Comments About The Languages Used In Contemporary Ghanaian Or Nigerian Music (from a discussion sub-thread of Mr.Eazi's "Dabebi" cartoon video)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post provides an excerpt from the discussion thread for the YouTube cartoon (visualizer) version of contemporary Nigerian singer Mr. Eazi's song "Dabebi.

This excerpt is the complete (to date) comment exchange about the languages that are used in contemporary songs from Nigeria or from Ghana.

This post also showcases the official YouTube video and the visualizer (cartoon) video for late 2018 song "Dabebi" by Mr. Eazi featuring Ghanaian singers Mr. Promise and Maleek Berry.

Mr Eazi's music is a blend of Ghanaian Highlife and Nigerian music. That song also features Ghanaian singer Mr. Promise and British Nigerian record producer/recording artist Maleek Berry.

The Addendum to this post presents some additional comments from that same discussion threads. These comments are about Ghana's Twi language.

The content of this post is presented for cultural and linguistic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Mr. Eazi, King Promise, and Maleek Beery 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.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/05/mr-eazi-featuring-mr-promise-and-maleek.html for this closely related pancocojams post entitled "Mr. Eazi featuring Mr. Promise And Maleek Berry - "Dabebi" (official video & cartoon video)."

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SHOWCASE VISUALIZER (CARTOON) VIDEO: Mr Eazi - Dabebi (feat. King Promise & Maleek Berry)



Mr Eazi, Nov 12, 2018
-snip-
Statistics as of May 25, 2020 at 6:10 PM EDT
total views-3,781,589 views
total likes-21K
total dislikes- 440
total comments-488

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COMPLETE SUB-THREAD AS OF May 25, 2020) FROM THAT VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD
(Numbers are added for referencing purposes only. All of these comments except the last one are from 2019.)

1. Chidimma Justina
"This song is dope !!!🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬😊 , but I want to ask why is it ghanians don’t sing in Nigerian languages 🤔I think , it’s actually a strategy to get Nigerians more Nigerians listening to your music, like a lot of ghanians taught easi was a ghanian wen he started singing 🤔"

**
REPLY
2. Wapdome
"They're doing it buh it ain't working for them"

**
REPLY
3. Clifford Amofah
"@Wapdome lol Ghanaians never sing in niaja language. The twi language is too nice to the ears that's why Nigerians love it. That's why sarkodie doesn't rap in English yet Nigerians love his rap"

**
REPLY
4. Wapdome
"@Clifford Amofah nah... Who Nigerian sing in full Twi?? Bro dey just add Twi words like Odeyewu Odo e.t.c and some Ghanaians also use words like "Oluwa" and Naija Pidgin
Infact Nigerians mainly sing in pidgin cuz we have abt 500+ languages in Nigeria.. So not everyone will understand Yoruba songs or Igbo songs e.t.c.. Pidign is use so dat every Nigerian can Understand the song and able to sing along. If Ghanaian artists use Naija Pidgin and Pidgin pronunciation in their songs, den it means they've used Naija language to sing... Kuami Eugene Kidi dey do these stuff.. Even Kwesi Arthur.. Check their songs and pay attention to it, u go notice am"

**
REPLY
5. Clifford Amofah
"@Wapdome hihihihi you are confused with pidgin bro. most African countries speaks pidgin. If you check the meaning of pidgin you will understand.
We Ghanaians speak pidgin which is very different from Nigerians pidgin. So don't tag all pidgin as niaja pidgin
So if you hear a Kenyan speak pidgin, does it mean it's niaja pidgin?
But I know you won't understand because your elders have made you understand you brought pidgin. That's why I love Nigeria. They claim and own things with force and affirmation not like my country Ghana"

**
REPLY
6. Wapdome
"@Clifford Amofah LMAO Kenyans don't speak Pidgin bro... It's mainly West African Countries dat speak Pidgin.. Goan read about Ghanaian Pidgin Origin.. Na Naija influence Ghanaian Pidgin... Words like Shebi Abi Oya Commot y'all use these days are originated from Nigerian Pidgin

**
REPLY
7. Clifford Amofah
"@Wapdome oh okay I get you. But you should know we don't say oya, shebi in our pidgin. That's purely niaja we have others we say that Nigerians don't even understand.
But see its same way Fela came to Ghana to learn highlife music which influence the Nigerian sound now as #Afrobeat.
Ghana has always been the gateway to Africa bro..lol"

