Dancer Mufasa urges creatives to follow instincts in chat with Brown Berry
Born Jeff Obeng to both Ghanaian parents residing in Virginia in the United States of America, Mufasa has risen to become a household name across the globe with his sensational Dance Videos.
The infectious smile and dance moves of Mufasa became a remedy to many people across the world amidst the Coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking in an interview with Joshua Kormla Senuvie popularly known as Brown Berry (on Instagram as iambrownberry) who is a Ghanaian Radio and TV Presenter on Y-FM in Accra Ghana, Mufasa urged musicians and artists across the world to follow their instinct and be passionate about whatever they do.
He stated in the mid-May 2021 interview that before he started making videos he used to work at his parents’ shop in Virginia and Washington DC and later worked with Amazon as a delivery boy after he decided to quit working for his parents.
“I think sometimes our parents want us to go to school to become doctors, nurses [or engage in so called noble professions]… my parents wanted me to play safe and follow in line with these type of profession, but my gut feeling was telling me to do something different, so I gave them 25 years of my life and finally decided the rest of the years will just focus on me,” said the popular online dance sensation during his chat with Brow Berry. Mufasa has had a significant spike in viewership and engagements on his social media handles in recent years.
He says he does not believe in naysayers, urging that artists should strive to be different in their content creation: “musicians who want to make it to the limelight must stick to their guts, many people laughed at us when we started, people were like ‘what are you doing dancing out of a car,’ among things like ‘you keep wearing the same clothes in your videos and It’s not working’ “. But the dancer shut his ears to these naysayers and opened his mind to the possibilities…
Mufasa also encouraged up-and-coming artists to keep pushing and staying true to their causes. “Keep pushing, keep praying, keep grinding and you will definitely get there and also be different, don’t be like everyone else when it comes to the content or the music, always try to be somebody different — it takes only one ‘yes’ [to get your big break]” said the dancer to Brown Berry who in 2013 started the Travel Club with which he aimed at using to promote tourism in a fun and affordable way with trips across Ghana and Africa.
Narrating to Brown Berry a story about his one-shirt anecdote, Mufasa recounted how he used to wear one particular shirt for his videos until the shirt faded and he decided to make his own and sell them. “I used to wear the same shirt and it came to a point where it was ripping and fading and I was like I have got to make my shirt, so I tried and It took some years too, but finally I got it, so when I did people were asking about it and [so I put them online to sell and] within an hour everything was sold out.” The shirt made of African print fabric has now become a signature fashion statement.
He applauded his parents for always believing in him and supporting him on his journey so far as an artist. Mufasa recounts how it all started in 2019 with the car riding videos began hitting the Internet, admitting that he didn’t expect the videos to go viral as quickly as they did.
“So we have been doing rap songs. It’s been working out but it has not been going far so I was like you know.., let’s do something different. Let’s do a song that we both like. Let’s switch it up, men let’s push the feeling, we shot it and a couple of days it started to go crazy and I didn’t expect it at all.“
So far Mufasa says he has traveled around countries like Portugal, the Netherlands, and Dubai in the UnitedArabEmirates, and across the United States to perform. He expressed excitement about having gotten a partnership with Sony Music where he is currently working on a project.
Mufasa who has a verified Instagram account with over 1.6 million following says he wants to do more African songs and intends to work with other dance groups in Ghana, find him on Instagram as cousinskeether and enjoy watching this video of him below…
Written by Oral Ofori
Oral Ofori is Founder and Publisher at www.TheAfricanDream.net, a digital storyteller and producer, and also an information and research consultant.
