Agyei Family: Promoting GH cuisine through music

When their song about Kokonte, a staple swallow food in Ghana and some other African countries went viral a few weeks ago, social media admirers only assumed that it was just a one-off video to create fun.

But that was only an introduction the four-member Agyei family made up of five siblings—four brothers and a sister needed to announce their kind of creativity to the world.

The siblings, natives of Konongo Odumase in the Ashanti Region are Edmund Owusu Agyei, Afrane Owusu Agyei, Samuel Owusu Agyei, Joseph Owusu Agyare and Esther Owusu Agyei Konadu.

After, their Konkonte song, they earned massive approval with their creative pieces about Gobe (gari and beans) and the recent Sika Mpe Dede splitting the sides of people with laughter.

Since its inception, the group whose music style combines classical tunes with organ strokes has performed songs about Ghanaian cuisine that have become anthems for food lovers in particular.

In a conversation with Graphic Showbiz, the leader of the group, Edmund Owusu Agyei, said the group was looking forward to creating a music brand that would use its compositions to promote local foods.

“We are developing an outstanding brand. Though the content we post are more of fun, we're also looking forward to building something contemporary and develop a liking for such genre of music.

“Our brand is looking at exploring folkloric music but this time around, we want to lay emphasis on our local cuisine and project it to the world.

“For instance, when someone hears about Konkonte for the first time, it will give the person an idea of what to take with it. In this case, how you can complement konkonte with delicious groundnut or palmnut soup.

“Even if the person does not like the food or know about it, he will be pushed to look for the food and give it a try,” he said.

The group has been performing songs composed by friends. The first song the group ever performed Konkonte, was written by a friend in appreciation of their devotion as well as the nutritional value of the dish.

“Although we are yet to compose our own songs, what we perform are mostly from people around us who believe in our brand and would want to throw their weight behind us.

 We choose such music for people to develop an appetite for such pieces. We're mostly influenced by the trend and laughter they bring,” he said.

The members of the group are Edmund Owusu Agyei, a final year student studying Mathematics Education at the University of Education Winneba, Afrane Owusu Agyei, a first-year student studying D. Pharm. at the University of Cape Coast, Samuel Owusu Agyei Jnr, a  JHS 2 student and Joseph Owusu Agyare, a Basic 4 pupil.

Esther Owusu Agyei Konadu, the group's lone female member amid four lads, has the public's attention. During their performances, she always presents a captivating face and cheerful gestures.

Edmund describes the group as “a family with a unique interest in music, we have the God-given talent in singing and playing the keyboard. It undoubtedly runs throughout the extended family to our nuclear family. Our appetite for music is notable”

In response to a question about how their craft has been received, Edmund said the reception has been extremely welcoming and that has encouraged them to work more to uphold their brand and promote Ghanaian dishes.

“The support and reception of our craft has been encouraging and people keep motivating us to do more and even better.  We’re looking forward to being one of the greatest families, with such an outstanding band and our choice of songs wouldn't only be about Ghanaian dishes but for the start, we're looking forward to introducing a lot of different compositions in this genre. Compositions about Ghanaian dishes is just a limb of these folk songs,” he added.

For the group, it is also their aim to come up with interesting folk songs and also groom others who have similar interests.

“Composition of such folk songs is a unique talent on its own. We want to develop the interest in composers to create more of such interesting pieces”, he stated.