Celebs

“I Survived Because I Dared To Be Different”- Hammer of “The Last Two” Tells It All

Published on August 20, 2013

In the first of a two-part exclusive interview, Producer Edward Osei Hammer (Hammer) of the Last Two Music Group, talks to enewsgh.com‘s Abdullai Isshak on errant musicians, career, and state of the music industry in Ghana.

“I survived Zapp Mallet, Jay Q, Appiah (Appiatus), Richie, Morris, and many others because I dared to be different,” he says.

“I believe when you produce a song too quickly, you lose that organic growth you would have otherwise achieved if you had given it time and space to grow. You have to respect the audience… that’s my secret to producing songs that survive the test of time.

“I think the audience deserve the best so I try to fine tune and make sure the song achieves its aim of either making you weep, sad, rejoice, think or dance or represent a situation in your life. The song needs to affect you and until we get to that point we are not releasing the song.

“This policy has caused problems with ‘the last two’ and many labels in the past because they have a timelines to follow and release dates push them to rush me and I have never liked that. That’s why I eventually stopped commercial production in 2007. I didn’t want people to pay me for works anymore because I couldn’t handle my schedule.”

Your thoughts on the current state of music in Ghana?

The music industry has really grown if you ask me and I am really privileged to have witnessed the growth of the industry from its inception till now . It’s amazing where it’s reached and I have hope for the future.

The revolution that happened in Ghana music is kind of the same thing that happened in the Bronx US. When cliques formed and became small units of rap groups coming out.

In Ghana we had the Lifeline Family which brought us Mensa, Jay D and Yoggi Doggi etc.. Then We had the Shaolin Munk Funk which brought the streets to its knees for the real Hip Hop. We had the Kasa Records which had Reggie Rockstone, Rab Bakari and co. there was also Nana Kings Ashanti international which produced the Saminis and the Ex Does.

We also had Jay Q’s and his boys like Buk Bak, 4X4, Castro and others. There was also The LAST Two music group which was the boys in my world. The Skillions are the most recent people to come take over the industry. We now see EL, Ball J, Jayso himself, Jay Town, and the others and there was also djs like dj black, wood man, bushke, mr gi, bolaray and duncan did their part in marketing whatever creations we possessed. And its because of them hiplife was able to go mainstream.
I think the fruit is ripe now and it’s harvesting time for us. The hard work from Reggie to Obrafuor who sacrificed for this generation to enjoy endorsement deals etc.

It’s a dance era but Hip Hop is still holding its own as artistes like M.anifest and Blitz De Ambassador classified as the conscious and Pan Africanists in the industry are actually portraying the African culture to the world. It has all the dimensions to qualify for what we can call a sustainable genre.

Our local Hip Hop which is called Hip Life has survived the test of time to the point of enjoying more air play than Hi Life. And nobody taught Hip Life could kick Hi Life off urban radio. Hi Life has toned down and made way for Hip Life because of mass appeal.

Life back then; how was it like, coming up against equally good producers?

Like I said I dared to be different; I even felt there could have been Hi Life, Hip Life, reggae and then The Last Two in terms of genres. I never saw myself as part of what was happening and I think it paid off it seperated me from the producer reign race which saw producers take turns in reigning.

It was a baton race where one producer finishes their lap and hands over the baton to the next person and I standing alone in the next lane observing and welcoming each one to their turn lol. I survived Zapp Mallet, Jay Q, Appiah (Appiatus), Richie, Morris, and many others because I dared to be different. The trending made them ran shift and handing the baton to the next hot engineer and the next.

People I respect so much now is Red Eye from 2Toff duo, Jayso, magnom, genius, Ball J, EL, Nshorna and King Of Accra. These guys are crazy producers and they will steer our music and our industry into the the next era.


	Hammer in the studio with Obrafour and Sarkodie cooking hits

After ‘The Execution Diary’, you followed it up with ‘Sounds of Our Time’. What informed that?

The boys doubled after the ‘Execution Diary’ and we wanted to put them on radio even though they had no albums, so that’s what mainly inspired it. It was done in the shortest possible time Ive ever recorded an album. After “Execution Diary”, it was less than a year before I completed ‘Sounds of Our Time’ and that wasn’t me at all. I like to live an album, I don’t like recording albums.

‘Kiss the Bride’ by Bollie, off the Sounds of Our Time compilation was a huge hit. Little has been heard of since he got that hit?
Bollie went to a concert in the UK and never came back. I am disappointed with artists who don’t see the future and after a hit they are so scared they can’t make another hit and so run into another business. To go to the UK and not come back, it means you thought there was nothing good for you down here; and mean while many are here and killing it and can even go on holidays abroad and all thanks to their music career.

After making a global hit like ‘Kiss the Bride’ I don’t see why you will be afraid to make another and another.

Like Deeba they went to shows and didn’t come back. And finally when Deeba came back and ‘times’ had left him, he tried to join the industry but couldn’t just fit into what was happening.

Once you leave the system you have to come and start over fresh. And when you go there the culture there will suppress your local style. It kills the Ghanaian-ness in you and if you don’t shake it off, you might lose all the fame and glory you built before leaving.
I admire those who leave for concerts abroad for the first time and come back and still pursue their dreams here. They know what they want in life and they know they have more to share with the people so they don’t see the US or UK as a way out of their struggles and poverty.

How do you live an album?

I start playing drum patterns, those drum patterns can stay skeleton for four weeks and when an ordeal can occur in my life and that can inspire a bass line then after two months another inspiration can trigger a trumpet and then a few chords here and there. And the artist comes to the studio and hears my story in the form of beats. I tell him what inspired the beat and he will tell me what he will like to talk about and then we start from there and all this can take eight months or less simultaneously with other songs for others. And after recording we give the vocals time to sit in well and events can inspire even the artist to come and change some lines and better them and tie some lose ends.

“I survived Zapp Mallet, Jay Q, Appiah (Appiatus), Richie, Morris, and many others because I dared to be different,” he says.
“I believe when you produce a song too quickly, you lose that organic growth you would have otherwise achieved if you had given it time and space to grow. You have to respect the audience… that’s my secret to producing songs that survive the test of time.

“this policy has caused problems with ‘the last two’ and many labels in the past because they have a timelines to follow and release dates push thwm to rush me and I have never liked that.

That’s why I eventually stopped commercial production in 2007 and stuck to grooming my own boys. I didn’t want people to pay me for works anymore because couldn’t handle my schedule.”

With my boys they are not under any schedule but mine, so they will wait no matter how long and they are always happy with the finished product.

That’s why almost all the songs were accepted one way or the other because emotions went into making the songs and since the audience also had emotions there was that common ground to relate to the works released.

What new projects are you working on now?

I only do special projects now; I am recording a song with Sarkodie about to be released about three days from now called Elijah. It’s a song we have been working on from some time now, and he had to finish his whole Sarkology album and after finishing the album he came back for us to finish this particular song. And we started working on this song before he started recording the whole Sarkology album.
He understands how I work and finally when he came in and heard what was happening to the song he said the song will be his first single off the Sarkology album.

Obrafour’s album is also coming up.. new one with Kwaw Kese and new Edem ft obrafour . Tinny is also on his way from the states to do a new one. Shatta wale is also on the bill.

What people don’t realize is that I am a big fan of my boys and that’s The Last Two secret. I was their number one fan and it’s just like a fan trying to convince you that the artist they like is the best; they will say all and do all they can just for you to get it. And I am amazed by what their is doing.

Source: Enewsgh.com