This interview took place on one February weeknight (20th) in the presence of Okyeame Kwame’s fiancée, Anika.

Museke: Can you tell us about your background and family?
OK: I was born on a Saturday evening in 1976. My father is an accountant called Kwasi Nsiah Bota and my mother is Alice Nsiah Bota. I hail from Nsuta, and lived most of my life in Kumasi. I have 4 brothers (Stone, Kunta Kinte inclusive) and a sister.
I attended St. Joseph’s Experimental and am an old boy of Kumasi Anglican secondary school. I am presently schooling at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

Museke: We will come to Tech later but where from the names Okyeame Kwame and Rap Doctor?
OK: Okyeame Quophi (the other half of Akyeame) and I have been rapping together since 1990. We were performing at street battles, rap competitions, entertainment shows at schools, etc. Around this time, American music had been very well urbanized. Everyone had caught the hip hop fever. We used to rap songs by Queen Latifah and Rakeem, etc. I had met Kofi (who went to Methodist Day Secondary School) and we used to be study mates at Kumasi Polytechnic. I had realised he was a writer and had even written a story book called ‘Rings don’t marry’. Just before sixth form, we took rap serious, and started writing our own songs. We looked for producers and met Andrew Opoku Amankwah (Easylink) who was a record executive from London. He paid for our recording and in 97, we released our first album, , with the record – Brebre Obaahemaa. People were skeptical about rap, so we had to choose a name that would cut across board. We decided to take something from the palace – Akyeame. The official duties of the linguist is being a link between the king and his people. We were going to interpret feelings/emotions/ideas to the people through music, that’s the job of the rap linguists. Hence I became Okyeame Kwame (since I am Kwame) and Kofi was Okyeame Quophi.

As for ‘Rap Doctor’, around 2001, Akyeame went for an American tour with Daddy Lumba (DL) along with Reggie Rockstone. We played at the Apollo Theatre in New York. We met some Black American guys, who invited us to the Lion’s Den in NYC. The crowd was 50% Jamaican. Reggie performed Agoo, and we did Brebre Obaahemaa. After the performance, I explained the rap to them and they loved it so much that someone christened me the Rap Doctor.

Museke: How was the performance received by people who didn’t understand the language?
OK: Music is music. It is purely psychological. Sounds intrigue you and communicate a lot. Brebre Obaahemaa starts like a traditional sound, then moves to hip hop, gets fast ala Michael Jackson type and then to Adowa. We need to maintain our traditional instruments.

Museke: How did you get into music and what was your first break?
OK: Brebre Obaahemaa was first played on Valentine Day’s 1997 on Joy FM’s Mega Hits Show by Mark Okraku Mantey who was managing us (Akyeame). As an artiste, you need persona. We were coming from Zapp Mallet’s studio when we heard it on the radio. Reggie Rockstone called us and said his father, Ricci Osei (who thought Brebre was Reggie’s song) had told him that this was the type of music he wanted people to do.

Museke: Which African musicians did you listen to growing up?
OK: Everybody. Paapa Yankson, Agya Koo Nimo, Amakye Dede, Kojo Antwi (I was sentenced to listen to him)

Museke: What about hip hop artistes?
OK: I listened to Rakeem, Run DMC, KRS One, Scarface, Chub Rock, NWA (Dr. Dre, Eazy E). Love Tupac too but when I was listening to him I was rapping already).

Museke: Which African musicians do you idolize or admire (presently)?
OK: I admire 2Face Idibia (I will pay money to see him), Kwabena Kwabena, Samini, Amandzeba, and Kojo Antwi.

Museke: Is Akyeame together and should we expect an album out at some point?
OK: After the Burger Highlife concert in 2007, we realized that we had both outgrown our beef. Okyeame Kofi produced a track on his new album. By December, Akyeame would come out.

Museke: What is this beef?
OK: In 2003, when I went solo, it didn’t go down well with him. I hadn’t told him I was going solo. So he got angry.

