Obrafour

Obrafour was born in Obo Kwahu to a chorister, Gladys Agyapomaa, and Kwaku Okyere Darko. He wanted to become a lawyer but failed after his mother's death.{{Cite web |title=Obrafour, the failed lawyer; the legend hiplife artiste - MyJoyOnline.com |url=https://www.myjoyonline.com/entertainment/2015/May-29th/obrafour-the-failed-lawyer-the-legend-hiplife-artiste.php |website=MyJoyonline.}}{{Cite web |date=2019-03-19 |title=I Couldn't Go Back To School Again After I Lost My Mother- Obrafour |url=https://www.ghlinks.com.gh/i-couldnt-go-back-to-school-again-after-i-lost-my-mother-obrafour/ |access-date=2019-05-31 |website=GhLinks™ |language=en-US}} This was in 1995 after one term at St. Peter's Boys Senior High School when as he was preparing for his A levels.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} He had his basic education at New Star Preparatory School and proceeded to Abetifi Secondary before getting into St. Peter's Boys Senior High School.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2012-02-18 |title=Biography Of Obrafour |url=https://www.newsghana.com.gh/biography-of-obrafour/ |access-date=2019-11-05 |website=News Ghana |language=en-US}} As a child, he performed with his mother in church.{{Cite web |title=Obrafour |url=https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/people/person.php?ID=576 |access-date=2019-09-11 |website=GhanaWeb.}}

Obrafour has a unique style of Twi rapping and storytelling.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4q8Go919P3kC&dq=%22Obrafour%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA48|title=Hip Hop Africa: New African Music in a Globalizing World|last=Charry|first=Eric S.|date=2012|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=9780253003072|language=en}} His popular and hit debut album "Pae Mu Ka", for which he won 3 awards during the 2000 edition of Ghana Music Awards is arguably one of the best selling albums in Ghana. In May 2019, Obrafour celebrated the 20th anniversary of the "Pae mu ka" album.{{Cite web |title=Photos: Celebrities defy rains to celebrate Obrafour's 'Pae Mu Ka' @20 |url=http://www.myjoyonline.com/entertainment/2019/May-30th/photoscelebrities-defy-rains-to-celebrate-obrafours-pae-mu-ka-20.php |website=Myjoyonline.}}

His musical influence came from his mother. While in high school, he put together a quartet that sang gospel songs. Later on Quincy a friend of Obrafour's who could rap, introduced him to the art. He attended auditions and performance sessions and met Hammer who was then an amateur beat maker. Hammer facilitated a deal between Obrafour and Abraham Ohene-Djan (OM Studios) and in the latter part of 1999, Pae Mu Ka, his debut album was released. On November 9, 2019, he commemorated the 20th anniversary of the album at the 'Pae Mu Ka' concert at the Accra Intentional Conference Centre.{{Cite web |date=2019-11-10 |title=Watch The Moment Shatta Wale Jammed To Samini's Performance At Obrafuor's 'Pae Mu Ka' Concert » GhBase•com™ |url=https://www.ghbase.com/watch-the-moment-shatta-wale-jammed-to-saminis-performance-at-obrafuors-pae-mu-ka-concert/ |access-date=2019-11-11 |website=GhBase™ |language=en-US}}

In April 2023, he filed a lawsuit against Drake for sampling his 'Oye Ohene' remix on his 'Calling my Name' track without his consent. Presenting his case, Obrafour stated that an agent Of Drake reached out to him for permission to use his work and went ahead with it without his authorization. He sued for $10 million on the grounds that the song had garnered a lot of patronage on several platforms since its release.{{Cite web |last=Mensah |first=Edith |date=April 19, 2023 |title=Obrafour sues Drake for copyright infringement |url=https://www.graphic.com.gh/entertainment/showbiz-news/obrafour-sues-drake-for-copyright-infringement.html}}{{Cite web |last=Tollo |first=Nathan |date=2023-04-19 |title=Obrafour sues Canadian rapper Drake for alleged copyright infringement |url=https://3news.com/obrafour-sues-canadian-rapper-drake-for-alleged-copyright-infringement/ |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=3News. |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2023-04-19 |title=Obrafour sues Drake for $10m after rapper sampled 'Oye Ohene' without consent - MyJoyOnline.com |url=https://www.myjoyonline.com/obrafour-sues-drake-for-10m-after-rapper-sampled-oye-ohene-without-consent/ |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=MyJoyonline. |language=en-US}}

• Pae Mu Ka (1999)
• Asem Sebe (2001)
• Tofa (2005)
• Asem Beba Dabi
• Heavy (2006)
• Nte Tee Pa (2003)
• Still Strong(2018)
• Love Anthem(2018)
• Adom Bi(2019)

{{awards table}}

!Ref

|-

|rowspan="3"|2000

|Himself

|Rapperzero

|{{won}}

|rowspan="3"|

|-

|Himself

|New Artiste of the Year

|{{won}}

|-

|"Pae mu ka"

|Hiplife song of the Year

|{{won}}

{{end}}

{{awards table}}

!Ref

|-

|2004

|"Ntete Pa"

|Album of the Year

|{{won}}

|

{{end}}

{{Reflist}}

• Oduro-Frimpong, Joseph. "The Pleasure(s) of Proverb Discourse in Contemporary Popular Ghanaian Music: The Case of Obrafour’s Hiplife Songs." Being and Becoming African as a Permanent Work in Progress: Inspiration from Chinua Achebe's Proverbs, edited by Franics B. Nyamnjoh, Patrick Nwosu, and Hassan M. Yoimbom. Bamenda, Cameroon: Langaa Research and Publishing. (2021): 259-280.

{{Authority control}}

Category:Living people

Category:Ghanaian rappers

Category:1976 births

Category:People from Eastern Region (Ghana)

Category:Ghanaian hip-hop musicians

Category:Ghanaian highlife musicians

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