By Bassist, singer, arranger, composer and producer, Eugene Nene Agyeman Cropper, widely referred to as Kenteman since the 1980s, has burst into the new year with fresh songs boldly bearing his Kentemusic stamp.
Many know him as the brother of Queen of Highlife, Asabia Cropper. He has been his sister’s mentor and the brain behind her rise in showbiz but he has always been a solid music act on his own and also a kente fashion icon alongside her over the years.
One of Kenteman’s new singles about to be released, ‘We Wear Kente Colours,’ is a bouncy, Highlife-flavoured piece. It outlines his love for kente fashion and music. Part of the lyrics in the song say:
All over the world people are asking
They want to know why we wear kente…
We wear kente colors to praise the Most High…
We play Kente music to bring people together…
You have a favorite color
And all the colors they are in kente; inside the kente
So, you are inside the kente
Everybody dey inside the kente…
The lyrics, on the whole, symbolize Kenteman’s opinion about togetherness and love of people of all nations. To him, music is a mighty force that helps unite people and solidify what makes them culturally proud.
His pride in being a Ghanaian musician and almost an addict to kente fashion goes a long way back. In The Mirror newspaper of May 4 1985, artswriter Nanabanyin Dadson stated:
“If you were quizzed about the one musician with whom the kente costume has come to be associated, you would jump to the name Eugenia Asabia Cropper.
“But just a moment. There’s a gentleman who also gives a very good portrayal of the indigenous and colourful kente of Ghana. He strums a bass guitar and is often costumed in a kente suit: trouser, vest, coat and all. His name is Eugene Nene Agyeman Cropper.”
So, a lot of folks know him as the original Kenteman who a member of the Tema-based Sweet Talks and Black Hustlers bands in was the 1970s. He worked with the Eboni Record label in Cote d’Ivoire in the early 1980s and played on some of, Mory’ Kante’s recordings when the popular Guinean star was on the Eboni label.
The management of Disco Stock International in Cote d’Ivoire assigned him to arrange and produce Asabia’s ‘Wamaya’ album in 1981. The duo worked on a lot of material together after that and won international acclaim.
One of their proudest moments was when the Union of Radio and Television Networks of Africa (URTNA) honored Kenteman as the King of Kente music and conferred the title of Cultural Ambassadors of Africa on them at the URTNA Awards ceremony in Kenya in 1993.
It has been a long journey in music for Kenteman. He is happy people acknowledge his contribution to uplifting Ghanaian and African music and his dedication to kente fashion.
