#yoyotinz simplyhiphop
YOYO TINZ PRESENTS THE AYAT ZAMANI EP DOCUMENTARY
Ghana seems to be on the cusp of an art renaissance; and in the music side of things, one of the prime names involved is AYAT (a.k.a yaron zamani.) This Madina-repping rapper has carved a niche for himself by way of his whole package – from his distinct sound to his peculiarly electrifying stagecraft. AYAT’s young career is undoubtedly on the upswing.
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Our new youtube series
C-real the EmCeo and (palmwine) highlife artiste, Kyekyeku make up the pair on our debut episode of the #yoyotinzMashUp. In typical mash up fashion, they blend each others’ songs - and throw in some freestyles - to produce an ultimately enjoyable music experience.
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FRANÇAISE
C Real the EmCeo et l'artiste de highlife (palmwine) Kyekyeku ont forme un duo special pour notre premier episode de la serie #YoyotinzMashUp. Comme le veut la tradition des mash up (aussi appeles Medley ou pot pourri) les artistes ont melange leurs chansons en y ajoutant quelaues freestyles afin de creer une toute nouvelle experience musicale
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#TattTues
Written on the skin, butterfly, symbol of lightness, feminity or liberty
French :
Symbole de légèreté, de féminité ou encore de liberté, certains aiment â inscrire le papillon sur leur peau.
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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/
Ghana at 59 in the eyes of Bright Ackwerh
Today marks the 59th year of Ghana’s independence from the colonial masters.
In 59 years, Ghana has gone through growth, challenges, disappointments, happy days, etc. Some choose to call her a place of love and hate.
Who was it that said that the artist is like a mirror to their society; reflecting, through their art, the exact image of their society, at all times.Whoever this was, the person was wise. Patriotic citizen Bright Ackwerh once again on our radar, highlights some of the scandals that have hit Ghana in recent times.
The artist presents a gift in the form of this metaphorical mirror. If President Mahama’s State of The Nation Address was followed by Nana Akuffo Addo’s ‘Real State of The Nation Address’, Bright Ackwerh’s gift could be named 'The Realer State of the Nation Address’- and this is a very worthy thing.
So among all the funfair and merrymaking, the recitation of perfumed speeches and the like, Bright’s mirror will be present, prodding and serving as a reminder of the unfortunate realities, the created and accumulated mess, and of the incredible amount of work that needs to be done to make this country a viable place of living for all its citizens.
Bright illustrates Kwame Nkrumah- the first president of Ghana, as a representation of the country celebrating his birthday. He is showered with gifts depicting some of the issues that went wild on the Ghanaian political scene recently.
1. The generator and the ECG hat - represent the recent power crisis
2. The helicopter - flying money to pay Ghana’s national team during the 2014 world cup
3. The branded Buses - branding buses with questionable huge amount of money
4. The goat - president Mahama’s speech, referring to himself as a dead goat who is not threatened by the knife anymore, a leitmotif in Bright’s work.
5. Sandals - in June 2015, Mahama donated 10 000 sandals to pupils, raising concerns and debates about lack of chalks, food and other basics needs in schools
6. 2 legos in a box labelled “GITMO” - echoing the recent decision of the government to host 2 former Guantanamo detainees with no compensation
7. Ameri - Ghana signing a deal with the Ameri energy group to provide power plants at a huge price and through a very questionable middle man
8. Structure - The power badges that failed to arrive on the said dates several times before it finally arrived.
9.Yellow Tricycle - Nicknamed “Mahama Camboo” the tricycle initiative to be used as taxi was protested against by taxi drivers, trotro drivers and the police in some regions.
After 59 years of independence, one may want to ask, is Ghana happy with her current sate ? or are her children not patient enough? can it also be that her people don’t question the people in power enough ? or should they just go with the words of spoken word artiste Kacey Moore ‘Ghana we dey’ and accept whatever direction the wind blows ?
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