what did I say?

I actual do not remember the last time I wrote down anything; forgive me dear reader (or scanner). Ghana has seen a lot of changes and events since we shared information.

Entertainment in the GH is quite exciting these days, I mean, we also have our fair share of incarcerated fellas. Daasebre ‘handsome’ Dwamena was in the docks for about a year. The dude was caught with some ‘coca’ in his suitcase in the UK, locked up, which had him supposedly writing 1500 songs (I am waiting to hear them). Another bright young fella, who nearly made it to Idols west Africa, Ramsey Noah, is behind bars for allegedly being involved in armed robbery. At least when Akon sings about being ‘locked up’; daasebre and Ramsey too can make a remix.

The Ghana @ 50 celebrations saw a whole lot of people trooping into the motherland. Live concerts and shows has flooded mother Ghana ever since the president decided we were going to celebrate it for a year amidst ‘light off’.

All African leaders stormed into Accra early this month to discuss in effect how to make Africa one and a better place to live in. what happened after the motorcades and the whole flurry? Erm….. nothing. I can’t still travel from Accra to Lagos without being harassed a bit. It’s our fervent prayer that something happens.

The month of July begins another half of the year 2007, and frankly already the year has its calendar full with ‘things-that-shook-the-world’.

I am definitely back, after a long break. Catch you tomorrow.

WHAT IF THERE WAS A UNITED STATES OF AFRICA ?

I shudder with excitement and fear when I think of it;. Call me what you want,

but have you ever thought of it? When I mentioned it to a real hardcore

Christian pal of mine, he said ‘that would mean the end of the world’, in a way it

is true, with the current state of affairs of the world. Imagine a new nation under

God. UNITED STATES OF AFRICA’Original’.

Think about it, wouldn’t Africa be a lovely place to live. Under the U.S. of ‘A’, I

have no doubt that the continent would be an interesting place to live in. Holidays

in beautiful Kenya, skiing in south Africa ,swimming in Tanzania, Mountain

climbing in Egypt ,ah, countries would be states, imagine a sign post that

reads ‘Welcome to the Gold Coast –the wonderful state of Ghana’. I strongly

believe that all people of African descent would come ‘home’.

What if there was a United States of Africa? Blacks would fly to space in the

most pimped spacecraft ever seen by man. That brings a smile to my face, this

simple unification born out of Marcus Garvey and pioneered b the first Pan-

Africanists i.e. Lumumba, Du-Bois,Nkrumah, Haile Selassie ,Padmore, Kenyatta,

amongst others will be a dream come true by every Blackman.

Colin(my creative pal) believes and still is deeply rooted with the whole

George Clinton and his funkadelics. He believes that arts and entertainment

move the world forward; therefore the idea of G.Clinton in futuristic wears. I

mean, who would have thought that wearing colored locks and weird outfits

could create such a following. Today we have the Snoop Dogg’s and co.

The belief that Africans have always spearheaded mass world movements

makes the yearn for a united Africa even more appealing. Africa is the most

appealing place in the world. Without Africa ,I.M.F,the world bank and the bling

bling of 50 cent,Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang and Slick Rick will be out of

sparkles. Paul wall and Mike Jones would have nothing to sing about.

What if there was a United States of Africa? The population

of the other nations I imagine, would just deplete by half. I already see the planes

and ships working their way back home to the motherland. I doubt it if any person

of black origin would want to live elsewhere .What would be our

economic strength ? I implore thee to let your imagination run wild, imagine a

nation with such gifts.

Alas it is not like that, instead we have the African Union , E.C.O.W.A.S ,

the U.N. so I ask you again, what if there was a United states of Africa?

Things I did

I keep on thinking; does anyone pay attention to the underground musicians? Does anyone know what is happening on the streets of lyrical Accra? Well, I know, because it’s fun to abandon one’s car and take a walk to places where raw talents exist.

Welcome to my diary.

One of the places to really check out for raw talent , the karaoke way is Karldoff at Tesano. Thursday night attract a lot of young Ghanaian youth. The microphone is just right, and I was not surprised when I saw a young lady I had seen earlier crooning away amongst the TV3 mentor contestants. Apart from the looming crowd on the street disturbing traffic, it seems an ok place to hang out.

The eve of independence day saw me at Dansoman City (DC), checking out a real street hiphop thing. I mean the last time I saw something like this was at Nima in the 90’s. Two turntables, cd deck and a microphone. My boy DJ Snoop had it going down, and I couldnot resist o put in some few scratches,chops and blends. I could not hold myself back when Shaolin monfunk(an underground rap group) grabbed the mic and started spitting raw hardcore hiphop. I was not surprised to have the crowd screaming and clapping. These dudes have their songs on i-tunes and were the first underground hiphop act to be win an award on Africanhiphop.com(proving all wrong that radio play helps sales)

Enough of DC.The music industry in Ghana is growing and even though we do not have record companies here, the producers and musicians are doing all they can to make sure one can dance and sing along to music made in Ghana.

