Abraham Ohene-Djan

Abraham Ohene-Djan, is a British/Ghanaian producer, director and media professional. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Ohenemedia, OM Studios and Si-Fex Digital, where he produces and directs hiplife music videos, commercials, television programmes and documentaries and is recognized for shooting the first hiplife music videos.

Early life
Abraham Ohene-Djan was born in Kumasi in 1974. He moved with his family to the UK In the early 1980s; initially settled in Westminster and later moved to North London, where he attended Finchley Catholic High School. He went to university in the United Kingdom.

Career
In 1996, Ohene-Djan founded Si-fex Digital in Ghana, where he produced and shot commercials, documentaries, TV programmes, and music videos for highlife and hiplife artists.

In 2009, Ohene-Djan struck a deal with Wilson Author to establish a music channel on his Skyy Television terrestrial Digital Network, The Station, which became the first 24-hour music and lifestyle channel to play 100% Ghanaian content. The channel later became part of the GoTV network and, a few years later, progressed onto the DSTV network, making its content available Africa-wide. In 2017, FiestaGH was purchased by the EIB Network.

In 2013, Ohenemedia and FiestaGH were selected as official Google Africa Partner; at a time when YouTube monetization wasn’t officially available to Ghanaians, Ohenemedia/FiestaGh and Pidgin Music were offered the opportunity to monetise content for local musicians and promote YouTube and drive content creation in Ghana. After an initial period, YouTube allowed individuals to monetise their content locally.

Projects
In 2004, following the launch of the Nescafe African Revelation program, Abraham's OM Studios worked as a collaborative partner, producing all audio visual materials and television programs for nine participating countries.

In 2012, Abraham directed and shot a tribute video in honor of Ghana's late President, John Atta Mills, who died after an illness. The video, titled Yedi Awereho, featured artists including Rex Omar, Amakye Dede, Kojo Antwi, Samini, Obour, Okyeame Kwame, Blakk Rasta, Stephanie Benson, Shee, DSP Kofi Sarpong, Cecilia Marfo, Kontihene, Kofi B, A. B. Crentsil, No Tribe and Nacee.

Advocacy
Abraham is a proponent of advancing the Ghanaian entertainment industry, specifically dedicating his efforts to enhance the movie sector. Continuously advocating for responsible investments, he encourages industry players to ensure the industry receives the necessary resources for an accurate representation and to enable the youth unearth their talents.

Associations
Abraham has affiliations with Lynx Entertainment, a Ghanaian record label that has overseen the career of many artists including but not limited to KiDi and Kwame Eugene, where he held the position of director from 2009 to 2022.

From 2011 to 2015, he served as a member of the Ghana Music Awards board. Collaborating with fellow board members, he participated in the process of categorizing, collating entries, and contributed to the shortlisting of the final nominees for each award category.

Controversies
In 2020, Abraham contested Reggie Rockstone's assertion of being the originator of hiplife, arguing that it is the beat that truly defines a genre. He believes that the genre is shaped by the engineer, not by a specific subject or style of rapper or singer. According to him, Reggie Rockstone's claim is inaccurate, and he suggests that producer Zapp Mallet is more fittingly considered the originator of hiplife. Rockstone consistently asserts himself as the true originator of hiplife, dismissing any dissenting opinions as falsehoods.

In a collaboration between YouTube and Abraham to curate a playlist of Ghanaian songs for the platform, music producer Kwame Micky accused Abraham of exploiting the musicians whose songs were included. Kwame Micky alleged that royalties from the agreement were intended for the featured musicians, but Abraham allegedly failed to distribute these earnings, using them for personal benefit instead. Abraham contested this accusation and said that payments had indeed been disbursed to the musicians whose content was featured. The second round of revenue distribution from the YouTube platform involved the allocation of royalties to around 30 artists, including Daddy Lumba, Ernest Opoku, Chupa Chops, Appiah, Atumpan, Obaapa Christy, Samini, Stonebwoy, Castro, R2Bees, Okyeame Kwame, and various other musicians.

Filmography

 * Dreams and HipHop (2016)

Documentaries

 * Vodafone in Ghana 2010


 * Vodafone Homecoming 2013


 * Vodafone Homecoming 2014


 * Vodafone Data in Broadband 2011


 * Vodafone World Water Day 2011


 * Vodafone World Sight Day 2011


 * Vodafone Home Coming 2015


 * Vodafone Data 2013
 * Oak Plaza hotels 2012
 * The Ark Apartments 2014
 * Oak Plaza Suites Documentary 2019
 * Right to Dream Foundation 2012
 * Nestle CWAR Globe Internal Documentary 2009
 * Tigo Shelter for Education Obuasi 2017
 * Shelter4Education for Obeng Yaw 2014
 * Shelter4Education Obuasi 2014
 * Shelter4Education - Tupa 2014
 * AWDF Women of Substance 2010
 * MTN Ghana 'Its my life' Television commercial 2008
 * MTN World cup 2010 TVC
 * MTN GO-RIO TVC  2010
 * Cussons baby 2015
 * Royal Bank 2015
 * Tasty Tom 2016
 * Star Assurance 2007
 * Nunu Milk 2011
 * Vaniado 2010
 * Printex 2012
 * Sahel Sahra Bank 2012
 * Dodo Skin cream and soap 2013
 * Express Hair 2013
 * Melcom 2013