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Sunday, May 24, 2020

Ghanaian Highlife singers Kuami Eugene & KiDi - "Ohemaa" (information, video, lyrics, & comments)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post provides information about Ghanaian Highlife singers Kuami Eugene and Ghanaian Highlife singer KiDi.

This post also showcases the official 2019 YouTube video "Ohemaa" by Kuami Eugene featuring KiDi.

Some comments from this video's discussion thread are included in this post. Those selected comments refer to an incident near the end of this video when a mother (or grandmother) angrily removes her daughter (or grand daughter) who is solo dancing in the middle of the gathered crowd of onlookers.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Kuami Eugene and KiDi for their music legacy. Thanks to all those who are associated with this showcase video and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publisher of this video on YouTube.

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EXCERPT FROM ARTICLE ABOUT GHANAIAN HIGHLIFE MUSIC
From https://blackpublicmedia.org/9-important-things-know-ghana-highlife-music/ [no author or date given]
The 9 most important things to know about Ghana highlife music
..."One way to draw comparisons between African and African-American culture is to consider pop culture trends across these different societies. The evolution of art, music, literature, and media has always offered one of the clearest views into the changing shape and tone of a country. For instance, jazz emerged in the United States parallel to Ghana highlife music in West Africa. Highlife started in Ghana in the early twentieth century and remains vital to the African music scene today.

[...]


2. Use of Western instruments
Part of what makes highlife a unique musical genre is its method of melding traditional and contemporary sounds from all corners of Africa and the world. When highlife began to gain momentum in the early 1900s, it was known for incorporating foreign guitar techniques, creating layers of sound and cultural fusion on top of existing brass-band and percussion traditions.

3. Living the highlife
When it first emerged in colonial Africa, highlife music was distinctly associated with Ghana’s aristocracy, because it was performed primarily at exclusive clubs along Ghana’s coast. Most Ghanaians did not have the wealth or social status to enter these concert venues, so the music earned it the name “highlife.”

[...]

9. The birth of hiplife
Hiplife refers to the most recent product of the highlife genre, Taking elements from American hip-hop music, hiplife still uses Ghanaian languages and is backed by traditional highlife styles. Reggie Rockstone, a UK-born Ghanaian rapper, is known as the pioneer or the “grandfather” of the hiplife movement and has enjoyed success as a musician in Ghana since the 1990s."...
-snip-
Read that article and https://theculturetrip.com/africa/ghana/articles/ghanaian-highlife-music-ashanti-rhythms-and-hiplife-beats/ for some historical information about Ghanaian High-Life music.

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INFORMATION ABOUT KUAMI EUGENE
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuami_Eugene
"Eugene Kwame Marfo (born 1 February 1997), who goes by the stage name Kuami Eugene is a Ghanaian high-life and afrobeat singer-songwriter. He is signed to Lynx Entertainment,[1] and is known for several songs of his, including "Angela", "Wish Me Well", "Ohemaa", and many others. He won the New Artist awards from the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards and the Ghana Music Awards UK. He also received the Most Promising Artist in Africa award from (AFRIMA)[2

[...]

Music career
Kwami Eugene was a contestant in the season 5 of the reality competition show MTN Hitmaker in Ghana in 2016, where he finished third overall.[7] He was signed shortly afterwards to Lynx Entertainment and has gone on to release several singles. In 2017, "Angela"[8]" reached one million views on YouTube, the most for any music artist on that label, and was indicated to be in rotation among the top 10 songs in Ghana.[9] He is a featured artist in "Adwenfi" by DJ Vyrusky and Shatta Wale.[10] In 2018, he released a continuation of the story line in the "Angela"[11] song called "Confusion".[12] And in June 2018, he released the single "Wish Me Well", which was in response to the negative comments he received on social media,[13] some of which alleged he was stealing lyrics from another artist Ice Prince.[14]"...

