Big 4 Tour Successfully Ends In Atlanta

Paapa Yankson & a fan on the floor Many Ghanaians in Atlanta, GA., missed what was regarded as one of the best and most enjoyable performances by the Big 4.

The Big 4 superstars; Pat Thomas, A B Crentsil, Paapa Yankson and Jewel Ackah did what they have been blessed with over the years. Over 30 years of experience of live performances should not be underestimated.

They had performed earlier in Atlanta on Saturday, March 26th and the second show which happened to be the grand finale of the tour took place in the same city, Atlanta on April 23rd.

What is it that the performers did? They impressed the audience who in turn got their monies worth. Paapa Yankson on introducing the first performance by Jewel Ackah remarked that whether people are coming or not coming, the show is going on.

The performance was non stop as always; from Jewel to Pat to AB and to Paapa and vice versa. It was nicely choreographed and executed. On various occasions, some fans would dance with them and money would be splashing on the artistes constantly

The show was not filled to capacity but those who came had the best time of their lives. Some in the audience were disappointed that there are over 10,000 Ghanaians residing but only a handful showed up.

In an exclusive conversation with Mr. CNN, some of the Big 4, Jewel Ackah made it clear that their performance in the USA has resurrected Highlife music to its former glory with the emergence of Hiplife. Had it not been their coming to America to perform, Highlife music would be long gone.

He pointed out at the great live performances exhibited. Where can you find that? AB and Paapa agreed with Jewel that they have indeed resurrected Highlife. Their bands men too did a wonderful job and are among the best Ghana has to offer. Super Producer Georges Kouakou who plays with Burning Spear, Culture, Alpha Blondy and others was the Keyboardist.

The promoters of Big 4 concert series; Helping Hands Foundation (Mr. & Mrs Arthur) should be commended for the courage and sacrifice of putting together such an expensive and great concert with disappointing patronage from some of Ghanaian communities in the USA.

An expert advice to promoters; throughout the concert, the best places that had a great turnout were; Dallas, TX and Chicago.

Helping Hands Foundation based in Maryland that was founded by a Ghanaian couple; Mr & Mrs Sam Arthur. It has been in existence for about 5 years but has only been on a small scale. This time around, Mr.& Mrs. Arthur decided to get into the big league by promoting the Big-4 in the United States with a tour and then use 50% of net proceeds to fund the foundation.

This foundation has no specific religious affiliation, however it targeted towards Ghanaians at home who do not have access to healthcare needs e.g. prescription. The Ideology behind the fund is that "every little bit helps" In Twi it is "Ketewa bea nsua".

It may sound unheard of, especially in this day and age, but it happens every day. Imagine a mother sitting down watching her infant child die. She knows what is wrong with the child, she knows the medication to purchase but she has no money, nobody, no hope.

The child looks helplessly at the mother, with tears in the eyes ...... only a miracle can save this life. Be the conduit, be the miracle, save a life.

Most of our people die because of basic needs like healthcare. They may be able to get to Korle-Bu but may not be able to afford prescription hence they sit by and watch their loved ones die right in front of their eyes.

Helping Hands will like to do something about this. We may not be able to help everybody but we can start with one person at a time. Our aim is to invest these proceeds into the Ghanaian stock market. Set up a physician and pharmacy group that will be aware of this program and will only refer patients or families of patients who need specific prescriptions to go to participating pharmacies to get these prescriptions and at the end of each month the bill will be forwarded to the foundation bankers who will in turn use the proceeds from dividends on stock purchases to pay for this bill.

This will not keep the money working for it self but will help people see their loved ones get better. Even if we save one person that is one funeral less that we have to worry about.

For those of us abroad, this might not seem like a big deal but remember where you came from and please look back and help.