Our rich Ghanaian culture is rapidly eroding; that’s a
fact. The evidence is all around us, egged on by the pervasive speaking of the lingua
franca and manifested in our choice of fashion, the food, the ideals…you name
it; it’s there. But in none of these is it so apparent than in our music. With
everybody trying so damn hard to be ‘ish’, most music artistes tend to mow over
their culture, opting rather for a LAFA (Locally Acquired Foreign Accent),
garish make-up meant to make them look more Vogue-ish, or anything BUT Ghanaian
or even African. So it is a breath of fresh air when an artiste goes all out to
showcase their culture in their music videos, although the themes in most of them
are all too common. For that alone, they can be forgiven for rehashing the dynamic duo of common themes of love- new
love, pining over unrequited love, living and relishing new love and tears shed
over achy breaky hearts- and money; wishing they could get it, getting it and
living la vida loca. But enough about me. Check out these Ghanaian artistes who
are keeping it real.
5. E.L -Hallelujah
This 3:18 clip opens with E.L on a nondescript Ghanaian
beach, bathed in the afterglow of the setting African Sun. Lined up in the
background are canoes. Then cut to a horse rider in ceremonial garb, akin to
the horse-riders of the Northern Region’s Damba Festival, a summer event
celebrating the birth and naming of Prophet Mohammed. If that isn’t convincing
enough, there’s a medallion of the Africa Continent hanging from a strand of
beads and superimposed on the glowing African sun. As the clip progresses, you see aspects of
Ghanaian culture and artifacts; dancing, cowries, etc. before the introduction
of M.anifest, also in traditional garb, all juxtaposed with modernity. Now, the
theme is about money (no surprise there), money and friendship lost-but he
manages to avoid the tackiness and trite with a focus on tradition.
4. Edem-Heyba
I hold a special place in my
music heart for Edem because he’s one of a handful of Ghanaian artistes who
sing/rap in unpopular Ghanaian dialects, and still manages to win fans who have
no clue as to what he’s going on about. The only times he breaks character is
when he lets lose in snippets of pidgin and English but when he doesn’t, he is
100 percent native. There is the language barrier, but listen to him and
realise that music transcends all barriers; language be damned. Heyba is awash with culture. Does it
give off a raging-mad vibe? Yep. That’s because the video/ song is addressed to
haters who try to pull him down. Who would go light and gentlemanly on a theme
like that? Heyba is not subtle and
some of the visuals are downright haunting yet it doesn’t turn you off. You
want more. Throw in those incantations
in the Ga language and you have something from a Christopher Lee joint. But I
was turned off, momentarily, by the graffiti scene…that is so not very
traditional at all. But let’s peg it up to what passes off now as the new
normal; a blend of tradition and the West.
3. Wiyaala-Africa
Noella Wiyaala fascinates me.
All she requires is one glance and I guarantee you, you will spare another
look. So what makes her intriguing? Is it her androgynous looks, those
undeniably angular features combined with the lure of a woman aware of her
sexuality? Or is it the glaring resemblance to the one, the only, her pop
highness, Grace Jones? Or is it the haunting quality of her voice? Whatever her
allure, she brings it all to bear in Africa;
and the result is not explosive as one might imagine, but somber, reflective.
Don’t get me wrong, she’s still ‘in-your-face’ but somehow manages to not mute
it, something only Wiyaala can pull off. And then of course, you can’t really
sing about Africa without showing off Africa. This she does to perfection, with
a hint of skin, leaving the rest to the imagination, just as she left off that
last bar to discussion.
2. M.anifest-Asa featuring Efya
Manifest: to show or display
something clearly. Dude is the definition of his name…or is it Dude’s name
defines him? There is no pretense, he talks sense and when you think you’ve
seen all he can give, he drops a line here and spits some truth there and you
feel alive like you never really lived. See what I did there? That’s because ‘M
dot anifest’ inspires me, one of the few who do actually.
As an aside, I blanched the
first time I discovered he’s the son of Tsatsu Tsikata, a very well-known and
brilliant Ghanaian lawyer. My first question was, ‘why would M.anifest not
follow in his father’s footsteps?’ Then I went like, ‘his father must cast a
very long, dark daunting shadow. It makes perfect sense why he’d want to step
away’. And then you listen to M. anifest and you conclude, nodding solemnly,
that he follows a higher, truer calling; and it shows in his videos.
First impression, he’s an
unapologetic traditionalist and realist. I must admit it was very challenging
for me to settle on one particular video to write about. Torn between songs as ‘Someway
Bi’, a gritty depiction of life in Ghana as the 99 per cents live it and Blue (Chale What Dey Happen) which took
me on a nostalgic whimsical ride. I may not have shared some of his
experiences, but I definitely lived through some of them.
So when I finally settled on
‘Asa’, featuring the delectable siren, Efya, I knew I’d chosen wisely, what
with him rhyming and flitting effortlessly between Asante Twi and English and
sporting those ubiquitous chunks of beads and colourful local-print shirts. All
of this is against a background of sweeping vistas of what I conjecture are the
plains of the Eastern Region, drumming, and of course, dancing.
And what better way to
showcase your culture than rapping and singing about one of the staples of
Ghanaian culture, Dance.
1. Sherifa Gunu-Yumiantabah
Unlike a couple of the
artistes discussed so far, Sherifa does not have an identity crisis; while most
Ghanaians are struggling to strike a balance between their culture and the West’s
tempting offerings, Sherifa revels in her African-ness. I’m racking my brain
trying to recall a female artiste from Ghana’s three regions, before Sherifa, who
has not only managed to propel herself to national but international
consciousness and...none comes to mind, especially one who sings purely in a
local dialect.
Before Sherifa, there was none
so commanding of attention to her music. She doesn’t draw you in, seductively
and wantonly, with Yumiantabah; she
doesn’t hold you hostage and compel you to listen till she grows on you; she
doesn’t rope you in, making you want to peal her layer by layer till you reach
the explosive core inside. No. Sherifa lays it bare, everything…all the good.
She is Ghanaian to the core and she is unabashed by it. What you see is what
you get and boy do you see all of it…and you love it! You may not understand
the lyrics and that’s okay; I don’t get it either. But her verve, love,
dedication, loyalty to her tradition shines through her lyrics and antics and
dance moves on screen and you can’t help but fall in love with tradition. She
tells us, through Yumiantabah, that
you don’t have to have a tangible link to your tradition before you can
comprehend it. It’s all in you…just don’t hold back.
