Obiaa nye obiaa .... who in Ghana hasn't heard this popular chorus which was introduced to us by the Hiplife NINJA himself, Sidney. It was the same phrase that was used to christen the just ended FIFA 2010 World Cup, a World Cup where Giants were rubbing shoulders with dwarfs, the world cup where nobody was nobody and everybody was somebody. For those of you who don't speak twi, Sidney's Obiaa nye Obiaa song simply asserts that, we are all equal. Yes, forget about social status, cash and all that, at the end of the day, we all breath the same air, ingest, digest and ejest like any other humans. The video clip for this album will probably give you a better idea of the message Sidney was trying to convey via this song:





The second song on this album is a really interesting one. If you don't know too much Twi and you just listened to it for the first time, your jaws will drop and you will be left flabbergasted. There actually has a good message behind it. It talks about how we should stand behind the leaders we voted for and support them through thick and thin. In the same way, he admonishes spouses to stand by each other ... for better for worse. The untrained ear will hear the word "Ko tii" many times in this song and mistake it for that special part of the male body when it is actually referring to a straight line of support behind our leader. Listen for yourself and ponder:

There are two love songs on the album, both of them talk about Odo Nsuo ( the water of love). Piti Odo Nsuo is a more fast paced dancing tune. Edukrom Nsuo on the other hand has a slower, more nostalgic tempo with Kofi Nti's soothing voice providing the vocals for the track. Dr. Kaunda also features on the Edukrom Nsuo track.

In addition to his two Ode's to love, Sidney also devotes two tracks on this album to children. The first one, Nkwadaa Yi features "Aletse Kangkpe" Tinny. You can summarize the song with this piece of text from the Bible "Train a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not turn away from it." The next one is a heart-felt song dedicated to Child Soldiers. Sidney starts out the song by asking us to give all child soldiers the pen and not the sword ... and that the pen is mightier than the sword." The song features King Ayisoba and is a must listen for anyone who loves his stringed instrument.

There are two remixes on Sidney's Obiaa Nye Obiaa album: Colour TV remix and Obiaa Nye Obiaa remix. The last, and perhaps most interesting full song on the album is titled "Underground". Sidney tries to go Yankee on this one and ends up with a PG-13 song and some unique results. A song is worth a thousand words so you just listen to Sidney freeing his mind and judge for yourself:

credits - George Armah