Simpe Opoku Ampadu, who was to be musically known as RAFAT AMPADU was born and raised in Tema Community Two, a suburb of Accra, the capital of Ghana. His name Rafat comes from when his father converted to Islam.
Music has been a big part of Rafat’s life, from childhood when he listened to vinyl and cassettes of his Papa’s selections and sang along. He often sang to friends at play times, and he started to study guitar around the age of thirteen after being infused with the massive message of reggae.
He began with the bass guitar as an active musician. He started to play bass for the Peace Force band, a juvenile reggae band from Tema, and he played with them for five years.
As a guitarist and a vocalist, he started the Subrukutu Band, which he named himself, with players from Peace Force. They played several reggae concerts in the Accra and Tema areas, and the band was active for ten years.
Rafat also performed and played with different bands from different music genres after coming to know and relate to other musicians. Such bands were playing Hi-life, jazz, and other music that is popular in Ghana.
Rafat moved to Sweden in 2019 with his family and met BROO, who is the producer in the BEWAREHOUSE STUDIO, and Rafat became the second MC for RUMBLIN´BAMBOO SOUND SYSTEM, a roots sound in a town close to the Swedish capital. Rafat started to record songs produced by Bewarehouse, and in mid-2020 they released their first single, a heavy rub a dub called Another,” with Rafat in collaboration with fellow Bewarehouse crew and Rumblin´mc VOCALS.
In September 2020, Rafat released his first single, “Sankofa”, a tuff rub a dub with the conscious message to find your roots, and in October, he released his first EP called “Early Days,” with recordings from the early days of his recording with Bewarehouse.
In November, he released his second single, “2nd November,” where the blessings of coronation day shines through and ending of 2020, he released his second collaboration with Vocals on the same hard stepper riddim as his previous release.
In early 2021, Rafat released his first music video on the biggest reggae channel on Youtube platform, a channel called ReggaeVille. With the song “Jah Know,” he showcased how his upcoming album would sound.
In spring 2021, the release of his first album, “For the Youth,” marked another step in his career, as he now fully embraced his work with the Bewarehouse Studio and had reached his goal of releasing a single, EP, and album.
His next release would come in early 2021, the EP “Live UP,” and soon after his single “Sun will Shine” was released. He started to work live with roots band NATURAL ROCKERS and after they backed him live on stage, he became a member of the band and took the position of pianist.
Rafat continues to spread the word and a conscious message with positive vibes, either in the Bewarehouse Studio, in a thunder session with Rumblin´Bamboo or live with a band doing stage shows.
