X-Doe Bounces Back

HIPLIFE bad boy X-Doe, real name Richard Kwasi Siaw Akrofi, is back after a decade and he is “mocking” and “laughing” at Rap Doctor Okyeame Kwame and Ghana’s Rap ‘Sofuo’, Obrafuor, with his new single titled ‘Moho ye me sri’, to wit ‘You look funny’, which features Joe Frazier.

X-Doe, who has not released an album for almost a decade, says: “I have sat back quietly, looking at what is going on and I think there are a lot of funny things around.

I realized that some hiplife artistes like Okyeame Kwame and Obrafour are ‘dissing’ or battling each other and it is becoming the new trend now, but we started this way back in the 90s.”

X, who released the first ever hiplife ‘diss’ song ‘Maba’, attacking fellow rappers Chicago, Reggie Rockstone and others in 1999 and triggered a reply titled ‘Wobeko’ from Chicago, said they have gone through the same thing long ago and at the end, it didn’t do them any good.

“Chicago and I did it before and we have our regrets. I think ‘dissing’ is not healthy for the industry.

It brings division and rivalry amongst artistes,” he emphasized, adding that there are some commercial benefits that come with dissing but it only lasts for a short time. X-Doe released his first album and the first Ewe hiplife song ‘Daavi Medekuku’ in 1996.

The controversial ‘Maba’ in 1998 was his second album while his third ‘Gogo oho’ was in 2000. Just when hiplife was gaining grounds, he left Ghana for Canada in 2000 to experience a change of environment and learn more about how music is done in other parts of the world.

In Canada, he stayed in Montréal and Toronto. He also moved intermittently to the United States for holidays and to witness live performances from big shots like Elephant Man, P. Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Jay Z and several others. He returned to Ghana in 2005 and to his surprise, things had changed drastically.

“The music scene has now become very competitive and interesting, but I think there are too many fake rappers in the system,” the artiste stated.

Since his return, he has featured on songs like ‘Beware of Dogs’ by Tic Tac, ‘Fa me’ by Adam, ‘Obolo’ by Nasty Tay, ‘Akroma’ by Nana King and a host of others.

He also went into television to host a segment called ‘Street Joke’ as part of a TV market programme, ‘Hello Ghana’ which was aired on TV3.

After ten years of hibernation, X-Doe is set to release his fourth album titled ‘X-Bition’. He described the album as a matured one and a reflection of his experience over the past years.

The album, to be released on the Orphycial Trybe Record Label, features artistes such as Joe Fraizer, Samini, Kwaw Kesse, Reggie Zippy and others.

The album has hiplife, highlife, reggae, dance hall and other music genres to appeal to their respective audience.

The father of two kids, Dillmond Kwateng Siaw, 11, and Deshana Siaw Akrofi, 9, said this album is his real come-back. He also disclosed that he is going to champion a project he calls ‘Keep Ghana Clean and Green’. “It is all about planting more trees anywhere possible and keeping the country very clean and free of filth. We should do backyard gardens and stop cutting trees,” he concluded.