Clement Afreh in Conversation with Kwame Nkrumah, the Maestro Producer behind Diana Hamilton’s ‘The Doing Of The Lord’ Featuring Mercy Chinwo

I, Clement Afreh CEO of “CBCInc Hypes” had an interview with Kwame Nkrumah the producer who worked on Diana Hamilton’s latest project, “The Doing Of The Lord” featuring Mercy Chinwo from Nigeria. He was very welcoming and we had a good chat on the newly released project which is already Number 1 on the YouTube trends.

This was how the interview went. Enjoy

Question 1 : Good morning sir. I have heard your name many times in the music circles from my colleague musicians/instrumentalists and artistes in Kumasi where I’m based and at large. So can you tell us directly, who is KWAME NKRUMAH? And where are you based? Where do you church/serve?

Answer:  Kwame Nkrumah is a Ghanaian based in South Africa, a music producer, mix and mastering engineer. When I’m in Ghana, I fellowship with Gracefields Chapel, and when in SA, I worship with Elev8 Church.

Question 2: That is great to note. How long have you been into music production?

Answer: I started this when I was in high school. That was around 2000-2002. I did this during the school holidays. But full time, I started when I was done with school. That is from 2002 to date, about 22years now.

Question 3. Wow high school. That is impressive. So in this 22 year time frame which gospel artistes have you worked with? and their songs you worked on?

Answer: Ok to mention a few, I have worked with Akesse Brempong (Crazy Love, God is working), Kwaku Gyasi (Ayeyi), Oware Junior (Hallelujah Nyame, Waky3 me ade3), Eben (No one like you ft Nathaniel Bassey). I have been doing this for the past 22 years and I have worked with many people that I can’t remember.

Question 4. You have really done amazing. On a Facebook post I made concerning you producing Diana’s new song, many people contributed and I got this list of other artistes: OJ, Adaora, Peter Tobe, Deborah Lukalu, Elev8 Church Music (His church in SA), One Voice, Atta Boafo.

Can you share 1 or 2 exciting or pivotal stories in your musical journey?

Answer: One of the things that has really helped me in my journey is that fact that I am very perseverant when I set my mind to do something. You know we did not go into any formal education for this. When I started out, I got the help of some people, the likes of Daniel Bassey who mentored me and held my hand when I was young. He saw me as a very young talent and took me in. And that opportunity open that door to get into the circles. He also introduced me to certain people he was working with, which was also a very good opportunity for me. So being perseverant is what has brought me this far.

Question 5. Shout-outs to the legend Daniel Bassey of Bassey Mix here in Oseikrom. He has paid his dues in the gospel music scene. Let’s talk about this project with Diana Hamilton. How did it all begin?

Answer: I went for an event and happened to meet with her there. And as we conversed, she revealed that she had started recording a new project, and she wanted to do a song with me. Obviously we exchanged contacts she called a day or two afterwards and she sent me a voice note of the song and we talked about how she is hearing the music. Usually I want to hear the artiste’s opinion. Though we are the producers, most of the time they get the song and they have an idea of how they want the song to sound like. So I produced the first phase, and sent it to her and she liked it. I did a few corrections, brought in the live instruments to play and then did backing vocals. After that she came in to record her part.

Initially Mercy Chinwo was not part of the song, it was later that she brought her onboard and I think that was a great Idea.

Question 6. Yeah, I agree. That was a superb idea to get Mercy onboard. In my opinion that has given the song a much global appeal. So is this your first time working with Diana?

Answer: Oh no. This is not the first time I have worked with Diana. She used to work with Francis Agyei and some other artistes as a feature back in the day. But from the time she decided to go solo as an artiste, I did her first demo work with her. That is a long time ago (2005-2007).

Question 7. I noticed in your post on IG that the BVs were not the usual BVs we know who work with Diana Hamilton. These BVs are equally amazing. I have known them for a while as part of Oti’s crew. How did you settle on these BVs?

Answer: Sister Diana with her team wanted to hand over the project to me to see what I will come up with.  I knew that she had people she worked with, but they said “No we want you to choose your own musicians and all”. So with this one they just gave me the go ahead, and that is how come I worked with the team from Created To Worship, (Moses, Akua Nyame and Cecilia Annor) and they delivered. That is not the only project I have worked on with them through Oti (DennySarp). For my short stay in Ghana, they are the ones I work with. Anytime I need BVs to be done, I work with them through Oti. We do it in his studio. So that’s how come I worked with the guys from Kumasi.

Question 8. I was particularly happy to see Osei Poku on bass. Sir Kwame how did you settle on the musicians for this production?

Answer: So with the musicians, I have known Osei Poku for a very long time. I have worked with him on some projects even before I left for SA in 2014. But we haven’t worked together in a long time. But when I came back however, I heard his play again when I was working on Akesse’s project, and I was like mehn, I need to hook up with him again. So I did and he worked on this project.

With Guitars I worked with Owuraku. I worked with him even while in South Africa. I would send songs to him to work on. He is a very talented and creative guitarist.

There was a strings orchestra section in the song that was done by another producer friend of mine called Kweku @quekustix, a Ghanaian based in South Africa. I just wanted to hear something different and I got him on board.

Question 9. And It really came together so well. Now lets talk about the lead singers. How was it like working with Diana and Mercy Chinwo? Were there any challenges? Any fond memories?

Answer: Working with Diana was a breeze. She has been doing this for a long time. So it was not difficult to come to a basic direction and understanding for the whole music. I remember the day she did her vocals. She spent about an hour and she was done. With Mercy, she recorded her vocals from Nigeria. So it was mainly communication and she sent her vocals. They directed her and with communication with Diana they just knew how to go about it. Like I said she was not originally part of the song, so later we just had to take some of Diana’ parts out so Mercy could jump in and do her lines and it really brightened up the song.

Question 10. Wow amazing, I thought that they did it together on the same day. Cos the synergy was so up there. Wow. I duff my hat to you and all those who worked on this masterpiece. Well last but one question. How can others reach you to work on their productions? I hope you are not too expensive oo. hahaha.

Answer: You can reach me on my Instagram handles @kwame_em and on Facebook @Kwame keys. My rates are cool. hahaha.

Question 11. Lol Very cool. Ok. Your final words about this project as we wrap up this interview.

Answer: I was very excited to be working with Diana and the whole team including Uncle Charles, King David. The musicians that I worked with helped to bring out the beauty of the song. I hope and pray that everyone who listens to this song will be blessed.

Conclusion: Thank you so much sir Kwame Nkrumah. It was nice having this conversation with you. God bless you for pouring out of your skill and expertise and soul into this song to communicate musically, what Diana and Mercy sang from their hearts.

And to my cherished readers, I pray that you go and stream the song and watch the video and be blessed. Stay tuned for the next publication.

Source: Clement Afreh (His Vessel)

Written and published by: Clement Afreh CBCInc Hypes @clementafreh