Museke: How was it working at the radio station, Fox FM?
OK: I had wanted to become a presenter but I was a square peg in a round hole. Information peddling is mind boggling.

Museke: Had you been recording your own singles before your album came out?
OK: Yes, I bought equipment for a studio for myself in America. I bought for a guitarist, Nat Fredua, to record my album (Nat Fredua who played for CK Mann, Ampadu, Paapa Yankson, Pat Thomas). From 2000 to 2003, Okyeame Quophi and I were living in America.

Museke: Didn’t know you were in America for awhile. How was it?
OK: The structures to keep a music industry running were not in Ghana. Okyeame Kofi and I left after the Mesan aba hit. No universities here have Entertainment Law, or Music Marketing courses. It makes it difficult to survive in Ghana as musicians. We saw bridges and skyscrapers in the US and shouted “structures baby”. We were chasing the American dream. We had gone to get equipment, come back and set a record company.

Sometimes after recording my own songs, I’ll pick out the best verses and put them into Akyeame’s songs. I felt like going solo after coming back to Ghana. There were conflicts of interest here and there.

Museke: You have featured on countless songs, what are your most memorable collaborations?
OK: I made myself available to be featured. I wanted to accelerate my job of putting out lyrics that would have a positive effect on society. I wanted to put myself everywhere so that you would be sentenced to listening to me. My first feature was Baaba with Slim Busterr, I called him and asked to feature.
One memorable collabo was with Tinny (Krokro no). 4x4 called me and said they were thinking he is the greatest rapper, and had gotten into an argument with Tinny over it. So Tinny called me and said he wanted me to do a feature for him. I discussed the concept with him that night and the next morning we recorded and I did my verse. After Tinny heard my verse, he erased his own verse for the song and redid it 7 times.
Also with Daasebre (Mate ahwe ne do mu), I remember I arrived late at the studio for the recording, but he had been waiting for 2 hours.
Even the collabo with DL (Obi ate me so bo), we had been planning the remix for 4 years.
My feature of all-time is the one with my brothers (Bradez – Stone and Kunta Kinte). They are the only rappers in Ghana who actually hit my nerve when they rap. I am kinda scared of them. Stone’s rap is quite difficult to match. It was my most challenging feature.

Museke: How did you first solo album (Bohyeba) do?
OK: The album did so well. The main motive for Akyeame’s first album was to be heard. For the second album, we wanted to be felt. We took highlife to its roots with Mesan aba. We took something from the people and gave it back to them. We did Ntoaso, our 3rd album, before we left for Yankee.
I wanted to leave a legacy and establish myself as a rap god; it was difficult to achieve it as a member of a group.

Museke: In Opabeni, you said ‘Ma me konko no studio, mEhitte.’ (Give me a can and no studio, I will make a hit) Have you done this yet?
OK: Live music is coming back. Kwasi Kyei Darkwa (KKD) was rapping at the Cultural centre and stopped the band, then asked someone to bring a ‘firikyiwa’ and started rapping while beating it. I am planning to do it at some concert so I will be doing it.

Museke: In the same song you said, “Te sE deE GFA maa Abedi Pele golden boot no, momma me golden mic, EnyE saa magyae ma mode nnwom foo aku mo!” (the way GFA gave Abedi Pele the golden boot, give me the golden mic or else I will leave you to be destructed by bad music) What is your take on hiplife lyrics and content?
OK: If I am to mention names of people who can rap – Rockstone, Obrafour, Nkasei Obour, Kwaadee, Bradez, Kwaw Kese, Tinny, 4x4. I have run out of lyricists.
We are supposed to have lyricists, people who talk about love, social issues; we need story tellers. Give people hope; I don’t hear that. People should acknowledge me for what I’m doing because when I stop, we’ll lose a soldier. Hiplife artistes should learn and read more, about sociology, etc (social sciences). Lyrics are quite shallow around here.

PART 2 of the interview is at this link