**
REPLY
8. Wapdome
"@Clifford Amofah Fela sound doesn't even inflence Nowadays Naija songs... Dats why the new term us Afrobeats.. Meaning any song coming out from Africa. Only few Naija songs are influenced by Fela which Fela created from Jazz old African Beats American Rock music and Ghana Highlife.. I barely even recognize the highlife sound in Fela Afrobeat sound.. He only sang 1 or 2 Highlife song, not that his sound was mainly inflenced by Highlife.. And besides dat, Highlife genre is a very old Genre of Music, so it shouldn't be a surprise dat people outside Ghana tap from it to create their own Sound. It's called creativity... Now the Afrobeat is even gaining more recognition In and Outside Africa than the Highlife Genre itself"

**
REPLY
9. Wapdome
"Now when u see Americans trying to sound African, they prefer tapping from Fela's Afrobeat sound than Ghanaian Highlife sound"

**
REPLY
10. Clifford Amofah
"@Wapdome yeah it is a numbers game music strive on numbers. That's why American musicians are topping chats . If Nigeria is to get strong system where you can only get music from iTunes, Spotify etc. Nija musicians will compete boot to boot with those in Europe and America.
Your population is crazy!! That's why Americans are hearing more of your sounds than ours. But truth be told you know the Ghana sounds can't be touched in Africa bro .it is too rich. Please kindly spent time and listen to sark sarkcess music's Akwaboah, king promise, Kidi, Kumi guitar, kuami Eugene. You know am telling the truth."

**
REPLY
11. Chidimma Justina
"I really love the twi language , the sound is just 🔥and wen sarkodie starts to sing omg 😊I think I would start learning it pls who is teaching me🙈"

**
REPLY
12. Chidimma Justina
"Clifford amofah you guys have a very rich sound which is true , but population is not a factor for music popularity if not China would have no competition in the world wen it comes to music , personally I enjoy the way some Nigerians add some ghanian flavor to their songs especially the highlife , now you people have the sound but I have not really like heard any ghanian musician use the high life sound , like the so mi so by wande coal it has the touch of the ghanian high life, why don’t they use the sound , wat am trying to say is , is it that Nigerians know how to use your sounds better or wat

**
REPLY
13. Chidimma Justina
"Clifford amofah to me kuami Eugene sounds Nigerian in his songs, for example his song Angela wen I heard it I thought it was lilkesh"

**
REPLY
14. Clifford Amofah
"@Chidimma Justina my dear lol its a factor paa. You think Chinese need Americans to love their stuff??? They don't even care! You are on YouTube. Please check their views.. lol Americans don't even come close lol... and they don't care about collaborating with them unlike we Africans."

**
REPLY
15. Chidimma Justina
"Clifford amofah of course Chinese would listen to their own music, but you are saying Nigerian population is the reason why their songs are popular, so if Chinese listen to their songs very well why are there songs not popular in the world since their population is 20 countries joined together"

**
REPLY
16. Chidimma Justina
"Being the most populated isn’t a factor but how you push your music and content, a lot of African music have more contents than American music but it now boils down to how the promotion is done"

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REPLY
17. Clifford Amofah
"@Chidimma Justina eeii really lilkesh can't sing like that.. lol his voice .. ahh well that's your view. I thought lilkesh is a rapper o"

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REPLY
18. Clifford Amofah
"@Chidimma Justina language"

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REPLY
19. Clifford Amofah
"@Chidimma Justina but Nigerians really have to explain why you like sarkodie. Am sure to your ears he is speaking in tongues lol.. yet you love it"

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REPLY
20. Chidimma Justina
"Clifford amofah yeah he is a rapper but also sings"

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REPLY
21. Chidimma Justina
"Clifford amofah lol sarkodie’s flow is wat kills everytime he sing

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REPLY
22. Chidimma Justina
"Clifford amofah lol his flow is wat kills wen he sings and then the sound of the language is beautiful"

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REPLY
23. All About You
"Chidimma Justina
Listen to kumi guitar's song entitled Betweener and have a feel of some high life... you should try Kurl song's Jennifer lomotey song ft. sarkodie too"

**
REPLY
24. Chidimma Justina
"Shedrack assuakoh thanks dear will listen to it , the vibe will be nice"

**
REPLY
25. All About You
"Chidimma Justina , you can decide to add Akwaboah's love unfair... In fact Akwaboah can make you fall in love simple koraa... you can also try Akwaboah's "I do love you" song.... Thank me later dear"

**
REPLY
26. NA Music
"Wapdome I agree they are similar and some are different."

**
27. manuel six, 2020
"Ghanaian (TWI). is one of the most easiest and fastest language to learn read and probably write in Ghana's its easier for foreigners to emulate faster, and it sounds better when its in music too"

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ADDENDUM
These comments are numbered for referencing purposes only.
1. bekibecca st, 2019
"Mr Eazi says Lagos to London but still manages to put one twi song somewhere in there. We see what u did. Ghana loves you ❤️❤️"
-snip-
"Lagos to London" is the title of the Mr. Eazi album that included the song "Dabebi".

