What set Obrafour apart in history and among his mates was “he was first to bring the proverbs and culture of the palace into [rap] music and make it popular,” Fred Kyei Mensah has observed.

He spoke to Prince Benjamin (PB) on Accra 100.5 FM’s Entertainment Capital, Saturday, April 6, 2024.

“Note that his name Obrafour – meaning executioner – calls back to the palace,” the legendary music producer added.

Critiquing the Obrafour’s catalogue, however, Fred Kyei Mensah noticed “a number of his songs seemed to sound the same in structure and in other respects, although it’s normal”.

While Obrafour utilised the “wisdom of the elders,” the new crop of musicians come with more: “childish fun, the wisdom of the elders, and other things mixed together. The mixture is scary”.

He said a time will come, “even though the new artistes pay much respect to Obrafour and Sarkodie,” they will take over, as is the natural progression of life and also due to their advancement in music.

Fred Kyei Mensah explained by noting how he undoubtedly was once a force to be reckoned with and still had “the experience but I’m not the best” among sound engineers “in certain areas” today.

For instance, he admitted record producer Sha “will beat me a hundred per cent if you ask us both to play the keyboard live but I may beat him in overall experience and perhaps mixing”.

“I’ve trained many producers including Appietus and Jay Q and judging from my age, I can never create the number of hits they have,” he buttressed. “My solace is, at least, they came from my stock.”

“They beat me in some key areas because a servant can become a matter,” he said.

Circling back to his original thought, he said: “Obrafour and Sarkodie are reigning, as they deserve, but they should prepare for the likes of Amerado, Strongman, [and others] – they are dangerous – they are going to take over whether they like it or not. That’s how the system is.”

No one rules forever, he noted, recalling how his iconic Fredyma Studios, now located at Pokuase, used to be flooded with clients from the music and advertisement industries but times have changed.

Advocating self-awareness and humility, he tipped his hat to sound engineers “I respect a lot – Sami Helwani and Zapp Mallet”.

“Zapp plays all instruments, he mixes, sings, and does multiple other things. On the other hand, Sami Helwani has profound experience for live music recordings for stadiums, etc. I know how to do it but he beats me in that area. Everyone has their strengths. I mean, Sami doesn’t play instruments, I do. So I’d certainly have the upper hand there but when it comes to live productions, I salute Sami Helwani, and that’s how the job is. So Obrafour and Sarkodie should watch out, not just for Amerado, Strongman and the others but even for kids who are now trying to find their feet,” the award-winning entertainment pundit concluded.