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| Elliot Kwabena Otchere Darko as Obrafour |
When the death of his mother took
away his dream of becoming a great lawyer, little did Michael Elliot Kwabena
Otchere Darko know a new path, of stardom awaited him.
He was disturbed, lost, with no hope
for the future. He dropped out of from school, abandoned the church his mother
had established him in and lived on stipends sent down from his sister who was
living abroad at the time.
In his misery, the little promise by
his sister to let him join her in the US became a lifeline to a living dead
man. But that promise fizzled out all too quickly. It wasn't going to happen.
He left his family home to live on
his own with a friend with whom he did everything possible to survive.
And on few occasions when there was
nothing to eat, his friend 'shoplifted', with him watching on just so both of
them could get a night's supper or breakfast the following morning.
Through this pain, depression, the
short, afro-hair-styled man carried with him a voice, a gift, one that will
'change' his name from Elliot Kwabena Otchere Darko to Obrafour , change his
afro into dreadlocks and ultimately change the Ghana music industry in many
unimaginable ways.
It was a gift given at birth
Obrafour told Drive Time Host Lexis Bill when he took his turn on Joy FM’s hall
of fame programme Personality Profile, Saturday.
Babies are always known to cry at
birth to signal their entry into a new world but for me i sang, Obrafour said.
He continued singing in church at a
tender age until he met Hammer, the greatest beat maker of our time, who at the
time was nothing more than a dreamer. And with him [Obrafour] dreaming to be
like Reggy Rockstone, the man who made it possible for him to believe and to
realise that it was possible to be the 'Cool Js in our own soil' a new
religion- The Last Two-was formed.
Pae Mu Ka became the first fruit,
the greatest ever hip life fruit, thanks to the two little dreamers- Hammer and
Obrafour.
The pair revolutionised the industry
with the Pae Mu Ka album and soon many soldiers-Tinny, Sarkodie- Kwao Kese,
Edem etc would come along.
Just like how the business
association of Thomas Edison and Edwin Barnes grew the slogan "Made by
Edison and Installed by Barnes" that between Hammer and Obrafour came
"Produced by Hammer, rapped by Obrafour".
"Hammer was made and prepared
for me," Obrafour said, adding, he was "led by the spirit" to
settle on a man who had no track record, no studio but just the talent and
zeal.
As a product of this great
association, 17 years ago, the little feeble hand of Obrafour was raised at a
concert by the colossus, the god father of hiplife Reggie Rockstone who
described him as the next big thing to happen to hip-life. For 17 years, the
Rap Sofour has remained faithful to the declaration; kept the hiplife flame
alive and only recently handed the torch to another great talent -Sarkodie to
bear.
Three years from now, the man, the
legend, the greatest lyricist in the genre is eyeing the biggest concert to
celebrate 20 years of his discipleship in hiplife.
He is also considering an annual
Obrafour concert after the 20th Anniversary celebration.
With many hit tracks to his credit;
many awards in his cabinet; many more prodigies mentored the Wenchi born rap
artiste in his usual soft voice and carefully selected words said his songs
were not necessarily for trophies. If the trophies or awards came, that was a
bonus but ultimately his songs were to inspire and entertain.
And most of them did- Kwame Nkrumah,
Yaanom, Maame, Odo, Who Born You By mistake, Asem Sebe, are classics, timeless,
well-crafted and perfectly sang.
With such success in a career which
was nothing more than an afterthought, a career selected after a great
depression Obrafour said he has no regrets in his failure to become a lawyer.
"Life is too short to live with
regrets; nobody promised it will be easy," he stated.
Touching on some of the weirdest
rumours and allegations about him Obrafour said the claim that he had fathered
a son with a anonymous woman "was a spanner that was thrown into the
screws of my career at the beginning."
His greatest fear is not to make to
heaven and is counting on grace to get him there.
Source: myjoyonline.com
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