Congratulations to Fuse ODG who has just scored his 4th Top 10 hit on the UK charts with TINA, featuring R&B singer Angel and produced by the legendary Killbeatz. The song is named after his debut album T.I.N.A which was released in June this year and stands for This Is New Africa. Fuse is passionate about raising the profile of Africa and Africans and TINA, the movement he founded, urges Africans to rebuild communities and present a positive image of Africa to the rest of the world.
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Fuse’s real name is Nana Richard Abiona and he is of Ghanian descent, born and raised in London. His stage name came about from the fusion of diverse musical styles, Afro-pop, hip-hop, R&B, funk and rock – and ODG stands for ‘Off Da Ground’. Fuse brought Afrobeats to the mainstream – note the plural, because Afrobeat was the analogue African funk style made famous by Fela Kuti. Afrobeats is the contemporary take – a combination of digital rhythms, synths and big hooks that has been the standard sound of the youth in Ghana and Nigeria for quite a while. Now, the new generation of black British kids are re-mixing it so it sounds like an urban street party.
This 4th Top 10 was preceded by Antenna, that peaked at Nº7 on the UK singles chart, Azonto (Nº 30), Million Pound Girl (Badder Than Bad) (Nº5) and Dangerous Love (Nº3).
As well as his TINA mission, Fuse ODG uses his talents as a musician to help young people. He works with young offenders and has pioneered a group called Escape which promotes creativity as a way of keeping kids off the streets and therefore away from crime.
