KING AYISOBA: Kologo Message Music

By KATHARINE M. ORTIZ | photos by Sionne Neely

KING AYISOBA’s Kologo Music | photo by Sionne Neely

The first time I heard KING AYISOBA’s sound, I was hypnotized. It was at ADA’s Masquerade Jam last month.  With only his kologo [a banjo-like instrument] and a raw oscillating voice, King Ayisoba commanded the stage and had the audience jumping and singing with vim.

Watching him perform live takes the northern musician’s mystic prowess to a whole new level.  The King of Kologo music has been making waves on the Ghana and international music scene for close to a decade, bringing traditional flavor to the forefront of pop culture. Always cool and collected, King Ayisoba distinct, electric voice carries a timeless message backed by music that’s too good to shake down.

The Talk Party Series: Creative Sampling, Copyright + Culture Jamming [Friday, 31st MAY]

Hey Fam! We are back tomorrow, Friday 31st MAY, 6-9pm at Passions Premium Restaurant in Osu Ring Way [two streets behind Country Kitchen] with an exciting session on creativity, sampling and copyright.

“Preserving Memory as Future”: An Interview with AIDA Muluneh

by Sionne Neely

MARIE-Ange BORDAS: “I was too young” | photo courtesy of Addis Foto Fest 2012

AIDA MULUNEH is definitely a force to be reckoned with. The photographer and filmmaker heads up ADDIS FOTO FEST – a biannual, international photography festival in Addis Ababa that brings a diverse cadre of African photographers together to showcase their work [the third installation is Dec 2014]. In direct response to how Ethiopia has been popularly imagined by western development + media agencies since the 1980s, Aida is building an appreciation for photography among the Ethiopian public by re-working how photography takes shape in the country. The festival develops the capacity of emerging Ethiopian photographers to tell their own compelling stories.

I caught up with my fellow Howard U Film Dept. comrade on a recent trip to Accra. Here we rap about Addis Foto Fest and how emerging Ethiopian photographers are in a unique position to transform the country’s visual future.

Drive AIDA Drive | photo courtesy of Addis Foto Fest 2012

NIMA: The Street Market Edition

By Nana Osei Kwadwo

The Medicine Market

You can find pretty much everything at the street market. A standard feature not just in Accra but all over West Africa, the street market is where the home cho preparations begin.

ACCRA Report: 3 Dope Events This Weekend!

There’s a lot happening in Accra these days. This weekend is no exception. Here are three awe-inspiring events that you should check out:

What: YARI YARI NTOASO: International Black Women Writers Conference

When: Thursday, May 16 – Sunday, May 19

Damage: FREE

FOKN BOIS: The FOKN Interview

by AIGERIM SAPAROVA | photos by MANTSE ARYEEQUAYE

[Double-click on images to enlarge]

the FOKN BOIS at home in Accra | April 2013

If you’re ever lucky enough to meet Ghana’s very own FOKN BOIS aka Foes of Kwame Nkrumah, you’d immediately know one thing: they are both a bit bizarre. Not the deranged, repulsive kind of bizarre. More like a magnetic and high-energy hypnotic that comes from the MCs’ fearless humor.

KO-JO CUE: The Kumasi Banger

by Nana Osei Kwadwo

Motivated by an ambition to tell his own story – a Kumasi story to the world – KO-JO CUE is one of the few Ghanaian rappers who treats lyricism like a fine art. Three months after the release of his seventh mixtape – Before We Shine II [The Cremation of Care] – and we still have the MC on weekly replay. Kumasi isn’t known for being a rap haven but despite this Ko-jo Cue’s been able to win over both obsessive and occasional hip hop lovers. He just spits those fresh rhymes you can’t get enough of.

MAD About MAWUSI [Part 1]

Abstract x Ghanaian x Handmade Art Gear

by Sionne Neely | photos by Jane Odartey

JANE ODARTEY in the Red Cowl

MAD About MAWUSI [Part 2]

Abstract x Ghanaian x Handmade Art Gear

by Sionne Neely | photos by Jane Odartey

JANE ODARTEY in the Yarn Tribal Series Necklace

This is Part Two of the interview with JANE ODARTEY, creator of MAWUSI, an eclectic collection of abstract wearable Ghanaian art. Jane is also a photographer, writer and model. Jane talks to ACCRA [dot] ALT about finding bliss thru crafting, building community far from home in Queens NY and how using Ghanaian prints proves to be solid as a rock.

TAWIAH: When FREEdom Drops [April 30th!]

Interview with Sionne Neely |  photos by Mantse Aryeequaye + Abass Ismail for REDD Kat Pictures

TAWIAH releases FREEdom Drop on April 30th | photo by REDD Kat Pictures [Dec 2012]

ADA: During your set at IND!E FUSE 2012 you talked a bit about love. We can’t assume everyone defines it the same way. What are your thoughts on love?

T: You have encounters with love everyday – with friends, family, lovers. Love is one of the most important things. . I think I’m a bit of a hopeless romantic. I love love. It’s an extremely complex thing but do we make it complex with our mortal thoughts and ways? Is love an act or is it a feeling? Surely love is ever present – it’s there before we manifested into our physical bodies. It’s always there, innit? It definitely should feel good and not judge or discriminate. But we put our own thing on what love is and what it should be.