Kofi Okyere-Darko (KOD), the multitalented entertainment star, has recalled the events that led him into the limelight.
After secondary school, KOD said he worked with the cultural and media icon Kwesi Kyei Darkwah (KKD) for a while in “his company called KDS”.
“KDS was an advertising company – I was a copywriter and production assistant there. Sunshine Radio started at the time. In 1997, Radio Gold had operated for a year when I joined them.”
KOD
The media star clarified he had no formal education in broadcasting but he learned hard on the job.
“If you walk with Kwesi Kyei, there’s so much to learn. Every day, every moment is a school [session] in diverse ways.”
KOD
At Radio Gold, he said he was “lucky” to have been surrounded and mentored by personalities like Kwame Sefa Kayi and Kwasi Sainti Baffoe-Bonnie who “took me as their personal project making sure I survive and succeed in the industry”.
In 1999, the fashion icon and entrepreneur noted Charterhouse started the Ghana Music Awards, engaging him as a member of their planning and selection committee.
“I’ve been on the board [since then] till about two years ago,” KOD said. All these events, he intimated would culminate in his stardom circa “1998, 1999”.
The Nineteen57 founder and president identified, also, how his dedication to the then-rising genre Hiplife, albeit controversial at Radio Gold, helped establish his name.
“I was young, and, also, when Hiplife started, some of the stations were not in support of airing the music. I remember I was suspended for two weeks for playing Rap music. Radio Gold loved and supported Highlife. They thought Hiplife and Rap were rowdy and didn’t make sense.
“I was young – my friends were Reggie Rockstone, Mark Okraku-Mantey, Lord Kenya, and when they released music I saw no reason not to promote it since I had the platform.”
KOD
said.
Assessing those years, the radio DJ and media executive expressed gladness that “before anything is established, some people have to make sacrifices,” underling his legendary role in the flourishing of the revolutionary Hiplife movement which has contributed to the world-famous Afrobeats of today.
KOD Disputes Notion of Places Gay People Are Found
Fashion icon, Kofi Okyere-Darko (KOD) disputed the notion the fashion and beauty industries harbor a lot of gay people.
According to the media star, he has heard the rumor, adding that LGBTQ people are everywhere.
“I’m sure you’ll even find, after a careful look, gay people in our own Parliament House. But for the national posture against homosexuality, we’d have seen there are gay people from all walks of life. They are in our own radio community, too.”
KOD
The Nineteen57 explained why it appears gay people are many in the entertainment industry.
“Globally, fashion and music personalities are [constantly] out there, and they are seen more frequently.”
KOD
He admitted there was “a connection” between “fashion and LGBTQ but I won’t agree it is the only place that has these individuals”. “It’s everywhere, including the church,” the former music executive emphasized.
“Growing up, we saw individuals who were – for example, we called effeminate males ‘man-woman’. We didn’t use the term gay.”
KOD
He observed now that the LGBTQ concept has become popular, people were increasingly suspicious when people of the same sex, especially men, show various forms of affection for each other including an innocent arm-around-the-neck posture during a photo opportunity.
“I have a good friend in the armed forces who is currently in Lebanon. One time, he sent me a message, saying, ‘Bro, I miss you’. I was there wondering to myself, ‘How do I [appropriately] respond to this?’”
KOD
