OJ Blaq passes away at age 40

Ghanaian rapper OJ Blaq has died after battling kidney failure for a long time. The news of his passing was shared on social media by media personality, Caroline Sampson. Known for songs such as “Sakasaka” and “I am blessed”, the musician passed on at age 40.

Known privately as Andy Nii Akrashie has been in the music industry for some time with his debut album the “Blaq Mixtape” getting released in 2006. In February 2023, OJ Blaq discussed his struggles in an interview with Asaase Radio. He blamed the double kidney failure he had previously on smoking and excessive drinking.

“I totally stopped smoking and drinking, and I started eating more vegetables. Not all vegetables are good for renal patients, It hasn’t been easy switching my diet, but if you really love your life, you have to adapt. It can be life-altering for renal patients when they stop taking their BP drugs as well,” he said.

“What I want to tell young ones is that they need to check what they eat well. Do a lot of check-ups and eat well. Sometimes, due to ignorance, we are not aware that certain things aren’t good for us, so we need to research the right foods to consume,” OJ Blaq told Asaase Radio.

According to him, he pinned his failing health on a motor accident he had, adding that doctors told him he had infections from the accident when his feet started swelling.

“I had an accident on a motorbike. After that, I started having swells on my feet and I thought it was from the accident, which some doctors told me they were just infections from my accident.”

However, he later discovered that it was not from the accident after he was diagnosed with kidney failure and later kept on dialysis.

“I attributed all the kidney symptoms to the motor accident I had. I was later diagnosed with kidney failure and put on dialysis when I expressed intense fatigue,”