**
REPLY
2. NA Music, 2019
"yes indeed"

**
REPLY
3. MannyAK47, 2019
"Twi global now lol every afro beat song now got some twi in it"

**
4. Miss Unknown, 2019
"I swear this Guy can speak better Twi than other Ghanaians😂. Mr eazie gave Ofori Amposah credit, the beginning of the song and at the end of the song you can hear the song of Ofori Amposah."

**
5. Tonia16 I, 2020
"Why all these comments by Nigerians and Ghanaians as if we’re competing? What the eff is wrong with y’all? Personally, I don’t have any problems with Ghanaians because I believe we have so much in common, more than any other African country. I will say this though; why do a lot of Ghanaians spew so much vitriol against Nigerians? That has been my experience reading comments for a lot of music videos. By the way, Mr Eazi is half Ghanaian and half a Nigerian. His father is Nigerian and he moved to Ghana when he was a teenager. Spoiler alert, he is a combination of Nigeria and Ghana hence his numerous collaboration with both Nigerian and Ghanaians artists. He uses Nigerian vernacular in some of his music."

**
REPLY
6. manuel six, 2020
"Tone down my dear, lets enjoy the music"

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Visitor comments are welcome.

Mr. Eazi featuring Mr. Promise And Maleek Berry - "Dabebi" (official video & cartoon video)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post provides information about contemporary Nigerian singer Mr. Eazi whose music is a blend of Ghanaian Highlife and Nigerian music. Information about Ghanaian singer Mr. Promise and British Nigerian record producer/recording artist Maleek Berry are also included in this post.

This post also showcases the official YouTube video and the visualizer (cartoon) video for late 2018 song "Dabebi" by Mr. Eazi featuring Ghanaian singers Mr. Promise and Maleek Berry.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Mr. Eazi, King Promise, and Maleek Beery 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.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/05/comments-about-languages-used-in.html
for this closely related pancocojams post entitled "Comments About The Languages Used In Contemporary Ghanaian Or Nigerian Music (from a discussion sub-thread of Mr.Eazi's "Dabebi" cartoon video)".
***
INFORMATION ABOUT MR. EAZI
From https://blogs.elon.edu/geo1311803/2018/02/22/its-ya-boy-eazi-zagadat/ Published by Chris, Fe, 22, 2018
Written By: Christopher Luciani
"Early Life
Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade, better known as Mr Eazi, is a 26 year old musician from Nigeria. Born in Port Harcourt, the largest city and capital of Rivers State, Nigeria, his parents encouraged him to pursue an education at a university in Ghana. Mr Eazi relocated to Kumasi and studied mechanical engineering at the world class Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). This is where his passion for music began as he started recording music in his final year.

One of the interesting things about Mr Eazi is his national identity. He describes himself as Nigerian by birth, but Ghanaian by heart. That is all he is usually willing to say in interviews and tries not to talk about it any further because he believes that a distinction of where he is from does not determine his style of music. Mr Eazi is taking over the music industry by storm in not only Ghana and Nigeria, but in the entire world, with his YouTube channel having a combined 76 million views in the last 5 years.

Mr Eazi’s Style
Mr Eazi [‘s]... music style is unique when compared to other musicians in the region. Mr Eazi pioneered “Banku Music” (named after the popular local Ghanaian meal), which is described by him in an article by Evatese Blog as a fusion between “Ghanaian bounces, Ghanaian highlife, Nigerian chord progressions, and Nigerian patterns. The essence of Banku music is a mixture of Nigeria and Ghana.”

Just by listening to how Mr Eazi fuses these two genres of music together, you can see how important globalization and migration is in his music producing process. Mr Eazi says in an interview with Google that who he is today is a product of living and spending time in both countries and being influenced by both cultures. Also, in this interview, he mentions that he grew up listening to Bob Marley because of his father but listened to artists like Jay Z and Lil Wayne while studying at University. With every song he writes, there is a different part of each influence in his music style that can only be created by him and his experiences. He states that “although every song I write has iconic African drums and an African feel to them, it draws influences from all genres of music.” It is also very apparent that his lyrics are written in half English and half Hausa, one of the many languages spoken in Nigeria, proving that his music is not only made for people in African countries.