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INFORMATION ABOUT KIDI
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KiDi
"Dennis Nana Dwamena, better known as KiDi, (born August 18, 1993) is a Ghanaian high-life and afrobeats singer-songwriter. He is signed to Lynx Entertainment and is best known for his hit single Odo. The remix features Nigerian superstars Mayorkun and Davido and has received massive airplay across Africa.[1]

Music career
Early beginnings and breakthrough
While studying Economics and Information Studies at the University of Ghana, KiDi's love for music led him to perform on various "Moonlight Café" platforms – a production that supports underground artistes and gives them a platform to display their talents. He also recorded covers of popular songs. In 2015, KiDi took a leap of faith by joining the MTN Hitmaker competition.[3] He went on to win the competition and was later signed to Lynx Entertainment.[4] KiDi shot to prominence in 2017 when he released "Say You Love Me" a song he not only composed but also arranged and produced. KiDi established himself as one of the fastest rising stars in Ghana when he released yet another chart-topper titled "Odo" in July 2017, the remix with Nigerian artist Davido and Mayorkun in December 2017, and Adiepena in April 2018.[1]

[...]

KiDi received 6 nominations[9] at the 2018 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards including ‘Best New Artiste’, ‘Afro-pop Song of the Year’ and ‘Male Vocalist of the Year’ and went on to win the award for ‘High-life Song of the Year’ at the awards[10] in April 2018."...

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Kuami Eugene ft KiDi - Ohemaa (Official Video)



Lynx Entertainment •Jun 19, 2019

[...]

Talented label mates, Kuami Eugene (RockStar) & KiDi (Sugar) release the video to their long awaited first collaboration, 'Ohemaa'.

[...]

Directed by REX
Copyright (c) Lynx Ghana Limited
-snip-
Statistics as of May 24, 2020 at 3:22 PM EDT
total views-4,068,787
total likes-28K
total dislikes-1.1K
total comments-2,010

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LYRICS- OHEMAA

High Life Music
Oh Lord Of Mercy
All yeah yeah
Hmmm sugar daddy
Rockstar!
They call me Eugene

The way I dey love you nerr
Nobody go fi love you like I do
Odo aa me do wo deɛ
Dem dey talk say you do me Juju

The way I dey love you nerr
Nobody go fi love you like I do
Odo aa me do wo deɛ
Dem dey talk say you do me Juju

Nɛ so whatever go happen ee (Ohemaa)
Meni wo aa na ɛko oo (Ohemaa)
Whatever go happen ee (Ohemaa)
Meni wo aa na ɛko oo (Ohemaa)
You bi my alomo oo (Ohemaa)
Meni wo aa na ɛko oo (Ohemaa)
You bi my alomo oo (Ohemaa)
Meni wo aa na ɛko oo (Ohemaa)

Ntsi zaa zaa za (Ohemaa)
Ntsi zaa zaa za (Ohemaa)
Whatever go happen ee (Ohemaa)
Meni wo aa na ɛko oo (Ohemaa)

Ɛye woara against eni bɛwo oo
Ɛye woa baby against eni bɛwo

Medi sika kokɔɔ na ɛbɛhwɛ wo (baby oo)
Me kyerɛ wo odɔ abrɛ yina aa
And ago love you even though they hate you
Mema wo medɔ ne me sika yina aa (baby oo)
Dem say you do me like mʋmʋ
I no know way thing ago do do do do oo
I be your school bi dodoo do oo (sugar)

Dem say you do me like mʋmʋ
I no know way thing ago do do do do oo
I be your school bi dodoo do oo (sugar)

Nɛ so whatever go happen ee (Ohemaa)
Meni wo aa na ɛko oo (Ohemaa)
Whatever go happen ee (Ohemaa)
Meni wo aa na ɛko oo (Ohemaa)
You bi my alomo oo (Ohemaa)
Meni wo aa na ɛko oo (Ohemaa)
You bi my alomo oo (Ohemaa)
Meni wo aa na ɛko oo (Ohemaa)

