Kojo Aquai would rather be called a veteran musician than be bunched up with the “Bogga” Highlife old guard that fizzled out in the 90’s. He doesn’t even think he is a real musician because he doesn’t play with a band. But then again, in his own words Kojo will tell you there are no hard and fast rules to cook a hit record. His repertoire runs several genres deep-ranging from Jazz-Funk to Blue Grass. People are familiar with his work; at least the audience who listen in to Peace Fm’s “wo ba ada anaa” hear one of his soulful ballads ‘Anadwo fa’ the show’s signature tune. A typical artiste- Kojo usually does music for himself and waits for everybody else to catch on. He never intended to promote ‘Anadwo fa’ in Ghana but somehow the song found it’s way down here in 1987-an ever green classic that could very easily pass for a new school tune. “My music has been purely academic. I studied music and taught it in the US. What I do in the studio is an extension of theories I know. I left Ghana to teach in Texas on appointment- I later moved to New York’s Julian School of Music through to the New York University where I did my masters in music education.” Kojo quickly solidified himself as one of the most eclectic and original artiste around. With his sound rooted in soul, masterfully blends elements of jazz, funk and rock, making it almost impossible to pigeonhole the artiste into one musical genre. The man is more or less on a mission to deliver music that looks past commercialism and allows one to listen, question and find deeper meaning through the fusion of great music and high-energy performances. Eight years ago- he returned to Ghana and has since recorded seven new albums that have remained unreleased till date. His reason stems out of the thorny mess the Copyright Society has held over artists for the longest time. Kojo Aquai is part of an advocacy group pushing for proper laws on the administration and distribution of artiste royalties. “The copyright system in this country is faulty and it prevents the artists from working with the outside world. There is no structure in the so-called music industry. The people running the organization don’t seem to have a clue about copyright administration. The judiciary is not helping either; there are no lawyers interested in music, so that also makes the problem hard to get around. But it looks like there is a faction out there, bent on having their way so they will do whatever to keep musicians uninformed”. The old school capo will soon be in Norway to shoot a new video for his first release after the long hiatus. Be on the look out for another classic- soon on the music shelves. Jive