Edem has proven that you don’t have to switch from Artiste to clergyman to speak blessings into the lives of your fans.
I downloaded this track to fulfill my age-long tradition of updating my music library with the latest Ghanaian songs; I had no hopes and wasn’t eager to play it.
Two days after downloading the track, my attention was re-drawn to it by the social media hype. I felt really stupid after I read what people were saying about the track, “I’ve had this track for two days and I ain’t even heard it” I thought as I pinched myself back to reality. With a great sense of anticipation and an itchy ear, I plugged my phone to my car as I was driven from the mall by my semi-literate driver who had no idea who Edem was. I pressed play, and for the next five minutes or so the car was in a state of pin-drop-silence; the driver’s head swayed hysterically (probably enjoying the instrumental). If the Windows were not rolled up, I may have had a bee nesting in my mouth, ‘cos my jaw dropped after the first four bars of the track.
I was amazed at how Edem assumed the role of Chief Priest on the Magnom weaved beat; he yells “hear me now” as if to prepare his congregation for the coming ministration which begins with the optimistic phrase, “January I’m ready”.
Edem begins to speak positivity into the life of the listener with a smooth patois flow, his wording makes it easy to assume he was speaking to you directly. After letting you know that he gets on his knees to pray for you and prophesying that no evil comes to you, he goes ahead to chant “January I’m ready” in a manner so infectious that I hear my driver mutter some words in the bid to join the chant.
If the second stanza was part of a sermon, the congregation will probably scream “Amen” after each line as Prophet Edem makes more solid declarations and evokes “blessings upon blessings”, he goes ahead to encourage the listener to be hardworking and prayerful.
My driver at this point had his right hand slightly lifted and jerked the car rhythmically as a frail voice came in to also intercede (in twi) against a couple of mishaps including the infamous “Dumsor Dumsor”, Poverty, broken heart and more.
The silence in the car was broken, as my driver seemed to have escaped a trance to say “Kwerh!!!!!, Jamaicafour wei ye ade3 paaa”, I was knocked into a confused stated, why would he think this track was Jamaican? Probably because Edem made a complete switch to patois . I stared at the driver for a while and just lay back and kept grooving to the vibe.
Source: Emmanuel Oscar Ugoh
