#redredmusic
RedRed: How Far Dir: Jarreth Merz Editor: Piros Héjja
‘How Far’ when used in pidgin has less to do with the literal distance or length of a situation or thing but more of a friendly or not so friendly 'what’s up’?
RedRed’s third music video and single is by far their most socially conscious and desperately necessary work to date, especially given the timing of it. Mensa tells me the video was actually meant to debut on Independence Day, but wasn’t able to because of perfectionists on his team, including himself. In my opinion, the timing is still perfect as the video cleverly illustrates the lyrics of the song.
The video opens with a beautiful establishing drone shot of the lighthouse in James Town to a shot of the Ghana flag, immediately telling the viewers which country (and continent) the critique in the music, is aimed at. We then see ½ of RedRed; Mensa walking through the familiar busy streets of Accra demanding answers to questions and situations that are clearly being ignored - “when the pipe go start they flow, when they go stop with the dumsor?”
Cut to Mensa standing in a pulpit, dressed in all white and seemingly 'preaching’ to a congregation. The symbolism of religion is woven throughout the lyrics and video as we cut back and forth to the preacher man character. The song even starts with the rhetorical question 'Where dey the saviour we dey look for, E be some guy for the sky inside or e be me then you’. So I asked him if he thought religion was an issue, when it comes to the progress of Ghana, to which he responded saying; 'perhaps religion itself is not the problem, or it’s always been the problem, I’m not sure. This might sound as cliche as possible but we definitely have a confusion between spirituality and religion, and it seems like it’s an easy outlet for us, just give everything to God - it’s almost become cultural now. There are now people who are educated enough to understand the loophole and take advantage of the people. It’s a problem’.
RedRed makes it clear that this 'fa ma nyame’ (give it to God) attitude that seems to have become a part of the Ghanaian fibre needs to be addressed and I’m glad someone has the balls to speak on it (although he’s been addressing this for a while in his other project; FOKN BOIS).
The vibrant colours in the video and the upbeat nature of the song (especially the 2nd half) - juxtaposes the lyrics and the message that the duo are conveying, but somehow, this still works - perhaps because, there are enough visual signifiers of social critique; evident in quick shots of Bright Ackwerh’s Million Man Riot project, Mensah dressed as a nurse (strikes) and dresses in school uniform (colonial education system) to make the viewer understand what is being conveyed. For me, the most impactful imagery, is when he sings the national pledge 'and make our nation great and strong’ against a backdrop of barely clothed children playing in filthy open waste sites in Accra (3:15 - 3:23) - Oh Ghana!
At this point, it’s important to give the Editor of the video a shout out - Mensa tells me Piros was handed 800gig worth of footage, of which she was required to tell a story in 3mins; quite a feat! She however not only edited an amazing video, but she also refused to take money for it - and insisted it be donated instead. Piros, we salute you!
The need for change in Ghana and Africa as a whole has never been as desperate as it is now; the unstable supply of water and electricity, health care workers and teachers going on strikes and even the spread of the highly contagious dead goat syndrome; one has to question the future of Ghana. 'The future of Ghana is either bright or dire, but that is a choice that we have to make. We can keep going in that direction and keep pretending that everything is alright because we have the same fancy cars you will find in a 'first world’ country… The truth is the foundation of the country hasn’t been sorted out, we still have bullshit education, we’re still using syllabuses that were handed down to us by our colonial masters. We don’t have consistent supply, of electricity, water, healthcare - everything is fucked, you know? But in the same breath, there’s wealth in the country and there are people who are taking advantage of that so there’s always going to be a gap between those who are thriving and those who are bearing the brunt of it. Either we turn things around or we keep going in the same direction. The choice is ours to make, in the name of Jesus.’
Just know, RedRed no be some mumus - a five star from me!
Review by Yoyotinz member Hephzie Twitter: @HephzIsBlessed Blog: http://hephziek.blogspot.co.uk/
