TWO FRONTLINE NAVRONGO MUSICIANS SMOKE PEACE-PIPE 15TH SEPT., 2019

In Ghana, many are of the view that a musician could only make it and be relevant if that musician moves into and settles in Accra, the national capital.  Yet still, many more others also hold the thinking that, lyrical warfare between and among musicians otherwise known as “beefing”, helps to market oneself. 

Rap Naygar & Aphaska bond before the Navro Pio

However, this beefing thing gets out of hand when it tears friends apart and beats the war drums among numerous fans of the musicians doing the beef. It even gets worse, when the beefing artistes descend so low into personal attacks and the revelations of things hitherto only known privately or kept within close associates. 

Unfortunately, such was the level of beef between some two fore-most and fast-rising musicians from the Navrongo township in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality of the Upper East Region. The two known widely by their showbiz names, Rap Naygar and Aphaska both draw huge followings and fan bases in the area and they cause massive attendance at events whenever they were on the bill.

Aphaska is a known solo artiste while Rap Naygar is in a duo with his big brother, Alozo as they are together as Dope Natural Drums [or simply, DND] and run a popular facebook page christened, Dope Guys Empire with good following. Aphaska on the other hand, is a lone soldier conquering the musical landscape all by his singular efforts. 

Rap Naygar of DND Group

Aphaska has played a number of shows in locations across Accra and he had the chance to feature sound engineer, Magnom on one of his hit singles titled Jealousy which enjoyed lots of airplay especially, down south of Ghana and was also on the DJs’ playlist at major events. Aphaska again, released a hot single dubbed Zongo Soobo and featured the evergreen, Rashid Metal on it. He mostly does the dancehall genre of music but raps as well. 

Meanwhile the DND group and for that matter, Rap Naygar is a known hiplifer, a rapper with a supper tongue-twisting talent of fusing his native language Kassem with English, Dagari and Wali – both languages from the Upper West Region, where did his university education a few years ago. Rap Naygar and his brother, Alozo have also graced countless shows within the Kassena-Nankana area with their very last big event, being the one they organised in the Chiana  township on 26^th July, 2019 to formally open a medical laboratory they had set up in the area.

DND had also done some collaborations with Michael Adangba [whose song “Banga W3” is the official signature tune for TV3’s Ghana’s Most Beautiful event] in the past and most recently, with Yaa Pono, G. Kliff and Macassio among others. Some of their hit songs include Court Case, Rap Custodian, Bibira, Bazugley Dance and so on.

The DND duo in recent times, has also become the number one Ghanaian musician that event organisers in near-by Burkina Faso always invited to inject the needed dose of showmanship in their musical concerts and other showbiz events. It will be recalled that on New Year Day, 2019, DND alongside the group’s friend and brother, Blac W., another Kassem rapper [though on a low key], were ushered into Po in Burkina Faso for a big-bang performance at the album launch of a big music star in that country known as Joodal. After this, came show after show for the two DND brothers across communities in Burkina Faso. 

WHAT CAUSED THE BEEF/ “WAR”

According to close friends of Aphaska and Rap Naygar, the once “beautiful couple” in the Navrongo music industry and as per their own uncountable facebook posts during their beefing period, the bad blood was resulted from many issues and egos among these, being who was the originator, the founder or CEO or whatever of the showbiz movement known as Free Your Mind Entertainment [FYME]. We are told that, some level-head friends and family members of the two had advised them to squash the beef or “war” and also, to end their facebook attacks and counter attacks, but that was never to be as their banter was like a piece of ever-blazing fire lying deep down under a heap of ashes.

The Man, Aphaska

No doubt, DND Rap Naygar and Aphaska are both talented artistes. Both artistes have been in the music industry for a decade or more and have since been entertaining their fans with good music but with all the talent and prospects in these young men, both still remain underground attributable to many reasons including lack of platforms, lack of sponsorship and no proper management to spur them on.

EFFORTS TO SETTLE THE TWO MUSICIANS

Having followed the ongoing fracas, owner of the Xtacy Entertainment Centre in Nayagenia, also in the Navrongo area, planned to reunite Aphaska and Rap Naygar, at the climax of an event dubbed Ntown Music Battle but on two occasions, the show was postponed. The first date of August 24, 2019, was rained off while the second, 31^st August, 2019 was also called off resulting from power outage in the enclave.

Eventually, this event came off on the night of 1^st September, 2019 but instead of the peaceful reunion and amicable settlement for Aphaska and Rap Naygar, things took a whole different twist. Instead of a clean lyrical battle between the two biggest artistes in Navrongo, these two guys rather decided to copy the acts of Bukom Banku and Ayittey Powers on stage. It therefore took the quick action by the Navrongo Police to tame the situation as they whisked away Rap Naygar and Aphaska to where they belonged at that point in time – the Navrongo Police cells. Information gathered indicated, the two spent about half an hour in their new “home” before they were released.

On the 3^rd day of September, 2019, exactly two days from the clash at the Nayegnia event, Paramount Chief of the Navrongo Traditional Area, Pe Dennis Asagepare Aneakwoa Adda got wind of the ugly incident and immediately, summoned Rap Naygar and Aphaska to his palace. He noted that, such acts were unbefitting of his subjects and charged the two boys stop the nuisance with immediate effect. He also observed that, as musicians trying to attract people to support and help their game, it was counter-productive to engage in personal and physical attacks on one another as that will rather deter those wishing to invest in Navrongo’s music industry.

Pe Asagepare entreated the two musicians and their other peers in the Kassena-Nankana area, to preach peace, oneness and developmental issues in their music.