Atumpan

Ghanaian reggae/dancehall/hiplife artist Atumpan's The Thing (ft. Stone) was one of the biggest hits in Ghana last year, so it wasn't a huge surprise to see his name on the Ghana Music Awards' recently released list of nominees; that song got him the nominations for Most Popular Song of the Year and Afro-pop Song of the Year. - This Is Africa

DJ Edu catches up with Atumpan as he performs two tracks live in the studio. - BBC Radio 1xtra

Hiplife artiste Atumpan seems to have a penchant for stirring controversy and has done that again with his latest release titled Sisi Mu Den.

A professional teacher, he ruffled some feathers with his debut, The Thing which was regarded in several circles as replete with ‘veiled’ indecent lyrics.

Sisi Mu Den came out a few weeks ago and there are lines in the song like: If I get you I go hammer and I go make you feel my waist and power…. if we finish what we are doing, you will like it well….

Tongues are already wagging about how appropriate it is for a person supposed to be a role model to his students and other young people, to make music with such perceived lewd words.

The Wiaso Training College graduate who now teaches at the Kaneshie Technical College (Kateco), however, says rather than be condemned for Sisi Mu Den, he should rather be praised for addressing a serious issue in many marriages which people are sweeping under the carpet.

“The song basically talks about sexual dysfunction in marriages and the possible remedy. A man had problems at home because of his sexual weakness . His marriage was, however, saved after an old man had given him a potion made up of ginger, ‘pepere’ and ‘hwenteaa’(spices).

“As musicians, we owe the society a duty to talk about the issues that people sometimes find difficult to discuss openly. That’s what I’ve done with Sisi Mu Den and I don’t see any profanity about it.
- Ghanaweb

The term Hiplife may be fading (as noted in our recent article about changes in the Ghanaian urban music scene), but there's still life in the old dog and Hiplife artists are still making waves.

One such artist is Atumpan (Frank Elinam Cobbinah), known for incorporating elements of Reggae and Dancehall into his version of Hiplife. Atumpan has been making music for the past 12 years, but the release of his debut album earlier this year ramped up the attention, particularly for the single The Thing, featuring Stone (from the Hiplife duo Bradez). - This Is Africa

DREADLOCKED Hip life musician, Atumpan's insatiable desire to make it to the top of both the local and international music scene made him bide his time as an 'underground dancehallist'. Atumpan, who is christined Frank Elinam Cobbinah has been doing music for the past 12 years and has endured hard times when there was no help from a producer to push him into the limelight, he has never regretted, justifying his zeal to wait for the right time.

Now he is out with his debut album after featuring on a number of tracks with other established musicians. The 15 track album entitled Ghana gets it all features the likes of Stone of Bradez fame, Yaa Pono, Old soldja and the Ghanaian Canadian based rapper Young A.O. This album is said to be under the record label of Canada based sunset production and will be launched in May. Though Atumpan's previous mix tapes, such as, mediocrity (hold yuh riddim), bowo nsem (trigga rhythm) and currently shame (oleku riddim) made a lot of waves on radio, he had to prepare well so that he will not flop like how some rookies hit with their debut album and then go back to sleep". Listen and sing along to The Thing ft Stone da FlowKing of the Bradez

Currently Atumpan's track "The Thing" is enjoying massive airplay, and he has respect for the established stars in the industry, In his own words he said, "it is not easy but I have to commend some of the stars who have really helped me make it to the top, you know guest appearances has earned me a media buzz and I have to keep the attention but he added that he is himself and that people should stop comparing him to other people."

Atumpan uses alter egos in his song to express different reggae and dancehall styles and subject matters. His most famous and popular track 'The thing' portrays this technique. He is also a teacher by profession currently pursuing higher studies at University of Education, Winneba reading a Bachelor of Arts program in linguistics, majoring in English.

www.facebook.com/atumpanghana
- Museke African