Accra to Lagos
His album Accra to Lagos represents how his music style changed from an Accra (capital of Ghana) style to a Lagos (Nigeria’s largest city) style.

[...]

Mr Eazi’s Social Media
... Part of [Mr. Eazi's] marketing strategy is to respond “Zagadat” (his signature catchphrase meaning ‘confirm,’ ‘correct,’ ‘roger that’) to every single tweet that included “Mr Eazi.” This was so more people would look him up after hearing from their friends about a celebrity responding to their tweet. This shows how greatly globalization is working in favor of artists such as Mr Eazi today and how easy it is for anyone to become famous.”...

****
INFORMATION ABOUT KING PROMISE
From https://www.glusea.com/king-promise-net-worth/
"Risen to be among the great talents in Ghana Music Industry, King Promise has won the heart of lots of people with his songs. The singer is known for his skills and creativity in his songs.

[...]

King Promise Biography
King Promise whose real name is Gregory Bortey Newman is an award winning Ghanaian singer and songwriter born on August 16, 1995.

He is the son of Francis Newman, a businessman and Angela Quaye, a trader.

King Promise is an Accra based recording artiste with a vast music genres of hip hop, high life, R&B and Afro beats

The singer who is currently 23 year-old attended De Kings Academy for his childhood education in Ghana. He later proceeded to Nungua Senior High School located in the suburbs of Ghana’s capital city, Accra for his secondary school education.

After taking a break from pursuing his education, he went back to school and graduated last year from Central University.

He revealed that he got the opportunity to learn a lot during the break from education because he was able to hone his skills . It is right and just to call him a prolific songwriter because of the fact that he has co-wrote a lot of songs , he co-wrote Adina’s ‘Too late’ and it won an award at the 2017 Ghana Music Awards."...

****
INFORMATION ABOUT MALEEK BERRY
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maleek_Berry
"Maleek Shoyebi (born 11 August 1987), professionally known as Maleek Berry, is a British-Nigerian record producer and recording artist.[2] After his break into the spotlight in 2012, Maleek Berry was nominated as "Music Producer of the Year" at the 2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards. Maleek Berry has worked with prominent artists such as Wizkid, Davido, Wale, Fuse ODG, Runtown and Iyanya.[3][4][5] In 2017 he was nominated in the Best Male category of the annual MOBO Awards.[6]"....

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
Here's a translation for the Twi word "dabebi" from Kofi-gha Kwawoo, 2019 (from the discussion thread for the video that is embedded in this post)
"in twi, dabebi literally means "sleeping elsewhere", but in the context of the song, he is basically saying he doesn't share the same bed anymore with his girl because of some relationship issues."

**
Mr. Eazi's "Dabebi" is a remix of the 2001 Ghanaian Highlife song "Damabi" by Ofori Amponsah. That song is considered one of the best Ghanaian Highlife songs of all times. Mr. Eazi credits Ofori Maponsah in his song "Dababi" and ends that song with a brief portion of Ofori Amponsah singing "Damabi".

****
INFORMATION ABOUT OFORI AMPONSAH
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofori_Amponsah
"Samuel Ofori Amponsah (born March 2, 1974), also known by the name Mr. All 4 Real, is a Ghanaian music artist from Agogo, Ashanti Region, Ghana.[1] He won seven awards in one night at the 2006 VGMA awards, including 2005 Artist of the Year, and has a combined total of 17 Ghana Music Awards nominations, making him one of the highest nominated artists. He has performed in places such as London, New York, Chicago, and Sierra Leone.[1] His music has a heavy R&B influence. He has collaborated with the likes of Kofi Nti, Barosky, and K. K. Fosu.[2] Some of his most popular songs are “Lady,” “Emmanuella,” and “Otoolege.

[...]

