One of the things I adored my brother for was his utter commitment to full-flight creativity.

No holds barred.

He was 7 when he started saying he wanted to be a musician.

Seven.

Mom was supportive. We had an organ. Guitar lessons. I introduced him to the hiphop I'd discovered. He later met @jsamlarose who expanded both our ears to underground sounds. He got a full drum kit and played in his school band. Learned the trombone. Turntables. Scratching...

Mom indulged these things but wanted him to get a degree:

Job security first.

Ebow tried. He even got into University of London (QMW) studying politics.

He started rapping with Focused Few. Then he clicked with @ForeignBeggars & that was that:

He dropped out of QMW to tour.

Mom tried one last time to get him to complete a degree. Audio Engineering. But classrooms couldn't contain him. He dropped out again. Back into the studio.

The way he saw it, none of his idols studied music in school.

In this sense, Ebow was an African parent's nightmare.

He took the name Metropolis as a statement for his love of everything about London. Even the rain.

We were kids born to Ghanaians in London. But I stayed in Ghana for most of primary & secondary school while Ebow only stayed for 3.

Ghana became my center.
London was Ebow's.

With @ForeignBeggars, E toured the world. They won best newcomers and later best hiphop act at the LyricPad Awards. They were pioneers at mixing rap with the kinds of electronic music made friends like @Skrillex. Cracked the UK Top 10 with Vato Gonzalez.

Things weren't always smooth. We didn't come from money. Ebow couch surfed, hustled & paid the price for his commitment to his craft.

He would have completely lost himself to the lifestyle of it hadn't been for the birth of his son, Cassius.

Cass was... is Ebow's world.

Much will be written about his life with @ForeignBeggars but two of my favourite musical memories of him are from his solo career as the producer @YorkeBeats.

The first is when I was in the cinema watching Furious 7 & there's a song playing with a familiar voice. Took me a few seconds to realize it was my brother's voice booming at me through Silverbird's speakers.

I text him: "Onua. Are you on the Furious 7 soundtrack?!" He asks me to call him after the movie & tells me how his voice came to be on a David Guetta track:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_Off_%28song%29?wprov=sfla1

Wikipedia skip the legal story of how the royalties were split but that's for chambers.

My favourite @YorkeBeats story however involves the song Eroica that he made as part of the group ROYALTY with his companion (Cassius' mother) Chesca.

He makes this beat and sends it to the record label who get the singer Kissey to drop vocals on it.

It becomes this retrofuturistic sounding song about envy & desire.

They even shoot a moody video for it with visuals inspired by the Ryan Gosling movie, Drive:

So I visit Ebow in London and he tells me that while he loves Kissey's vocals, he doesn't like them on so much on his beat.

So while I'm there, he strips her vocals & just casually CRAFTS AN ENTIRE NEW BEAT AROUND THEM.

You know.
Because he can.

Listen to the original again.

Good?

Now listen to this:



While I watched him, Ebow composed this song from thin air. Every breath. Every key. Every beat. Every flourish.

It was like a magician showing you how he performs a trick and you realise there's no trick.

Just magic.

After being a part of Beggars for two decades - long before UK hiphop blow up - Ebow had finally started working on the solo project that we had discussed for years when this tragedy befell him.

He was in such a good creative space. Anxious. Excited. In tune with the universe.

... and then the darkness took him.

I can't believe we can't geek out & laugh any more. No more 'screw this Accra let's go home to Cape Coast'. I won't see his eyes light up over Fante kenkey again. Won't hear his perfect Fante (& awful pidgin) again.

I can't believe i have to wait until I get to heaven to hear his solo album.

This is not the end.