My Unlikely Love Affair with Ghana’s Indie Hip Hop Scene

I like to explore. I only identified this desire recently. Of course, I knew I was curious from a young age, but I never really understood how curiosity drove most of my behavior. I mean, I've always enjoyed deep conversations, and I've always wanted to know more, but there is also this deep primal drive to explore, to discover what no one around me knows and share it with them.

When I was young this desire manifested in an exploration of the punk, emo and hardcore music scene in my hometown. I'd go to tiny local shows every weekend, and find new music as I got to know people from other towns while. Later, the need to explore was satisfied by meeting new friends online, doing couchsurfing to travel on a low budget or joining random meetups. Eventually I fell in love with languages and moved overseas, as my music tastes expanded to include all different styles.

Even now this exploration continues.

I don't care much about getting credit for being ahead of everyone on trends. I never predicated so many of the things I've liked would become popular. I'm actually used to people teasing me for liking "weird stuff". Then 3-5 years later, the same people who called it weird are obsessed with it. Happened with punk rock, happened with social media, happening with cryptocurrency now...

I just enjoy digging for treasure, sometimes in places I have little to no reason to dig, just to see what I find. And if people are interested, I share it.

When I'm busy and can't travel, one of the best ways to satisfy this need to explore is deep dives into a particular music genre, scene, label, or music from a specific place. Not only is it more fun than just killing time, it's a great way to learn more about the world and an awesome introduction to a particular culture or language.

In college I spent some time digging into Brazilian classic Bosanova and samba, the rock and roll of various African and Asian countries from the 1970’s and modern “dessert blues” from Mali. Living in Japan I have explored the indie rock scene as well as some ambient, noise, post rock, jazz etc. I listen to a lot of Chinese “urban” folk from my time over there. Fairly recently I’ve delved into Scandinavian “Viking” revival music and Tuvan and Mongolian music, including both modern and traditional throat singing, as well as Chicago footwork and South African GQOM.

Most of my deep dives start with some complete accident, a kind of invitation from the universe.

Ghana was no different in this respect.

Image: Pure Akan

It started one night at 2 AM when I should have been sleeping because I had work the next day.

I got added on Twitter by a guy named Panji Anoff. I am not sure why. It may have been something I said about my interest in Nyege Nyege, a music festival in Uganda that feature electronic music, traditional and experimental music from all over Africa and also has guests from all over the world. Or it may have been that I said my interest in Bitcoin stems from its potential to level the playing field for both the southern hemisphere (Africa, South America) and independent artists all over the world. He may have just clicked follow by accident.

Either way, I discovered that Panji Anoff is kind of a legend. He is a central figure in the music scene of west Africa, running a label called Pidgen Music, which focuses on a genre called hiplife that combines African highlife music with hop hop.

I felt honored to get the attention of such an influential artist and figure in music and culture, and felt immediately curious about what kind of art and music scene Ghana might have.

Here is a country that I know nothing about and the neighbor of Nigeria which I've learned about bit by bit thanks to my friends here, through their blogs.

After learning a tiny bit about hiplife, I started to browse some of the new music that Panji Anoff retweeted on twitter and some profiles that were recommended from his profile. Without ever having a conversation with him, I felt incredibly thankful for this invitation to learn more about Ghana and found a ton of artists on twitter.

I'd love to go more into Pidgen music and Hiplife, but that feels like a big undertaking that I don't know nearly enough to write about right now. Hopefully one day, but if you want to learn more, research Panji Anoff and his label. You can find him on Twitter if you want.

Also if I get anything wrong here, please let me know in the comment section or on Twitter.

Most of the artists I was pulled to had two things in common, most of them sing in their tribal language (Twi, Ga, Ewe, Hausa etc) as well as English (pidgin) and most of them manage their own social media and are pretty easy to interact with directly. It's great getting to know more about the artists themselves, so I love when an artist is just a normal person on social media rather than just doing self-promo.

While the title says Hip Hop, not everything I've explored is hip hop, though about 70% is, so we can just stick with that title.

Baaba J

I first became interested in a young singer/songwriter named Baaba J, mostly because the first songs I heard felt like they could have come from anywhere and it had a powerful youthful energy about it. It felt like someone who was going places, which was only made more intriguing by having so few followers.

