Tamale has in recent times caused a lot of eyeballs to roll on Ghana music scene. This is as a result of the achievements of artistes like Fancy Gadam & Maccasio. Their successful self-titled, sold-out events have caused the Ghana Music Industry to listen to music beyond Accra. Whilst we celebrate their successes, we make room to accommodate new talents like Double Tee.
Double Tee
The Feat
The “Shie Ko Shie” hit maker has chalked another feat best described as testing the ability team and street love. The Boss Family member staged a street Carnival on Wednesday 13th December as a surprise to fans. What makes the event newsworthy is the fact that publicity on the event happened within 30minutes to the start of the show; surprisingly the turnout was beyond impressive. This feat can only be likened to the effects of a being major player on the rap scene in Tamale.
Who is this incredible artist?
Signed unto the Boss Family Record which houses SKY The Tamale Boy, DJ Ojah & One9ra, it remains no surprise the level of creativity he employed in delivering beautiful rap music to fans. He recently released a 6 episode Music-Film titled “Ahyi”, a piece that counsels people against hypocrisy. As a rap sensation, the wit in his lyrics albeit a flawless Dagbanli Flow is his claim to fame.
Ghana music is opening up, and talents like him will make their input and earn their due. Let’s support Ghana music to grow.
2017 has been a good year for Quata Budukusu, the magnum opus nature of his numerous releases attest to only one thing – SUPREMACY.
Africa-Cry- Quata Budukusu
Even though his relevance in the game continues to be a matter of controversy, his talent and skill cannot be debated. Having been around since 2004 as a rapper, Quata has perfected his art by dabbling in numerous genres often with a finesse that can only come from a dedication to duty. His forte still remains rap, though he jumps on any genre and owns it.
Quata Budukusu approaches this song with a new philosophy
On the subject of duty, Quata Budukusu believes music can be used in several ways, from entertainment to education. This has informed the release of “Africa Cry”, a song that details the canker of slavery currently booming in Libya. The slave markets in Libya are selling Black Africans for as low as $400. A situation described by the UN Security Council as “heinous abuses of human rights.”
The situation has been condemned by many, and as a rapper with a conscience it is only proper Quata adds his voice.
The details of this song
The emotion-laden song brings to the fore issues of rape & torture, racism, intra-racial crimes, classism, and the seeming silence of African leaders when ordinary Africans are served anguish in foreign lands as slaves. The “animosity” is “unimaginable”, he says, but the reactions of the West in such situations clearly expose the weakness of African leaders.
Quata is undoubtedly one of the most prolific lyricists of our time. His upcoming 25-track album from a single riddim will definitely send tails wagging. An objective media is the only way major talents like Quata will get their due, until then the talent won’t rest.
Will it match the ingenuity employed in the 13-Track “Quantum Riddim”?
Today we bring to you the story of an amazing son of Bongo who is a practicing nurse and one of the finest radio show hosts in the Upper East Region.
DJ-Aluther-&-Console
DJ Aluther and Recognition
Popularly known as Dj Aluther, his dedication to radio as a tool for reaching the youth on various levels earned him an award as the Best Deejay of the Year at the Delight Box Entertainment Upper Music Awards 2016. He was also nominated in 3 categories at the Northern Entertainments Awards held in Tamale some months ago: overall presenter of the year, best deejay of the year and best entertainment show of the year.
Who is DJ Aluther?
Born Akunsike Martin in Bongo, the Word Fm Deejay and Presenter has through relentless efforts carved a niche for himself via the “Word House Party Mix”; a radio show strategically and purposefully couched to satisfy the insatiable need of quality entertainment in the region.
DJ-Aluther
In what can be described as an entertainment cocktail, Deejay Aluther serves his audience with bits and pieces of all there is to entertainment; entertainment news, celebrity interviews, talent promotions, event promotions and a great deal of music mixes with a spice of real talk to engage his audience. His radio show which airs every Saturday between the hours of 4:00pm-6:00pm on Word 88.3Fm in Zuarungu is one of the most interactive, vibrant and remains arguably the weekend show with the largest listenership in the entire Upper East Region.
