Hammer of the last two

Hammer of The Last Two, born Edward Nana Poku Osei is a
record producer in the Ghanaian music industry. He is the
founder and CEO of The Last Two Music Group and is also
known for grooming some of the best artists Ghanaian Hip Hop
or Hiplife has ever produced such as Obrafour, Tinny, Kwaw
Kese, Sarkodie, Ayigbe Edem, etc. as a producer, he is credited
as one of the pioneers and key figures in the popularization of
Hiplife or Hip Hop made in Ghana.
The Last Two
Hammer began his career in music accidentally when a friend of
his (Yaw Opare Anoff, aka Way Deep), a gifted keyboardist at the
time encouraged him to take up the career because he realized
Hammer had the ability to dissect and analyze music in the most
unusual ways as a professional does. He also had the habit of
finding faults with world class professional music which he
thought could be better. This friend and Hammer then formed a
production unit called The Last Two, meaning the only two left to
put Ghana on the world map musically. Together they produced
an album for a young artist called Obrafour which became the
highest selling Hiplife album in Ghana. This album was called
“pae mu ka.” Way Deep however left to the United States while
Hammer remained as ‘one of the two’ left alone with the task of
fulfilling the dream of two. Hammer however decided to maintain
the name The Last Two as a tribute to his friendship with Way
Deep.
Liberating the Tribes in Hip Hop
After Obrafour’s album, Hammer took up a new dream to spread
Hiplife or Hip Hop in Ghana through all dialects instead of the
stereotypical “Akan” language which was and is the most popular
language in the country. After Obrafour (who rapped in the Twi
dialect, typical of the Ashanti people), he challenged himself by
risking the production of albums in other unpopular dialects,
musically and made history again with the recording of Tinny,
who raps in the “Ga” language, typical of the people of the
Greater Accra Region of Ghana. He went down in history as the
best selling “Ga” act to date. He then challenged himself again
with Kwaw Kese ending up as the biggest “fante” act to date.
The “fante” language is typical of the indigenes of the Central
Region and parts of the Western Region of Ghana. The story
followed with Ayigbe Edem adding to Hammer’s credit as the
biggest “Ewe” rapper to date. The “ewe” language is the mother
tongue of the Volta Region of Ghana and neighboring Togo and
Benin.
Compilation Albums
Hammer also releases occasional compilation albums which give
the numerous artists who flock to his camp, a chance to be on
wax without releasing an album. The compilation albums include
the Execution Diary(2003), which was in partnership with
Obrafour, Sounds of Our Time (2004), The Crusade of the Lost
Files (2006) and the ongoing Evolution Recruits. A known
perfectionist and a very passionate musician, Hammer’s methods
of grooming his artists have come into question and controversy
but the results of the unearthing of iconic stars seems to shut
negative observers up. Hammer also does occasional scoring of
movies, including the American movie “Bloody Street”.
Growing Up
The third child of Jones A. Osei and Marian Osei, Hammer was
born Edward Nana Poku Osei on March 27, 1976. His father was
a banker and his mother was in the fishing industry. They both
had six children consisting of three boys and three girls, in order,
Albert Osei, Angela Osei, Edward Osei, Elizane Osei, Karen Osei
and Jones Osei jnr. He is also a descendant of the late Otumfour
Opoku Ware II, one time King of the Asanti Region. The family
lived in North Kaneshie and later moved to East Legon, a wealthy
neighborhood in the capital in the late eighties. Hammer attended
Yellow Duckling nursery school, St Theresa’s School, Achimota
Primary School and finally the Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary
School, Legon. However his passion for music became a
distraction from active academics and so he could not further his
education to the university level. Occasionally in his adolescent,
the family lived in the United Kingdom and he also lived in the
United States of America during his late teens. Although his
father was heartbroken as Hammer’s grades fell, the family
realized he was a born musician and eventually supported him.
Hammer was known to drum on any surface available to him
anywhere he found himself and was also known to patrol his
neighborhood with a boom box sound system while playing loud
music with friends.
Inspiration
Growing up on his father’s musical collection (such as Bonny M,
the Bee Gees, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Pavarotti, Bonnie
Tyler and several television and movie theme instrumentals such
as James Bond, Dynasty, Neighbours, Dallas, etc.), Hammer
digested works from these great icons as early as age seven and
this gave him an unusual perspective over his peers, equipping
him with skills that would eventually shape up his musical career.
After the Hip Hop revolution, Hammer then became a fan of
Special Ed, A Tribe called Quest, EPMD, De La Soul, Craig Mack,
Guru, Rakim, Das Efx, Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, etc. But his real inspiration
came from Osibisa, Quincy Jones and Bob Marley. Hammer is
known to be a very reserved person and avoids nightclubs,
parties and other social gatherings. The name “Hammer” initially
came from a mock performance of MC Hammer’s “Here comes
the Hammer” back in school as a fresher but now the Hammer
name is related to the raging heavy drums associated with his
music production. Hammer lives a simple life far from the
celebrated person he is. Fans have credited him for being very
down-to-earth.

Hammer