Okyeame Kwame one hiplife's influential musician, known for his touchy rhymes and reasonable story line in his songs. Ghana Base Music met him at his Kumasi based home and had a chit chat with him.

Ghana Base Music:: Okyeame Kwame, Welcome to GhanaBase Music.
Okyeame Kwame (OK): Thanks

Ghana Base Music: Could you tell us a bit about your background?
OK: My name is Kwame Nsiah Apau, I’m 30, I’ve been a musician for nine years, my first album was out in 1997 brebre obaa hemaa and 2007 will be my tenth year in hiplife, Basically I have five albums, I’m a family of six, five father died some five years ago, I have 5 brothers and a sister and they are all musicians and I’m the CEO of One Mic entertainment

Ghana Base Music: So did you start rapping
OK: I started rapping in secondary school form three, that was 1993 when hip pop was a jam. Everybody started catching the fever and as a matter of fact, rap music gained roots in Ghana and everybody; the Talking drums, Nananom, Hakeem, Lord Kenya and others were all rapping and I joined the train, it started in a form of rap competition and I used to be on top most of the time

Ghana Base Music: How was your parents’ response when you started doing rap?
OK: Both of them were educated so there were open minded about it, at first they thought I was joking but when they saw that I was serious that was in ’95 after sixth form they weren’t so down with it because they thought I would be going to the night clubs and getting myself involved in smoking and other stuff, but I ended up doing none of these. But they eventually got to know that rapping was part of me so they left me to do my own thing.

Ghana Base Music: Were they musical as well?
OK: My father couldn’t dance he didn’t have rhythm he was just a poet. My ability to write may have been taken from him but my mum was the one who had the knack for acting, singing and she was a member the choir.

Ghana Base Music: What was your first brush with the music industry?
OK: That was in ’96 when, our friend Pikus Sly, was the MC for the Miss Ghana competition, he gave us; Quophi and I an opportunity to perform on the show which was telecast on national television and that was about the first time I did something huge

Ghana Base Music: And how was it
Well it was a bomb and one journalist with the Graphic; Akosua Serwaa Bonsu wrote something about us.

Ghana Base Music: What did she write?
OK: She said we were slanging the Twi dialect, at first we thought she was trying to defame us but latter on we realized she was right, so we took a cue from that and started doing indigenous stuffs.

Ghana Base Music: Could you tell us about how Akyeame Started?
OK: Akyeame started about the same time I started rapping, I met Okyeame Quophi in ’92, we used to study together, we both in our final year in form five, so while waiting for our results after school, we were going for these rap competitions but around this time he wasn’t rapping he was only writing and in ’95 we decided to come together and be on stage, at first he was reluctant but he eventually became interested in it and in ’96 when Reggie came out with his first album we went wild and wanted to prove to the world that we could do something, so we formed Akyeame, initially we were three, Quophi, Flash jnr. and I.

Ghana Base Music: Why did Flash quit?
OK: I don’t know, he had to go to London for some personal reasons so he opted out.

Ghana Base Music: How many albums were you able to come out with?
OK: We did Brebre Obaa hemaa, M’asan aba, ntoasuo and Nyasapo, so in all we did four albums

Ghana Base Music: How successful was each of them
OK: Our debut was big; it was the first hiplife song that had both highlife and rap with Adowa fusion. What Reggie was doing then was hip pop with twi lyrics, we sold fourteen thousand copies, which was big then, our second was m’asan aba which received massive air play on both national television and the BBC our third one was Ntoaso which didn’t do well, cos we were then in the United States and couldn’t do any effective promotion in Ghana. Our final one was nyansapo which featured Michael Dwamena that also big

Ghana Base Music: Why did you decide to go solo?
OK: Things weren’t going the way I wanted, in fact I saw thing different from the way Quophi was seeing. When we came back to Ghana I wanted us do more performances and he wanted us to relax, so I thought it wise for both of us to go our separate ways. So I was the one that broke off and I wanted to establish myself well because it’s difficult to achieve your goal when you speak as a member of a group than for your self.

