When you're one of the most successful artists
of your generation, a time comes when you need
to innovate. And just like some of his illustrious
predecessors did in their heyday, Over Again
hitmaker, Edem, says he's adding a live band to
his repertoire.
Drawing his inspiration from the likes of
Abrantie Amakye Dede, Kojo Antwi, Bessa Simons
and other highlife artists that have endowed
Ghana's rich musical history, Edem reveals that
this is a new step in his career and says he's
assembled a group of bandsmen he hopes will
take his music to the next level.
Brimming with confidence and enthusiasm,
Edem says he's more than excited about his new
project and let out a small secret that will
certainly excite his fans. "I'm also learning to
play some instruments," he says, "And I can't
wait for people to see me playing an instrument
live. It might be a piano, guitar or whatever".
Asked why he has decided to play live at this
point in his career, Edem says he feels it will
give his image a facelift, a new appeal and a new
direction.
Barring all the difficulties associated with
keeping and maintaining a live band in mind, the
Nyonuviade rapper and Dzodze native plans to
be more strategic with how he uses his band.
"It's not every show that I'll be performing live
but most of the strategic shows that are live
band oriented like Ghana Music Awards for
example. I feel that I can do better with live
band than a lot of people because I'm the best
hip-hop performer in the country, and once I
roll out and I start performing live it has to
continue. I'll try and see if I can add traditional
instruments like the local drums that I'd rap
over and take this to a totally new creative
direction."
Commenting on what different thing his band
would bring to the music scene, he said:
"Because I'm a purely hiphop artist, most of my
songs are rap songs but I want to infuse hiphop
with live band music and do it effectively.
"People shouldn't think that it's only soldiers
and highlife artists that can do live band music.
With the kind of consistency my musichas
achieved since my first album, people should
know that this is something I'm going to do on a
highly professional level."
Edem divulged that he has named the band
Volta Regime Music Group (VRMG) band and says
he wants his fans and people in general to
associate his band with his music brand like it
pertains in other countries. "In time, as an
artist, I want to be identified with my band as
pertains in other countries where some artists
can be identified with their bands. This is what
the old very classic highlife artists used to do,"
he told Showbiz.
The next plan, according to Edem, is to conquer
Africa with his band in tow. He sees the next
five years as an opportunity to grow his brand
and his band to continental renown.
"Within five years, the Edem brand is supposed
to be found on the African continent and by this
I mean visibility in Kenya, Zimbabwe, South
Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania and efforts are already
being made in that direction."
In his final words, he said he would be releasing
his new album titled Books and Rhymes very
soon and thanked fans and well wishers for
supporting his career. "And I have a lot of major
international collaborations on my album so
they should look out for it also," he said.
