Kofi Okyere-Darko (KOD), the multitalented entertainment star has recalled the events that led him into the limelight.
He spoke to Nana Romeo on Accra 100.5 FM’s Ayekoo Ayekoo.
After secondary school, KOD said he worked with the cultural and media icon Kwesi Kyei Darkwah (KKD) for a while in “his company called KDS”.
“KDS was an advertising company – I was a copywriter and production assistant there,” he explained, footnoting: “Sunshine Radio started at the time.”
“In 1997, Radio Gold had operated for a year when I joined them,” the media star continued.
He clarified he had no formal education in broadcasting but “learned hard on the job”.
Also, he noted, “if you walk with Kwesi Kyei, there’s so much to learn. Every day, every moment is a school [session] in diverse ways”.
At Radio Gold, he said he was “lucky” to have been surrounded and mentored by personalities like Kwame Sefa Kayi and Kwasi Sainti Baffoe-Bonnie who “took me as their personal project making sure I survive and succeed in the industry”.
In 1999, the fashion icon and entrepreneur noted Charterhouse started the Ghana Music Awards, engaging him as a member on their planning and selection committee.
“I’ve been on the board [since then] till about two years ago,” KOD said.
All these events, he intimated would culminate in his stardom circa “1998, 1999”.
The Nineteen57 founder and president also identified how his dedication to the then-rising genre Hiplife, albeit controversial at Radio Gold, helped establish his name.
“I was young, and, also, when Hiplife started, some of the stations did not support airing the music. I remember I was suspended for two weeks for playing Rap music. Radio Gold loved and supported Highlife. They thought Hiplife and Rap were rowdy and didn’t make sense,” the radio DJ and media executive said.
“I was young – my friends were Reggie Rockstone, Mark Okraku-Mantey, Lord Kenya, and when they released music I saw no reason not to promote it since I had the platform.”
Assessing those years, KOD expressed gladness that “before anything is established, some people have to make sacrifices” – underling his legendary role in the flourishing of the revolutionary Hiplife movement which has contributed to the world-famous Afrobeats of today.