Ntsi zaa zaa za (Ohemaa)
Ntsi zaa zaa za (Ohemaa)
Whatever go happen ee (Ohemaa)
Meni wo aa na ɛko oo (Ohemaa)

Ɛye woara against ɛni bɛwʋ
Ɛye wo aa baby against ɛni bɛwʋ
Ɛye woara against ɛni bɛwʋ
Ɛye wo aa baby against ɛni bɛwʋ

Ahoɔfɛ neɛ mese ɛyɛ wo aa
Mebɛ kyerɛ odɔ bi aa akyen sika
Me hwɛ woso yie, mebo woho ban
Mepeni ma obiara bɛtse akoma
Girl ago tell them you are the one
You are the one that everyone want
Girl ago tell them you are the one
You are the one that everyone want
Aah...
Mepɛ wo saara, against ɛni bɛwʋ
Mepɛ wo saa, baby against ɛni bɛwʋ

Nɛ so whatever go happen ee (Ohemaa)
Meni wo aa na ɛko oo (Ohemaa)
Nɛ so whatever go happen ee (Ohemaa)
Meni wo aa na ɛko oo (Ohemaa)
You bi my alomo oo (Ohemaa)
Meni wo aa na ɛko oo (Ohemaa)
You bi my alomo oo (Ohemaa)
Meni wo aa na ɛko oo (Ohemaa)

Ntsi zaa zaa za (Ohemaa)
Ntsi zaa zaa za (Ohemaa)
Whatever go happen ee (Ohemaa)
Meni wo aa na ɛko oo (Ohemaa)

Ɛye woara against ɛni bɛwʋ
Ɛye wo aa baby against ɛni bɛwʋ
Ɛye woara against ɛni bɛwʋ
Ɛye wo aa baby against ɛni bɛwʋ


Source: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/kuamieugene/ohemaa.html

-snip-
Given the comments about "Scooby-Do" in the discussion thread for that song's official video, I believe that the lyrics "I be your school bi dodoo do oo (sugar)" should be corrected to "I be your Scooby-Doo" etc. Read the comment that I posted to that discussion thread (given as #20 below).

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THAT VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD
(with numbers added for referencing purposes only)
1. Estelle Dansi, 2019
"Don't even understand the song very well but i love it from de day kwami posted it on IG gud job kwami and kidi💜💜💜"

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REPLY
2. Efya Efya, 2019
"Thats sweet of you.😊 In a nut shell, Ohema means queen in Ghana. He's saying no matter what happens he's always gonna love them (african women) and that they're precious and that she be his alomo(the showcased liquor in the video) .. which is a every expensive alcohol in Ghana and made in Ghana too. So basically women are all queens and precious and expensive like the drink. Hope that helps 🤗😊"

**
3. Jessy B, 2019
"Love love love it ! Even though i dont understand what they saying lol besides great visuals"

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REPLY
4. Efya Efya, 2019
"Aww kudos for being fan🤗😀darling. Ohemaa means QUEEN in Ghana.. He's saying African women are queens and beautiful and that they are the only women he/African man wants so no matter what he will forever be with them. People who envy will be ashamed."

**
5. Efotonga Channel, 2019
"The rich culture of our beloved country has been showcased... Lovely"

**
6. aspiringdoc23, 2019
"Paying tribute to the melody of the past with current beats; hiplife meets highlife...great collaboration. Well done!"

**
7. mzz bennie, 2019
"I LOVE HOW OUR RICH CULTURE IS PRESENTED IN THIS VIDEO😍😍😍😍"

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REPLY
8. Kobe Ewusi, 2019
"This doesn't look like our culture though... just saying... This has coming to America and one of MJ's classic vids written all over it...."

