KWAME

Kwame Holland emerged from the Idol Makers circle as Kwamé "The Boy Genius," a young rapper who helped shape both the sound and the look of his records.

The Boy Genius years

His 1989 debut, Kwamé the Boy Genius: Featuring a New Beginning, reached No. 13 on Billboard's R&B albums chart. Songs such as "The Man We All Know and Love" and "The Rhythm" put his playful storytelling and assured delivery on record.

Kwamé brought his own beats, lyrics, and vision to the project. Hurby Luv Bug Azor helped turn that vision into a successful debut: he shopped Kwamé's demo, guided the recording, and urged him to bring more fun into his delivery. Kwamé credited Hurby with "polishing what I had already produced" through suggestions and guidance in Jay Quan's Idol Makers interview. Albumism's retrospective describes how Hurby helped refine Kwamé's recorded delivery for a broader audience while preserving the wit that made it his.

Kwamé carried that wit into his look. He wore polka-dot shirts and ties with a high-top fade marked by a blond streak, then brought the dots into the artwork for his 1990 album A Day in the Life: A Pokadelick Adventure. He devised that cover and the concept for the "Ownlee Eue" video, according to a contemporary Billboard profile. The look spread beyond the records: Kwamé recalled seeing young fans adopt the dots themselves.

His writing also reached beyond his own records. Kwamé has said he wrote the rap verse performed by Ronnie DeVoe on Bell Biv DeVoe's 1990 hit "Poison" after Michael Bivins played him an early demo. He recounted the story in a 2015 interview. His words became part of the group's breakthrough single.

From rapper to producer

Kwamé followed his first two albums with Nastee and Incognito, then built a second career as a producer. His credits include Lloyd Banks's "On Fire," Will Smith's "Switch," and work with R&B singers including Tweet and Vivian Green. In a 2012 interview, he described production as part of his long-standing work as a musician. He returned to recording under his own name with The Different Kids, featured on his official site.

Discography

Studio albums