Onaapo: The song that gets every Ghanaian dancing
It is normal for most political parties in Ghana to have campaign songs during elections but the official political campaign song for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), in the December 7, general election went viral and it’s arguably the most popular song in Ghana now.
The song is titled “Onaapo” in the Ga language which means “you won’t even get.”
Although, the NDC was thoroughly defeated in the election, the party’s official campaign song is becoming even more popular.
The song which was meant for the NDC party was adopted and adapted by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), after its leader Nana Akufo-Addo won unprecedentedly by a margin of over one million votes to celebrate their triumph.
The “onaapo” song was the main song used at various NPP celebration parties across the country both to celebrate the NPP’s victory and at the same time to mock the NDC for losing the elections.
The Jama version of “Onaapo” was uploaded on YouTube on November 13, 2016 and already has 170,019 views.
There is also the NPP version of the song by Barima Sidney titled “Time Aso” uploaded on YouTube on December 9,2016 two days after the election with over two hundred thousand views.
Nacee also recorded a gospel version of the song.
Controversy: Who owns the song?
Now with the songs’ massive hits, controversies as to who originally owns the song set in.
Some said Dee Aja, the man whose face appears in the music video and also performed the song at various events was the owner.
Others claimed Nacee, one of the best Ghanaian gospel and record producers was the owner.
The controversy was cleared when Nacee revealed in an interview on a local radio station that he was contracted by the NDC to produce an album for the party’s campaign and that the “Jama” version of “Onaapo” was the last track of the album with seven tracks.
“I was contracted to produce an album, five documentaries and four videos for the party’s campaign. After producing all the tracks I realized that I needed to add one track with fast-paced danceable tune to get people dancing so I picked bits and pieces of all the songs on the album and produced the jama version of “Onaapo”
He said although he wrote and produced the song, he involved Dee Aja who is under training to be part of the song to give him the needed exposure as an upcoming artist.
Dee Aja also confirmed in a separate interview on another radio station that Nacee is the brain behind the song.
Tellingly, the title of the Song “Onaapo” has gone viral on social media with most Ghanaians on social media using it as a hash tag on their Facebook posts either on matters related to the elections or other issues.
It is also being used as slogans by pastors and some church leaders and there was also a video with 40.428 views on YouTube circulating on the Internet where the congregation were allegedly dancing to the song.
Catapult to fame
In an interview, Dee Aja said “Somehow I knew the future of the song because of the potential of the one who wrote and produced it (Nacee),” but was quick to add that, “It was surprising how far it has gone.”
He further said that although the NDC party lost the elections, the song is bringing Ghanaians together irrespective of who lost or won.
He also said that not in his wildest dreams had he imagined standing side by side with the immediate past president John Mahama but this song made it possible when he was invited to perform at the annual Ovation Carols Night in Nigeria.
Dee Aja has been invited to perform at various functions.
Tipped for the VGMA’s
The song is used at various events such as naming ceremonies, weddings and parties. Whenever it starts playing people start dancing to its electrifying and rhythmic tune irrespective of their age and where they are.
Some entertainment analysts and some members of the public have tipped the song to win the most popular song of the year in the upcoming Vodafone Ghana Music Awards later this year.
By Pamela 0fori-Boateng
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