(Baaba J's videos don't allow embeds, so for her please click on the link or search her wherever you listen to music, the other artists are embedded here)

I didn't know there was music like this in Africa. The lyrics were positive and the production and melodies felt like they belonged to a famous singer rather than someone just starting out. She had literally only released 4 or 5 songs but a real international appeal. I believe at the time she only had a few hundred followers but her following has grown a bit since just over a year ago. Now Spotify has been highlighting her and even put her on a billboard in Times Square!

She sings in English and Ga (correct me if I'm wrong).

Find Baaba J on Twitter (X) or Instagram

Kirani Ayat

From there my eyes were drawn to Kirani Ayat, who quickly became a favorite. He mixes hip hop and afrobeat with traditional Hausa vibes. I was utterly speechless when I first saw the video for his song “Guda”. It blends the beautiful nature and local village life with the story of “a boy from the gutter” who “becomes Dangote”.

I can’t help but think there must be a lot of cultural context I am missing. I would love to learn more, but even with my limited understanding, I could feel all different aspects of humanity and the cycle of life, from the beautiful to the horrible and everything in between.

The stunning video was directed by David Nicol-Sey, and if you know anything about modern African music, you’ve probably seen his work before. He directed the internationally popular music video for “Kwaku the Traveller” by Black Sherif. This guy knows how to make a music video.

I started following Kirani more carefully, and after watching a few interviews, I came to think of him as a potential ambassador for Ghana and Africa, with an artistic sense that feels like it could only be born in West Africa but which can speak to the entire world. This is only made more pronounced when you hear the story of how he lived in America for a short time, saving money to produce his first album, which after completing, he decided to scrap and rewrite during the pandemic.

I love the harder drill style songs and the songs with the more traditional influences, but I also love how gracious he is to his fans, the time he takes to respond and interact, and some of the other things he's involved in, like organizing concerts and a skate park for village kids.

I’m an album guy, I get way more into music when I can listen through the entire album from start to finish and Aisha’s Sun is the first of those that I discovered from Ghana.

Find Kirani Ayat on Twitter (X) or instagram

Worlasi

I quickly learned that the best way to discover more artists from Ghana and West Africa is to check out your favorite artists' collaborations. There are tons of collaborations, and some of the big names like M.anifest are actively trying to promote rappers and singers who are just starting out.

So from one of my favorite songs on Kirani Ayat's album "Fada Na", I went to check out Worlasi.

I love this guys voice and rhythm, whether he is singing or rapping, and he jumps between moods and genres like it's nothing. When I first heard "Woezor", I felt like some of the music I used to play with my folk musician friends in China. Meanwhile, some people on twitter describe him as "channeling Fela [Kuti]" which when teaming up with the band Senkulive, he certainly does though he still exhibits plenty of uniqueness:

Worlasi also raps over tracks that are catchy and ethereal, kind of nostalgic, kind of otherworldly at times, somewhere between old school and something new. He speaks a lot about the political situation in Ghana but also about mental health, and healing which we all need a lot of. Africa deserves artists like these and so does the world.

This song also had me in tears, for very different reasons than Kirani Ayat's 'Guda". This song brought up all the pain of the grind, pursuing the dream while forfeiting a more clear-cut path, and a reaffirmation of what it means to live with no regrets.

Meanwhile the track "Jealousy" gets real real. Growing up in the USA, race has always been an awkward topic. As someone labelled "white", it's easy to fall into one of two camps, the overly apologetic or the dis-compassionate. One side is walking on eggshells all the time, and the other doesn't recognize the deep pain and trauma that can still be felt through the echoes of history.

As with many sticky topics, the nuance tends to get lost but when Worlasi goes deep, he brings the nuance, and he brings it hard. His lyrics don't get lost in the mental trap of avoiding our own issues just to point the blame somewhere else...but they also don't skit around the serious issues themselves. There is the outside world that needs some fixing, but that doesn't mean we should ignore what is going on inside and wait for the world fixes itself before we fix ourselves.

