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Ghanaian artist Emmanuel Apraku, popularly known as Ray Styles, has died.
This was announced by television and radio personality Giovanni Caleb today on his Twitter page.
The artist’s death follows months of battle with liver cancer.
Sources in his family also say he passed away in India, where he had been transferred for treatment.
Images of the talented artist who appeared sick and defenseless hit social media in August 2020, drawing attention to his urgent need for surgery.
According to sources, Emmanuel Apraku needed £ 40,000 to attend to both his surgery and treatment.
While a GoFundMe account was created on Wednesday, August 19 to raise $ 55,000 to support Emmanuel, a tweet through his username said that First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo had donated $ 20,000 to help cover the cost of your treatment.
The development resulted in some celebrities taking to their social media platforms to request funds for the talented young man.
Through the collaborative effort of social media users and celebrities, his family was able to raise funds beyond the £ 40,000 needed for the surgery.
But supposedly he died after being in India for three weeks.
Biography of Emmanuel Apraku
Born in 1989, the 31-year-old was the youngest of four siblings. He was raised solely by his mother, after the death of his father, Mr. Paul Apraku, when he was eight years old.
He spent his elementary years at Accra New Town Experimental School, attending Accra Academy between 2003 and 2006, where he earned the nickname Ray Styles.
He then went on to the Faculty of Art at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, graduating with a BA in Communication Design.
As the son of a great craftsman, Ray attributes his natural style to his late father, who in his time created many works of art for display.
This influenced him to start drawing at a very young age and eventually land commissions.
But it wasn’t until his days as a communication student at KNUST that he realized his true potential as an artist and subsequently defined his own unique style in the form of caricature, pencil art, traditional drawing, and graphic design.
He has also worked with great celebrities such as Josh Ostrovsky (known as thefatjewish), Michael Blackson, Chris Bosh, Tolu Lope (known as dontjealousme), DeStorm Power (known as destorm), KingBach, Mrcocoyam, D Black, Edem and Malin. Björk, just to mention a few.
He is also an avid keyboard player and soccer player and loves listening to good music.
Among other things, Ray Styles was known for actively supporting numerous social awareness campaigns through his art.
