Politicians Chase Obour’s ‘Wahala’ Song

Political campaigning for the 2012 General Election will not be officially active till after another 8 months. However, Hi Newspaper can reveal that politicians linked to a top opposition party have already approached Bice Osei Kuffour a.k.a Obour for possible use of his controversial latest single, Wahala (a.k.a Where the Money Go Dey?) as propaganda song when the political battle begins.

The politician in question who is working through a middleman is widely known to be a big fan of celebrity endorsements and seeking Obour’s controversial new single which complains about ‘lack’ of money in the system, hints our source.

“In the meantime, he wants to help promote the song and later acquire the right to use it on campaign platforms”, a source close to Obour’s label, Family Tree Entertainment told Hi Newspaper on Monday evening.

This reliable source says “on Sunday, November 7, 2010 at about 1:45pm, a meeting was held at the restaurant section of Royal Richester Hotel at East Legon between a popular radio talk show host (middleman, name withheld) and a Family Tree Entertainment director simply known as N.K.(acronym).

The media personality is chasing the deal on behalf of the leader of an opposition political party. Obour would neither confirm nor deny our story when contacted on Tuesday, November 9, 2010.

Our source says the said political party, which secured a respectable votes at the last general election and has been 'in power' before, is ready to spend up to GHc48,000 on this song” our source says. N.K. hang up the phone on Hi's Jeff Turkson when we requested an interview. Obour would neither confirm nor deny our story when contacted on Tuesday, November 9, 2010. “Where is this coming from? You already know my stance on political party endorsement; personally, no amount of money can change that position.” he quips.

Last weekend when Obour was interviewed on the same subject on several radio stations including Hot FM in Accra, he said this about the motive behind the new song: “I don't see what's wrong with eliciting the feeling of the general public, globally. People in the U.S.A are facing the same problem much as in Zimbabwe or Ghana. This has nothing to do with a political party in Ghana. I'm just trying to be creative with current affairs”, he justifies.

A-Plaz, a musician big on political endorsements has this comment about our story: “Obour is a big boy and should know what's best for him. Frankly speaking, I'm not in the position to advice any artiste about endorsement and wouldn't even dare advice a musician on the use of their music by politicians”.

In ‘Wahala’, Obour is asking just almost everyone “Where the Money Go Dey”- the student, politician, banker, trotro driver, etc. “Right now money make scarce pass a virgin”, is how he starts ‘Wahala’, a song released a fortnight ago. The song was produced by Richie of Lynx Entertainment.

In a related issue, our Family Tree source says, Obour has so far recorded 9 songs and working on 6 more to choose from for his fifth solo album (sixth including collabo with A.B Crenstil), which we gather will not be due on the market till after Christmas. Two songs likely to blow your mind, our source says, are ‘Single Ladies’- a song created for people who are planning to get married soon and 'Ama', a potential hit featuring Praye's Eugene.