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REPLY
9. DJ Massa Filla, 2019
"So the ntoma wear, face painting, gold jewelry, beads, calabash and others things display in this video is the culture of an MJ video and coming to America. Massa a movie/video doesn't create a culture, it's display or showcase. And u realize these videos u mention usually takes ideas from African cultures and just display them like with Black Panther. I think maybe u trynna say the concept of this video resembles some MJ video u know and coming to America. Then I can understand where u coming from but those video hasn't created any culture. So I think mzz Bennie right"

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REPLY
10. Kobe Ewusi, 2019
"@DJ Massa Filla You see oo chairman you understood me and still wanted to play mischief so you could say Mzz Bennie is right.. I never said those videos created a culture but like you rightly pointed out, their concepts influenced this video so unless Mzz Bennie is not Ghanaian then I stand by what I said. Kidi was dressed like a Prince Pharaoh from that MJ classic video (Ghanaian royalty don't dress like that) and Eugene like the Prince of Zamunda (wherever that is, it ain't Ghana lol). The ntoma wear your refer to; is that how our ntoma looks like or how we wear it for most part of the video? I saw some kente elements in the video which I'd admit is part of our culture, the beads yes and calabashes (which I didn't see) but for most of the video it has an infusion of what Westerners seem to think represent Africa but it's unto us to tell our story ourselves and tell it right. Africa is not one country and indeed Ghanaian culture is still rich and beautiful even when unadulterated!"

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REPLY
11. DJ Massa Filla, 2019
"Kobe Ewusi oh ok boss got u 👍🏾👍🏾"

**
12. Charles Eghan, 2019
"Woow Ghana music to the world
Am injoy dis music"

**
13. YAFEU CULTURAL FASHION, 2019
"Awesome video❤️🇬🇭 🔥🔥🔥🥰🇬🇭🎶These brothas are some kinda fine..let’s show them love ladies! Keep showing how BEAUTIFUL GHANA is. BIG UP to all contributors of this video ✌🏾🙏🏾❤️❤️❤️❤️ from the U.S. 🇺🇸"

**
14. Sarah Mensah, 2019
"I'm in luv with song,thnx kuame n kidi for putting Ghana on top"

**
15. Lady Taffy, 2019
"Enti zaaaa zaaaa zaaaaaaaa 🥰😍 that dance .. oooh laaaawd 😆😍.. 🎵 on repeat 🔊"

**
16. Jaysha Williams, 2019
"Love the authenticity of this video ❤❤ha! But of course! Ayee"

**
17. Efotonga Channel, 2019
"The rich culture of our beloved country has been showcased... Lovely"

**
18. Gabriel Boateng,2019
"I can’t stop playing this it’s too good🔥🔥I listen to it with my headphones on, through the speaker, and just regularly and as a fellow Ghanaian child I’m proud to say this is one Ghanaian song that my parents enjoy as well😂"

**
19. Ilo' L, 2019
"Ça fait 4jours que je l'écoute en boucle...

Dem say you do me like mumu
I no know way thing ago do do do do o
I be your school bi dodoo do o"

**
REPLY
20. Azizi Powell, 2020
"an African American here. You wrote "school bi do..," In this song it's actually "Scooby-Doo". Scooby-Doo is a United States cartoon character who is a great Dane (dog) who acts somewhat human & is smart enough to join with some teenagers in solving supernatural mysteries.
What does" Scooby-Doo" mean in this bangin Highlife song? Maybe it has something to do with the American characterization of men being dogs-but that has negative connotations. Maybe the name "Scooby-Doo" was used just because it sounds good."

**
21. John Hannah Ezinne, 2019
"This what I was looking for, between you guys kuami Eugene and Kidi I so much love your music and dancing like no man business, keep it up you both, hail rockstar (kuami Eugene), hail sugar daddy(kidi), more grace brothers from Ezinne."

**
22. Michael Sakah, 2019
"Let's support these guys to take over Africa music like the way Nigerians supported wizkid n davido all over the place."

