by Sophie Leseberg Smith
Camidoh’s music breeds unity, love, kindness and good vibes in a world that needs it more than ever. And him - well, he has a sweetness that emanates pureness and sincerity. The artist is not detached from the art nor the person; they live and inform each other, together in perfect harmony.
I spoke with Camidoh last week. Following his return home to Ghana from travels in France, the UK, and UAE, Camidoh has been hard to track down - not unsurprising given his current fame. His success has seen him grow to 1.2 million listeners per month on Spotify, amass over 27 million YouTube views across ‘Sugarcane’ and its remix and his viral TikTok ‘Sugarcane challenge’,, which has garnered 97 million views across original fan content. However, speaking to him felt as if he were a friend I had not seen in a while, the dynamic finding a familiarity and humility that is often rare with a stranger This man was grateful to speak with me. He was grateful for where he was. He was modest in his achievements and he openly shared with me his journey and the code by which he both lives and creates.
And as with the start of any story, we begin at the very beginning. Camidoh tells me that he was an ambitious kid, and his earliest aspirations were of being a pilot. Passionate and obsessive, Camidoh was very driven, begging his mother to take him to Accra to see the aircrafts. How did the dreams turn from flying to singing? Akon and his track ‘Don’t Matter’. For Camidoh, Akon was the full package, ‘lyrics, the personality, his composure’.
Camidoh’s discipline would have undoubtedly helped him to become a pilot, and these early dreams say a lot about his character; he was someone that was going to push himself through regardless of any obstacles.
We moved to discussing his music, which is melodically rich, passionate, and has a strong message of love and unity within it. He exudes the energy of a sweet boy all grown up. Raised by a single mother, who was a teacher at a girl’s school, goes some way to explaining his natural affinity and appreciation of women. Camidoh tells me that he found a home in helping his mother at work. As a young boy growing up he witnessed his mother’s pupils go through high school, where ‘the whole love thing starts for ladies’, and with it; love letters, broken hearts etc. Camidoh was drawn to love a lot, or as he puts it, he became an ‘advocate of love’.
Love, love, love is the message. And it’s heard. It’s the connection that Camidoh makes with his audience and it sounds like the best of RnB and Afropop.
As we continue to talk, I learn more of Camidoh. He studied marketing, he knows what he is doing, and he respects the full 360 of what it takes to be great. With the rise of social media propelling artists into the spotlight, Camidoh owes a lot to the world of the internet, and TikTok in particular, which drove his single ‘Sugarcane’ up hugely in popularity, as people jumped on its dance challenge. However, his business acumen, drive and talent together are what makes for the recipe of longevity here. Even when he talks of self-promotion, it is done with grace.
I ask Camidoh how he measures his success. He tells me he often thinks deeply about this and tells me that we often confuse what it means. For him, it is every time he sets himself a target, and sticks to it. He said of his single Sugarcane, “if I can push this video to get to 2million on YouTube then I feel like that’s my target, because I’ve never reached that before. Then if i can reach 2million people then people have heard the song and got the message. I felt successful with the original track, then I made the remix” (which reached 20 million views).
I mentioned to him his humility is incredible. He thanks me and adds “It’s something I pree, I want to be humble. For me, generally growing up a lot of things and opportunities are hard, we are nothing before that point”
Finally, we talked about lyricism. He tells me he is a fan of catchy melodies; words are very important to him, “music is the food for the soul”. I asked him how he wanted to make people feel, he answers me as someone who cares about connection, his craft and is a true believer of his own message, “I want people to be inspired, I want positivity, I want unity, I want people to understand love is really the key, love really changes everything”.
He thanks me again. There is no end to his gratitude, it’s infectious and a reminder of who this person is..
You can listen to Camidoh’s latest single Kaba here and he will be returning to London for his headline show in October.