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‘Let Me Be Me’ Paulina Oduro tells critics in new single with Wutah Kobby
60 and living her life! Yes, singer Paulina Oduro is not letting the words of her detractors hold her back, and the rest of us can learn a thing or two from it. The singer talks about a number of things people say her about her, from her skin to her accent, and says ‘Let […]
60 and living her life!
Yes, singer Paulina Oduro is not letting the words of her detractors hold her back, and the rest of us can learn a thing or two from it.
The singer talks about a number of things people say her about her, from her skin to her accent, and says ‘Let Me Be Me’, in her new single of the same title.
Paulina, who is 60 this year, also blends in smoothly with the new sounds of Ghana by roping in Wutah Kobby on the song.
Sekondi-Takoradi, Paulina moved to London at the age of nine, with her diplomat father and mother. Her interest in music began at an early age. Recognising her talent and enthusiasm for music, her parents encouraged her, in addition to her normal education, to undertake formal tuition in music, learning to play classical piano. Her main interest in music was to singing.
However, as with most parents, they insisted on her having a more stable career. Paulina therefore trained as a nurse but after three years in that profession she felt music was her proper calling and at the age of 21, she quit nursing to become a professional singer. She joined a reggae band called Casanova and within six months they released their first single. Since then Paulina has sang with a number of reggae and soca bands. Her pedigree includes performances with such greats like Calypso King Mighty Sparrow, soca favourite Arrow, Lord Kitchener, Alexander O’neil and renowned Trinidadian singer David Rudder.
Her silky smooth vocals have also attracted most leading Ghanaian artists to record with her. Paulina was also one of the lead female vocals with the Western Diamonds, the top Hi-life group in Ghana from the early to mid-1990s. Her solo debut CD, Woman Power, released in March 1999, was a reflection of her various musical influences and experiences over the years. It contained most genres of African music. Sung in both English and her native Fanti language in her inimitable vocal style, the CD could be described as the ultimate in modern African music.