Highlife star singer-songwriter and composer Akwaboah has explained why he cut off his locks after keeping them for “roughly four, five years”.
He said it was “not that expensive” to maintain the hairstyle but he was simply “tired”.
The singer indicated, also, the different views people held about his looks before and after he cut his hair.
“I woke up one morning – I was tired – because when you go to the salon, they had to release all the hair into an afro, and twist it one by one again. This was taking about two to three hours to do – mine wasn’t the permanent one. Already, people were also saying the kind of songs I did were calm love songs, and that locks usually go well with Dancehall and those kinds of genres.”
Akwaboah
He said he challenged this particular notion, citing international acts who kept locks and sang love songs like the British singer Maxi Priest. “I could have kept it, but when I woke up that morning and I observed I was tired, I cut it off,” the ‘Gangsta Lovin’ hitmaker emphasised.
He said the day he cut his locks off was when he learned that while people have various perceptions and expectations of others, an individual had the responsibility of resolutely living by their own philosophy and values.
He told the story of the night he publicly displayed his surprise haircut.
“I had cut my hair somewhere in December, and we had to perform at Rapperholic. They all did not know I had cut my hair till that night. When we got on stage, the lights were out, so to them, I suddenly appeared. When the light fell on me, we were opening with ‘Hold Me Down’. When they saw me, it was a new Akwaboah, with a new haircut, and everything. And I’m telling you, it was as though we were singing the national anthem in the auditorium.”
Akwaboah
“We like this, this is really nice,” he recalled people’s remarks after his performance.
“When I went to church, however, they were saying, ‘We liked the other one [locks], it was really nice’. Some friends of mine said the same. So everybody was giving me different perceptions about what they felt. However, I sat down and asked myself what I wanted to do despite people’s opinions. So I went with what I felt better with.”
Akwaboah
Akwaboah Defends Controversial Anniversary Photo
The music star explained his controversial picture, which led many to speculate about his health and marital bliss.
He noted that he was simply fatigued after travelling to play a show and hardly sleeping.
The ‘Ensesa’ hitmaker said he once went to Kwahu, Eastern Region, to play a show. He left Accra “around 8:30 AM,” getting to his destination “around 12:30 PM”. He said he played an hour’s show from 3:00 PM, and set off back to Accra from 5 PM.
“We got to Accra around 7 PM. I didn’t sleep the entire night – I played a show after a show. I rested for only an hour and woke up to go to church – you know I don’t joke about church attendance. My wife asked that we take a picture. I said I was tired, but you know women love these things, so we took one.
“When I posted this [picture] on our wedding anniversary, I was aware Ghanaians would make all sorts of comments, and so I made sure Madam was okay, so no one criticises her – I wasn’t even thinking about myself. All I saw was someone had zoomed into my tired face, and people were speaking foolishness about it like, ‘Why, is he not happy? The madam is sucking his blood’ and blah, blah, blah.”
Akwaboah
While the singer-songwriter showed visible disgust, he indicated what helped him to keep his composure during this period was remembering the economic privilege and comfort of playing a lucrative gig – compared to his trolls – which had affected his looks in the picture.
He said he had long urged his wife “even before we got married,” to be alert and not pay attention to criticisms and attacks which may come to them because of his being “an artist”.
He said his wife teased him during the controversial episode, and “we laughed together, and went to eat out. Now she knows how it works.”
Akwaboah reflected on what was causing people to constantly attack him since he tied the knot. “People throw rocks at things that shine,” he remarked.
Lamenting, he wondered if “this crab mentality” was unique to Ghana. He had more to say about how to handle cyberbullying.
“What hurts the most is when someone insults you and you go and check out their [social media] profile, their followers, and their picture – you can even tell the phone they used to take the picture. But at the end of the day, they have the effrontery to insult you. The truth hurts, but as I always say, humans will always be humans. So, sometimes, you allow them to do what they have to do, and you also do what you have to do.
“Notice that the stars need darkness to shine. It hurts, however, to look at how hard you’ve worked, and in your happy moments, you make a post, and someone comes to criticise it. It’s painful, but if you’re mentally strong like me, there’s nothing anyone can do [to move you]. When I rise in the morning, I don’t ask my critics for food. I’m self-reliant, and I discharge my responsibilities towards my entire family. So, you have the right to say whatever you want. As long as it doesn’t take food off my table, you don’t matter.”
Akwaboah
While he noted he was not pleased with any of the trolling targeting him, he said the attacks over his looks in the aforementioned picture were disturbing. “It was proof of what the proverb says, ‘The one wearing the ornate hat is resented’,” he reasoned.
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