?Yefri Tuobodom? Shot To Fame Or Nemesis?

The story is told of how, about a decade ago, the highlife musician A.B. Crentsil was confronted by a community in northern Ghana when he went to perform there soon after he had released Atea, one of his hit songs.

The song, Atea, lashes at Akpeteshie drunkards, who, the song identifies as prominent in that part of the country.

Half-way through the very well patronised show, the audience yelled and requested A.B. Crentsil and his band to perform that insulting song, so they will have an excuse to beat him up.

If ever the hiplife “bush men”, Nkasei, venture to the Techiman District of the Brong Ahafo Region, a similar fate is likely to befall them following the release of their hit song Yefri Tuobodom.

Since that song hit the airwaves a little over two months ago, and especially within the last week, it has raised a lot of controversy.

The part of the lyrics to the song say that in days gone by, a teacher was posted from Asante to a village called Tuobodom. Once, when it was time for them to go to Kumasi to participate in ‘congress’ he decided to teach the pupils a song so that the people in Kumasi would know that they are the “gangaria, the brutal of the brutest”.

Perhaps it is the part that talks about the school children travelling on tarred road for the first time, the teacher expressing shock about seeing a television set and when he danced ‘awoyo’ in a disco and the simulation of the Brong language to the lyrics are what the Tuobodom people find objectionable.

All things aside, Yefri Tuobodom is a good song: the lyrics, well selected to match the fast-paced nature of the rhythm would catch the attention of even the less observant listener. The rhythm comes in the form of a military-style marching song and it reminds one of the rhythm that came with Batman’s Linda.

One thing that throws the rhythm out of sync is the signature of the sound engineer Apietus. Being in haste to put his name somewhere in the song, Apietus ends up putting it where it should not be and mars the flow in the process.

Another song on this album that has been receiving a lot of airplay and is gradually becoming popular is New Girl in Town. Of course this song does not come with the same controversy that Tuobodom comes with but it is also very good in its own way.

The chorus “okoro, you dey see what I dey see?......there’s a new girl in town, my paddy you dey hear what I dey?......there’s a new girl in town, she go be the sugar in my kooko, the butter in my bread....” is a very catchy one.

Featuring Alhaji Bee, the Nigerian twang that the song was made with fits perfectly with the style of Nkasei. The instrumentation is okay for the song as it flows with the rhythm and the lyrics perfectly.

The ten-track cassette album has other songs like Obiaa Ye Bad, Tsibom, Come Back, Wo Kon Do Anaa?, Ahwehwe and One Pound. Being their first independent work on their new record label, Crazy 2 Records, Nkasei could be looking at their most famous work or their worst nightmare in Yefri Tuobodom.