Samini pays tribute to his 'musical father'
Samini reveals Sonni Balli was closer to God during his last days
He calls Sonni Balli his brother, a musical father; one that contributed immensely to his successful music career. So, when news of the demise of the Ragga/Dancehall giant broke, he was one of the persons deeply affected - so much that words failed him.
“Smh… Sonni Balli.. No words,” Samini’s tweet on that fateful day sighted by GhanaWeb read.
That tweet was accompanied with darkness, prayer, heartbreak and sad face emojis that communicated how broken he was.
A week after Sonni Balli’s demise, Samini continues to grieve and still struggles with words to describe the personality of the deceased.
“It’s a big blow. It’s hard to just express it on social media. I don’t even know how to put myself into making a tribute song,” he said.
Samini who is aiming to become the SRC President of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration had appeared on GTV’s breakfast show, Friday, as part of his campaign. With so much confidence and liveliness, he touched on a number of issues including why he wanted to be president and how both his father and mother contributed to his career. His happy demeanour, however, flipped when he paid tribute to Sonni Balli.
“Sonni should rest in peace,” Samini said. “I know my brother has been through a lot but in the final days, he had switched towards the Bible. We even thought it was a joke; we were laughing about it. But eventually, when this happened and his mum started sending me videos of them going to church and singing in church, I saw how serious it had gotten to before he passed and it’s shocking to me that happened.”
"It's a big blow to me as a person, to the industry because Sonni never gave us his full potential in music. There are a lot of songs we recorded; they’re on the computer. I hope they put out something… That was my brother,” a teary-eyed Samini said.
In 2019, Samini acknowledged Sonni Balli when he paid a glowing tribute to him in an interview on Hitz FM. He mentioned that Sonni Balli saved him from the street and mentored him to succeed.
According to Samini, in the earlier years of his music career, he was stranded in London after he went there for a music concert confused about his next step.
During that period, Samini revealed, he contemplated quitting music to secure a job in London. However, it took the good counsel of Sonni Balli for him to return back to Ghana to do music.
“While in London, nothing seems to be going on, so my options were either to forget the music, stay in London, hustle and send money home or leave to Ghana to pursue my music career. Then Sonni Balli called me to advise me to return home, else if my travel documents expire, I would be extremely stranded and music executives would exploit my talents over there.
"I listened to him and returned home. Briefly, after I got to Ghana, my single, ‘Linda’ became a big heart. You should have seen the joy in his heart as Sonni congratulated me for making him proud," Samini recalled.
"Even after ‘Linda’ became a big hit, Sonni Balli went on to introduce me to American music producer, Nana King after he returned to the UK. So, the move was, even after ‘Linda’ he introduced me to Nana King so I can cross the main gate and get inside the music game proper and that was the beginning of my success,” Samini added.
Sonni Balli died on June 9, 2022. Reports suggest he passed following a brief cardiac arrest.
