E33: Anabel Rose — Bringing Pop to an Afrobeats City

Ghanaian-Filipino alt-pop artist Anabel Rose joins Afro Soul Stories to talk about bringing pop to an Afrobeats city, and the song that told her to quit her 9-to-5. In Accra in 2022, fresh out of university and working in marketing, Anabel started taking a pop-rock song to open mics where everyone else was performing Afrobeats and hiplife.

She thought nobody would want to hear it. Instead, people leaned in.

Three years later she's played Reeperbahn and The Great Escape, done a Berlin residency, and had "How I Want It" named one of Apple Music Africa's Best Songs of 2025. Host Sewor Okudzeto and Anabel talk about: - Debuting with "Love Me or Die" and life as an independent artist - Writing "Do Not Disturb" in the middle of a 9-to-5, and what the lyrics told her - Her Berlin co-creation residency with Black Girls Glow and Musicboard Berlin - Collaborating with AVIT on "Buruma Buruma" and Celeste Ojatula on "Traveler" - Navrongo roots, Filipino karaoke and where the soul in her voice comes from - Her new EP, How Do The Flowers Bloom - Why Ghana needs more artists committed to sowing the seeds "Who knows, 10 years down the line, what is going to be born out of all of us being brave enough to put our art out there." — Anabel Rose Thanks to M3NSA for the introduction. 🌹 Stream Anabel Rose: 📸 Follow her: @theanabelrose 🎙️ About Afro Soul Stories Afro Soul Stories, hosted by Sewor Okudzeto, explores the roots, rhythms and creative journeys of African and diaspora artists, where music meets memory and culture meets innovation. 📺 Watch on YouTube: @Afro-Soul-Stories 📸 Instagram: @afrosoulstories | @sewor_music 🌍 | ✉️ admin@ | sewor@ Follow the show so you never miss an episode.