Slim Buster ? The Irresistible Hiplife Star And Dancer

Slim Busterr Slim Buster Slim Busterr, one of Ghana?s young hiplife musicians, has demonstrated by deed and style that at the moment he leads the chart as the most irresistible hiplife star in this country.

From his days as a dancer to his emergence on the music scene as a hiplife artiste, Slim Busterr, has remained the darling boy of most music lovers because of the romanticism he adopts to embellish his music.

Additionally, he has displayed, in no uncertain terms, that he reigns supreme among his contemporaries and he continues to make giant strides on the musical landscape.

Currently, his latest album, Marsherita has caught on well with the fans and it has also strengthened the bond he has established with his ever-increasing admirers.

Slim Busterr, born to a Krobo father from Odumase-Krobo and a Fante mum from Elmina, was named Ebenezar Asare, but his showbiz name has swallowed his real name. According to him, when he nurtured the idea of pursuing dancing as a career, his mother, a pastor, kicked against it because she did not see the wisdom in her son going into dancing which could lead him into alcoholism, drug addiction and womanising.

Slim Busterr actually started dancing at Salem Secondary School at Osu in Accra when he was in Form One. He continued when he left for Ebenezer Secondary School. He thrilled his school mates with his artistic skills, to the extent that each time there was an entertainment event in the school, he was called upon to perform the floor show.

He continued to make waves in his newly acquired hobby by representing his school in various inter-school dancing competitions. According to Slim Busterr, because of his mother?s attitude towards his desire for dancing, he normally participated in dancing competitions under an alias.

He said his full potential blossomed when in 1982, he participated in a dancing competition held at the Summer Hut Night Club at Mamprobi, Accra, where he represented Accra Academy and he won.After that memorable event, Slim Busterr was encouraged by friends to exploit the talent in him to its maximum. He toured the country in the company of other colleague dancers to entertain fans.

Unknown to him, his new found hobby was going to create a wedge between him and his God-fearing mother. ?When my mother got to know about what I was engaged in (dancing), she got angry and expelled me from her home. According to her, once I had started dancing, there was the possibility that I smoked ?wee? and engaged in other immoral acts?, he recollected.

So for six months Slim Busterr went and lived with one of his friends, Ebenezer Mensah (Slim Busterr Snr), a dancing colleague, whose mother readily welcomed him to their home. Later on, according to Slim Busterr, his mother invited him back home but he declined.

She went to her son for the second time, imploring him to return home and that if it was dancing that he was interested in, she had bought a car that could take him to wherever he had an assignment so that he could be brought back home after the competitions.

?I was touched by my mother?s words and went back home and we lived happily from then on. I was taught how to drive and drove myself and my mum?s car became more or less my personal one,? he said. According to Slim Busterr, after Form Five, he heard of a dancing competition, the Embassy Double-Do, in which the ultimate winner was to represent Ghana in a world dancing event in London.

?Initially, when I heard this news, I was a bit sceptical, but I later got to know that it was a serious event. I also learnt a friend of mine, Alex Ofori, another great dancer, had participated in the Ashanti Regional contest and had placed second,? he said.

?It was then that I realised I could make an impact if I participated in that event. I, therefore, had to cancel a programme I was expected to participate in in Kumasi and refunded all the money paid to me and rushed to Accra to register for the Greater Accra Regional event,? he added.

True to Slim Busterr?s prediction, he won the Greater Accra contest and four weeks later, he repeated the dose in the keenly contested national event. He was crowned the National Dance Champion.

However, in London, due to some circumstances beyond his control, he was unable to represent Ghana in the world contest because a former dance champion, Adjetey Sowah, then domiciled in London, had already registered as Ghana?s representative.

Dejected and down-hearted, crest-fallen Slim Busterr returned to Ghana where he met Nana Kwasi Agyeman, popularly known as Gemann, a musician currently in jail at the Nsawam Prisons. Gemann told him that his misfortune did not mean that was the end of the road and encouraged him to move on in life.

?He invited me to join him whenever he had a show. At a point, he told me I had the talent and there was the need to harness it. He taught me how to compose songs and I started doing something. Eric Bobo Jnr, also a musician, then with the Classique Handels band, also helped me to put shape to my maiden compositions,? he added.

He said his first album was released in 1989 with the title Medofo bra. Unfortunately for him, he sold just 500 copies.Slim Busterr?s second album, Mpena, was produced with the help of a friend but it did not do well. Just around the time, he said he had an invitation to participate in a show in Benin, the Michael Jackson Look Alike Competition for West Africa. He got some money from that event and used it to prepare for his relocation to London in 1990.

He pursued a diploma course in audio engineering there. On completion of the course, he started buying studio equipment with the hope of opening his own studio one day. In London, he recorded his third album, Merewa, with the help of one of his lecturers, who assisted with the programming and the mixing.

He returned to Ghana in 1998 and released the album but he discovered later that it did not conform with what pertained in the country at the time. Slim Buster realised that in order to make an impression on the Ghanaian music scene, one needed to work extra hard.

He opened his studio, Slim Busterr Recording Studio, at Darkuman Junction, Accra.

In 2000, he released Masanaba, and God being so good, it was an instant hit. He followed it with Eye Fe Keke in 2001, which featured the romantic tune, Mina. In 2002, he came out with Baby, which won the best video at the 2002 edition of the Ghana Music Awards.

Last year, he came out with a bang, the Marsherita album, which has caught on well because of its love infested lyrics. Marsherita won the best Hiplife Dance Choreograph at the recently held Royal Awards.

Apart from his own work, Slim Busterr has produced Tic Tac?s Philomena, Dasabre Dwamena?s Ahoefe, Akyeame?s Yebeda Okyena.Slim Busterr has two children, Joejoe and Shanice. He worships at the International Central Gospel Church and loves football, table tennis and comedy as his hobbies.He enjoys rice with any kind of stew or sauce.