{"id":273438,"date":"2026-02-08T07:07:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T07:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/273438\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T07:07:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T07:07:07","slug":"i-ran-away-to-nigeria-at-15-rex-omar-opens-up-on-risking-everything-for-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/273438\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I ran away to Nigeria at 15\u2019 \u2014 Rex Omar opens up on risking everything for music"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rex <\/a>Rex Omar is a veteran highlife musician<\/p>\n

Veteran highlife musician Rex Owusu Marfo, widely known as <\/a><\/a><\/a>Rex Omar<\/a>, has opened up about the risks and sacrifices he made as a teenager to chase a career in music, revealing that he once fled to Nigeria without travel documents in search of money to finance his studio ambitions.<\/p>\n

In an interview on Joy Prime\u2019s Prime Time with host George Quaye, the celebrated singer-songwriter said his determination to pursue music put him at odds with his father\u2019s plans for his future, but his passion ultimately guided his choices.<\/p>\n

Now a presidential staffer for the Black Star Experience, <\/a><\/a><\/a>Rex Omar<\/a> recalled that his journey began at a young age, shortly after completing middle school, when he decided to leave home and travel to Nigeria to find work and raise funds to record songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have spent 45 years in the music industry. I started music at age 17 and released my first album at 19,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was 15, I ran to Nigeria to look for money to go to the studio. I ran away from the house,\u201d he revealed.<\/p>\n

He explained that his father, a medical doctor, had hoped he would follow a more traditional professional path by becoming a lawyer \u2014 an expectation he resisted, even after being offered a scholarship to attend secondary school.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo escape that, I deliberately did not go to secondary school because I knew I would be pushed to study law at the university,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a><\/a>Rex Omar<\/a> said his bold decisions were driven by strong self-belief and an unwavering commitment to music.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I completed Form Four, I ran away to Nigeria without a passport, using the money my father used to give me for upkeep. I was an ambitious person determined to do music,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The gamble eventually paid off. Over the years, <\/a><\/a><\/a>Rex Omar<\/a> has built a celebrated career marked by multiple highlife hits such as Abiba, Daasebre and Medo Wo, while also expanding his influence beyond the stage. He went on to serve as a music executive and former chairman of the Ghana Music Rights Organisation (GHAMRO) and now holds a role at the Presidency, contributing to national arts and culture initiatives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rex Omar is a veteran highlife musician Veteran highlife musician Rex Owusu Marfo, widely known as Rex Omar,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273439,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-273438","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}