TAWIAH on LOVE: The Cab Confessional

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

TAWIAH on James Town Pier, Accra | photo by REDD Kat Pictures [Dec. 2012]

According to Ghanaian singer/songwriter TAWIAH, love is a beautiful complicated thing. Like music, love is made up of vibrational frequencies that wield magic into real life.

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.

Learn GA with ANBULEY

by AIGERIM SAPAROVA

ALMIGHTY AWULA : ANBULEY

It isn’t often you hear a millennia-old language sprung across a backdrop of cold electronic beats. Lucky for us ANBULEY, the Vienna-born Ghanaian music maker, blends hard electronica with her native Ga language [spoken throughout greater Accra].

Strolling Goats in Accra: NIMA pt. 3

first stop – NIMA.

Nima is one of the coolest areas in Accra – and we have the photos to prove it.

What can we say? The place just makes you feel free. We love the chill vibe of Nima and the vibrant social life of the majority Hausa-speaking population, the fly attitude and bright colors of the women, the distinct burst of flavors in Northern Ghanaian cuisine found at many food spots lining the streets and the spectacular finds in the Nima Market.

JOHN COLLINS: Digging Ghana’s Sonic Gold [part 1]

by AIGERIM SAPAROVA

PROF. JOHN COLLINS at the University of Ghana-Legon, April 2013 | photo by Aigerim Saparova

Growing up in England, Dr. John Collins felt like a black sheep. The other sheep were tightly packed with screws, bolts and a craving for the materialistic. To him, they’d been unknowingly brainwashed amidst a western hierarchical class system.

JOHN COLLINS: Digging Ghana’s Sonic Gold [part 2]

by AIGERIM SAPAROVA

JOHN COLLINS with members of Ghana’s National Folklore Board, 1997 via BAPMAF

This is part two of an interview with JOHN COLLINS – professor, musician and historian of Ghanaian popular music for over forty years. Check out some of Prof. Collins’ essays here – downloadable for free – after reading the interview below.

La MASQUERADE JAM [In Fotos!!!]

by NANA OSEI KWADWO | photos by ABASS ISMAIL for ACCRA [dot] ALT

masked up: ATTUKWEI CLOTTEY x SELORM JAY

[Double-click on photos to enlarge]

The journey to the third annual CHALE WOTE Street Festival [in James Town this September 7 + 8th, 2013] started with an inspiring note last Wednesday night at Alliance Française.

ROLE PLAY: Phyllis Galembo’s Masquerade Museum

by KATHARINE M. ORTIZ

Baby Dance of Etikpe, Cross River, Nigeria 2004 via The Third Eye | photo by Phyllis Galembo

As we gear up for our MASQUERADE JAM this Wednesday, April 17th at Alliance Francaise and prelude party our way to the third annual CHALE WOTE Street Art Festival, we bring you a bit of mask magic to increase your vim.

We are inspired by the visual feast that is portrait photographer Phyllis Galembo’s work. Here, have a look:

MASQUERADE JAM MASSIVE – This Wed. April 17th

Step into Accra’s intergalactic MASQUERADE JAM on Wednesday, April17th as we prelude party our way to Chale Wote 2013 [Save the Date: September 7 + 8, 2013 in James Town].

TAWIAH – “FACes” [Official Music Video]

TAWIAH in Arts Centre, Accra [Dec. 2012] | photo by Mantse Aryeequaye

Here it is, folks. “FACes” – the second single off TAWIAH’s upcoming mixtape album, FREEdom Drop, out on April 30th. The video is produced by REDD Kat Pictures in association with ACCRA [dot] ALT, directed by Mantse Aryeequaye.