If I were Kojo Antwi I will be so proud of myself. Of course I believe he is proud of his achievements. He displayed  a bit of that at the Legends and Legacyvevent which I attended recently.

There is no doubt the name Kojo Antwi rings a bell. It stands for great music, long dreadlocked-haired man, big hits, super voice and a loverboy. Indeed no man can string such words together without knowing what love is about.

I must say that the Legends and Legacy ball is a great event and the Kojo Antwi show was very enjoyable. I believe the program has gathered more steam with a big player like telecoms giant MTN onboard.

The organizers, Imagine Advertising, must be commended for the great concept although they could have done a better job with this year’s event. The issues with seating, overcrowding, breach of protocol etc. should not have happened at all. The initial hitches with the MC’s microphone was a complete “no no” for such experienced and respectable organizers like Imagine. By the way, isn’t this trend becoming synonymous with event organization in Ghana now? In any case regardless of the hitches and initial flaws the dust settled and after the shock of the light out had waned and people had gradually gotten over their anger, the show got off to a smooth re-start. I am still wondering how the people who were standing actually managed to settle in.

I think the choice of the artistes was excellent especially the Rasta men or men in dreadlocks   who I choose to call “dreadful” men all had Kojo’s smooth voice. Kwabena Kwabena, Kwesi Pee and Noella were my best but really most of the artistes did a great job including the two surprises of the night – Akua Chinese and the Lawyer, Nana Asante Bediatuo. 

I must confess I have never been to any of Kojo Antwi’s shows but I enjoy his music whenever I get to listen. My all-time personal favorites are Medofopa and dadeanoma. Thank God that some of us Christians, are able to consume Kojo’s songs without so much guilt of listening to “worldly music” because his song are largely filtered of utterly explicit vulgar words that have characterized the songs of most local artistes.

No mention of names… I hope my Pastor would say I am right but thankfully Rev Dr. Mensah Otabil, General Overseer of ICGC, recently gave a definitive difference between “worldly music” and gospel music. According to him there is no such thing as a “worldly” or gospel rhythm, chords or notes; these musical items are generic. To paraphrase what he said, “it is therefore the words or lyrics of the song and what you do with the song, ie how you dance (suggestively) to that song that makes it worldly or otherwise”. Am not too sure I danced, but if I did, it is because Kojo Antwi’s songs are irresistible to sing or to dance to. I hope I danced appropriately though.

My impressions of Kojo Antwi? I think he is a real man. First, he acknowledged the people who made him – his fans. Secondly he proved that he doesn’t just sing those love songs, he also demonstrated that he is a great lover. Indeed the way he appreciated his wife and “splashed” her of love publicly is such a memorable thing. His songs are real - that is what I made out of it.  Again he admitted that he was not an angel and thanked his wife for putting up with him.  He pays attention to big things as well as the not very big ones. I was surprised that he remembered the fact that it was Gifty Anti and Kate Addo who first described him as the Maestro. Some people don’t remember those who have contributed to making them who they are.

So thinking about Kojo Antwi, if I were him I would not just be content with what I have achieved; I would also pray that I leave a lasting legacy that can never fade and what legacy is better than to have some of your children take after you. Well, I heard he has something in mind that will benefit the younger generation.

It is interesting to note that Kwame Nkrumah left us children some of who are politicians, I can immediately think about Samia. Then we have the famous Abedi Pele who topped my own legacy chart with three of his children playing professional football. I believe Abedi Pele has set a record in the football industry. Of course I also remember that the musician Akwaboa also has his son singing with the same name as his Dad and he was also featured during the show.

So as I sat through the show that night, the big question I asked was this? Which of Kojo’s children has taken after him or at best has the Music Man’s rich voice and creative music skills?

The children Kojo Antwi introduced on that day are cool and I am sure they felt so proud as their Dad hugged them on stage and introduced them to the world. I believe his show of love on that day will make up for all the time spent away from home in the studios or doing a tour. However, the young men I saw didn’t look like upcoming musicians. They looked more like computer wiz kids, IT professionals or future bankers. 

So my curious mind just tells me that the only hope we have in getting Kojo Antwi’s musical talent extended biologically may be hidden in the child who he stated clearly has been ‘donated’ to the Swiss government.  If we go by the equation: Kwame Nkrumah = Samia Nkrumah; Abedi Pele = Andrew Ayew, Jordan Ayew and Rahim Ayew, I would like to entreat him to start thinking again. For all we know he/she is the next Kojo Antwi or Adjoa Antwi.

Thinking through the Legends concept and concert again, I still think a lot can be done by Imagine Advertising. I can think of a hundred new business angles that could have been exploited on the day of the event and around the event.

For example Legends could have partnered an exhibition company to showcase Kojo’s life, work and personality more extensively. I can imagine an exhibition of some of his old pictures showing his earlier clothing, his headgears or bandana, his first school pictures, band, colleagues, mentors, parents, siblings, local and international tours. We could have shown pictures of his previous concerts decade by decade. In this digital age this could have been done both manually and digitally.

Can you also imagine how exciting it would have been to see effigies of the Music man and puppets similar to what he had in his Tom and Jerry song. 

Another company could have produced and sold T shirts, note books, Kojo Antwi’s Lyric books, photo book or mug, caps, Key holders, tie pins, badges etc with interesting inscriptions example  FANtastic Kojo Antwi. With support from MTN a special Kojo Antwi recharge card could be printed and sold only for the month of the event and this can be done for all the Legends every year.

Can you imagine how many people would love to take a photograph with Kojo Antwi that evening? We could have just mounted a photo studio for people to take photos with the real Kojo Antwi or an effigy of him with his autographed photos. What about mineral water served with Kojo Antwi branding.

These are my own crazy ideas but this could work. Most importantly, this would have opened business opportunities for many people. This is how the Developed World is able to create wealth and employment for their people.

The contribution of music to a country’s economy is enormous. A UK report stated an amount of £3.5bn as the economic contribution of the core UK music industry and this includes over 100,000 full time jobs.  In Ghana it has been estimated around $300m.  I believe Kojo Antwi’s contribution to Ghana’s music industry will be very significant.

So after the show the question I ask is so after being declared and celebrated a Legend what next?

Perhaps some better ideas will come out of this but until then I will say that  if I were Kojo Antwi my biggest desire will be to produce a child after my kind……. a beautiful commercial voice, creative compositions and with or without a “dreadful” hair.