Nuff said , will keep you posted

COOKING IN TRAFFIC

‘Hacks, hacks’ ,’p.k.p.k’, ‘one for thousand’ , ‘yeeess,chips ‘ ,these little call outs are common in Accra these days. I live here and this is what I have observed. At least since 1985 I have lived in Accra and witnessed both tremendous and retrogressive changes. Well one of the changes is that when in a hurry to get to work, you can buy and make tea in traffic for breakfast or make some heavy light soup for dinner. Everything can be bought at traffic lights in Accra.

I really do not mind if they sell on the street or in stores. But I do mind if they impede traffic flow, I do mind if they shove their wares in my face. I swore to fix an air condition in my car years ago and I have not regretted doing so. As much as their presence irritates me and you, I sometimes cannot help to think from their point of view. What drives them to stand in the sun for such a long time? Is it the money? Is it the discovery of the traffic market? Is it just to survive in Ghana? Whatever the reason is, I think the Government should pay particular attention to this situation. From a D.J’s point of view, I believe something should be done, I mean, the quicker the better, I have a lot of ideas running through my mind but I leave it to the authorities, you can pass the message to them.

Ghana is going to be 50 in 4 months and the country is going to be flocked with foreigners and Ghanaians who have never been here before. This to me provides great opportunities for the country at large.

Now let me tell you what’s up on Ghana television. Tv3 has grabbed the attention of almost every Ghanaian on Sundays. Well it seems the part 2 of the tv3 mentor seems to be quite competitive and controversial. I mean, evicted participants fainting, judges quitting, and white men doing war dances on the show. However I personally think this crop of ‘wanna be stars’ are really talented, and if this continues Ghana will not have to depend on cocoa and gold for survival but voices and entertainment. Instead of exporting raw materials we shall export talents to countries for shows. (A dream)

These are the rants and raves of a modern day Ghanaian D.J. living in Accra. Hei I am off to the studio, catch you next week.

GHANA @ 50

GHANA @ 50

Ghana @50!! I tend to picture an old man in a kente cloth with a thick gold necklace, several gold bracelets, an expensive gold watch, traditional leather sandals . I visualize father Ghana at 50 to be a very wealthy man, a man so wealthy other men like Mr. U.S, Mr. U.K, come for loans, food and wealth, but alas that is not the case.

I am just a modern day Ghanaian disc- jockey who lives in Accra, and this to me is Ghana at 50, a wealthy country indeed yet not reflective on the average Ghanaian. It hurts me when I see people hustling, some going on strike, others snatching phone and maiming people in the process all in the name of trying to get some bread on the table. I know things will improve and the celebration next year will be a bang. The president has promised us a year long celebration; this is not a good thing to tell me, why? Come on…………….a year of festivities, seminars, parties, etc.I might be wrong, but I wish every Ghanaian prosperity, and to achieve the Ghanaian dream, it is only by a collective and unified effort that can propel us to the level that we want. What do we want? To be a world super power? To be able to boldly announce on CNN…’ Ghana has condemned the attacks in Iraq, Darfur and will be joining the nations of nuclear weapons’…………………….. how absurd to say this today.

Enough of my ramblings, how have you been? I have been away for a long time and not fed you your weekly dose of gossip. Well, Jay-Z came to Ghana finally to perform for sometime on stage at the International conference centre. When I got to the A.I.C.C jigga was already on stage with Memphis bleek. Behind the turntable was the evil genius D.J. green lantern (who I had met earlier in his hotel room), it was a good show, but I felt jigga wasn’t given us his all but all the same the dude had come to show us he existed. After watching for 25 minutes I decide to leave, here is a tip Ghanaians, always leave a program early or it will take you forever to get out, it works for me. After the jay-z show I have heard a lot of complaints, of artists who had to buy tickets for their dancers to perform, some not allowed to even enter the premises of the A.I.C.C, if these are true, then the organizers better continue with the strictness, I guess they have a good reason for pissing a lot of entertainers off.

Another show is just around the corner, the Joy Fm night with the stars. This program has always been hugely attended and never left the fans disappointed. I am so geared for the show I can already feel the turntable on my fingers. it is a day of fun, dance and an opportunity for Joy fm listeners and music fans worldwide to meet each other in flesh and bones.

You just finished reading something from the mind of a modern day Ghanaian D.J.

djblack99@gmail.com