Do you ever get nervous about saying the wrong thing live on air? I asked her. ‘No’ came the speedy reply and I guess when you are a radio personality, you never have a reason to be, though it might be tricky.
Beena Kwabi is the host of Soul Kitchen, a mid afternoon show on the soul of the capital, Vibe fm. As the name suggests, Beena blends all spices to get the soul refreshed on all afternoons, come rain or shine. ‘Soul Kitchen’ is an ecliptic mix of great music, expressive music and romantic text messaging. Her text line is flooded with hundreds of song dedications from both teenagers and young adults. Her kitchen corner provides space for daily recipes and puzzles, a segment that goes down perfectly with her listeners.
Appearance will forever remain very illusory usually, and with weeks of acquaintance with the vibe fm on air personality, this has been vindicated. The ‘’Ghanaian Oprah’’ has over the past weeks certainly made a strong impression on me. Her no nonsense but sassy style appears to be her secret ingredient that has made her ‘Soul Kitchen’ the best, judging by the daily barrage of text messages that comes in from her loyal fan base.
Beena is herself and replicates the same studio personality in public without fear. She genuinely enjoys her show and her radio profession but if you call her Big Mama you may not live to see tomorrow. ‘‘I love radio a lot and can’t imagine not doing this for a long time. It is great and wonderful for a character like me. It comes with a lot and i am very prepared for it’’.
Believe me I would love to write a saucy article about how Beena throws diva tantrums chucks studio equipment out of windows and secretly insults her fans but I’d be lying. Sorry to disappoint you but I have no scandal, no stories of split personalities or unreasonable demands. The truth is that Beena Kwabi is just plain, loveable and a whole lot of fun to be around.
On Mondays, she is nearly breaking the windows at Vibe fm singing along to her random musical mix and sticks to her roots with songs from the African continent on Tuesdays. On a archetypal Wednesday, she is keeping up with the younger ones with RNB and Hip Hop and blesses the Thursday with some Lovers rock. She pats the listeners on the back with Funky fresh old school on Fridays.
She produces her own show and avails herself to her numerous fans who calls after the show to discuss their problems. She is great and usually on point with her advice to the callers. Her laughter is infectious making you feel welcome. Beena wouldn’t hesitate to correct some built up perceptions about her. She emphasised she might not be perfect but she has a lot of greatness in her. ‘‘I accept I am not perfect, just like any other person on the face of the earth. Anyways, I have my head up and careful about how i move my steps. I might have my weakness just like all people, but that makes me no exception, because i know my path.’’
These statements depicts how ‘’deep’’ the single mother of 6 year old twins has eventually become. She says her life is never rosy, rather lot more hectic than people think. The hard working mama admits her little ones; Valerie and Valentine are quite a handful but that she wouldn’t trade them for the world. Trained by the renowned Tommy Annan Forson, Beena has certainly made her mark in the realm of radio. ‘What I love the most about my job is the fact that I know that in some way I have helped somebody and this brings a big smile to my face.’ She has big plans to keep that smile permanent and aspires to become one of the greatest female media personalities in Ghana and beyond.
For now, GH’s radio Oprah is content with her life and everything that surrounds her. Her nose ring, as a symbol of personal freedom will always be on and you dare not ask her to take it out. As an opinionated, strong, ‘’plus size woman’’, Beena is used to her fair share of criticism and harsh words but she handles it with grace and humour. Armed with the immerse knowledge, she is the true embodiment of the term ‘keeping it real’.
Source: Queen Essie (Jive & Daily Express) A British Ghanaian Graduate
