Albert Serebo Ayeh-Hanson (born 8 November 1984), known by his stage name Ball J or Ball J Beat, is a Ghanaian rapper, sound engineer, record producer and entrepreneur from Accra.[1] He spent most of his formative years in the U.S State of California. Ball J is the CEO and founder of Nu Afrika Records.[2][3] He is currently signed to Platinum Management, an American record label and the brand ambassador to Roca Bella Brands. Ball J was a pioneering member of the Skillions Records[4] when it began on the campus of Presbyterian Boys’ Senior High School–Legon (PRESEC). He worked together with Jayso, the label’s founder and formed a genre which they called GH Rap[5] (hip hop made in Ghana). Besides being a rapper, Ball J is also one of the best hip hop, hiplife and azonto sound engineers[6] in Africa with Weiyɛ Ball J Beat[7] (this is Ball J’s beat) as his signature. He was nominated for Best Producer of the year in Ghana Music Awards 2015.[8] He holds a degree in Business Management from the University of Professional Studies (UPS). Ball J is the only Ghanaian record producer on Patoranking’s debut studio album “God Over Everything”,[9] producing Patoranking;[10][11] the first track on the album. Albert Hanson or Nana Serebo, also known in the music industry as Ball J, was born in Adabraka in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, on 8 November 1984. He spent most of his formative years in California–United States.[13] He gained his basic education at North Ridge Lyceum at Kanda. He then went to Presbyterian Boys’ Senior High School–Legon (PRESEC) for his high school education where he joined a Hip Hop group called ‘Skillions’, of which he was an active member. After High School, he furthered his education to study Software Programming and Computer networking at Atlantis Computers, Asylum Down–Accra. He then went to the University of Professional Studies (UPS) to pursue a degree in Business Management. Despite his busy schedules on campus, he was still committed ‘Skillions’ being present for shows, productions and meetings. Music was a natural thing for him as he spent hours listening to his father play music. Ball J classifies himself as a Hip hop rapper. The rapper’s musical lifestyle was influenced by several artists such as Jay Z, Nas, Mase, The Notorious B.I.G and Eminem. Not only is he known in Ghana as Ball J or Ball J Beat, but some also call him Ghana’s Jay Z because he sounds like Jay Z when he raps. According to Ball J, he had no choice but to learn beat making since there were no particular institutions in Ghana that focused entirely on Hip hop music production to produce the kind of beats he needed as a Hip hop artist. After School, Ball J decided to have a full-time career in music production with the aim of making Hip hop for himself. Around 2006, Ball J started making beats and demo records in his room with his close friends. He then formed Nu Afrika Records. Around 2008, he decided he needed to be more serious and make masters. He then had to rely on books and seek advice from pioneers in music production such as Kwame Twum, a former bass guitarist for the legendary Kojo Antwi. He consulted Hubert who is also well acclaimed and good in sound mixing and mastering. Ball J also trained with a bass guitarists friend, who had a studio in Lapaz–Accra. All this time, he was studying the general understanding of music production such as the dynamics, compressions and mastering. While learning the trade, he made his first professional hit “Temperature” which featured some of his friends who were part of the Nu Afrika Records; Shao Qan, Krynkman and Screech. He had a few challenges becoming an artist and a music producer. Some of these challenges were the fact that Ghanaians were not much into Hip hop songs. Hit songs in Ghana are mostly songs you can dance to (e.g. Hiplife and Azonto), so this made it very difficult for Hip hop artist such as himself to make a hit song in Ghana. Without forgetting about hip hop, Ball J started fusing his hip hop style of beatmaking with faster beats, which was purposely to fulfill the demands of artists coming to his studio, (Nu Afrika Records). His first significant hit which he produced was Kwawkese’s Killa Bewu Last Show in 2010. After that, Ball J produced a lot of songs for both the underground and known artists, but his major milestone was Lapaz Toyota by Guru. The song put Guru on the map in a big way, and significantly improved Ball J’s music studio business. As the song blew up, all kinds of artists came to Ball J in the hopes of reproducing Lapaz Toyota’s success. He then started working with artists like Kojo Antwi, Guru, Obour [the current president of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA)], Tic Tac, Sarkodie, Kwawkese, Stay Jay, Gasmilla, Okra, Nhyiraba Kojo, Obrafour, Castro and the list goes on. Since then, he has been recognized as one of the best music producers in Ghana, with songs like Lapaz Toyota, Let Me Do My Thing, Twaa Me Lala, Non-fa, Innit, Masa I Beg, Pooley and many more as his claim to fame; making hits in Ghana and the world at large. Ball J was nominated for the Best Producer of the year in the Ghana Music Awards. On 21 December 2012, Ball J released his first Hip hop single “All Eyes On You”[16] from his upcoming album “Home and Away” which received credible response and airplay from both Africa and the Western. The 29 March 2013, Good Friday, saw the release of an Afrobeats/Azonto song called “Togo Bikini”.[17] He Co-Produced Kwasese’s new hit single Yakubu which features Sarkodie and he himself. “Weiyɛ Ball J Beat” (this is Ball J’s beat) is his signature phrase which is now a household name. Ball J released a single inspired by the famous TV series Game of Thrones and titled it accordingly.[20] The single also contains samples of the series’ soundtracks over Hip hop drums which was written and produced by Ball J himself. Using Tywin Lannister’s everlasting line “Any man who must say ‘I am the King’ is no true king” as hook.[21] Ball J talks about the delusional kings of Hip hop in Africa. The record does not only appreciate the TV show, it also draws some attention to the Ghanaian music industry, specifically tackling issues facing the battle for the rap king in Ghana. In recent times, rappers from the Hip hop fraternity in Ghana, now fully grown ‘beasts’ have fought for the title of rap kingship with some calling themselves “King”, “Best African Rapper”, “GodMc”, “A king without a crown”, among others, but producer rapper Ball J distinguishes himself as the ‘best in Africa’ cementing his place with the game with Game of Thrones record. Game of Thrones was released under the rapper’s Nu Afrika Records imprint. The official video was shot in documentary style and also featuring scenes from the popular series, the video was directed by Malik Ofori of MO Films. Ball J is regarded as one of the best rappers in Africa when it comes to hip hop music.[23] He is very good at rap freestyles. Most of his songs online are freestyles, what he calls unwritten freestyle. Ball J has contributed a lot to the Ghana Music Industry, he can be named among top 10 famous Ghanaians who made the Azonto genre and dance popular worldwide. Ball J comes from a family of five; his mother Beatrice Richardson and his father Emmanuel Ayeh-Hanson (late). He has two siblings; Norris Nii Noi Ayeh-Hanson (brother) and Nancy Nana Atei Ayeh-Hanson (sister).
