Biography of Jane Awindor (Efya)

 Jane Fara Fauzzier Afia Boafowaa Yahaya Awindor (Efya)

Jane Fara Fauzzier Afia Boafowaa Yahaya Awindor better known as Efya, was born on 10th April, 1987. She is a Ghanaian neo soul vocalist, songwriter, performer and actress. Efya got her first exposure to fame when she participated in the maiden edition of the Stars of the Future talent show. She  is now an award winning vocalist with major hits and has one of the best mixtapes in the music Industry of Ghana.



Early Life

Efya was born in Kumasi, Ghana and has two brothers and a sister.She attended Garrison, obtained her Secondary Education from Yaa Asantewaa Secondary School and tertiary education from University of Ghana with a degree in theatre and music. She relocated to Accra when her mother enrolled at the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI). She began her singing career like most do, in the church choir, but prior to this, Efya had designs on an entirely different future, filmmaking. Wanting to follow in her mother’s footsteps, Nana Hemaa Adjoa Awindor, a filmmaker who became a celebrity in her own right, as the host of a popular Ghanaian TV Show, Greetings From Abroad in the 90s. The show was highly acclaimed, and thus gave Efya, the opportunity to understudy her mother in film production. Her emergence on the music scene was not until 2008, when she randomly auditioned and gained national recognition, as a runner-up in CharterHouse Stars of The Future talent hunt. With Kojo AntwiAretha Franklin and The Temptations as one of her favourite artistes, she was good to go.

 Music Career

 In 2008, she gained national acceptance throughout Ghana by becoming the first runner up in Charterhouse’s Stars of The Future television show. She lost to Irene Logan, but secured herself a three year recording deal. The deal enabled her and Irene to do a collaborative album titled Unveiled, which was released in South Africa. Following the conclusion of her recording deal with Charterhouse, Efya continued to record songs and perform at local gigs. In accordance to her solo career, the name Jane was changed to Efya. She did this because she wanted an African and unique name but at the same time relevant to her in a way. Efya signed a recording deal with One Nation Entertainment in 2011. Her debut mixtape, T.I.N.T, an acronym for “This Is Not The Album”, was released on November 11, 2013. The mixtape comprises 13 tracks and was released as a precursor to the album Love Genesis. It was also released for free digital download, and was supported by hit singles like “Getaway” and “Best In Me” to gain audience. “Getaway” was released on November 10, 2011. The music video for the single was shot and directed in and around Accra by Sony Addo. On February 14, 2012, Efya released the mixtape’s second single “Best In Me”. The music video for the single, uploaded onto YouTube on September 20, 2013, was directed by OJ of Big OJ Films. The mixtape is composed of songs that were released between 2011 to 2013. It features a guest appearance from Black Magic.On February 14, 2013, Efya released “Body” as a cover of Chris Brown’s single “Don’t Judge Me“.


Efya is currently working on her debut studio album Love Janesis. The album was initially slated to be release in the third quarter of 2013. However, the release time frame was postponed to February 2014. On January 11, 2014, Efya released the album’s lead single “Forgetting Me”. The song was met with great reception. During an  interview in 2013, with Alexis Stephens of MTV Iggy, Efya said that the album would contain many love songs and the album will explore the topics of hate and pain, two universal themes associated with love. Moreover, Efya stated that the album draws from her personal experiences. On July 16, 2014, Efya released “One of Your Own” as the album’s second single. The song features vocals by Bisa K’Dei. One Nation Entertainment released “Gingam Too Much” as the album’s third single; it was produced by Kaywa. The long awaited song was due on Boxing Day, 2014. The music video for “Forgetting Me” was uploaded onto YouTube on February 5, 2015; it was directed by Prince Dovlo of Seven Streets Entertainment.

As an artiste, she has had a lot of stage performances with co-artistes and maestros to build her career. In October 2012, Efya performed at the Radio and Television Personality Awards alongside Kojo Antwi, Asem, Ruff & Smooth, No Tribe and Stonebwoy, among others.The following year, Efya performed at Richie Mensah‘s “This is Love Concert” held at the African Regent Hotel in Accra on February 14, 2013. Efya performed her “Your Body” song which was released the same day. She also performed the remix of her “Best in Me” song with Richie Mensah. On March 5 of the same year Efya performed alongside Samini, D Black, Sherifa Gunu and R2Bees at the Hope City Launch Celebration Concert which was headlined by American recording artist Chris Brown.Followed bya perfrmance in April 2013. It was in Carnivore Restaurant in Nairobi, Kenya; the event was organized by Capital 98.4 FMand sponsored by Tusker Brewery. On September 22, 2013, she graced the stage at the post-African Day Parade concert held at the Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem. Efya performed alongside P-SquareM.IWande CoalBurna Boy, Edem, Kwabena Kwabena, Asem and Paapa Yankson at the Glo “Slide N Bounce” concert series which kicked off in Kumasi on Saturday, November 9, 2013. On December 20, 2013, Efya performed at the 2013 edition of Becca‘s annual Girl Talk concert held at the National Theatre in Accra.

Discography

  • Unveiled (2009) (with Irene Logan)
  • T.I.N.T. (2013)
  • Love Janesis (2015)

Filmography

Awards and Nominations

Awards

2011

2012

Ghana Music Awards: Best Female Vocal Artiste

2013
Ghana Music Awards: Best Female Performance, Record of the Year
4syte TV Music Video Awards: Best Female Video, Best Storyline Video

2014
City People Entertainment Awards: Musician of the Year (Female)
Ghana Music Awards: Best Female Vocal Performance


Nominations

2011
Ghana Music Awards: Record of the Year, Songwriter of the Year (with Asem)

4syte TV Music Video Awards: Best Female Video


2012
Ghana Music Awards: Artiste of the Year, Best Collaboration, Hip-hop Song (with Sarkodie and Jayso), Record of the Year.


2013
4Syte TV Music Video Awards: Best Photography Video of the Year, Best Collaboration Video
City People Entertainment AwardsMusician of the Year (Female)
Ghana Music Awards: Afro Pop Song of the Year


2014
World Music Awards:World’s Best Female Artist,World’s Best Live Act, World’s Best Entertainer Of The Year, World’s Best Song, World’s Best Video.
African Muzik Magazine Awards: Best Female West Africa
MTV Africa Music Awards 2014: Best Female


Humanitarian Work

Efya is an official ambassador for the Awal Children Of The Future Foundation (ACOTF), a foundation aimed at helping victims of physical and emotional trauma,  orphans and street kids. The foundation was founded by Posigee, a Tema based record producer famous for numerous tracks including “Sister “, “Injection” and “Issues”. A theme song titled “This is Who I Am”, featuring the foundation’s ambassadors, was released in 2012. The song was written by Chase and produced by Posigee. It is available for purchase on several digital platforms, including iTunes and Amazon. All of the proceeds from the digital sale of the song goes to the ACOTF Foundation.The foundation consist of eight musical ambassadors, including Sarkodie, Ruff N Smooth and Yaw Siki.