Reverend Azigiza Jnr., known for his overwhelming triumph in 1991 as the Best West African DJ, Best African DJ in 1993 and Host of Joy Beach Jam, will be honoured with a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at the 2017 Rush Ghana DJ Awards.
Merqury Republic said Tuesday that Reverend Azigiza Jnr will receive the award Saturday May 6 during the main event at the Silver Star Tower in Accra.
Azigiza Jnr started as a dancer with the G-Dancers, who danced with some top Ghanaian musicians, Ben Brako and Charles Amoah.
He went ahead to participate in the Embassy Double-Do dancing contest in 1989 but did not win. As a result of this disappointment, Azigiza Jnr decided to give up dancing but was impressed upon by the ace radio and television presenter, Kwasi Kyei Darkwa (KKD), not to give up but try and explore other avenues in the showbiz sector.
With this brotherly advice, he ventured into disc jockeying and, in no time, made his mark in the DJ realm, with an overwhelming triumph in 1991 as the Best West African DJ at a contest held in the Republic of Togo. He followed it with another first in 1993, when he emerged the Best African DJ.
After achieving these feats, Azigiza Jnr, who had by then been performing as a DJ for top sound systems including the Moon Dogs, MEC Sounds and Zayaa Sounds, changed his outlook and confined his work to night clubs.
He was resident DJ of top Accra nightclubs, which included the Golden Egg, Glenns and Miracle Mirage. He has also featured in a number of Club Beer and Guinness promotion programmes. He hosted the JOY FM Joy Beach Jam, Guinness Music For Your Dancing Feet, on GTV, Video Vibes and the Azigiza Show.
According to him, all along he had been reflecting on what to do with his life. At the peak of his carrier, he came out with his first album, ‘Me do wo Abena’, in 1994, which had the top hit ‘Kponkpa’. In 1995, he released ‘Two degrees Kponkpa’ and followed it with another hit ‘Wo ye bia’, in 1996, which he featured Tic Tac.
Azigiza says after this album, he started stumbling into the knowledge of Jesus. At that time, he only went to church to merely chase the beautiful ‘chrife’ girls.
He said his modus operandi was to commit into memory some aspects of the Bible to impress upon her prey that he was religious inclined. Azigiza said at a point in time after he had realized he had satisfied himself with all the worldly things one could think of, he started seeking Jesus.
Interestingly, he said, nobody ministered to him but when he started losing some of the few business contracts he had, he started paying serious attention to the word of God. He started with the Jesus Power, at Bintu Complex at Kwashieman, Accra, and later was invited by Rev. Owusu Bempah to the End Time Ministries, where he met his wife, Trudy, then in the church’s choir.
After two years with End Time Ministries, headed by Rev. Ebenezer Markwei, whom he described as a very good man, his spiritual father and mentor.
He said in 1998, he gave his life to Christ and had since been to some Bible schools, studying the word of God. He said at the moment he serves everywhere and anywhere.
“I go to schools to preach and pray with some of the young guys, I have the TV ministry, the Azigiza Gospel Show on TV3, which I use to send the message across that one can be funky in Jesus. I have packaged Jesus in such a way that the youth know Him and realize that there is liberty in the house of the Lord”.
Azigiza said he normally visited the schools on entertainment nights and rapped and danced with the students and later talked to them about Jesus. “I try to bring Jesus to them in the language that they understand, and I tell them that we should worship God”. He also admonishes the young ones not to forget that Jesus is Lord.
He said since his conversion, he normally did not meet his old friends but the few who came to him get inspired and motivated to give their lives to Jesus because of the way he related to his wife in their presence.
Azigiza has not limited his ministration to Ghana. He has been to the Caribbean’s, particularly Barbados, Puerto Rico and Tortolla, a British Virgin Island, to preach and sing to the glory of God. He released his debut gospel album ‘Into the Light’ in 2002. His second album will be out in January.
Azigiza, the only boy in a family of four, was born on July 19, 1970 to Mr. Victor Kpakpo Addo Snr, a retired salesman and Mrs. Bernice Akweley Addo, a retired headteacher.
He started school at the Bethel Modern Preparatory at Abossey Okai. He continued at the St. John’s Grammar but had to stop school for three years because of a stand-off between him and his disciplinarian mother.
According to him he was bent on being in showbiz but his mother was not ready to see her son behave as a ‘public toy’. This difference between them made Azigiza Jnr. leave home and stay with friends.
Later when mother and son decided to live together, he continued his secondary school. After Ghanatta, he did some courses in disc jockeying and public speaking. Following his conversion, he had a stint at the North Carolina Bible College in 2001, under the tutelage of Dr. Kingsley Fletcher.
At the moment, Azigiza Jnr. is pursing a correspondence course in Videography. He admires Kirk Franklin, the top American gospel musician, for his radicalism for Jesus.
The 2017 Rush Ghana DJ Awards is presented by Merqury Republic in association with Hitz 103.9fm and Joy Prime. The event is sponsored by Black Beer Stout, Papa’s Pizza, GH Media School, Zepto and Drum Major Whiskey and brought to you by Ghana’s number one energy drink, Rush Energy.
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