DJ-Aluther-1
With earlier experiences at A1Radio also in Bolgatanga as part of the learning process, accepting an appointment and running an effective show on Word Fm in July 2014 was really not too daunting a task to carry.
Dj Aluther had always wanted to be an engineer and a radio personality, though he missed out on becoming an engineer, his radio dream materialized, and new passion replaced engineering and that is nursing. He went further to study nursing and now practices in Bongo. He also Manages the Music Group originally from Bongo, RockCity Bongo.
DJ Aluther’s Spectacular Moments
Among the spectacular moments spent on radio were moments that he held the legendary King Ayisoba and his own role model, DJ Black on separate interviews. According to him, he describes the experience as a rarely refreshing experience.
As someone who spends just 2 hours a week on radio yet has so much popularity and influence, he believes media is the most required tool in transforming the savanna considering the educational, informational and entertainment nature of media presentation. He believes the media can be bring about a rapid economic boom in the savanna regions of Ghana since the area is relatively unknown, media can be used to promote the area which will eventually attract investors.
The affable Dj once collaborated with Don Max, B-Wayne, Mr Kurt of Rockcity Bongo and Skerry Sparta to release a song titled “The Intro”. This song was a further testament of his awesome act as a disc Jockey. The Intro served as an instance to promote several talent with a single song; true and true, the song became a monster hit in the Region.
Where to catch DJ ALuther
Do make time with Dj Aluther on the “– Word House Party Mix” and you won’t regret it.
If you are in the Upper East Region catch SV-JAM OF THE WEEK with Dj Aluther on “Word House Party Mix” on Saturdays from 4pm – 6pm on Word 88.3Fm.
Checkout a conversation between DJ ALuther and Lexis below.
The crippling effects of fear on the average Ghanaian
The Ghanaian populace will soon be bedridden with what seem a national canker which has gradually eaten into the minds of people. Every Ghanaian in one way or the other has been affected by this canker-FEAR, from students to workers, traders, politicians, mad men, the aged, the young, sick, down to the little child.
Jon Germain
Fear, which is known to kill champions before their time, has spread its malicious tentacles across the breadth of the country. Harbouring fear leads to some form of stress, which can cause depletion of the immune system, errors in judgement and can even prevent one form making reasonable decisions. Fear leads to the loss of confidence, fatigue, anger explosions and sometimes stomach upsets; and this is affecting every Ghanaian. Let’s delve into a few of the category of Ghanaians that are suffering from fear.
Among Students
Ghanaian students studying in schools to become the leaders of our motherland harbour in them the fear of failing their examinations. Right from the word go, students have been raised to fear exams and hate the very word with all their might and with all their hearts. Beginning for their “first world war”-Basic Education Certificate Examination (B.E.C.E) to the so called the almighty West African Senior Secondary Examination (WASSCE) to the End of Semester Examinations in the Tertiary level, students face these requisite exams with fear, ample enough to kill a giant, in their hearts. Little wonder yearly results of students’ exams come with many surprises.
Among Children
Children in their development stage become very curious and tend to ask a host of rhetorical questions, some answerable, others simply unthinkable. In bid to escape the barrage of questions and non-existing answers children expect their parents, teachers and guardians to conjure for them after each round of their “curious endeavours” parents, teachers and guardians tend to formulate weird superstitious tales, to scare the little ones rather than educate them. Among these many tales are stories of Ghosts appearing in the night to catch children who refused to sleep early enough, stop talking or refuse to bath, Stories of dwarfs, witchcraft and wizardry.
The amazing thing is that these children grow with the fear of these non-existing phenomena glued to their thoughts and transfer it, like a contagious disease, to the next generation.
Among Theists
The doctrines of the two populous religions in Ghana-Christianity and Islam, imbibe in their members the belief in a final day of Judgement, where the Almighty God will replay to mankind all of his activities on earth. The Judgement per the indoctrination of the religions of Islam and Christianity, will see some men taken to Heaven and others cast into hell, an abode of ever burning fire and perpetual suffering.
The fear of being cast into hell or Janam’ah (as described referred to by Muslims) appears be a sort of headache for some religious folks as it has been described to be the worst ever place ever imagined. Residents of hell will be plagued with thirst and unimaginable diseases, as narrated in one bible story.