2013-16: New image
In 2013, Amponsah made the decision to leave secular music.[1] He released a gospel album in 2014 called The Gospel According to Ofori.[13] His decision included becoming a pastor.[1] He founded the Family of Faith and Love Ministries to spread the word of God.[14] It wasn't long before he switched back to secular music, claiming he would save souls through his love songs.[14] After announcing his decision to go back to secular music, he began rehearsing and preparing his fans for a new experience and new image for his future performances.[15] He was reported to have spent a month in seclusion at his home in order to focus on preparing for his stage performances.[15]

The 2015 release of his single “Alewa” earned him a nomination for 2015 Highlife Artist of the Year and 2015 Highlife Song of the Year.[16] The song was in collaboration with Sarkodie, a fellow Ghanaian music artist and rapper.[17] The pair performed the song at the 2015 Rapperholic concert.[18] “Alewa” is featured on Amponsah's album Songs of Solomon, which includes the hits “Not Falling,” “Serious,” and “Wonkoaa.”[19] The eleven-track album features music producers Kaywa, Appietus, and Bodo Staiger.[20]

2016-Present: Comeback
In 2016 Amponsah released several singles including "Fab3gye" with Paa Kwasi and Atom (produced by Appietus), and "TinTin" in collaboration with Samini.[21][22][23]

On April 21, 2017 Amponsah released yet another love song, "Seventeen," featuring the vocals of Kwabena Kwabena. The song was produced by Kaywa.[24] His second release of 2017 was "Dangerous," a collaboration with singer Akwaboah Jnr and Black Nayaka, produced by Cedi Gh"...
-snip-
Amponsah has recently published YouTube videos of several of his past hit songs such as "Dabambi" to take advantage of that audience.

WARNING: The official YouTube video for Ofori Amponsah's "Dambami" may not be suitable for children because of nearly female frontal nudity and near explicit posing by the woman who is featured in that video.

****
SHOWCASE VISUALIZER (CARTOON) VIDEO: Mr Eazi - Dabebi (feat. King Promise & Maleek Berry)



Mr Eazi, Nov 12, 2018

[...]

Lyrics
Girl I want to dey your skin
Girl I wan dey your side (din dan dan di din)
You should be here with me
Me and you go dey alright (It’s your boy Eazi)

Girl I want to dey your skin
Girl I wan dey your side
You should be here with me
Me and you go dey alright

Is it a crime to gum body (Gum body o yeah yeah)
I need somebody o (Somebody o yeah yeah)
Is it a crime to gum body o (Gum boy o yeah yeah)
O mo pe anything for you baby o (Zagadat)
I suppose to be your man, I no go fall your hand
While the rain is pouring girl, I am longing for you
Baby help me understand why you never dey around
If one more night should go by, tell me what I for do ye!

Odabebi menso me Dabebi
Dabebi ooo Dabebi
Odoyewu Dabebi
Baby ooo Dabebi
Menso me Dabebi
Dabebi ooo Dabebi
Odoyewu Dabebi

Girl I want to dey your skin
Girl I wan dey your side
You should be here with me
Me and you go dey alright

O girl I want to dey your skin
Girl I wan dey your side
You should be here with me
Me and you go dey alright yeah

Give me your heart may I keep
Give me your heart make I light up
Give me your heart may I keep
Give me your heart make I light up
Maria, Soweto Maria Maria Soweto
Vanilla from Orlando
Vanilla Vanilla Orlando


I say I suppose to be your man
I no go lef your hand
While the rain is pouring girl I am longing for you (ye)

Baby help me understand why you never dey around
If one more night should go by tell me what I for do ye (din dan da di di din)

Odabebi menso me Dabebi
Dabebi ooo Dabebi
Odeyewu Dabebi o
Baby ooo Dabebi
Menso me Dabebi
Dabebi ooo Dabebi
Odoyewu Dabebi

O girl I want to dey your skin
Girl I wan dey your side
You should be here with me
Me and you go dey alright yeah

O girl I want to dey your skin
Girl I wan dey your side
You should be here with me
Me and you go dey alright (yeah)

Credits: Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade, Gregory Promise Bortey, Maleek Shoyebi, Ronald Banful, Joseph Addison & Soji
-snip-
Here's the introductory lyrics to that song as posted in that video's discussion thread:
"Another guilty beat
Came Running
Zagadat!"
-snip-
"Guilty beat" is the stage name of the Ghanaian producer of the beats for Mr. Eazi's song "Dabebi".
-snip-
Statistics as of May 25, 2020 at 9:03 AM EDT
total views-3,780,417
total likes-21K
total dislikes- 439
total comments-488
-snip-
Notice that the visualizer (cartoon) version of this song has more views than the song's official video.

****
SHOWCASE VIDEO: Mr Eazi - Dabebi (feat. King Promise & Maleek Berry)



Mr. Eazi, Premiered Dec 20, 2018
-snip-
Statistics as of May 25, 2020 at 9:38 AM EDT
total views-3,670,942
total likes-43K
total dislikes- 662
total comments-1,199

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