CUE : THE PHOENIX AMONGST THE FLAMES

“If he’s getting cake, either I bake Or m3 order bi” – Ko-Jo Cue

You can’t skip the process. For Ko-Jo Cue, Ghana’s verse virtuoso, the journey has been a winding, rugged path. To his Kinsmen, Ko-Jo is known as Linford Amankwaa. The rapper, who regales his listeners with stories in his mother-tongue, has been sculpting sonic landscapes since 2007. His story is a kaleidoscope, beginning in his hometown, where the melodies of his life first found resonance.

Ko-Jo loves Kumasi. Over drinks in a hotel lobby on his home turf, he agreed to share his story with the world.

“I didn’t start out with the intent to be a rapper, I wanted to be a footballer”.

Ko-Jo was born in Oduom, his home was close to the training grounds of the Asante Kotoko Sporting Club. His daily interactions with the club’s young footballers planted an idea in his mind. That idea was snuffed out by his mom. No son of hers would be a footballer. Not in 90s Ghana.

On the Kwame Nkurmah University campus, where his mother shipped him to, his perspective broadened. Ko-Jo found solace in books. He spent hours in the library his aunt had built with her husband.

Ko-Jo Cue’s rap career started out at the Kumasi Anglican Secondary School (KASS). Ghanaian legends, Okyeame Kwame and Lord Kenya are alumni.

“Opoku Ware Senior High School was my preferred choice, KASS wasn’t”

His response when asked if he would have been rapping had he enrolled in Opoku Ware was, “I’m not sure.”

Married in real life, rap is my mistress. Boys dey in my mentions Saying I should spit it.

In KASS, Ko-Jo found and honed his gift for rhyming. He would memorize and spit out, on impulse, bars from Cassidy and other American rappers. Ko-Jo began to understand and acknowledge these wordsmiths as poets. His gifts impressed his school mates and kept the bullies at bay.

In the months that followed, Ko-Jo spent hours practicing: the lyricist got a notebook and filled the pages with his own words – one page a day for 140 days.

With his focus still on music, the rapper started to build up his musical contacts.

He frequently visited “Pocalos”, a recording studio that drew in hiplife and gospel musical talent within Kumasi and neighboring municipalities.