This stories when rehearsed creates fear in the hearts of the theist.
Among Workers
The fear of being sacked and losing one’s job is an ingrowth that has eaten deep into the minds of Ghanaian workers. Daily, under the guise of pleasing their bosses and a lukewarm way of securing their jobs, workers join long winding queues in lorry stations or join the struggle for bus to their destination. A minute’s lateness would find one smiling on the wrong side of his or her mouth. With the current state monetary affairs in the country, you better not lose your job.
It’s a different story, however, when it comes to output of production.
Among Travellers
Accidents have become rampant in the few months in this New Year. The latest one claiming about 6lives on the Takoradi-Winneba Road.
Travelers now fear for their lives, as they have little control of happenings on their way as they travel.
Among Politicians
It is election year and one of the common seasonal fears is one notable among political figures. The fear of losing election. I bet you don’t want to experience this sort of fear. It capable of killing a fully matured lion and making one’s hair turn grey in a twinkle of an eye.
The latest fear of all is the fear of terrorist attack.
Written by Edwin Abanga – 0249475585 (Student Journalist)
From obscurity many seek acceptance in mainstream music; from minority ethnic groups many want to be appreciated as a part of the big whole. This has called for the use of varied means to seek relevance and recognition. Many employ “beef” as a tool; however, urbandictionary defines beef as.
“To start a fight, to get into argument with another person, or group of people”.
We all know the results of fights & arguments in the context of beef in hip-hop…
The Surge in Beef
There is a surge in artistes seeking national recognition, global domination and the bliss that comes with being a success musically; however, we all agree that the convention is hard work and a respect for the craft. Hard work, love and respect for the craft is what has seen artistes like Sherifa Gunu, Wiyaala, Atongo Zimba, Rocky Dawuni, King Ayisoba, Delle and several other musicians originally from the savanna of Ghana soar and continue to stay relevant in an industry that is yet to fully develop.
The Struggle for recognition
Many would argue that the bulk of music from the savanna is ethnic and traditional in nature however a generation of hip-hop lovers have gradually crept into the scene; though often popular in their respective regions & towns, efforts by artistes like Soorebia, Saani, S.K.Y the Tamale Boy, Macassio, Fancy Gadam and several others are gradually making inroads into the mainstream music scene in Ghana.
Whilst the whole struggle to make “us” part of the mainstream music industry goes on, other artistes have chosen to beef albeit from absolutely obscure corners of the country.
Why an unknown artiste spends money in a studio to rain insults on another is way beyond my comprehension. Why an underground artiste would go to a studio to pay money and record a response to a diss song beats my imagination. Could it be the warped notion that beef is an element of hip-hop? Could it be the warped assumption that every hip-hop artiste is a gangster of a gangbanger?
Ataman-Nikita—Enigma
History of Beef
A look at past events across the world would give you the results of “beef,” great artistes have had their lives cut short, amazing Dj’s and producers have died as a result of beef. Successful careers have been dumped in the bin because of beef.
My focus is on 2 different artistes purportedly at loggerheads. For some time now they’ve directed a lot of energy into lyrically slaying each other, something I attribute to cowardice. If 2 grown men cannot talk reasonably over silly accusations but rather project “gangsterism” in their songs, then they don’t really understand the concept of life and living together. In fact, they might not even be fully immersed in their quest to become success stories in the music arena.
Rap Naygar & Fasetwo are both amazing artistes, even nicer is the fact that they come from the same part of the country; so, what informs their constant dissing of each other claiming to have some street credibility when none of them has a taste of what the streets look and feel like? For underground artistes to dedicate so much energy to nonsense, then they must have reached a “Kanye West” status but NO, I doubt if other than singles any of these guys have sold any laudable number of albums.
In this era of globalization trivialities like beef have no place, you are either seeking success or seeking to be taunted as a failure. Even worse is to have failed for pursuing absurd stupidity.
I am in no way trying to ridicule the 2 artistes; I just need them to understand that an ability to insult and threaten in songs does not validate your existence as a musician. What validates your existence is an ability to dutifully deliver mind-blowing music capable of making you into a Grammy nominee.
