Veteran rapper Obrafour on Saturday night proved to many why he is one of the cornerstones of the Hiplife music genre in Ghana.
Known to have commercialized the genre, the rapper, together with an impressive array of stars, gathered at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) for a night of Hiplife nostalgia.
It was a night to celebrate 20 years since the release of his ‘Pae Mu Ka’ album, one of the best albums ever released in the country.
That release, according to many, laid the foundation for what has now become a source of livelihood for many in the music industry today.
For that, Ghana’s biggest music stars, and celebrities, in general, gathered under one roof to celebrate a living legend – Obrafour.
Almost everyone who mattered in the showbiz industry was in attendance.
Yvonne Nelson, Naa Ashorkor, Shatta Wale, Samini, Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, KOD, Abeiku Santana, E.L, Reggie Rockstone, Tic Tac (now TiC), Kofi B, CY Lover, Bisa Kdei, R2Bees, Stephen Appiah, DKB, Nana Ama McBrown, Moesha Boduong, Kaybos, Prince David Osei, Coded, Big Ben, Edem, Kwaw Kese, Joey B, Ras Kuuku, Akwaboah Jnr and King Promise. The list was simply endless.
Some of the acts above took turns to thrill patrons at the venue to back to back hit songs. Some of them thank Obrafour for paving the way for them.
Samini, midway through his performance, admitted that “We are here to celebrate a legend. I don’t even have the words to describe what people like Obrafour mean to people like us.
“Obrafour inspired people like me and a whole lot of Ghanaian artistes and we are on here today to make sure we make the world know what people like Obrafour did…”
The Pae Mu Ka @20 concert, which was supported by Joy Prime, Hitz FM and the entire The Multimedia Group, was a pure celebration of hiplife music. Its beginnings to what it is today.
The highpoint of the night was when Sarkodie – Obrafour’s godson – joined him on stage. Just when many thought they had seen it all, ‘Hiplife Grandpapa’ Reggie Rockstone, who is credited for starting the hiplife movement, also joined them on stage. Obrafour even admitted on stage that he picked up the pen to start writing rap because of Reggie Rockstone.
After Reggie had joined the two, Kwaw Kese also appeared on stage and then Edem also followed.
Such an impressive ensemble called for a rare performance of one the biggest hiplife tunes of all time, ‘You Dey Craze’. The song was Edem’s first commercial hit track and it was also Sarkodie’s first commercial feature.
That performance got every soul at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) up standing.
Obrafour, even though the night was about him, paid a glowing tribute to late singer Ebony.
He unbuttoned his shirt to expose a T-shirt which had the singer’s image on it and asked for a minute silence for the talented singer whose life was cut short through a tragic accident on February 8, 2018.
Obrafour did not also forget to pay tribute other acts likes Terry Bonchaka and Ronnie Coaches of Buk Bak fame.
