Hiplife is a Ghanaian musical style that fuses Ghanaian culture and hip-hop. Recorded primarily in Ghanaian languages, hiplife rapidly gained popularity in the 2010s throughout West Africa and abroad, especially in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Germany.
Michael Elliot Kwabena Okyere Darko popularly known as Obrafour, other names include Rap Executioner and Rap Sofo is a Ghanaian hiplife musician and rapper. Obrafour has a unique style of Twi rapping and storytelling.
He debuted in the Ghana Music Industry with a popular and hit album named “Pae mu ka“, for which he won 3 awards during the 2000 edition of the Ghana Music Awards.
The ‘Pae mu ka’ album was labelled as one of the best-selling albums nationwide.
His love for music came and was influenced by his mother. While in high school, he put together a quartet that sang gospel songs.
In the process, Quincy, a friend of Obrafour’s who could rap, introduced him to the art. He attended auditions and performance sessions and met Edward Nana Poku Osei popularly known as Hammer, an amateur beatmaker by then.
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 monumentalized the 20th anniversary of the album at the ‘Pae Mu Ka’ concert at the Accra Intentional Conference Centre.
The 2000 Edition of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards was the second after its launching in 1999. Obrafuor won himself the rapper of the Year, the New Artist of the Year and the Hiplife song of the Year with “Pae mu ka” that same year.
However, Daddy Lumba won the artiste of the year for that edition of the awards.
The hiplife legend did not bypass the hand that fed him and made him what he was then. In another first, he came out with a maxi-single album that reflected the love and influence of his mother while praising and underlying the importance of mothers all over.
Featuring Tic Tac and Yoggi Doggi on a remix, he released his ‘Maame’ single in 2002. To this day, “Maame” is a Ghanaian music favourite that rules the airwaves each Mother’s Day. The album also had a song he did together with Tic Tac for Ashfoam which was very successful.