Nana King born William Osei Amankwa Konadu Jr. was the first African-American baby born at "Cedar of Lebanon Hospital" in Hollywood which is now called "Cedar Sinai Medical Center" to Ghanaian parents William Konadu Sr. an architect and Madam Georgina Senyah Konadu a fashion designer. Nana started showing interest in music from the tender age of 5 years old, to his parents amazement he could play a lot of instruments and excelled in guitar and singing. In his teen years he played lead guitar in a popular local Heavy Metal group in Hollywood called "Shyst" which toured the local club circuit in Los Angeles and surrounding areas. Later on he got in touch with his African roots and started playing Afro-Beat music popularized by the late Fela Kuti. In the early 90's he did a concert with the legendary Tupac Shakur at Santa Monica College Dubbed Kofi Live at S.M.C." with Special Guest Tupac Shakur in 1994. He even did a 3-month engagement with his 20 member Afro-Beat band called Kofi and the A.S.B. African Street Beat in Bangkok which was sponsored by Pepsi,Thai Airways, Colors of Benetton and more, which earned him international appeal in Asia.
In the late 90's he was signed to Solar Records as an African artist but nothing ever came out of it. In 1998 he lost his father and took his body back to Ghana for burial and funeral rites. After the funeral rites he decided to stay in Ghana and opened up his recording studio and record label called Ashanti International Records, named after his ethnic tribe, "The Ashantis". He learned the local language and came out with his first album in 1998 Called Obaa Pa which means Virtuous Woman on the Citi Rock Label Chris Ankrah C.E.O.. It was in 1999 that Nana Kings second album called Champion on the Precise Music Label Mr. John Agbenu C.E.O. rocked the entire country as a smash hit. 34 weeks at number 1 on the Ghanaian charts! which launched his career in a big way. Every single hit song you heard on the radio during that time Nana King produced it. Big Hip-Life stars in Ghana, including but not limited to, such as Ex-Doe, Akyeame, V.I.P, Dassebere Gyamenah, and launched the career of Mobo Award Winner Batman Samini and many more on his own record label, Ashanti International Records. He released other albums that did well too. However, he decided to quit Hip-Life and take time to get back into singing English songs again. While in Africa, a friend made a bet with him about rapping and he did it and won Best Foreign Rap Act in Nigeria. Nana King opened up for Akon in Nigeria in 2004 and for Jay-Z in Ghana in 2006.
Nana is also very talented in acting,video editing and directing, website design, artwork for albums and much more. He is proficient in Final Cut Pro, Logic Studio, Photo Shop and many other industry specific programs. In fact, Nana King makes his own music, masters his own music, directs and edits his own music videos and does the artwork on his own album covers. This makes him very effective and highly sought after. His multi-talented nature earned him his place on the voting academy for MTV Europe Music Awards in Copenhagen in 2006. Nana also was one of the presiding judges on "Stars of the Future" Ghana's "American Idols". He also starred in a "Cosby" like sitcom called "Home Sweet Home" and one of the biggest block buster comedies called "FC World Cup" By Venus Films alongside Ghana's Eddie Murphy, Agya Koo and an African Mafia film called "Dispositions" By Kwatay Entertainment.
One day a man of God came over to Nana's house in Ghana and said he was lead by the Holy Spirit to come and pray for Nana. That was Nana's first spiritual awakening now he was getting closer and closer to God. A prophet prophesied to Nana and told him that he would have to go back to where he was born to receive Gods blessings and plans for his life. So Nana decided to obey God and go back to Los Angeles after almost ten years in Ghana . He wanted to still be an R&B artist and upon his return he released "The Beginning" on the internet and it topped some of the indie charts but still Nana wasn't fulfilled. Another man of God Bishop Charles Opong a family friend was launching his book and asked Nana to come and sing a song. Nana had one gospel song that he wrote in Ghana called "Jesus" he ministered the song in church and to his surprise it moved the congregation. He became planted in the church, received the Holy Spirit and never turned back. Now he is a member of Cochran Avenue Baptist Church, in Los Angeles pastored by Rev. Charles R. Johnson and ministers songs there too.
"The Covenant", takes Urban Gospel to another level which will bring the youth closer to God. It shows off his vocal ability lyrical intelligence of The Word. It's a 12- track album that talks about God and his mercies and grace , life, death and his challenges and temptations of the enemy. Every song heard on that album was produced by Nana King and mixed and mastered by Nana King on Logic in his studio in Los Angeles, California. He did all the instrumentation on the entire record. Out of the 27 instruments he plays, only a few are brought into this album: the piano, lead guitar, bass, and drum programming. Lyrics were written by Nana King.