Belinda Nana Ekua Amoah, better known by her stage name Mzbel, a rising star in Ghanaian music, claimed to have written the lyrics for her song “16 Years” in a taxi while listening to conversations about rape and girl children.
Mzbel asserted that she was inspired by panel discussions on rape and adolescent girls’ welfare that were moderated by renowned Ghanaian actress Maame Dokono.
“I was in a taxi when I came up with the lyrics. I used to stay with a lot of girls from Jamestown, so I watched how they talked and how they behaved, and Maame Dokono was always on the radio talking about rape, so we were in a taxi one day listening to Maame Dokono, and I was watching how they were reacting to stories, and then I came up with the song 16 Years. I started writing in the taxi, so when I get home, I build on it.” she stated while speaking at 3MUSIC.
When asked if she anticipated the popularity and success the song obtained, she said, “Not at all. I didn’t even think it would go outside Ghana; it was just another nice song I think I have done, and I was going to play one or two shows of it, but the next minute it was in Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, and Togo; it was everywhere… My song 16 years started taking me out of Ghana, and the money was good.“
Mzbel continued by stating that the reception she experienced when she gave performances in other nations was extremely different from the reception she had in her own.
“I felt the same way; the feeling didn’t change for me, but the people reacted differently; when they see me, they welcome me. When they are taking pictures with you, you could actually feel that they are shaking, but here in Ghana, you will pop out somewhere where people are entertaining themselves, and when you are about to perform, people will be whispering, See the kind of clothes she is wearing?”