The musical journey of Cobby Raymond to create his EP amidst coronavirus

Out of the blue Raymond Kobby Owusu Asamoah reached out to TheAfricanDream.net via Instagram, asking that we check out his music. So we did exactly as he asked and got to learn through his message that Cobby Raymond, which is his stage, name is a budding Ghanaian singer-songwriter and a former student of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) — and this dude is darn passionate about his music.

After feasting our ears on a few of his audio tracks, we concluded he had earned his interview with TheAfricanDream.net (TAD) so we scheduled a Q&A session with him that we are sure you will enjoy too. Cobby Raymond (CR) studied Forest Resource Technology at KNUST but music remains his first love, and as he revealed: “Matters regarding my career are futuristically tailored towards music but as of now, I’m rendering my national service to Ghana.“

Anyway, below are the details of how our conversation with the young genius went. Watch out for the nuggets he dropped and what he has up his sleeves for the year 2021 and ahead.

TAD: What or who is the inspiration behind what you are doing in music?

CR: Without any hesitation, Aubrey Graham Drake whom we all popularly know as Drake, the Canadian rapper, songwriter and producer has been my all-in-one inspiration before and during this musical journey. It may sound cliche though but I grew up getting a load of his music. He caused me to have a profound love and appreciation for music. Drake made me believe in the ‘Yes I can’ factor in doing what I love to do best, and that trigger is what made me believe ‘me too my time go come some if I force waaa!’

TAD: What is peculiar about what you do and how do you stand out from others?

CR: The sound of my voice is what makes me peculiar. More precisely, the rise and fall of the pitch in my voice. When I sing there is a touch of silkiness in my voice which enables me to smooth my sound and raise my pitch if I need to. The sound of my voice mirrors and conveys the tone of r&b and Afro-pop. When you listen to my track ‘The vibe’ and ‘Afrafrator‘ you are likely to recognize my innate ability to switch as well as maintain a smooth voice since they each spell out two different vibes. Invariably, that makes me versatile, and I am still working each day to perfect this control of my vocal chords.

TAD: What can people expect from you this year and what tips or advice do you have for people that already do or want to do what you’re doing?

CR: The public should anticipate me dropping my extended play (EP) record. More precisely, I will be releasing a single from my EP as I am certainly doing my ultimate best to obtain a feature from one of the best artists in Ghana that best fits this project. I really can’t wait for y’all to hear it. The advice I can give to people who want to do what I do, which is music, is for them to be ready, be creative and let your craftsmanship be top-notch if you want to reap good benefits from this industry. You must almost remember people are already out here in the game before you arrived, so your mindset should be on what you have to offer, not on imitating people or trying to beat them — just be yourself and genuine to your cause by having a clear vision and understanding of what happens besides the singing because there’s more to music than just songs and writing them.

TAD: When did you start to feel the pinch of COVID19 both as a person and musically?

CR: It did hit me when it put a halt to in-person shows and came to the reality that I could not release any songs because I couldn’t promote my music with live shows. The positive side of this was the learning experience it gave me as I realized folks in the industry were releasing to online audiences and not letting the lack of in-person shows stop them. It took some warming up to this new dynamic but I sure am a good learner and found ways in which to positively engage people to our mutual benefit — one such was randomly reaching out to TheAfricanDream.net on social media to land me this interview. Yeah, so I can say I felt the pinch when the money factor began dwindling, but I saw the opportunity to optimize my online possibilities.

TAD: Who are some of the people you have worked with or would love to work with and why them?

CR: I barely do features, but I keep an open mind so this is a work in progress for me though. That’s why I encourage you to listen to my upcoming EP which will certainly have a couple of features. I have already worked together with Cina Soul on a feature but believe there’s still room to broaden this spectrum. In the near future I will love to work with Stonebwoy, Fireboy, Sarkodie, Ice Prince and whoever finds me fitting to work with. I want to work with them because of their uniqueness and authenticity.

TAD: What was the hardest moment for you on your journey that almost made you give up and why did you stay afloat?

CR: It has to be getting someone to invest in my music. It has taken sheer tenacity for me to keep moving on. Music is expensive, the main reason why it would be awesome to have an investor who believes in your craft, but till then you must be your number one cheerleader and learn as much about the industry as you possibly can. I’m grateful for my current producer “APYA“ who is a very good and well known producer in Ghana behind lots of hits, and my Executive Producer Philip Mensah and all the crew at Ekomusic — not forgetting my family and loved ones.

TAD: How has COVID19 changed things for you and what has it also taught you that has been positive?

CR: COVID19 has changed the way I now handle business. I formerly practiced the traditional ways of handling business as opposed to doing business virtually on the Internet. It has positively taught me a lot by highlighting the grave importance of family support in times of distress, self-doubt and depression which has added to my musical prowess and experience. I urge you all to check out my video ‘The Vibe‘ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj6rCAumUUM) and find me on Twitter as cobby_raymondgh and Instagram as cobby_raymond or find me on all digital music stores.