I think I am ready to put myself out there. Ever since I arrived from South Africa in December 2010 I have been looking for the right moment to present myself to the world.
I started out doing a number of solo shows and quickly realized that I needed to develop a fan base. Those who came out to see me encouraged me and made me a believer in myself and my art. However for the most part, my art wasn’t out there in video or audio.
I never felt comfortable putting my material out. I didn’t feel the time was right. I guess I didn’t also hadn’t figured out my brand.
Presently I am taking a risk. A risk of passion to make it as a spoken word artist and entertainer. This EP is proof to anyone who listens that God has blessed me with art.
I have a plan to share it with the world but I can’t do it alone. The blog on this site details my artistic journey in the making of this album and other art projects I embark on.
Subscribe, share and engage by either liking or commenting. Your words mean a lot to me and support me more than you know.
In the next few days I will shed more light on what has been achieved so far and the plan I have to market the album.
I am not yet revealing what the acronym WTF stands for. I leave that to your imagination.
Stay winning and keep it One HONDRED!
Ghana Hates Art
Is it Ghana or it’s people that don’t appreciate art? This question baffles me every time I ask.
For the longest time art has been seen as inferior to other academic subjects. Especially the science subjects. In Ghana’s reality, a good portion of artists, be it actors, musicians, visual artists and the likes rarely get their art treated with the respect it deserves.
That’s not to say that people in Ghana don’t respect art but majority view it as something they themselves can do and don’t see reason in paying for its real value.
A good number of artists today are not where they should be not because they were lazy or took a wrong turn but because they were undervalued.
Recently I was hired by a lady from a well respected society in Ghana (I won’t mention the name) to perform at an event. I was called at the last minute on the day of their event to perform. I had to send in my piece to be scrutinized and accepted and was expected to be at the event at a certain time.
I was professional in my conduct. I dressed for the occasion, was punctual and delivered as expected. We agreed on a cash token to accommodate my transportation (Ghana’s sorry excuse for payment). After my performance I couldn’t be compensated as the event was still ongoing, so I settled for a mobile money transfer the next day.
I never heard from the lady again. I communicated with her the day after and the next and after that I decided to stop disrespecting myself and ignore that I had been used.
This is not the first time such has happened in my career as an artist. This time however I must say that I was surprised that the caliber of society I was engaged with treated me with such disregard.
When I look at my craft I realize that I have been blessed with a gift. When that product of my gift is treated this way it hurts. It doesn’t dampen my spirit but makes me stronger.
I just wonder whether my zeal to continue creating won’t be killed by the people I create for.
Keep it One HONDRED!
Worlasi-The Future
I first stumbled upon Worlasi’s unique sound earlier this year upon a video shoot at Francis Kokroko’s studio in Osu. Mawuli AKA Daniel Quist was bumping to tracks of Worlasi’s album “Nusē: The Strength Within” and raving about the artist.
At the time I had no idea of who he was. Track after track during conversations I found it difficult to point out error in his art and embarrassing that I did not know about this great artist.
It was official…….I was hooked.
As an artist there is only one phrase I can use to describe his music: beautiful envy. I envy his artistic prowess and yet inspired by it.
His style is unorthodox and cool. A complex yet simple medley of pidgin English and Ewe over beats he produced that evolves the Hiphop I know into something else.
I had to get more Worlasi in my ears. Luckily for me Soundcloud houses a number of his tracks. From earlier works to his albums, it’s all there. I soaked into each track until I stumbled on “One Life”.
As a Ghanaian, beautiful doesn’t begin to describe “One Life”. The instrumentals produced by Worlasi creates nostalgia and gets you bumping before his lyrics hit your ears.
Comprehension of my enthusiasm is difficult if Ewe doesn’t roll off your tongue as smoothly as Michael Jackson dance moves. The video for the song however is kind to provide subtitles to break the beautiful mystery of Ewe down for you.
The more I soak in Worlasi’s music the more I am encouraged that Ghana’s music has a future. We are a nation blessed with amazing artists that Ghanaians for lack of exposure struggle to understand. Thus music is more about empty lyrics and dancing. That’s great but doesn’t challenge the status quo.
Great art is a medley of entertainment and admiration merged with commentary on a social or political issue. Manifest is an artist that understands this concept and continues to lean on it. Worlasi as an artist and producer is taking that concept to the next level.
His recently released track, “Nukata” is the artists take on male obsession with women that lead them to empty their morals and cash. I call it the Pidgin and Ewe version of Gasmilla’s “Telemo”. The video is equally interesting portraying a man vommitting out dollars and later cedis and later coins just to satisfy his passion’s (embodied as a female) desire.
If you have not heard about Worlasi, search for him and listen to the future of our music. He is going places and I will be proud to see him raise Ghana’s flag higher.
(Don’t for a second however think my enthusiasm for his art is because he featured on Manifests track “100 percent“.)