Batman Lets the New Album Out Of the Music Bag

For Richard Oguns(Ogunskele) and Urich Addy(Red Eye) who make up 2 Toff, there is more to music than most artistes in the country seem to know.

The duo, who met in the United States believe that up and coming Ghanaian musicians should conduct research so as to churn out the kind of music that will be appreciated beyond the shores of Ghana.

?A good number of them just put lyrics together and rely on sound engineers to do all the work for them with no idea of what goes into it,? said Red Eye who has since returned to the States.

The two, who were nominated in the New Hiplife Artiste category at this year?s Ghana Music Awards released their debut, Oblayo in 2003 and are out with a second called Odo Mu Nsemsem which has a good number of songs enjoying appreciable airplay.

It Go Be So is a very danceable tune which can rub shoulders with soca music anywhere on the African continent.The song is done in English, Ga and Twi. The two take turns to rap in this song. Ofri Jato is a complete rap bit done in Ga with Twi chorus which basically talks about an albino who has found his love.

Listening to the songs, one can easily deduce that the duo are quite careful with instrumentation in that, it is always carefully arranged and blends beautifully. This is not different with Minsumo Le Fe She.

The manner in which they do highlife in Meye Mobo is an indication that they have a potential of endearing themselves to many a music lover especially highlife enthusiasts. This also has a rap bit done in Ga and Twi. The lyrics in this song is that of a young man pleading with his lover not to abandon him else he will pathetic.

The tempo moves into a reggae beat with Dade Anoma. It seems anytime one hears Dade Anoma (aeroplane) then it certainly will be about a distant relationship, exactly the case with this one which is interlaced with hard-core raps. Another highlife song on the album is Mafi Odo also done in Ga and Twi.

To Oguns and RedEye, they would prefer their work to simply be identified as African music since the album is a combination of different music genres. Odo Mu Nsemsem is a Nature Works Entertainment production.

Their producer, Sam T. Doku who accompanied them to the offices of Showbiz together with their manager, Jimmy Quist was bitter about the fact that some media houses especially TV stations and some radio presenters do not contribute in promoting good music because of their selfish needs.

?Imagine a TV station taking huge sums of money to promote a music video yet dumping it somewhere after playing it only a few times,? he lamented.

Obviously upset, Mr Doku called on all to play their role in ensuring that we promote what is our own instead of giving priority to foreign artistes who do not pay yet have their video clips dominating our airwaves.

?It is only when we make it big here that we stand a good chance of having an impact on the international market,? he said.

Jimmy Quist shared in his sentiments and added that he will do all he can to put these talented artistes where they deserve to be, ?though their debut had quality songs, they could not make it because of poor management, it will be a different story this time around.?