The All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) has commiserated with the family of the late veteran Ghanaian-American disc jockey, Rab Bakari, aka DJ Rab, whose artistry shone so brightly that it illuminated the entire African countries.
The group in a statement recalled that the late hip-life pioneer and DJ, drowned during the Asa Baako festival, on Sunday 6th March, 2022, at the Busua Beach, in Ghana.
“He passed on at the age of 57, while celebrating his country’s 64th Independence.
“The entire community at AFRIMA is deeply pained by his unfortunate demise, and will forever cherish his stellar work with our community which he impacted over the years, with his stellar work ethic and ingenious ideas to our activities and panels.
“It can be recalled that DJ Rab served heartily at AFRIMA for five years, between 2013 and 2017, as a pioneer member of our 13-man juror, in charge of the entries from the Diaspora America.
“DJ Rab was an Afro-sentimentalist, who carried the African music industry everywhere he went. He was a major promoter of African music, in Europe, America, and other global venues he played at. He also traveled with the AFRIMA team to various countries across the continent, helping to spread the gospel of social transformation via music,” the statement said.
According to AFRIMA, DJ Rab was a torch blazing across the continent, spotlighting its potential, especially across the cultural and creative sector. “His deep devotion to his craft is reflected boldly in his creations, especially with his radical genre-bending (Hip-hop and Highlife), disc jockeying, as well as artiste development.
“DJ Rab was a seasoned music industry leader, with the music record label, Kassa Records, as well as his MixerPot consulting agency, being his most recent outfits. His Kassa Records signee, Reggie Rockstone, is a globally-recognized veteran rap artiste. DJ Bakari also worked for several music-based platforms, including Universal Music Group, Womex, SXSW Music Conference, among others.
“DJ Rab also carried his wits and positive radicalism to several other impactful platforms such as the Social Media Week, Kenya Music Week, Ghana DJ Awards, among so many others. He will be truly and dearly missed,” the statement added.
GIK/APA