Charles Nii Armah Mensah Jr., known professionally as Shatta Wale (formerly Bandana), was born in Accra, Ghana at the Police Hospital on 17 October 1984. The son of a couple from Accra and the Volta Region of Ghana, his father is Charles Nii Armah Mensah Sr, a politician, businessman and legal practitioner.
Shatta Wale attended Seven Great Princes Academy at Dansoman, a suburb in Accra, where he demonstrated an affinity for arts and acted in a popular drama series, By the Fireside, at the National Theatre of Ghana. Growing up, he lived with his family in Laterbiokorshie, Dansoman and then later Korle Gonno during his formative years.
In a Facebook live video, Wale stated that he did not enjoy motherly love and care at the early stages of his life because a pastor caused a separation between his parents which made him remain under his father’s care and later ending up on the streets. His mother is Elsie Evelyn Avemegah.
He is a Ghanaian singer, songwriter, actor and CEO of Shatta Movement Empire.
He won Artiste of the Year at the 2015 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards for his best known single “Dancehall King”, and has appeared in films such as Never Say Never,The trial of Shatta Wale and Shattered Lives.
Having achieved street credibility in a fairly undeveloped Ghanaian dancehall genre at the time, he achieved popularity with his 2004 single, “Moko Hoo”, which features Tinny. Then known in the industry as Bandana, the song earned Him a Ghana Music Awards nomination. There afterward, Bandana went missing in the music industry for nearly a decade until rebranding himself in 2013. He began releasing music under a new name, Shatta Wale, under his record label (Shatta Movement Records).
In 2014, he peaked at number 38 on E.tv’s “Top 100 Most Influential Ghanaian” Awards chart. He has since appeared on the chart each year. He was ranked “Most Influential Musician” on social media in 2017. He won 8 awards at the 3Music Awards in 2019 and also the most awarded dancehall artist in Africa.
In 2017, he toured the US to promote After the Storm, then traveled to Jamaica to shoot videos for projects he had jointly done with some producers there.
Wale signed with Zylofon Music in January 2018. He released his third album, Reign, on 13 October at the Fantasy Dome in Accra, and used the occasion to propose to his longtime girlfriend Michy on stage. The album achieved a record for a Ghanaian act by appearing on the Billboard Top World Albums Chart, placing sixth.
In 2019 he also had a collaboration with Beyoncé titled “Already” on her The Lion King: The Gift which climbed international charts and was nominated at the Grammy Awards. He had the most packed concert in the history of Ghana music with his Reign Concert as the only performer. Shatta Wale also featured on the compilation album of the Reggae Edition of The Tropical house Cruises to Jamaica.
On July 31, 2020 Shatta wale was featured in Beyonce’s, Already music video as part of The Lion King: The Gift music album released in 2019.