Click on the pic to zoom in. Can you find me? Haha, as is the case in most Ghanaian gatherings I've attended, it's not that hard.
If I had more time and discipline, I’d post on here every day. There’s been so much going on lately, and since no two days are the same I guess I’ll just add some highlights from the past week or so.
Last Thursday Ashley and I got the opportunity to speak to some local secondary school graduates applying to school in the U.S. International admissions representatives from Harvard and Penn were presenting at the American Embassy not far from campus, and I was invited through a connection I have to the office. It was a lot of fun, but I have to admit that watching the visual presentation on Penn made me a lil’ bit nostalgic. The 50 or so kids in attendance were a really sharp group, and given the amount of Ghanaians we have at Penn, I’m sure I’ll see at least a few of them my senior year. At the event, Ashley and I also met two recent Penn graduates who are currently based in Accra. After the session, we ate at a local Caribbean restaurant owned by one of the alumnae’s mothers. Over curry chicken, plantains, rice and beans, we shared a few laughs about black student life on Penn’s campus and shared the conclusion that some things really never do change.
That night, I did my second radio show here in Ghana on Radio Universe, Legon’s campus radio station that actually has a large audience outside of the school. It was a great experience because I got to go one-on-one with the host/DJ Dr. Carl. Beginning at 9:30, we played some tracks from the last album and took a phone call from with my bandmate and homeboy Nana. Even though he’s back at Penn, he’s on the album and also spent some time here last year (his family’s from Ghana), so we had a little chat during the first hour of the show. After playing a few more of my newer tracks, we took a few calls. To my surprise, the phone lines were really busy, and about a dozen people called in to say how much they were feeling the music. After that, Dr. Carl played a bunch of GH (Ghanaian Hip-Hop) tracks and then I got back on the mic. I pretty much blacked out for the next 30 minutes or so, freestying about Ghana and incorporating words that were given to me on the fly. One of our last callers was none other than Jason (my other bandmate who’s here this semester), and after he kicked a little flow on the radio, we invited him to the studio. Since we were broadcasting from on campus, he had no trouble getting there soon, and we closed the show with some more freestyling and ended at midnight. I think I could get used to this radio thing.
Last Sunday morning, I was lucky enough to attend an outdooring, or naming ceremony, for my friend’s newborn baby girl. It was a held at the home of an American expatriate who has a home close to campus, and it was well attended by many of my recent acquaintances from the area (that's us in the picture.) It was a very moving ceremony, and my boy Jawhi (the cat with the 'fro on the far left) was beaming with pride all morning. It was an honor to be invited to the event, and besides getting to experience a traditional ceremony I got to interact with a lot of members of the Diaspora who have recently relocated to Ghana.
Later that day, Ashley, Jason, and our homie Monique went to see proud Penn graduate John Legend (or John Stephens, for those Quakers who graduated around 2000) perform in Accra’s Independence Square. Recent flooding in Ghana’s northern region has resulted in extensive damage and displacement up there, and there seems to be a concerted government and grassroots effort to help out those affected by the disaster. (Funny, you’d think the same thing would happen in the mighty U.S.… right?) Anyway, it was an amazing show, and his 10-piece band was a lot more impressive than I expected it to be. My only issue was that as an American performer, he was given treatment far different than that of the legendary artists hailing from Ghana. The woman who introduced him warmed up the crowd by exclaiming “We have John Legend all the way from the United States here in Ghana for the first time! I saw him back stage with my very own eyes, and he’s right here in Independence Square as I speak! Let’s make sure we receive him well so he can return to America and tell everyone how wonderful his audience in Ghana was!” Umm… I understand that you may want to give a star a warm welcome to your city for the first time, but do you really have to belittle your whole nation in the process?
Anyway, as nice as it was to hear “Ordinary People” and the other hits live, the highlight of the show was definitely the closer. The concert ended with international reggae superstar Luciano putting down an amazing set. There’s a sizable fringe population of Rastafarians in Ghana, and although you rarely see more than a few together at once, they all seemed to know that their brother was going to be in town. As soon as he hit the stage, the Square turned into a sea of dreadlocks, and somehow a mysterious sort of haze seemed to settle in overhead shortly afterwards. I guess it was just the steam created from all of that body heat, right...? haha, all interesting spectators aside, the show was absolutely incredible. These days, most people in the States seem to think of dancehall artists like Sean Paul, Beenie Man and Shaggy as reggae artists. Well, I’m happy to report that reggae as Robert Nesta, Peter Tosh, and Gregory Isaacs created is alive and well. Luciano is pretty popular in the West Indian and African community in the States, but I never had the opportunity to hear his music. Dude was amazing! Rumor has it the guy’s at least in his 40’s, but that didn’t stop him from doing a front handspring right before the opening to a song. With all of the acrobatics on stage, he never missed a beat or lost control of his breath. His band, with a traditional instrumental setup, was equally as impressive. I know I’m late to the game with this artist, but even being the music snob that I am I’ll admit that I was missing out until this point.
After classes this week, we headed back over the Hypnotiq lounge on Thursday night. The place was a bit more jumping than usual, as my boys PY and DK who host the spot have been going extra hard with promoting the past few weeks. They’ve added live instruments to the mix, so this time around we got to get a little more funky with it. Unfortunately, the keyboard won’t be in until next week, but I still got to perform a bit vocally. I’ve become a regular at the spot now, so it’s nice being able to walk straight in without paying a cover. (DK to the doorman: “C’mon man, this is VOCAB! He’s a performer! You should know this guy by now. Just let him pass through.”) As usual, we warmed up the set with a little freestyling on the microphones, then proceeded to do our own things. Jason hopped on the drums, and after he hit a steady tempo I decided to just start flowing to the breakbeat. Things went pretty well, and the crowd received the performance as warmly as they ever have. A local reggae band did their thing too, and the vibes in the house were off the charts as the chemistry between artists flowed. I’ve passed my CD’s around to a few people and have been heard here and there, so it’s cool to get a little bit of recognition for the music. Incidentally, someone stopped me in one of the dorms the other night to ask if I was the same rapper from the infamous “On the Run” battle a few weeks back. When I replied yes, he explained to his friend in pigeon how I had done in my opponent. It pretty funny, since I had almost forgotten about the whole thing until this guy recounted the event in the most hilarious manner possible.
As much as it saddens me to say this, the semester’s soon coming to a close, and there are a staggering TWO weeks of classes remaining. Finals begin at the end of November, and I’m already beginning to brace myself for the culture shock I’ll probably experience upon returning to Babylon… err… I mean, the States. I’ve still got about 6 weeks left, so I suppose it’s still too early to start getting all dramatic. Knowing how I am, I’m sure I will soon though.
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