Akwaboah has explained the marriage advice videos that got people talking in the run-up to his new album. The singer says they were a promotional push for “Work Before You Marry”, a song on Spirit, and had “nothing to do with my personal life”.
Speaking in a phone interview with GhanaWeb’s Patience Adu, reported on Friday, 13 November, he said: “There’s a song on the album called Work Before You Marry. I actually wanted to talk to people about getting into marriage when they’re not ready, thinking that when they enter, God will provide. It was just about me creating awareness.”
He also addressed the talk that followed. “Some people said my wife doesn’t take care of me and all that, but I knew they were not true. It was only for publicity for the song and to also create awareness,” he said. Pulse Ghana also reported his explanation.
Why 11/11
Spirit came out on Wednesday, 11 November, and Akwaboah says the date was deliberate. “I release my albums every two years because I need time to really promote them,” he told GhanaWeb. “This time, it’s 11 songs released on the 11th day of the 11th month because of the 11th-hour blessing.”
He added that for three or four months, whenever he checked the time on his phone, it read 11:11. The album’s title, he said, comes from “a small voice in our head that actually warns us before we take a journey or make life decisions”, which he calls the Holy Spirit.
A star-studded listening session
The album was unveiled at a listening session at Eden Hotel on 11 November, Citi Newsroom reported. Spirit features Minister OJ, Fameye, Wendy Shay, Efya, Cina Soul, Lyrical Joe and Kwesi Arthur, and Akwaboah performed songs including “Work Before You Marry”, “Officially Yours” and “Mep3” on the night. Guests included Epixode and Kwesi Official.
So far, he says, the response has been strong. “Even my friends and big bosses have been calling to tell me the album is dope and they can’t skip a single song,” he told GhanaWeb.
Did the marriage videos get you to listen to Spirit? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