**
23. Beckie PM 2019
"These are the type of videos I like to watch cuz I see women who have my features and are appreciated 🙂😍🇭🇹"
-snip-
"HT"=Haiti

**
24. Joyceline. O, 2019
"Kidi be careful u are becoming bad boy ❤❤😂😂but we love you soo much"

**
25. Rachel atta mensah, 2019
"I love how golden our culture is 👑❤️"

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26. Hilda Hamilton, 2019
"Black Beauty is the best. Rock star nd kidi thanks for the collection 🤩🤗😘😍😘😘😘😍😘😘🤩🤩. U guys are the best 🤩😘😍🤗🤗😘😘😘🤩😋😋😎😎😉😉"

**
27. susuilu, 2019
"Big ups to our african brothers giving us wonderful music !!! Big ups - kings and queens outfits, the way its supposed to be. Well done!!"

**
28. Fareed Ishmeal, 2019
"This video actually depicts the true and beautiful African culture. Everything speaks to itself. #BlackAndProud. 🔥🔥🔥🔥 Bigups Kwame Eugene and Kidi for these amazing piece of art. Hits the like button if you agree. Fareed Ishmeal was here some 🙏🏾🙏🏾 Cape Coast"

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29. David Berchie, 2019
"Projecting African culture and Ghanaian brand (Alomo). The colours were really projected"

**
30. Calvin Okaikoi Aryee, 2019
"kuami Eugene and Kidi did their part but the Video exhibited the Geniuses of Rex( the Director)"

**
31. Ibe Matt, 2019
"He’s just too much. Even if he was the only musician from Ghana, the country would still be known worldwide. Long live K. Eu. From Asia China"

**
32. teddlyn tackie, 2019
"Sound✅
Graphics ✅
Concept ✅
Quality ✅
Collaboration ✅
Display ✅
Costume ✅
Models ✅
Accessoires ✅
Complexion ✅

This video is everrryyyttthhiinnngg👏👏...it’s worth the wait❤️"
-snip-
Regarding complexion, a number of commenters wrote that they were glad that all the women in the video were dark skinned. Four of those comments are included next.

**
33. nana akua, 2019
"thank you for using dark skinned beauties only. its about time."

**
34. Real Lydia Davis, 2019
"Finally I see black beauties. Enough of using discolored people. I can't stop people from bleaching, but at least this one really shows the beauty of our ladies."

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35. Nicole Smith, 2020
"I truly respect n support artists who showcase African women's beauty on their videos, most artists tend to employ lighter/mix race girls in their videos so again darker complexion girls are left out of earning a check."

**
36. Lisa98 uggh, 2020
"All the way from South Africa. I'm so in love with these guys 😍 Ghana got talent 🙌

It's nice to see beautiful women of different shades not just light skinned women"

**
37. KingHacks, 2019
"Nice video , keep broadcasting the unique African print , Proud to be an African .. Ghana higher we go .. Hit the like button if you are a Proud Africa .. :)"

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38. Kalusha. 2019
"High life ain't dead yet with Guys like Kuame Eugene still reigning......Thatboy Kalusha"

**
39. MidouYah Êvêo, 2019
"Powerful ! let's promote ourselves as who we really are Kings and Queens!!#treeoflive"

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40. Barbees Marley. 2019
"We should support songs like this to keep our Hi-Life heritage going..... Big ups kuami & Kidi ✌🏾✊🏾"

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41. Jemila Amissah, 2019
"I love the traditional outfits😍😍😍👏👏"

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42. Nanaeffia Boahine, 2020
"Honestly we’ve been waiting to be represented for so long...I’m glad y’all are listening And clearly it works! The Ghanaian culture is probably the richest of all the nations. Well done this was perfection"

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43. sosSylv, 2020
"Doing it for the culture! 😀"

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44. Constance Owusu, 2020
"I love to see dis two sing together, two great singers....kidi with de deep and sexy voice, kwame Eugene with de still and beautiful voice😘😘😘😘😘"

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45. KORANTENG JOSEPHINE, 2020
"The zaazazaza dance alone deserves 1k likes"

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46. Jeanne Townsend, 2020
"Just feel like home again listening to ur voice. By the way from Togo"

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