You may have been idly scrolling through Instagram, TikTok, or SnapChat when you came upon a song that was presumably the soundtrack to a sketch or featured someone dancing. At first, it's humorous, but then you start to relate to the lyrics.
Obaapa Gladys' "Cobra" has become the most popular song in Ghana (at least on social media) and doesn't show any signs of slowing down. The cobra challenge, which started on TikTok, saw superstars like Shatta Wale and Nana Ama McBrown participate. Users dance and sing along to the song while frequently making references to someone in their lives they think has a snakelike attitude.
But what is the song's narrative? What caused it to suddenly explode up? The song's history was thoroughly explained by the producer.
As the founder and CEO of Fredyma Studios, Fred Kyei Mensah, popularly known as Fredyma, is a renowned music producer and artist management. Fred Kyei Mensah, who has had around 39 years in the business, is recognized for having assisted in the training of various producers, including JQ and Appietus. The producer of the popular Cobra song is named Fredyma.
He described his first contact with Obaapa Gladys on his Facebook page in order to share the narrative behind the song. According to him, she had a song idea about the parallels between human conduct and that of snakes, notably the cobra, and that colleague had introduced him to her in 2022.
"Somewhere last year, my colleague in the music production business, Flash Da Sikk Beatz, introduced this lady, Obaapa Gladys to me that, she has a very interesting lyrics about the behavioral patterns of human nature and likened it to a Cobra. I listened to it and within some few minutes, we created a rhythm for her," he posted.
He admitted that he initially didn't enjoy Obaapa Gladys' singing in the song and had passionately advised that she find a replacement for the chorus. Fred Kyei Mensah continued by saying that despite the song's early-year release, it received little attention. Before receiving calls and notifications that the song had gone viral in the final hours of September.
"She released the song early this year on the various music portals and didn't hear from her again only for me to be receiving tags on my Facebook, Tik tok and Whatsapp since last Friday about a trending video about a song I have produced only to realize that it was the COBRA song," he added.
He connected the popularity of the song to the controversy surrounding presidential candidate Alan Kyerematen's (NPP) widely reported resignation. I should also say that the music was played to troll important party members.
"Boi! I think, the song resonated and connected to Alan's resignation and his formation of his Movement for Change and Kennedy Agyepong's unpleasant and unprintable insults on his party so, a lot of social media freaks, used it to troll them" he said.
According to Fred Kyei Mensah, who attested to the song's relevance, Cobra-like humans did really exist in the nooks and crannies of society.
The tale of "Cobra" is one of creativity, a salient lesson, good fortune, and patience—just like a cobra waiting for the ideal moment to strike.
"Little things we disregard at times, rather embolden us. The COBRA song, was just an experimental song which i found the lyrics to be funny."
"Not knowing, it was going to be a viral song." he also stated in a Facebook post giving credits to people that contributed to the success of the song.
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