Alhaji K. Frimpong

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Alhaji K. Frimpong · Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim Kwame Frimpong was born in 1939 in Ofoase in the Ashanti region, in what was then the Gold Coast and later became Ghana. Under the name K. Frimpong he became a singer of highlife, the popular dance music of Ghana. His best-known song is Kyenkyen Bi Adi M'awu, released under the name K. Frimpong And His Cubano Fiestas.

Music and breakthrough

In the 1970s he recorded with two different bands whose line-ups partly overlapped. One of these was the Vis-A-Vis band from Kumasi, led by Isaac Yeboah. Their album Obi Agye Me Dofo was released in Ghana on the Probisco label and was later reissued by Makossa International. Frimpong's later albums include Abrabo from 1984 and K. Frimpong Backed by Vis-A-Vis, which appeared in 2020.

Influence

Highlife is a style of music in which African rhythms and guitar parts are combined with brass instruments and other influences from elsewhere. Frimpong used that form for songs in Twi, the language of the Ashanti. He died in Kumasi in 2005. His two sons are rappers under the names Cabum and Kofi Kapone, which shows how the music of Ghana took on a new form in the next generation.

Listening

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  Kyenkyen Bi Adi M'awu · Alhaji K. Frimpong, 1976
  Apple Music ↗

Discography

Studio albums

• 1984Abrabo
• 2020K. Frimpong Backed by Vis-A-Vis