Rex Omar (real name Rex Owusu Marfo) is a

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

ian

highlife Highlife is a music genre that started in present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its history as a colony of the British Empire and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It describes multiple local fusions of African metre and wester ...

artist. He first rose to prominence in 1989 with the Aware Pa album which also included the track, Wodofo Ne Hwan? Following this, in 1992 he formed the Highlife Supergroup Nakorex together with fellow Highlife artists Nat Brew and Akosua Agyapong, the group's name being an acronym made up of the first letters of each member's name. He then pursued a solo career. He performed together with Sony Achiba. In 2004 Omar was nominated for a

Kora award The KORA All Africa Music Awards are music awards given annually for musical achievement in sub-Saharan Africa. The awards were founded in 1994 by Benin born businessman, Ernest Adjovi, after a discussion in Namibia with the country's President ...

, and in 2005 he was nominated as Artiste of the Year in the

Music Awards. Following the break-up of the group he eventually became the head of the

Music Rights Organisation ( GHAMRO), and in his role as an advocate for greater copyright protections for

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

musicians successfully lobbied president John Agyekum Kufuor to withhold asset to the new Copyright Bill in order for protections to be strengthened. He has also called for greater protections for the

music market from foreign competition. In January 2020 he won a

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

infringement lawsuit against Joy Industries, for using a part of his song Dada Di Da to advertise Joy Dadi Bitters without his consent. The company was ordered by the High Court to pay costs of GH₵ 30,000 and damages of GH₵ 200,000 to Rex Omar. Omar has feuded with former band-mate Akosua Agyapong over alleged misappropriation of GHAMRO funds.

References

Ghanaian highlife musicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Ghana-bio-stub