Nhyiraba Kojo shares unforgettable experience as an underground artiste after impersonating Samini
Ghanaian rapper and businessman Nhyiraba Kojo has shared an unforgettable experience from his early days as an underground artiste when he and a friend impersonated two A-list artistes, Obrafour and Samini, and performed at an event in Sefwi in the Western Region.
He disclosed this in an interview on New York-based Adinkra Radio when he was asked by Adinkra Entertainment show host, MC Ogee, about an experience or incident that nearly caused him to end his music career.
He recounted that at the time, he lived in Takoradi and had started doing music, wearing his hair in braids just like Samini, who was then known as Batman. He said his friend also resembled Obrafour and was also pursuing music.
One day, an event organizer from Sefwi approached them and convinced them that they could impersonate Obrafour and Samini and perform at a music event for a fee.
After careful consideration, they accepted the offer, believing that, since the event was in a rural area, the residents would not realize they were not the real music stars they claimed to be.
Nhyiraba Kojo recalled that the residents doubted the event organizer’s ability to bring Samini and Obrafour, who were reigning on the music scene at the time.
He narrated: “When we arrived at the event venue, even before we could step out of the car, we heard the crowd arguing that we were not Obrafour and Samini. That’s when I realized we were in danger, so I told my friend that we should ask the event organizer to bring police officers to the venue. That way, if we were attacked, they could save us. The organizer managed to get some police officers to the venue, which gave us the confidence to get down and enter the event grounds. However, he did not tell the officers the truth—that he had brought fake artistes.”
He continued: “As we got down, we covered our heads with towels, just as Obrafour used to do. While walking through the crowd, we could hear people saying, ‘It’s not true, these are not Obrafour and Samini.’ When we got backstage, we started rehearsing and decided to go on stage with the towels still covering our heads.”
“As we were performing, one of the fans suddenly jumped onto the stage and pulled the towel off my friend’s head, exposing his identity. The crowd erupted, shouting, ‘Didn’t we say these are not Obrafour and Samini?’ The person who removed the towel was from Accra and actually knew Obrafour, so he was able to confirm that my friend was an imposter. At that point, some of the fans grabbed my friend’s leg and tried to drag him into the crowd. I quickly grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back. As the crowd surged toward the stage, I fought back, throwing punches to defend ourselves. It was a chaotic scene.”
Nhyiraba Kojo, added that the police officers at the event called for reinforcement, and additional officers swiftly arrived to restore order before he and his friend could leave.
“Even after the police transported us to the station for safety, the angry crowd followed us there, chanting war songs and vowing to attack us. It was truly a terrifying experience that I will never forget.
“When tempers finally calmed, the police said the event organizer had deceived and robbed the fans, and to maintain peace, he had to compensate them. The entire gate fee was handed over to the police, who then distributed it among the crowd,” Nhyiraba Kojo recounted.
Source: Adinkraradio.com
