Hiplife musician Emmanuel Botwe, also known as Kwaw Kese, has revealed that thoughts about his time in prison gives him strength.
According to him, spending time in prison compounded by losing his manager months before that was the worst experience an artiste could endure in a single year.
He noted that in 2014, his manager Fennec Okyere was murdered, his wife divorced him and he was also incarcerated.
“With all these happening to me in a year and I still kept on doing me. I consider myself to be the strongest musician in Africa because it’s not easy and I thank God for that because we’ve heard of other people’s stories and they couldn’t continue,’’ he said in an interview with KMJ on Daybreak Hitz on Hitz FM.
According to Kwaw Kese, he is no more a boy but a man because he has faced a lot of challenges in life and he has to keep his resolve and be responsible.
He urged that people should not expect the old Kwaw Kese because things have changed for the better.
When asked how he sees Ghanaian music now, the king of the streets affirmed that nowadays, deejays, who play a lot of foreign songs, expect Ghanaian artistes to pay them money before they play their songs.
“A lot of deejays are now artiste managers and they play songs of their artistes so the game has now changed. I am thinking of being a deejay myself so I can also play my own songs but aside that Ghanaian music is doing well,’’ he explained.
Touching on the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) and what it has done for musicians, the rapper believes the President of the Union, Bice Osei Kuffour (Obour) is a disappointment to all musicians.
He noted that since Obour assumed office, he has never taken any relevant decision to the benefit of musicians.
“Seeing my brother occupying such position I thought we were going to have something good from Obour but he has disappointed us. To me, I don’t see Obour as my president,” he explained.
According to the ‘Man Insane’, Obour has been the president for the (MUSIGA) for almost eight years and has not done any face-lift to the Union’s office.
“Obour has never painted the place, doors are rusted and he has rented the place out to a church but we thought he was going to maintain the place,’’ he added.
King of the street, who also spoke about the Ghana Music Awards, noted that he is not going to be part of this year’s awards because he hasn’t submitted his works.
He added that he is not interested in getting plagues but rather making more money to take care of my family and also invest in his brand.
“If VGMA gives you the recognition and you don’t work yourself to the top, you will not make money. When Stonebwoy won Artiste of the Year, he went all the way to win BET but when EL won Artiste of the Year did he win BET?’’ he asked.
The rapper added that one can attain all the awards in the world but if you do not work yourself out, you never make it.
As a father, he noted, he isn’t interested in making music to get plaques but rather making music to get more money to pay school fees.