Chief Executive Officer of Class Media Group (CMG), Kwasi Kyei Darkwah, popularly known as KKD, has shared personal reflections on his early career as a radio presenter at the state-owned Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), revealing that he faced disciplinary action for introducing modern DJ techniques and rap music to the airwaves.

Speaking during an interview on Abrabɔmu Nsem, hosted by Nana Adwoa Obaa Soono on Accra-based Number 1 FM, KKD recalled being suspended for mixing songs on air — a style that deviated from GBC’s traditional format of allowing one song to end completely before introducing another.

“I suffered a penalty because I was mixing songs on GBC radio,” KKD stated.

“Back then, that was unheard of. I came from a disco background and brought that flair to radio, but it wasn’t accepted at the time.”

He added that his decision to play rap music on GBC radio further fueled resistance from management. “When I got to GBC, nobody knew how to rhyme or rap.

I was a lone ranger. I knew how to mix, rhyme, and rap — but it was not the norm, and I paid the price for being different.”

KKD, who now heads CMG, operators of nine FM stations and one television channel across the country, noted the irony that the same rap music he was punished for promoting has now become a dominant genre embraced by Ghanaian youth.

“Today, see how the young ones are making a meal out of rap music,” he said.

“What was once frowned upon is now a cultural movement.”