Amadou King

On May 30th 1987, Dakar, Senegal gave birth to the spawn of a new generation of hip hop. Amadou C. Diaw – that’s me. My peoples know me as Amadou King. King because I’ve inherited my destiny through right of birth. And I have every intention of fulfilling that destiny. Born to two highly motivated individuals, those being my mom and dad, I was blessed enough to travel the world and live in places like Indonesia, Cameroon, and Canada. This array of cultural influences only served to enrich th...

On May 30th 1987, Dakar, Senegal gave birth to the spawn of a new generation of hip hop. Amadou C. Diaw – that’s me. My peoples know me as Amadou King. King because I’ve inherited my destiny through right of birth. And I have every intention of fulfilling that destiny. Born to two highly motivated individuals, those being my mom and dad, I was blessed enough to travel the world and live in places like Indonesia, Cameroon, and Canada. This array of cultural influences only served to enrich the songwriting and music passion I’d developed from a young age. At that young age is when I knew I would do everything in my power to achieve success – to make success and passion my prime motivation. Eventually I came to New York, where I merged paths with the other officials of Oligarchs Entertainment – my business partners – my brothers. In the midst of solidifying our business venture, our sounds and our crew, I graduated from Dowling College with a degree in Business Management & Leadership and made my way to an internship with the esteemed record label, Universal Music Group. By the time 2009 came around, I’d release my first marketed single, “Miss Pretty Young Thing” that enjoyed modest success. But this single served a bigger purpose for me. This single was my own personal stamp of approval. This single is the one in which the most vital person to my success, recognized my talent – me. With a clearer vision of where my future was going, I couldn’t help but have a clearer perspective on my past experiences. I know they say don’t look back, but at that moment in my time I had to. I had to wonder what I’d learnt from all my past experiences; good and bad. The loss of my girl (may God bless your soul), taught me that tomorrow isn’t promised, and the loss of my friends taught me that money ruins friendships. My recent shift of perspectives on life and relationships also restructured the angle with which I approached the game. My, money stays in my pocket and in my business, so some people had to be set aside. With this realization, I kept working on my mixtape which is now officially completed. You know about me, and you see the journey that I’ve taken. So it only seemed appropriate to name the mixtape, “So Close, Yet So Far.” It’s just like they say: “Success is a journey, not a destination.”