Fuse ODG drops some shocking revelations on Rhythmz

Ed Sheeran’s Invitation to Ghana/Collaborations:

In case you missed out the live interview yesterday, doyen afro beats and hip pop artist Nana Richard Abiona better known as Fuse ODG, disclosed to Berla Mundi, host of Rhythms Live on Gh One TV how he made it possible for the multiple award winning English singer/song writer and record producer Ed Sheeran to visit Ghana for the first time.  According to Fuse, Ed Sheeran is huge fan of afro beats so anytime they met, he would tell him to visit his homeland, a place that inspires him to record good songs and for him to relax, eat organic Ghanaian food, have amazing fun and feel the aura of Ghana. Eventually Ed fell for the idea of visiting Ghana therefore, he messaged Fuse to find out if it was still possible for him to visit Ghana. In fact, Fuse was flabbergasted when he got the message, immediately they fixed a date to meet together in Ghana. Berla Mundi was astonished when she found out Ed Sheeran financed his travelling expenses all by himself, the only thing Fuse did was to help him get the visa to Ghana. Though Ed Sheeran was in Ghana for just a week, he had lots of extraordinary exciting moments, explored many possibilities by visiting chop bars et al and most importantly his stay was precisely coordinated with aberrant results and other celebrity friends passing through. They turned ideas into action as part of their breathtaking moments during his stay.

During Ed Sheeran’s stay in Ghana for just a week, he recorded about 8 well composed songs with Fuse ODG. Fuse elaborated on Ed’s positive mental attitude, vibes, passion and drive towards music. It would amaze you to know all the 8 songs collaboratively composed by the two giant music acts were inspired by their day to day fun moments chilling at the bar, listening to radio when driving around town, meeting new people, personal experience within the short period and host of other things. Fuse expressed his excitement about a song  he has featuring Ed Sheeran and Mugeez of R2Bees fame, he also hinted “bibiaa beye yie”  a song he has with the record producer made it to his (Ed Sheeran’s) album, adding in the already given details, he said they collaboratively wrote the song together.  He further tipped Berla about how the “bibiaa beye yie” song made it to Ed’s album, saying the English singer came to Ghana with 50 classic songs but that very single made its way to the album because Ghana has something unique and different to offer and the song comes with a different energy compared to the other songs on the album.

Fuse ODG is known to be a juggernaut promoting Africa through music, thanks to him Ed Sheeran has been exposed to the rich culture and heritage of Africa precisely Ghana. The whole point of Fuse inviting Ed Sheeran over to Ghana was help open more doors our music market in Ghana  and gain more recognition on the global market. Ed Sheeran been a veteran as he is with his large fan base and following worldwide,  whenever he performs “bibiaa beye yie” or any other song they recorded together, music lovers would be forced to know the kind of dialect he sung in, by so doing the world will be exposed to rich Ghanaians music culture and most importantly pushing our culture/heritage to the world at large.

Awards:

Fuse ODG is has countless awards and nominations under his belts locally and internationally, but the most memorable one was that of the MOBO awards when he emerged as the “Best African Artist” of the year.  This was his acceptance speech when he won the MOBO awards “I didn’t prepare anything because first of all I didn’t know I was going to win this early at the first place but  I just want to say quickly that I don’t just make music because I want to make music, I am making music to change lives, I am making music because I am proud to be African, I am making music because I want to change the perception about Africa. As Fuse ODG I don’t want to make music just for myself, I want to make music to change lives and the continent, I swear that I am ready to die for Africa and change the perception of Africa”.

He stated his displeasure about Mr. Eazi not winning “Best Africa Artist” of the year at the just ended VGMA awards that took place at the international conference center last weekend, Fuse addressed to Berla Mundi how Mr. Eazi has been working very hard for so long and very consistent representing Ghana globally and not just making music as a Nigerian representing Ghana but he believes God has plans for everybody. He questioned the VGMA board as the criteria been used to vote nominees as winners for various categories.

To Fuse, awards are not the measurement of success, but the journey and the lives one has affected throughout the journey and he personally thinks much focus should be pointed at the music rather than awards because awards are to materialistic yet when people deserve awards he does congratulate them for their efforts been recognized. He does not work for awards but he uses the platform to speak to the world and see how he can help change the perception about Africa. Moving forward explained why he boycotted BET awards when he was nominated; in his statements he said he does not understand why the awards were been given to Africans backstage  and not on the main stage because any act who makes it to the nomination list worked as hard as any other nominee in America and across the world. He was also positive about awards like BET changing their way of celebrating Africans which he ended up making some shocking revelations that it is either the award organizers appreciate and respect their efforts as Africans or they come to them for award shows.
Upcoming Projects:

He is working on releasing his new album this year, built a primary school for deprived children at Akosombo and also building a secondary school as well, host a festival in Ghana. He is also working on NANA DOLLS, a project to celebrate historic African women like Yaa Asantewaa  and other women from Africa who have added up to its history. The main idea behind the project is to inspirit children especially the girl child about the history of Africa and they were actually born to be queens. Fuse is  known for championing the course of promoting our culture/heritage (Africa) through music, he is currently promoting “dairy” featuring Nigerian music diva Tiwa Savage.

(Written by; John Claude Tamakloe)

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