Our traditional socialization took different forms in communicating lessons based on our way of life. There are many lessons that are gleaned from storytelling, proverbs, and various analogies. One popular character of this subject is Kwaku Ananse and his children; Ntekuma, Afudohwedehwe, among others. These are dynamic characters that represented various character traits, from being […]
Ghana Twitter and the worst in us
Ghana Twitter as used here, refers to conversations on Twitter that are mainly engaged in by Ghanaians and are based on very local issues. Thus, if you are not a Ghanaian on Twitter and you do not engage trends and in such spaces, you are not the target of this piece. There used to be […]
Unity in Pluralism: It’s a-one-nation-several-tongues distin
The English language became part of our national linguistic repertoire through colonialism. While one would expect the language to exhibit a high level of purity and stability, it has experienced considerable change in Ghana. This change has roots in our socio-cultural practices, especially our indigenous languages. Consider words such as ‘enstoolment’, ‘enskinment’, ‘outdooring’, among others. […]
Unsung — Mahoney P and the Origins of Hiplife in Ghana
Image credit: Album sleeve of ‘Ebe Ye Yie’ released in 1994 A few weeks ago, the death of Mahoney P was reported. Really, this was his second death. The first persists in the ghost treatment he receives when the history of Ghanaian hiplife is told. As if to make a statement, his passing coincided with the […]
‘Villager’ and the rise of local orientalism in Ghana’s everyday discourse
As a heuristic device, ‘akurase/akuraseni’ (village and villager/villageness) to all its intents and purposes describes that which is small (town) and unacceptable (behaviour). Why then has that which is unacceptable and small become placed-based, fixed and immutable in the Ghanaian everyday discourse? To give colonialism its force and potency, countries in the global south were […]
The Delay Show: A love and hate relationship
I like that Delay brazenly asks questions which others sidestep or are too afraid to ask. On the other hand, the manner in which she conducts her interviews are most often downright disrespectful to her guests and yet, I like many others, find ourselves visiting her channel each week to watch her latest interview. […]
Pae mu ka @ 20: A Sound of our time
Pae mu ka @ 20: A Sound of our time In the early nineties, political liberalization and the gradual restoration of freedom in Ghana led to the revival of a dormant music landscape. Young artistes were drawing inspiration from American Hip Hop icons like Tupac, and Naughty by Nature. Mahoney P, arguably produced the first […]
#Skopatomana: The Meaningful Brilliance in Patapaa’s Meaningless Lyrics
#Skopatomana: The Meaningful Brilliance in Patapaa’s Meaningless Lyrics Some few weeks ago, the Swedru-based Hiplife Artiste, Patapaa, got the #SkopatomanaChallenge trending on social media. He had been featured by an upcoming artiste in a song, Daavi, and in his rap verse, Patapaa decided to deliver what is clearly bars of meaningless lyrics. He opened the […]
The Name of my Mother’s Salon was Black Beauty
Photo credit: Yoway Hairtique At the extreme right of the stores that hedged the market square of my hometown from the busy Kumasi-Sunyani road was my mother’s salon. Painted dark green with white diagonal stripes, the salon bore a big signage. With a clumsy piece of art of a hairy dark woman, the signage read […]
The ‘Obroni’ endearment is very wrong
Photo Credit: Akosua Adoma Owusu The ‘obroni’ endearment is very wrong I recently read Halifu Osumare’s book ‘The Hiplife in Ghana’. Early on in the book, the author, an African-american woman recounts her experience some years ago in Ghana. Osumare had been referred to as “obroni” and she chose to lecture whoever called her that, […]