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Mensah giggles at the sight of a nearby showy, self-obsessed yawn. He is not enthused; it must be coming from a man – full of himself and in his belly – who cares less about the other Accra, the one that shrieks and hops its way through haziness as...
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Who do men say he is? “I’m a human being in Africa/ but a black man in America/ an African in England/ don’t forget who you are.” Fuse ODG is impressed, and surprised by the quality of internet that has just carried his Skype interview. He exhales, and quips...
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FRIDAY NOVEMBER 2, ABORIGINES BEACH RESORT, KETA — It’s 9 in the evening, and Edemfest 2018 has picked up properly. It’s exactly how rapper Edem (host and headline act) envisioned it weeks ago, when we had come to inspect the venue ahead of the concert. As soon as we...
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Sunday, August 26 — John Evans Atta Mills High Street, Accra ART IS CHAOS — In a dense crowd of revelers, a smallish dark man and his supple paramour force their way east —toward the Bank of Ghana, where they’ll catch an Uber home. By one hand, he leads...
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Ice Prince’s entrée is fierce and swift —like he’s executing the final part of an ambush. He’s beaming with smile, but the entourage that trails him —a collective of four men —is stone-faced. But this is not an ambuscade; we’ve been expecting him — the famous Nigerian rapper who...
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All hip-hop is a battlefield, and one’s ability to drill panic into his opponent’s knees is core to the game. A specialist in this regard, Edem, with his unique style of executing this menace, has always been a delight to watch —from the fence, that is. As an opponent...
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Ashia is three hours into his time at an Internet Cafe, south of Accra. It is 11:58 pm – in time for Curtis, the attendant, to change shift. Ashia dozes off his remaining energy; the snooze doesn’t produce enough reprieve but he attempts to stay balanced, hoping the sleep...
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In the packed hall, and the foyer outside, the speaker, whom we cannot see, but in whose voice we have constantly found jollity and a solid bond, summons great hush with her monologue on the subjects of life and destiny. On another day, it would be driven on peppy...
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MUFASA : king! Of Swahili origin, the word feels like thunder. It implies exemplary leadership, and assumed global prominence via the 1994 Disney classic, The Lion King. These days, it’s also an alter-ego that South African hip-hop titan, Cassper Nyovest, functions under. When, in 2004, he sought his parent’s...
Mensah giggles at the sight of a nearby showy, self-obsessed yawn. He is not enthused; it must be coming from a man – full of himself and in his belly – who cares less about the other Accra, the one that shrieks and hops its way through haziness as...
Who do men say he is? “I’m a human being in Africa/ but a black man in America/ an African in England/ don’t forget who you are.” Fuse ODG is impressed, and surprised by the quality of internet that has just carried his Skype interview. He exhales, and quips...
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 2, ABORIGINES BEACH RESORT, KETA — It’s 9 in the evening, and Edemfest 2018 has picked up properly. It’s exactly how rapper Edem (host and headline act) envisioned it weeks ago, when we had come to inspect the venue ahead of the concert. As soon as we...
Sunday, August 26 — John Evans Atta Mills High Street, Accra ART IS CHAOS — In a dense crowd of revelers, a smallish dark man and his supple paramour force their way east —toward the Bank of Ghana, where they’ll catch an Uber home. By one hand, he leads...
Ice Prince’s entrée is fierce and swift —like he’s executing the final part of an ambush. He’s beaming with smile, but the entourage that trails him —a collective of four men —is stone-faced. But this is not an ambuscade; we’ve been expecting him — the famous Nigerian rapper who...
All hip-hop is a battlefield, and one’s ability to drill panic into his opponent’s knees is core to the game. A specialist in this regard, Edem, with his unique style of executing this menace, has always been a delight to watch —from the fence, that is. As an opponent...
Ashia is three hours into his time at an Internet Cafe, south of Accra. It is 11:58 pm – in time for Curtis, the attendant, to change shift. Ashia dozes off his remaining energy; the snooze doesn’t produce enough reprieve but he attempts to stay balanced, hoping the sleep...
In the packed hall, and the foyer outside, the speaker, whom we cannot see, but in whose voice we have constantly found jollity and a solid bond, summons great hush with her monologue on the subjects of life and destiny. On another day, it would be driven on peppy...
MUFASA : king! Of Swahili origin, the word feels like thunder. It implies exemplary leadership, and assumed global prominence via the 1994 Disney classic, The Lion King. These days, it’s also an alter-ego that South African hip-hop titan, Cassper Nyovest, functions under. When, in 2004, he sought his parent’s...