Koby Maxwell Celebrates Ghana at 56 with friends in the Diaspora

As part of plans to celebrate the 56th anniversary of Ghana, Koby Maxwell is hosting a number of Ghanaian and other African artists to join hands in celebrating the beauty and culture of the African entertainment industry. Fellow movie stars, musicians and philanthropist of non-African origin will also be in attendance. The event will be held at Lanham Maryland, USA.

Koby Maxwell is an all rounded artist who dabbles in film production, songwriting, acting, singing and event management. The Ghanaian born artist ventured into the world of music in the mid 1990’s and released his first album titled ‘Praise the Lord’ in 2005—it was a gospel CD. Before that He had toured with Ghanaian maestro Kojo Antwi as a base guitarist.

The former gospel artist is now living and working in the USA but makes it a point to visit his native Ghana to refresh himself with ideas and share new ones acquired from living abroad. On one of such trips, Koby convinced Ghanaian ‘A’ list actors Yvonne Nelson, Van Vicker and John Dumelo to star in an upcoming movie and support his planned Ghana independence celebration activities slated for the first quarter of 2013 in the USA.All three ‘A’ list actors starred alongside Koby in a recent movie project; ‘Paparazzi–eye in the dark’.

The movie which has Koby as one of its producers first screened in 2011 at the 20th Pan African Film And Arts Festival in Los Angeles USA and the Silverbird theatre in Accra Ghana in October 2012. ‘Paparazzi’ has been released in stores all over the USA and is available online at Amazon. During the US screening of the film, Koby had the honor of meeting ‘A’ list African-American artist from Hollywood.

Work is finished on his new 12-track music CD called ‘Do it’ with some songs featured soundtracks on ‘Paparazzi’. Koby says the ‘Do it’ album (released in 2011 and available on iTunes) is unique because he ‘worked on it with many of the best producers in the industry from Africa like Jeff Quay ‘aka’ Jay Q of Ghana and DDL from Ivory Coast. Koby is now working on a new project with Nigerian producer Flyp Tyse who has worked with artists like P-Square and Akon.

The arrival of the 3 famed actors from Ghana happily coincides with the independence bash of March 2013. Koby says they will be in the States to also work on a new movie project with him. ‘Paparazzi’ has Van Vicker as the male lead and Nigerian actors like Tchidi Chikere, Paul Asher, JJ Bunny and Syr Law; accomplished Hollywood actress playing the female lead role. It is directed by Bayo Akinfemi from Nigeria.

‘I am organizing this event to display my love for my country and celebrate her coming of age as a great example of democracy in Africa, but also doing it as my way of giving back to my fans and all who have supported me in my various projects. I also seek to share this honor with all the artists I am inviting, like Mike Pryce; UK based Ghanaian and Ugo Ugoflo, a Nigerian.’

‘My hope is that all who attend will not only enjoy themselves but also get to see and learn a lot about the African entertainment and fashion industry and feel invited to explore the opportunities it offers to people in places like Hollywood’ says Koby.

Besides lthe ove for country and work, one other thing Koby speaks passionately against is one of the biggest problems the world’s entertainment industry and artists face today—illegal downloading and piracy. ‘My last project saw a lot of quality put into it and the outcome was amazing but the proceeds from it was not enough to pay the bills’ Koby lamented. He goes on to say ‘…and this is because a lot of people, refuse to pay for quality music or movie and rather take the bad route of illegal downloading or bootlegging’.

Piracy as a problem is on the rise and the advancement in the digital age is making it more and more difficult to curb. Firmer punitive measures need to be put in place especially in Africa to guard against this canker that robs the talented artists of their earnings. A single titled ‘Azonto Dance’ produced by Jay Q will be released from Koby’s 2013 new album at the event which promises to be a great opportunity to share in by Ghanaians, Africans and all in the diaspora.

Source: Oral Ofori