I feel like any American would benefit from these lyrics as much as Ghanians:

I'm jealous that your country is looking better than mine
Everything is fly, so people come to yours instead of mine
You jealous that my country is digging up gold mines
Most people are broke but somehow they all have peace of mind
I'm jealous that the colour of your skin
Makes the brother with my skin
Feel like they need to treat you way better
I'm jealous that the color of my skin
Makes the brother with your skin
Kinda proud feeling like they way better
I'm jealous that my passport is making me look guilty
When you walk around freely in airports with your freebies
I'm jealous that your passport is making you travel freely
When I'm feeling like an old prisoner
In my own country so free me
I'm jealous of your privileges
Be like three villages for your side
Go be like 3 cities combined for my side
So shun dey rush

That passport thing is no lie! It's hard enough for me to get a long term visa as an American citizen, but I'm well aware of how much more difficult it is for people from other parts of the world.

Great music, great lyrics, great message, and makes me curious about learning some Ewe and Twi.

Find Worlasi on Twitter (X) or
Instagram

Pure Akan

From his collaboration with Worlasi, I learned of Pure Akan. I feel like I am missing out not understanding Pure Akan's lyrics. He raps almost entirely in Akan, and so I know the least about him of all the artists on this list. Still, you get a sense that he is playful and smart and has a real interesting sense of aesthetic through much of his work.

I love this video! To someone from my part of the world, it's strange and intriguing and as someone who has still never been to Africa it gives a glimpse of the creative energy that is brewing there.

Part of the reason I enjoy the music of Ghana is that these artists all sing in their own language, whether it's part of the time or all the time. Of course each person has their own character, but sometimes you get a sense of the culture of a specific tribe through the language. Whether it's Ga, Hausa, Akan or Ewe, for a relatively small country, Ghana has an awesome blend of influences.

Find Pure Akan on Twitter (X) or Instagram

Enam

I just had to share this song and video, another to bring tears to my face. Enam shares her traditions from the Volta region. Listening to her interviews, I feel a sense of love that carries backwards and forward through generations for her family and her traditions.

These songs that express an honest evolution of tradition into modern times and a love for the land itself always get me, even if the cultures themselves are very different from my own.

Find Enam on Twitter or Instagram

Haeven

We are all still very early on Haeven, but she has a presence on stage that commands attention. She hardly has any songs out but you can already feel the power of her lyrical flow through some of the few live videos you can find on social media. She speaks honestly about her struggles and pulls no punches. She is another one who I think is destined for great things.

Now, this is what home feels like! @AshesiSC #intotheashverse #ashesi #gatedcommunity pic.twitter.com/Xswg5awKPp
— HAEVEN (Hive account@haevenofficial_) April 15, 2023

She works as a model in addition to rapping and I'm sure she will make waves in that sphere as well. I'll have more to say about her as she releases new music, but she just had a collaboration with Kirani Ayat mentioned above:

Find Haeven on Twitter or Instagram

The Art

Talk about early! The Art is still completely 100% under the radar but this video stood out to me as someone with a strong artistic drive, so the name fits him well.

I've been meaning to read up more on this artist who's only released a few songs, but seems to have a philosophical outlook that he shares alongside his music.

Sometimes low-budget videos have a charm that professional studios can't catch, it isn't a minus for him at all. I am looking forward to his future releases.

He just released another music video a few days prior to this article too:

Find The Art on Twitter Instagram

Onward

There are other artists from Ghana who I'd like to get into, hiplife for one, but artists like Alostmen, King Ayisoba (featured in Akan's song above) and some of the projects of Wanlov but I feel I still need to do a lot of research before trying to say anything about them, because this rabbit hole goes deep. They definitely deserve another post or two. For now I can leave you with this track by Alostmen, which I've rocked out to quite a bit:

#OccupyJulorbiHouse

Since some of the artists above are participating in this protest, I thought it was important to mention. Some people in Ghana have taken to the streets for peaceful protests against government corruption and failure to fix infrastructure among other things.

More numbers ! Make y’all come join the protest !

Dem go hear am !! Town make hot ! We dey suffer ! #OccupyJulorbiHouse pic.twitter.com/GAMuHC4D5b
— YourCarGuy 🚘🕺🏾 (@FrankDoe101) September 23, 2023

I'm an unconditional supporter of dancing in the streets for a cause, but these issues are really important to the people there so I am rooting for them.

Keep an eye out for news about this. They are regrouping and planning for a bigger protest in December. You can search for the tag #OccupyJulorbiHouse to learn more.