Musician and politician, Rex Omar has said he defied his father’s advice not to pursue a career in music when he was growing up.
The politician in an interview said his father who was a better musician than himself, adviced him to only chose music as a hobby and not a career.
According to him, his father’s reason was that musicians are not revered in Ghana and are relegated to the background.
Desperate and passionate to do music, Rex Omar stated that he went ahead to pursue a career in music but now regrets as “his father was right.”
“I believe that my father was right that is why when I got to forty years, I decided to put music to the second burner and go into business and then also the administrative side of the music business.
“I am very disappointed and I will tell you one of the reasons why I got very disappointed.
“I believe that if there are ten people God has granted the gift of music, I’m one of them, I have not been able to come up with even ten percent of what has come up in me,” he said on the 3FM Sunrise, Thursday, June 20.
He recounted a horrific experience in his career back in the days which left him down-spirited and probably caused his exit from the music scene.
Rex Omar recalled how he was dejected by Ghana’s embassies in some countries while he was on tour with other international artistes who received support from their embassies.
“When I was dealing with the international record labels, I had the opportunity to do a tour with South Africa and some few international artistes. We were going to five countries. Every country we got to, by the time we got to the airport, the embassy of that country has sent people to pick up their artiste from the airport with branded vehicles and all.
“And every country we got to, I realised I was on my own. I saw full pages and front pages of the very artistes that I am performing with sponsored by the Embassy and I got angry and asked the organisers, why are you promoting other artistes without me and they said no we are not doing it.
“Their government supported us to promote them. And I asked did you go to my embassy and they said yes, they went there and the response was no, as for us we don’t have budget for that and we don’t do that. Then I realised how naked I am as an artiste. This thing really got to me, it brought my spirit down,” he added.
Rex Omar said at that point he referred himself to his father’s advice. He said he has opened up the truth about artistes not being supported in Ghana to his children and has adviced them against choosing a career in the field.