“The VGMA’s sef no see you, why would u waste time play a thug”
Any further pursuance of this 1990 mentality is only going to make you an area champion who only gets to mount small stages and spit “venom” only to go back home penniless, your existence as a music act will be confined to either Chiana or Navrongo. If you fail to recognize that as ambassadors of your respective towns, it is behoved on you to be responsible individuals then GET THE HELL OUT OF THE GAME.
The Lapaz Night Market is an interesting site to behold every night. The pedestrian walkway on the Lapaz stretch of the N1 Highway in Accra is turned into a market centre as the sun goes down. On normal days, pedestrians will be spotted moving in all directions, going about their various duties, child beggars and hawkers are not left out.
Lapaz Night market
How the Night Market starts
The situation changes abruptly when the sun settles below the horizon, the Lapaz Night Market emerges. The night market begins usually after 6:00pm and lasts till after 10:00pm.
For some, the inadequate well-structured market centres in Lapaz and its neighbouring communities, coupled with the immense pressure and overcrowdings in the few available markets, is the reason for this growing menace. The need for a market centre has necessitated the conversion of the pedestrian walkway into a mini market.
Among stuff sold on the “walkway –market” include clothes, ladies’ bags, ornaments, shoes and fruits.
Hawkers hoard their wares adopting several interesting techniques to attract the attention of the passer-byers, from singing to ringing of bells, clapping hands and even “aggressive approach system” which is often employed by the clothe sellers.
One could just dump a nice dress on your shoulder as you walk by and tell you how cheap the prize is, and how ready he or she is for a considerable bargain.
Despite the interesting things that take place at the Lapaz night market, the situation poses a lot of threat and inconvenience to drivers, pedestrians and the customers of the night marketers.
Most pedestrians are forced to walk on the road instead of the walkway, some unlucky passer-byers who crush into arranged wares are forced to make payment for the wares especially if they are edible stuff, others runaway with hails of insults on their heads.
Ever wondered why music genres continue to be relabelled and fused? It is an attempt to influence a popular genre by fusing elements of originality to own that sound. That said, are we exploring our uniqueness for gain?
We are endowed with a wide array of artistic tools; unique traditional elements like language, music/musical instruments, landscapes & locations, folklore, dances, Griots–to the modern elements that aid in boosting the economic viability of the aforementioned elements.
How about exploring these before strangling ourselves with award schemes that seek to elevate egos and not necessarily improve our artistic being and economic standing? Are we exploring our uniqueness for gain?
Exploring our uniqueness for gain
Truly pursuing the task of exploring our uniqueness for gain
I will not bore you with winding narratives on how we manage to stifle our growth with the numerous award schemes. Admittedly musicians are just like any other brand and so every aspect of their being must be to perfection or at least close to it. This requires a careful retrospection and also analysis of whom your target audience is albeit you want to be a global celebration.
The Demands of today’s showbiz is eased through exploring our uniqueness for gain
Exploring our uniqueness for gain is like art, we’ll have to be tactful and deliberate. As subjective as defining a good brand can be, we will agree there is a common ground when we seek to compare impactful artistry, and that is where our self-entitled attitude could further derail us from the path of glory.
Today’s music business goes beyond the local champion syndrome; so, one must seek to get same or similar acclamation wherever they exhibit their artistry. This requires thinking outside the scope of pleasing your townsfolk or people in your immediate region. I’m not in any way suggesting that using your indigenous language in composing music is defeatist, because language can be as effective as any of the elements one employs in creating a masterpiece. The artistic use of language can actually be the selling point of an artiste.
The onus is largely on the artiste and management to fully understand the nature of what makes good music and not just stick to one element which may get them a small following. One needs to go beyond language and pay good attention to instrumentation & the quality of production of all musical pieces. The introduction of traditional elements of music can also be a major feature in creating a unique artiste in the quest to dominate the global scene.
Others are already exploring our uniqueness for gain.
Nuggets to consider in exploring our uniqueness for gain
Stay humble; humility is a virtue that continues to aid the soaring of artistes like Stonebwoy; I’ve known Stonebwoy for a while and we can all attest to the force with which he is dominating the music scene in Ghana, he could have laid back and enjoy the street disciples’ praise but no, he values and knows who will actually label him a star hence he paid the price by staying humble in dealing with his peers, media and even fans.
