Shasha Marley

Shasha Marley was born in Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western Region of Ghana to a father who was a retired educationist and a choirmaster. Between 1979 and 1983, he was a student at St. John's Secondary School in Sekondi where he played with the school's band known as Mathew Chapter 5. Right after secondary school, he went mainstream and then on went ahead to release several albums.^[2]

During his early days, Shasha Marley spoke of Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Steel Pulse and Jimmy Cliff as his major influences. He released his debut single, "Tell Freedom", which became a major hit in Ghana and beyond. Since then, he has gone on to release several other songs.^[3]

Shasha Marley is married, with two children.^[4] He is a grandson to former Ghana Parliament Member Kobina Amua-Sekyi

Though Shasha Marley was already famous in his home country and abroad, the one song that arguably gave him the most exposure particularly in Ghana was "Maata Family". The song, which was released in 2007 had words that suggested flatulence in the Ghanaian parlance. For instance, the title Maata, in the Akan dialect means flatulence and people dragged him for using such words in his song. Also, the usage of Maata Tui, Maata Pue and Mataa Fish somewhat gave credence to the meaning of the song. But Shasha Marley has since refuted the claim and explained that the meaning of the song had nothing to do with flatulence, but rather the names of his pals in Papua New Guinea i.e. Maata Tuitui, Maata Pue and Maata Fish.^[5]