Franklin: The man behind the scene

The success of Ghana’s music legend, Daddy Lumba, in the 21st Century as regards his “tokrom” album is remarkably attributed to the dynamic and versatile management of Franklin Wiafi Agyeman.

The 25 year-old chap is also behind the recent success of the hip-life executioner Obrafour. The native of Kwahu Obomen {a town in the Eastern region} managed to touch the heart of Daddy Lumba, on realising how he had transformed the lives of Ofori Amponsah, Buk Bak, Nana Kwame, Obrafour and others in the music industry.

The father of one got attracted into the industry just after his senior secondary school education. He enrolled at the Saint Jacob International School for his primary education and Saint Thomas junior secondary school at Abeka for his basic education. ‘In the senior secondary school I was compelled to study business management, which extremely helped me after school”. God, knowing what I wanted to do in life, linked me up with Nana Kwasi Asa Mensah, popularly known as Agiecoat ,who enlightened me on the do’s and don”ts in the industry , and how to liaise with the artists in the industry’. He later became Agiecoat’s PRO.

With Agiecoat, he later felt he could stand on his own. He then managed Nana Kwame with the song ‘menko me da’ in 2002 and ‘atia donko’ in 2003. Both songs won awards. In 2004, he managed Buk Bak with ‘kluu blofo’; a song which gained massive airplay both in Accra and Kumasi, and subsequently won multiple awards. Ofori Amponsah however got to the scene with ‘sardine’, ‘otoolege’ and later ‘rakia’ which were managed and promoted by him also; and all won awards as well.

His dream of working with a big artiste finally became a reality, when Obrafour, in 2006 came out with ‘heavy’, from his recent album which also won an award. After the music awards night, he had a call from Daddy Lumba to assist him with his ‘tokrom’ album.

Franklin, who loves listening to music, said that it is easier managing two artistes of different genres, and further added that managing Obrafour as well as Lumba would be much easier than handling Ofori Amponsah and Lumba at the same time.

According to him, being a good manager, one ought to be jovial and understanding in order to keep the trust of clients in the music industry..

Relating to a question asked about the future of the music industry, he advised that proper ,sound ,quality, and vocal quality were necessities in enhancing good quality music. ‘People not only listen to the sounds but also the lyrics. Therefore, we should be cautious in what we produce’ he said.

Franklin, who manages a group of dancers as well, told The Saturday Statesman that he keeps very close relations with his clients and that ‘managing someone is just like taking care of a child’

In his final words, he stressed that being a good manager had to do with credibility. ‘I don’t think my image is necessary, but rather, the outcome of my work.