Ghanaian musician Tinny, known for his pioneering role in the hiplife genre, has set the record straight regarding a narrative shared by renowned record producer Hammer. On a recent episode of The Crunch Podcast, Tinny, born Nii Addo Quaynor, addressed statements made by Hammer during an appearance on Starr Chat with Bola Ray. Hammer had recounted Tinny’s early days in music, claiming he persuaded Tinny to switch from rapping in Twi to Ga, a pivotal shift that defined Tinny’s career.
Hammer described how Tinny initially approached him with ambitions of rapping in Twi, but Hammer felt his true potential lay in performing in Ga. “Tinny came looking for me. His parents were very involved,” Hammer recalled. “We had misunderstandings because Tinny was confused about how I wanted him to do Ga, and he wanted to do Twi. Twi was dominating, and he hadn’t done Ga before. He was known as Tinny Fresh and was a Twi rapper. But I heard Ga in his Twi and knew he couldn’t face the Twi rappers with Ga-influenced Twi, so I insisted on Ga.”
However, during his appearance on The Crunch Podcast, Tinny offered a different version of events. He refuted the idea that Hammer had influenced his language shift, stating that he had already been rapping in Ga before Hammer reached out to him. “Before Hammer would call me, I was already doing Ga. Hammer called me because he needed a Ga rapper for Paa Dogo’s album,” Tinny explained. He recounted how Hammer discovered him through mutual connections, saying, “I was at home in Haatso when the call came. Hammer said they needed a Ga rapper, and Paa Dogo had told them about me. So, I went to meet him.”
Tinny revealed that his desire to blend both Twi and Ga in his music had been a personal choice, but Hammer had urged him to lean more heavily on Ga. “I had already done some Twi songs, but Hammer preferred my off-timing style in Ga. I even recorded a full Twi album for Ashanti International, but I still blended it with Ga,” Tinny added. Reflecting on the rise of other hiplife acts like Obrafour and Buk Bak, he said, “When they came out, I realized that Twi wasn’t my unique voice. It’s better I sound like me—let someone else sound like Tinny.”
Tinny’s clarification shines a new light on the creative process behind his early work, emphasizing that his decision to rap in Ga was a natural evolution of his artistic identity rather than something imposed on him.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Emmanuel Mensah
