known by his stage nameGhostpoet.[1] Ejimiwe is based in Berlin.[1]
In June 2010, Ghostpoet self-released his first EP, The Sound of Strangers, and was later featured in The Guardian's "New Band of the Day".[3]
Ghostpoet's first single, "Cash & Carry Me Home", was released on 24 January 2011, followed by the debut album on 7 February 2011, Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam. His single "Survive It" was launched in Rough Trade East Record store, on London's Brick Lane on 9 May 2011.[4][5]
Ghostpoet was among the nominees for the 2011 Mercury Prize.[8] The winner, PJ Harvey, was announced on 6 September 2011.
Ghostpoet's second album, Some Say I So I Say Light, was released on 6 May 2013.[9] The album was preceded by the single "MSI musmiD", made available as a free download from SoundCloud in late February. "Meltdown", with guest vocals by Woodpecker Wooliams, was released as a single in April 2013.[10]
In 2016, Ghostpoet curated the West Balkans edition of the British Council's interactive music project Mix The City, travelling around the region to record samples with various local musicians, and creating his own mix for the region.
Ghostpoet released his fourth studio record, Dark Days + Canapés, on August 18, 2017. His fifth album, I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep, was released on 1 May, 2020. In 2023, he was invited to perform on a new version of Massive Attack's "Paradise Circus" for the feature-length film Luther: The Fallen Sun.
Genre
Since the beginning of his career, Ghostpoet has avoided identifying his music as belonging to a particular genre. In March 2018, during his European tour, many venues started listing Ghostpoet as "hip hop" or "trip hop". Ghostpoet promoted the events via Twitter, always including a declaration along the lines of "I am not Hip Hop".
Visual art
Since 2021, Ejimiwe has expanded his artistic practice into photography, installation, and sound art. In 2022 Ejimiwe premiered, in collaboration with artist Luiza Prado de O. Martins, the large-scale installation and performance series "Blacknuss! Technologies of Joy, Care, and Intimacy" at the Kampnagel Summer Festival, in Hamburg.[13] In his work, Ejimiwe explores themes related to African spiritualism, colonisation, masculinity, identity, and Black joy.
