Popular controversial hiplife artiste, Kwame Asare Obeng, who is also known in show business as A-Plus, who takes great interest in rapping about politics and social issues, has released another hit single titled ‘Ab?n B? Bom’.
A-Plus is a hiplife artiste with keen interest in politics and social issues, and he first made a name for himself singing about events leading to and after Ghana’s 2000 general elections.
His lyrics on this single are carefully thought out and the rhyme style is amazing. This single will definitely be his trademark.
Most of his songs talk about wars and poverty in Africa resulting from stinking political leadership. Some of his popular songs are ‘Agye Gon’, ‘Two Paddies’, ‘Zilo’, ‘Mansa’, ‘Asem Kese’, ‘Igwe’, among others.
The controversial artiste with over 11 political songs to his credit said his new single was composed to caution some officials of the ruling National Democratic Congress for mismanaging state resources. According to him, those (NDC) government appointees will soon account for the work which was assigned to them.
“For me, I support a government which brings development. In 2007, I was against former President Kufuor because so many things happened during his regime, but a government which recklessly spends state funds on tree planting and rearing of guinea fowls only for the citizens to be told the trees are burnt and the guinea fowls nowhere to be found must be voted out of power,” he said.
Explaining the rationale behind the song, A-Plus expressed regret at the current state of affairs, and called for the exit of the NDC, saying, “I can’t hide it since we Ghanaians pay taxes, we expect to see the country progress but that is not so for which reason this (NDC) government must go, I don’t like them.”
A-Plus released an album titled ‘Freedom of Speech I’ right before the 2000 elections in Ghana. The hit track ‘Mesuro Mpo Na Merekeka Yi O’ talked about how he was afraid of what he was saying and doing, but he would still say it in light of democracy as he lambasted politicians.
In one of his political songs, he used Dr Ephraim Amu’s ‘Yen Ara Asase Ni’ chorus.
A-Plus’ style in 2000 was new and a welcome addition to the hiplife landscape. Other than his political songs, he also has a lot of socially conscious songs, pitting him against the likes of Sidney, Obrafour and other artistes.
After J.A. Kufuor took over the mantle of power from J.J. Rawlings in 2001, he released ‘Freedom of Speech II’ in which he criticised the wrongdoings of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government and implored them to do better, lest they got voted out of power in the next election (2004).
The NPP won another term in office, but it did not prevent A-Plus from releasing ‘Agye Gon’ – analysing the 2004 campaign promises, etc.
After his most recent controversial song ‘Letter to Parliament’, which supposedly brought him death threats, he presented autographed copies of his album to the Speaker of Parliament to enable each Member of Parliament to have a personal copy.
Between 2004 and 2015, A-Plus has released a number of singles, urging Ghanaian politicians to get serious and work extra hard to meet the demands of the people who voted for them.