Have you ever had a dream of becoming a star in the music and film industry? Lucia Nana Yaa Akyaa Benefo has fulfilled that dream and is still determined to accomplish more!At the tender age of seven and also during her secondary school education, LUCIA’s passion for singing evolved, she got this inherent talent from her father, Mr. Patrick Kwame Asiedu Benefo, a soldier by profession. Mr. Benefo died in 1997 when Lucia was barely 10 years old. A driver to memory lane recalls how her father’s earnest desire for music led him to collect a wide range of music albums and records. He could sing in detail any recorded song he heard and was a good dancer too.
At the annual WASSA celebration at the volta barracks, Naa Akyaa as she was affectionately called, would perform before officers, men and their families and also at private functions for senior officers. Likewise during entertainment periods at the Oda Secondary School, her talent for singing was brought to the fore. It isn’t surprising that she has pursued this dream to fulfillment.
Lu, as she is affectionately called was born on March 31, 1988, in Kumasi Ashanti Region but grew up in the Volta Barrack, Ho and later in Accra when her grandfather, WOII James Oppong Gyebi, who was a soldier at the Medium Mortar Regiment died and which meant she had to move to live with her mother in Accra.
There weren’t much development in her interest for quite sometime. However, during her tertiary education at DATA LINK UNIVERSITY in Tema, she started pursuing her interesting singing and acting by auditioning for roles in acting and singing. Luckily, her mother encouraged those interests and often accompany her to such auditions.
That encouragement and zeal drove her to audition for her first film. CRYSTAL BAY which was produced for KENYA and was exclusively shown on MNET. Shorthly, after filming CRYSTAL BABY, Lucia’s then fiance, George introduced her to Mr. Freeman Daniels, a renowned musician resident in East Legon, for her first voice training sessios which were given adequate financial support by Mr. Kwadwo Asante of A19 Media.
Subsequently, Lucia Joined the WILLIE ROY band which played at Holiday inn, Accra, Zalzas and Vienna City in Tema and at other prominent functions. It was during one of these performances that her executive producer, Mr Suri Yaparuma chanced upon her and discovered her potential in singing and decided to invest in her training and development.
In this vein, he employed a personal voice coach, a personality enhancement trainer and a manager/director to help enhance her confidence and talent. One cannot overlook the enormous financial, contribution, effort and sacrifices that were unleashed by these individuals in bringing Lucia to this height- It is essential to note that, one needs a mix of both natural inherent talent as well as nurture, training, right circumstances and exposure to the exceptionally well at something. For this, Lucia is eternally grateful to her Executive producer, Mr. Suri Yaparuma and his team from L & G Media partner, GH. and all who relentlessly contributed to making her a musician and for the success of launching this album.
Lucia is currently featured in Local weekly TV series on Viasat 1 TV, “BEMA NKWAN”, produced by A19 MEDIA on Saturdays. She hopes to feature in more films and is aspiring to become a film/music director/producer in the near future.
Lucia is now married to Mr. George Cyril Agbenorku, a devoted Christian and an I.T lecturer at IPMC, east Legon, Accra.
Today, Lucia encourages young-especially women and girls-to be bold to pursue their dreams and interests regardless of setbacks in the industry. She often says “you can excel only in what you enjoy and love doing”.
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