Obuor Shines

When music fans talk about artistes who have crossed the borders of Ghana to the international world, Obour’s name normally comes up. The dream of Bice Osei Kuffour, aka Obour to become one of the best Ghanaian hiplife artistes has come to pass with all his songs making waves on the music market in Ghana, Africa and beyond. The hiplife artiste, who was born in Kumasi, said he had wanted to be a pilot. However as time passed by he realised that music was his true calling, eventually realising his passion was for hiplife and rap music. At six, he played most of the drums especially the Atumpan, in the Juaso-Ashanti Akyem chief’s palace where his father used to reside, before accepting Christ. According to him, that inspired him a lot, lyrically. As the first hiplife artiste to reach the university level, smart-headed Obour combined his tertiary education with music very effectively. Several situations tempted him to choose between education and music. “But nothing deterred me since I knew I was doing excellently well at both. I just schedule my time properly”. Moreover, any time he had to sacrifice a few lectures for major concerts or international shows, he always made special arrangements with TAs (Teaching Assistants) to help him catch up. Just after his secondary school, Obour solicited help from his London-based cousin, J. Amano, whom he described as an important person in his music career, hooking him up with his Soul Records label. Today, Obour is out to do more than just entertain; he wants to make a difference in the lives of the youth that he meets by using his musical career to educate them on issues affecting their day-to-day activities and also raise funds to support the needy among them. He happens to be one of the few young and talented hiplife music stars in the country who are working tirelessly to keep the flame of Ghanaian music burning. According to Obour’s manager, Stephen Howard, being the first Ghanaian artiste to embark on a world-wide musical tour, Obour has made history by bringing some of the best of Ghanaian entertainment to all Ghanaians in the Diaspora as well as foreigners. He said after the first leg of the Ghana Music World Tour which began in Italy on July 21 last year with two dates in Verona and Napoli, the artiste moved on to Paris and Amsterdam on July 28 and August 4 respectively. Word on the street is that the gigs were all sold out and were off the chain. In 2005, Obour put up a successful live musical concert on August 6 to celebrate his success in the field of music and also to thank his fans for staying close to him through the years. The concert dubbed, ‘Celebrating Obour Live’ took place at the International Conference Centre, Accra, and it attracted a large number of music fans in Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, USA and some parts of Europe. Known for his often bizarre and scary appearances on stage, Obour is poised to maintain his image on the Ghanaian as well as international music scene.