This has made him a toast of many. Can that be said about the numerous acts that adorn the savanna? From experience I will emphatically say NO, and by that I’m not bundling all artistes together, but if front liners are not humble, how do we expect the younger ones to be humble.
The sacrifice and investment; Music as we’ve come to know is a full-time business that requires a lot of sacrifice and investment; both time and finances. We’ve heard people say, “talent is not enough”, how we relate to that phrase actually can impact our success as musicians.
From the image of an artiste which involves the quality of photography, artworks, quality of videos, to investing in vocal performances, studio recordings, live instrumentations and even self-improvement programs that can help in interviews and managing your persona in the corporate world, we need to consciously dedicate resources to ensure the aforementioned are at the apex of quality.
These will set-up any artiste for every market that appreciates hard quality work. The above is also one thing artistes need to really take seriously; friends and family will do you favours but the bills they have to foot inform how much they can do for you for free.
A key element in this life is loyalty, however when this is misplaced one is sure going to face the repercussions associated with it. Many artistes form cliques and movements, which really don’t have anything in line with improving musical worth, but rather creates the impression of a following.
This births paranoia as artistes find themselves making music to please the few people in these cliques; most of who will never pay to attend a show or purchase an album. Usually, most members of these cliques are personal friends and family who would rarely give objective criticism on works. If you believe objective criticism is a much-needed fuel in improving your artistry you should be re-examining where you place your loyalty.
Crowning of mediocrity in all aspects of this multi-faceted industry.
Maccasio
In as much as I have no problems with putting together award schemes, the sectarian nature and limited number of artistes creates a situation where mediocrity is crowned. The recent Upper East Awards is a good case to cite here, a good number of demo songs actually found their way on the nominations list and even went ahead to win some awards. Are we then celebrating amazing music or just trying to crown some people?
No serious artiste will enter a demo song in an award scheme neither wills any serious event organizer accept entries that don’t meet a certain standard of quality. However, given the small operational zone of the scheme, it is easy for such to happen. We therefore need to look beyond our small enclaves and aspire to be part of more competitive schemes, after all whether Navrongo, Tamale or Accra, every artiste wants to be seen as the ultimate when it comes to good music.
Unguided trend following.
Whilst artistes will swear to forever stay true to the kind of music they represent, the temptation not to follow trends is far more daunting hence they succumb. Whilst others argue that an ability to adapt to styles and trends is proof of versatility, I believe an ability to walk unchartered zones and still stay you is actually proof that you mastered your craft and control of your audience.
Succumbing to trends can only destroy the originality in style of an artiste thereby creating genres like Reggae/Dancehall when both are very different genres. Our artistes therefore need to stay true to themselves, their styles and not just hop from genre to genre. Don Sigli is one of current crop of artistes who has stayed true to his kind of music and maintained relevance no matter which stage he is on.
Lack of ingenuity. (Your native language is not enough)
Music lovers are constantly looking for out of the box performers and musicians, this is because as humans we constantly strive to experience same or similar things in varied ways. This when brought into music can be a massive selling point for an artiste.
King Ayisoba is busy travelling the world with his beloved Kologo and unique brand of music. How is he different from the many “world” artistes that we’ve listened to? Well, he brought a unique musical instrument, fused it with a lot of other instruments and offered something different from all the other artistes. His collaboration with Mobeatz on the song “Me ka” is proof of his ingenious superiority. This then suggests that our artiste need to adopt relevant elements of their various cultures to create a unique sound in their chosen genres.
I would wanna hear an rnb tune over a xylophone, I would love to hear some dondo in our reggae songs. Yes, just be ingenious and you will reap fruits sweeter than mangoes. (lol…You get it right?)
Instead of exploring our uniqueness for gain, we’ve allowed rivalry to gain roots in an industry that can only be said to be in its infantile stage. Many would cringe at the word infantile but that’s my assertion. Recently fans of Fancy Gadam and Macassio clashed resulting in broken windscreens etc. Why would two talented artistes be subject to such damning rivalry?