Ghana Base Music: How many albums have you been able to come out with since you went solo?
OK: One, Bohyeba and I helped my brothers; The Bradez to come out with their own album, one gallon

Ghana Base Music: Comparing the days of Akyeame and now, which would you say is the most successful?
OK: Success is relative and it not easy when doing a job of two people but I would say it’s been better ever since I went solo. Because sales wise I’m way ahead comparing our last album, the same applies to fame. I accept the way people have come to accept me as a rapper, a poet and a writer, unlike the days of Akyeame.

Ghana Base Music: How is your relationship with Quophi now?
OK: Quophi and I don’t cross each others path; he is now staying in Accra and I’m in Kumasi so we hardly meet each other.

Ghana Base Music: How has the Bradez fared with their debut?
OK: The Bradez are the hottest rapper in town, I’m saying not because they are my brothers but listening to the way they flow with their raps and their sounds being played all over. Also looking at their educational background they are poised to go places, you know Stone is a final year biochemistry student at KNUST and Kunta just graduated from Prempeh College after studying music.

Ghana Base Music: Did you have a childhood hero.
OK: Not really

Ghana Base Music: Which artiste do you listen to now?
OK: I listen to everyone as far as he or she churns out something good.

Ghana Base Music: What are your future plans?
OK: To go school and acquire more knowledge so I can become more authority in music and try come out with a project that can be enjoyed till the next twenty years and beyond, I mean to be futuristic

Ghana Base Music: Did anyone tried to discourage you when you started
OK: Yes, some family members and friends. Even when I was returning from the US some colleagues over there thought I couldn’t make it here in Ghana because they thought the trend had changed and this was reasons why I had to quit Akyeame, because I wanted to prove to them that I was capable of doing what I’m made of.

Ghana Base Music: Which Ghanaian musician would you like to work with?
OK: Everyone who has got a different style, I wouldn’t mind I’ve recorded with Daddy Lumba, Nana Acheampong and a lot of others, I would like to record with Paapa Yankson and Kojo Antwi. In doing that I’m able to come out with different patterns of rapping. You can see that my rap on George Jarah’s album wasn’t the Okyeame Kwame’s conventional style.

Ghana Base Music: Should we expect your next album any time soon
OK: Yes, I’m working on my new album which is entitled M’anwinsem, (My poetry) which will probably come out with my movie and a book (street poetry)

Ghana Base Music: Any expectation for your fans
OK: Of course, they should expect wiser stuffs and more lyrics, from the title, they should know what to expect

Ghana Base Music: Any a advice for young rappers who want to make it
OK: Dr. Mensa Otabil said, “The more you know the more you do” so they should get more education and put themselves under apprenticeship. They should be creative and unique.

Ghana Base Music: Has hiplife any future?
OK: When hip pop came, many thought it had no future, but now it is not just a genre but a culture. It depends on us the artistes, if we would write wiser lyrics and not just concentrate on the rhymes and the nice beats and try to be see beyond the future and be more aggressive, the game will not stop

Ghana Base Music: Can you elaborate on your impending movie?
OK: Basically it’s just another family movie, a young rapper who wants to make it, makes it the things he goes through as a star, so that’s all the movie is about

Ghana Base Music: Who are some of the actors that will be featured?
OK: The Bradez, I’m still talking to Obrafuor, but it will also feature some popular movie stars in country

Ghana Base Music: Talking of movie stars, may I ask how true it is about you going out with Nana Ama Mcbrown?
OK: That used to be true, but we’re no more, she is now a married woman.

Ghana Base Music: Have you picked any award in your award in your career?
OK: Yes, In Ghana and abroad, they’re many and I can’t mention them all now.

Ghana Base Music: What do you do apart from music?
OK: I direct videos; I write poems and do a lot of things.

Ghana Base Music: And in your spare time
OK: I watch movies, write, hang out with my peeps and just like to stay indoors.

Ghana Base Music: What are your proudest times as a performer?
OK: That was when KNUST adopted one of my poems for second year communication students’ to study, helping my younger brothers to come out with an album is also one and every time my fans cheer at me be it in town or on stage.

Ghana Base Music: Any embarrassing moment
OK: Yes, when I did the tintinto album, I performed at the beach, the microphone was faulty so the audience booed at me due the effect the mic had on the performance.