Rapper Yaw Tog, born Thorsten Owusu Gyimah, has said fame has made him tough.
On Wednesday, November 29, 2023, he was speaking on Class 91.3 FM’s drive-time, when host Yaw Mawutor Fianu asked how fame had changed him.
“Tough!” was Tog’s answer. “It’s made me learn plenty things about life. Fame has made me mature.
He said there “is a whole lot” that comes with fame.
“You get to meet people – disappointments – a whole lot so… It’s good,” he explained.
The Sore hitmaker noted when he first recognised he was receiving increasing attention, including a Billboard article about him, “I was overwhelmed”.
However, “as time [went] on,” he told himself the fame “will come and go” and so carried on with his life.
Being “the shy type,” he said it was a big surprise to everyone around him, including his mother when at 18 he got into showbiz and in fact made a hit song.
According to Tog, he mainly invested the money he made following his coming to prominence on the back of his Sore with the Asakaa Boys and Sore Remix with Stormzy and Kwesi Arthur.
“I was calm, I was just investing,” he said. “I don’t like to spend a lot.”
He revealed his album, Young and Matured, will be out in March 2024, and it has Highlife and other genres of music apart from the Asakaa he is famous for.
“I had to release the album last year but one or two things [stopped me]. It’s been a lot but next year, we’re dropping it… Say less,” he assured.
He asserted he sees squabbles in Hiphop as part of the “business”. However, his sole focus is not to fight but “to make the bag,” another way of saying ‘making money’.
In 2021, Tog and mates like O`kenneth, City Boy, Reggie, and Jay Bahd from Kumasi, alias Kumerica, caused a revolution in music, creating a 2023 Grammy/Recording Academy-recognised genre called Ghanaian Drill or Asakaa.