From Ghana to Nigeria: Whiskey Reminisces His Rise as King of Afrobeat, Project Underway

The new Afrobeat sensation, Osifo-Whiskey Michael, also known as Whiskey, reminisced about his road to the Nigerian music scene. He also talked about the hurdles he had to navigate in attaining success, with plans underway for his forthcoming project to thrill and spin the music world.

Whiskey is a Nigerian-born songwriter, entrepreneur, recording and performing artiste. His music career took off the ground in 2011.

Born into a family of four children as the first, the afrobeat artiste began composing songs at seven. He often sat his younger siblings down to sing to the enchanting original choruses.

Among his many pleasant moments was when he consciously couldn’t help but drool over music after an incident at age 10.

The young scholar had just been enrolled in a secondary school as a boarder. “Being the first time to live outside the home without my family,” he recounted, “I felt lonely and cried all day.

“Before assembly time the next day, I had walked into the music room when I heard a senior student, Damola, play the piano.” This beautiful coincidence was Whiskey’s ah-ah moment.

As a fresher, he had a first-hand experience of the soothing relief, comfort, healing and solace that music brought to his soul. Hence he fell head over heels in love with music.

His love for music sprang like the flower bud in the boarding house. According to Whiskey, a friend sneaked a disc-man player into school, which serenaded him until he became a captive to songs by artistes like R Kelly, Nate Dogg and Eminem.

Whiskey also narrated how he saved up money to buy music albums which were in CD forms then. “All these exciting experiences shaped my taste and interest in music more,” he admitted.

As a Central University student in Ghana, Whiskey got inspired to begin recording after he came across a coursemate “Ricky” on Campus.

“Ricky already had a record”, he chipped in. “I had just walked into campus as a foreign student when I came across him. The first day I met him, he played his song. It was at that moment everything changed about how I took music.”

That encounter was the defining moment for Whiskey. “It was then I realised that it was possible to transform all those choruses and rhymes I had written down in my music book to real recorded and produced songs.”

Swiftly, Whiskey rolled up his sleeves and got to work. “When I returned that day, I began to disturb my mother in Nigeria to send me money for my studio recordings. She was sceptical at first and worried as to how I would manage my accounting programme alongside the music.

“As always, my ever-supportive mum sent me recording funds,” he expressed cheerfully. “At my first ever studio session, I recorded three songs. It gave me my first radio plays on Hits FM, Ghana, and rapid recognition and a few shows and gigs across campus. For me, I’ll say my music career kicked off in 2012 while an accounting student in Ghana.”

By 2014, Whiskey’s first studio album titled ‘FEMININE’, an Afrocentric album influenced by his partnership with Ghanaian producers was done and dusted.

On Why Feminine, Whiskey explained how he felt deeply inspired by the opposite gender while only in his early 20s. “I named the nine-track album Feminine in dedication to the
indispensable role African women all across the globe play. It was in absolute appreciation and admiration,” he emphasised.

According to the singer-songwriter, the first album had hit singles like Mama Africa, For My Baby, and Marry Her. “It’s also getting airplay, gigs and shows.”

Although these little wins were gratifying for Whiskey, he wasn’t feeling as fulfilled as he wished; he was yet to get Nigerian fans and must remain studious to graduate from the university, a promise he made to his parents.

By 2016, Whiskey was done with his programme. He returned to Nigeria and swiftly started to associate more with Nigerian producers and managers to make a name within the Nigerian music industry.

Interestingly, by 2018 Whiskey had started working with hits, making Nigerian producers like Luush, Banell & TG Omori.

While these inspiring memories are a sweet song to his ears, Whiskey isn’t oblivious to the many hitches and glitches he faced in the music industry.

Among them are higher capital intensity working in Nigeria compared to Ghana. The difference in sound production, projections and promotions prompted him to slow down and do more networking and studying within the industry.

He also frowned at the mismanagement of artiste career funds, inflation of prices and cost by Nigerian A&R, publicity and other intermediaries in the industry.”

Another factor Whiskey held responsible was that he had no external sponsors and had to slow it up when his younger siblings got foreign admissions and had to be funded heavily by his parents.

“I felt sustained when I had my record and video with TG Omori, getting airplay across top tier channels like MTV base, HIP TV and EVEN PLANET TV,” he outlined.

After his first official video started getting airplay, Whiskey began getting Nigerian shows. “I didn’t realise I was already getting the desired progress until I started receiving messages from ex-coursemates in
Ghana via Facebook that they saw me on PLANET TV in Ghana.”

The messages were startling and eye-opening. “A lot of peers who sent me messages never really associated with me while I was in Ghana. Seeing them contacting me with joy and intending support made me realise my Nigerian journey to stardom was already in motion,” he chuckled.

Although he had no Nigerian album to his credit, Whiskey kept producing singles through it all.

By 2021, he began recording and producing his second Nigerian EP titled “FOREPLAY”. By 2022 the EP was completed. “The awe-inspiring project had hit singles like “So Bad” and “Girlfriend”.

Undoubtedly, these projects had an admirable fusion of organic African rhythms, top-notch beats, melodic tunes and elegant delivery of verses and versatile choruses.

Ultimately, the initial FOREPLAY project has amassed about half a million plays across
the various streaming platforms.

It’s 2023, and FOREPLAY 2 is now ready for promotions and seems specifically made to dominate the afrobeat charts, airplay, dance floors, wedding reception halls, clubs and all celebration grounds.

On what to expect from this new project, he emphasised, “It’s everything to me. The most mature of all my sounds; I’m older, more innovative and musically stronger and better.

“It’s like the zenith of all my craft so far. This new project is beyond a catch-up with the evolutionary trend of Afrobeats. It is more like a pacesetter.”

The five-track project underscores love-making and party vibes, dancehall flows, heartbreak, poetry, and amapiano sounds.

With this musical feat under wraps, Whiskey feels ready for his craft promotion. “I’m ready to unveil the new unbeatable Afrobeat beast,” he shared excitedly.