Before becoming a household name through music, Yaa Pono was a dancer and entertained his colleagues in school with his craft. He was so good that at a point, he engaged in competitions although the school had no idea about his representation.
According to him, he did so at the blindside of the institution, Tema Regular Baptist, because it was a mission school hence, would not engage in secular activities. Due to how exceptional he was, he came first in most of the competitions, the rapper has recalled.
In his interview on Kumasi-based Pure FM monitored by GhanaWeb, Yaa Pono was surprised to the marrow after the host disclosed a name he used during his days as a dancer. This was after the host expressed that the musician, known in real life as Solomon Andu Antwi, appears to have strange nicknames.
“I’m shocked you know this because nobody knows,” he said and later stood up in amusement when the host mentioned he [Yaa Pono] used to be called ‘Weak Bone Cracker’.
Yaa Pono explained that he also used to be called ‘Wet Bone’ until they needed a name for his dance group.
“Before SHS, I used to do crack dance moves,” he recalled his days at Tema Regular Baptist School in the Twi language. “There was this teacher who was a drunkard. When he reported to school, I wasn’t around until one Friday. I was told we had a new teacher; he was stout so everyone was afraid of him. When I heard that, I started dancing. When the teacher saw me, he said he’d beat me for dancing so he invited me to stand in front of the class and dance.
“I heeded and when I started dancing, they all cheered me on including the teacher. He didn’t beat me. Right from there, we became friends.”
During his secondary education, the product of Toase Senior High School (TOSS) said he was in a dance group of three that partook in competitions but that is unknown to the public compared to his music because he kept it secret.
According to Yaa Pono, he mastered his craft at TOSS but noticed “the ladies preferred musicians to dancers” hence the switch.
“I was a rapper before going SHS. That’s not a jack of all trades, but rather, a jack of music trade.
Aside from being referred to as ‘Weak Bone Cracker’, Yaa Pono used to be called ‘Odeefour’, Hammer disclosed.
The rapper cum singer is known for his lyricism and daring nature. He has countless songs to his credit including ‘Amen’, ‘1997’, ‘Gbee Naabu’ and Obiaa Wone Master’.
