Review: Ayi Solomon's Yaaboh Abo

This is the message being reiterated by Denmark-based Ghanaian musician and percussionist Ayi Solomon in his latest single 'Yaaboh Abo', which means 'to seek refuge' in Ga, Ayi Solomon’s mother tongue. The language is spoken by the Ga people, indigenes of Ghana’s capital, Accra.

Explaining the lyrics to me, he says: “There was a young boy who never listened to advice from the elderly, always doing what pleased him and following his own ways. Due to misbehaviour and misconduct in public, he was chased down to be disciplined by a group of youth in his own community.”

The track, set in the highlife idiom, Ghana’s foremost genre, opens with Ga chants (Ayi Solomon’s signature), to which Dominic Quarchie, guitarist of the young Ghanaian outfit Santrofi, responds with melodious acoustic guitar chords. By the time the song gets to its second part, Francis Kweku Osei, on drums, comes in with pulsating grooves, keeping the rhythm section steady and gentle while the rest of the musicians – Gaddiel Amoah (bass), Carl Amoah (keys) and Manners de Conguero (percussion) – join in to carry this sensual music through.

Here, Ayi's vocal delivery and backing from the musicians creates an invigorating harmony, inviting the listener to sing along to the very simple chorus: “Yaaboh abo, bani oba bo abo". By the time the song ends, one is yearning for more.

Recorded, mixed and mastered at Francis Kweku Osei’s Groove House Studio in Accra, 'Yaaboh Abo' comes with a music video, filmed in the capital’s suburbs, vividly telling the story of the song.

Artist: Ayi Solomon
Year: 2020
Distributor/Label: Danmark Music Group