C-Real (rapper)

Cyril-Alex Gockel (born July 16, 1984), known by his stage name C-Real, is a Ghanaian hip hop recording artist, entertainer, writer, poet and record producer. In 2009, he won the Ghanaian edition of the Channel O Sprite Emcee Africa talent show and placed second at the show's finals. He is regarded as one of the leading hip hop artists in Ghana. He was featured on "Next Up", a song off Coptic's mixtape The Rising Stars of Gh Vol 1 (2012).

Biography and music career

C-Real was born in Hohoe, a town in the Volta region of Ghana. He graduated from St. Peter's Boys Senior Secondary School, and later from the University of Ghana. C-Real started writing poetry, rap verses and basic literature in 2009. Growing up, he listened to artists such as Ini Kamoze, Das Efx and KRS-1. He and one of his friends formed a rap group called NT, an acronym for Nipa Tumtum. C-Real has cited The Notorious B.I.G., Elzhi, Black Thought, Mos Def, Jay-Z, Canibus, Method Man, Eminem, Nas and Busta Rhymes as his key rap influences.