The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

We can't really talk about Kojo Antwi , without talking about Daddy Lumba. Or you disagree? These days, many say Kojo Antwi is like Kidi while Daddy Lumba is like Kuami Eugene. On one side, Kojo and Kidi make a lot of love songs, while DL and Kuami Eugene make a lot of other types of music. I'd leave to you to discuss over some sobolo. Kojo Antwi is Mr Music Man though. Now that's someone whose music I know to sing well in the shower hehe.  Growing up - in Ghana - December 24th was Kojo Antwi's night . A night for couples and lovers to enjoy his craft, his music, and love. I always wished I would go for one of those, with my love :-) I think my first Kojo Antwi concert was in Kumasi - the old City Hotel that Kwame Nkrumah built, on a December 26th in 2010 . I was there with my family. I grew up on his music, at home. Nkwanta Basaa - 2000 Surprised? We are not here for the applause, we are here for the truth.  The song starts with "I came to look for something to ...

One cannot talk about Ofori Amponsah without talking about Daddy Lumba, methinks. DL aka Daddy Lumba aka Da Legend released some songs at the turn of the century featuring Mr All4Real. A couple of years down the line, he became the biggest musician in Ghana. He led the Contemporary Highlife genre, in tow with my buddy Kofi Nti, helped ragga become part of mainstream Ghana music through his features with Barosky.  Ofori Amponsah became born-again (which makes me think about Lord Kenya's song of the name and Lord Kenya's story as well). He never quite had popular gospel songs. His highlife songs are classics and they live on. His music features heavily in Ghanaian weddings too. His songs feature in my favorites .  Otoolege (2005) I believe Otoolege is one of the top five songs ever from Ghana. Apart from it being well-written, well-composed and well-sung, this song ended the dominance of hiplife from 2001 to 2004 at the Ghana Music Awards. I love singing this song in the shower...

If you listen to songs a lot, you will pick out how to say "I love you" quite quickly. Since I have grown to listen to music from all over the continent and used that to build Museke.com, I am well-versed in saying that "1-4-3" line in many mother tongues. Let me show you ;-) Akan: Med ɔ wo ! What you thought I wouldn't add my mother tongue? Some folks can't say what "thank you" is in their lingua francas. Such a fracas. Don't belittle this at all at all. Ga: Mi sumo bo ! I learnt this through songs. Especially, Amandzeba's Dede . That's such a classic highlife track. Ewe: Mi l ɔn w ɔ ! Would you forgive me if I said I (pretty much) learnt this from a Daddy Lumba song? I don't remember which but the Ghanaian Michael Jackson taught me.  Hausa: Ina sonki . After loving how D-Flex sang Hausa lines while featuring on K. K. Fosu and Ofori Amponsah songs, I had to learn to this one. From who? I don't remember. Swahili: Nakupe...

What happened in my diary in January 2009? We have an idea thanks to Twitter archive :-) The campaign song by Daddy Lumba called Nana Winner is even more of a hit now even with Nana Akufo Addo losing the election — Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) January 5, 2009 I remember going out in Kumasi to chill and seeing some ladies dancing their tails off to this song even though Nana Akufo Addo had lost the election and we were in Kumasi, the NPP's stronghold of all places. They should have been shaking their tailfeathers more seriously. accra went agog with Atta Mills' victory while Kumasi was relatively quiet — Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) January 5, 2009 Yeah, Accra did go agog, but Kumasi was mostly quiet except for some places like the ones described in the previous tweet. @eokyere lolest how be chale? i just return to yankee — Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) January 8, 2009 Met  +Emmanuel Okyere  at +Barcamp Ghana  now  +Barcamp Accra  in 2008. He tweeted so...

Here's another one. Just like the other one. Ghanaian music is at a crisis. People feel we are sounding too much like Western artistes. Okyeame Kwame and Obour recorded a song ' The Game ' which addressed this. Me, am loving all of this. It's good we are talking about this. In fact, hiplife & GH Rap are taking over. We can still get down to the old jams, and appreciate the new. So in case VIP's Ahomka womu is still the Gh song you jam to or you stopped paying attention after Obrafour's last album or you are just waiting to hear Kojo Antwi's latest album, you should get up-to-date with the jams of today. I know 2009 hasn't ended yet, but here are 10 of my favorite Ghanaian songs this year. I'll tell you which song didn't make it unfortunately. Kwabena Kwabena's Do ne bi is an all-time favorite, but for me, it made its rounds in 2008. Before that, you have to check out my 10 songs dedicated to African women , my favorite Ghanaian songs , ...

For one reason or the other, I have become a deejay. I have amassed an impressive collection of African music, especially Ghanaian over the last 7 years. It's been a long while since I attended a Ghanaian party, seen myself at Kenyan, Nigerian, and Senegalese parties this year. Maybe I should organize one? Create an afrodisiac boomerang atmosphere right in the thick of aburokyire. It can be done, I gots the music to back it up. Today, I am going to share my favorite 10 Ghanaian songs which will be first in Ghanaian song series. I'll leave out gospel songs here, will dedicate a post to that. Before that, you have to check out my 10 favorite African gospel songs , 10 favorite songs from Kenya , 10 favorite songs from South Africa , my 10 favorite Nigerian songs and 10 African songs I think you should know about. Hope you discover your next favorite morning song or find a new jam for your church's next "Kofi and Ama" collection. Click the songs to find the lyric...

One major question we ask in the intro format at Konnect meetups focused on #Volunteeringh is: " When did you last volunteer to help others and how? " My answer is normally: " Yesterday, or today, I gave someone a free ride ". Basically, I stop the #vimride at a stop, asked folks where they were going, and if they were going my direction, I politely asked to give them a free ride, and if they accepted, I did the needful. " Are you not afraid? " No . I do this as carefully as I can. If you are afraid for me, pray for me. Thank You . As I do each year, I spent National Volunteer Day giving free rides.  National Volunteer Day ( NVDay ) is a GhanaThink Foundation initiative, launched on September 21, 2013 , to promote volunteerism in Ghana and connect volunteers with opportunities. It is linked to Ghana's Founders' Day holiday and aims to encourage citizens to volunteer for community service and skill development. The day is part of GhanaThink...