Gospel musician Michael Oware Sakyi publicly known as Minister OJ has decided to rebrand his music to suit the deaf.
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In collaboration with Silanem Productions has launched a new project to rebrand his music to reach the deaf community by inculcating sign language in his music videos.
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"My heart and passion have always been to help the deaf community to understand our music through their language and I believe that this initiative will go a long way to conscientize the entertainment community to include them in our efforts. My music brings healing and encouragement and that is what I am sending to this community with this initiative."
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Minister OJ went on to explain that the project begins with a sign language video of "Ma ye se mo pen" (one of his popular songs) with many more to follow.
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Richard Baidoo, the CEO of Silanem Productions added that they were grateful to the musician and his team.
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"We are grateful that Minister OJ thought of the deaf community and initiated this, we know it will go a long way to motivate and heal many since it is the first of its kind in Ghanaian Showbiz, we would like to appealto other entertainers to join the initiative.
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Sign Language is a system of communication using visual gestures and signs, as used by deaf people, sign language is not universal, there are many which include, American Sign Language (ASL), British Sign Language (BSL) and Australian Sign Language (Auslan).
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However, there are common ones that Minister OJ implies inculcating in his music videos.
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Michael Oware Sakyi, popularly known as OJ, is one of the most prolific gospel artists in Ghana. After releasing his debut album, Adom Ne Odo which had songs such as Obi Nya W'aye and Koso Na Koso in 2003, OJ did not go the way of other new artists by following up on his success with a new album. Instead, he got lost for five long years and has now resurfaced.
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I have been around but it's just that the places I have been to are not covered on radio or TV so people don't hear of me. OJ, however, pointed out that the real reason why he had not been active on the music scene was that he was in school.
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I was at the University of Ghana and I wanted to finish and finish well with good grades, so I wanted no distractions,†he explained. OJ was also involved with the British Council on a project that involved extensive touring.
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The tour began in September last year and ended in March 2008. Before I even got selected for the tour, I had to go through a lot of things that took up a lot of my time. I wanted to have enough time for my album so I put it on hold, he added.
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The second album that his fans have been waiting for has finally arrived titled Ete Sen.
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Asked if the long lay-off has affected him in any way, OJ said: Not at all, I have not been affected. In fact, the public response to this album has been very good. Compared to the debut, I think this has been better in terms of sales. This makes me realize that people appreciated the good work I did on the first album which is why they have received this album so well.
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Ete Sen is generally an improvement on the first album, Adom Ne Odo. Unlike Adom Ne Odo on which almost all the songs were in the slow vein, Ete Sen has more up-tempo songs though not danceable.
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OJ's songs induce inner reflections in people because of the lyrics which are thought-provoking and he says his inspiration is from the Bible, books he reads, and from life.
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