If we do not have any immediate memories of the results of these “gangs” we might have to revisit the era of Tupac & Biggie, Game and Gunplay, and the many great artistes we’ve lost to unnecessary rivalry to understand the repercussions of these rivalries often employed in an attempt to create hype. First off, there are enough fans for everybody to reach so there’s really no need to make play rivals when artistes are uniting to do amazing musical works.
An artiste who lacks the ability to fully comprehend the import of criticism is definitely bound to fail since they perceive anyone who critics as an enemy. Some of us have a penchant for looking beyond the surface of issues and works and so we would continue criticize hoping that it helps shape the arts in the savanna.
Artistes and their management therefore need to desist from making enemies out of all who criticize and rather look at the issues presented. Your enemy doesn’t want you to succeed, but your critics urge you to reach higher and prove them wrong.
The numerous award schemes have created a career killing mafia since organizers accord themselves a god status because they covertly have an influence in deciding who deserves an award, a situation that has spread even to deejays and radio presenters.
Deejays and radio presenters play a vital role in promoting music, so when they suddenly take sides, a number of things manifest–sidelining and continuously running down the efforts of acts they don’t support. This is done with concerted efforts so much so that it becomes evidently clear to the entire public. If indeed we want to see our music and art industry develop, we would need to stop playing God and give equal opportunity to all artistes we encounter.
We can do what we want to fit but that will not make us stand out, yet we all agree standing out is the through case of master artistry.
If we truly want to soar, we need to start exploring our uniqueness for gain.
As a musical enthusiast with an inclination towards Rap, Reggae, R & B and very Traditional African Music, I listen to a lot of it from across Ghana. Which always leave me with many questions regarding the permeation of music made in other parts of Ghana into the rest of Ghana.
Soorebia
The argument is usually limited to quality and language, which I think is a lame excuse, but I reserve that subject for another day.
After rebranding www.thesavannaonline.com and introducing a music download feature my attention was drawn to a song making waves in the Ghana titled “Primus” performed by a Youngman, Soorebia featuring a lady by name Ayilla.
For me, I just couldn’t believe such a talent is only now being uncovered considering how rap music has taken centre stage among the Ghanaian youth and the fact that acts like Edem have been doing it so well in their native languages.
Growing up & Ambitions
Soorebia started his rap career some eight years ago in Bolgatanga where he made massive inroads with his mystical yet revealing lyrics exposing a musical prowess, which his contemporaries can only wish they had. His music is usually a blend of Frafra, Nankani & Kasem with regular punch lines in English making him appeal to a wider audience.
Musical Influences
Collaborations & Features
Soorebia has an extensive list of collaborations. From his early days, the eclectic rapper opened up to other creatives. Below is a list of some of his. This list is in no particular order:
Starting his career with a Bolgatanga based record label 7ireblaze, he released several rib cracking demos and mixtapes, which earned him street discipleship leading to the invention of the word “Tumanneh,” meaning the “stacked brother.”
His dedication to the craft over the years has made him strive to attain bigger heights releasing club bangers and hot freestyles under a new movement #BBT (Bolga Boy Tins) with a very talented producer – Azkonna.
So far, he’s been a phenomenon on radio stations in the savanna regions especially around Bolgatanga, but with the release of “Primus” which enjoys airplay on YFM in Accra and radio stations as well as nightclubs across the country. I strongly believe Soorebia “the lyrical Gem” is about to be unleashed on a bigger audience.
Primus is composed of two verses with a chorus from Ayilla beautifully laced on a banging beat from a very talented producer, Azkonna. In this song, Soorebia boasts of his lyrical superiority, detailing how he killed the competition to emerge as the king of rap in his neighbourhood and the region, and his plans to conquer the rap game.
The melodious chorus from Ayilla soothes non-rap lovers and takes you to a more powerful rap verse where the rapper shows his versatility by dropping few bars in Kasem and alternating between Frafra-English. Primus is a pure rap song that can rub shoulders with ones from titans in the Ghanaian rap game.
Though unconfirmed one of Ghana’s finest Lyricists, Quata, told thesavannaonline “the song is sick, and I would really want a collaboration with him after the launch of my album”..
![Soorebia - Kiimakinna [prod. by Azkonna] - Official Video](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jD-AcHwDElE/hqdefault.jpg)
