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.

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.

TAWIAH: “Faces” [Official Video Promo]

Finally!! Our lovely London lady – TAWIAH – is dropping the second single – “Faces” – off the much anticipated digital album release, FREEdom Drop, out on April 30th.

Check out the official video [directed by Mantse Aryeequaye] + download the song for free this Friday, April 12th on Tawiah’s website. The track is released this week in support of  International Day for Street Children: Louder Together 12th April and Street Child Africa.

Watch the promo here:

IN PICTURES: The Talk Party Series [FEB 2013]

GOLD COAST HAZE w/ BILS RAYOE

What a blast we had at last month’s Talk Party! We switched up venues and headed over to The Lexington, the rock-swag-swank shindig that’s quickly become a weekly live music haven in Accra. Loads of folk came out to chill with Tawiah – we had a listening party for her new mixtape album, FREEDOMdrop [before its release this Spring] and premiered the video for her third single, “Faces” [directed by Mantse Aryeequaye, REDD Kat Pictures].

MIX MASTA AMBOLLEY: THE RAP GOD

by Sionne Neely

*This is an excerpt from a fuller article originally printed in Jive magazine, Accra [June 2008]. Double-click on photos to enlarge.

GYEDU-BLAY AMBOLLEY’s Sekunde Album Launch, @AFAccra [June 21 2012]

He sounded like a Black Panther on the phone. Voice all deep and guttural like he had been cussing out “the Man” all day. I imagined him with a black beret cocked to the side and a matching leather jacket, right fist raised in the air, his left fingers coiled tightly around a megaphone.

Fertile and Grown: SENA DAGADU’s Lots of Trees

SENA DAGADU on Mystic Geographies, Womanhood and a Decade of Good Vibes

As told to Sionne R. Neely  | Photos by Mantse Aryeequaye

[Double-click on photos to enlarge]

TREE WOMAN by Mantse Aryeequaye

Part Two Interview

ADA: When you think of Ghana what comes to mind?
SD: Home comes to mind. Earth and the smell of pepper. Seaside and energy – raw physical and spiritual energy. My husband, he laughs at me. One time I didn’t come to Ghana and we were in Hungary for the full winter. At the end of it, he said: “You know what? I’d rather pay a ticket for you to go to Ghana than spend another winter with you in Hungary!”

If I don’t come to Ghana for at least one month out of the year, I feel a little bit lost and malnourished. Ghana feeds the senses and the skin, the eyes and mind. In Europe it’s easy to become part of the little wheel that the squirrel runs in. It’s so important to go somewhere completely different that shocks you out of that European life, luxury and working to have money to live. Ghana reminds me of why I started writing and why I felt strange when I moved to Hungary and why I feel strange when I am here. It reminds me to feel. Ghana is key to life. Shw3!

ADA: What is Hungary like?
SD: Hungary has this kind of strange magic to it. Because of Hungary’s difficult past people are kind of still afraid to speak their mind. People are a little bit closed in themselves. But I love it. The architecture – the whole look of it gives Hungary a pulsating energy. Hungary must have been a place where there was lots of witchcraft and superstition, herbalism and natural water healing – things that you would find in Ghana as well. Hungary has a lot of water around it – it’s a healing energy.

The TALK PARTY SERIES

Come out to the TALK PARTY SERIES tonite as we celebrate TAWIAH’s new mixtape “FREEDOM DROP” with a listening session. We will also be premiering her second single, “FACES” – directed by Mantse Aryeequaye, produced by REDD Kat Pictures + ACCRA [dot] ALT.

TAWIAH wants to know what you think about her new album and video! We’ll have a Skype call session with the singer/songwriter in London and you’ll have a chance to share your thoughts.

As lovers of good music, the party wouldn’t be complete without the DUSTLYVE Booth’s Kobby Graham + DJ Kev keeping buttorses shaking on the dance floor all night. So come out and let’s get live together.

We’re collecting books to support the Community Creative Center. Be kind and bring a book to donate for this worthy cause.

The Big Fun Party We Had At IND!E FUSE 2012

FOKN Jam by OneFotos

story by Mantse Aryeequaye + Sionne Neely

IND!E FUSE 2012 was the most exciting, lavishly intense live show by any group of artists in Accra.  16 music acts participated – each creating their own version of an Accra indie monstrosity – dropkicking through live bass, synth harmonics and drum rhythms with menacingly cinematic vamps.

Approximately 1600 indie music fans jammed over the two day music event with headliners FOKN BOIS and Tawiah causing an almighty ruckus. In just two years, IND!E FUSE has quickly become the place for exposing music lovers to new and groundbreaking artists from Ghana, Africa and abroad.

SANKWAS BOIS

At the mainstage show, rapper duo and IND!E FUSE MCs, The Sankwas Bois [aka Mutombo da Poet and Simpol Tinz], STILL have people in stitches with their animated antics and raw, hilarious improvisation.

The DUSTLYVE Booth was in full effect for the first hour of the show – with Kobby Graham and DJ Kev spinning dopeness as the audience strolled in.

KOBBY GRAHAM | DJ KEV

DJ KEV SPINS

The F.O.K.N BOIS delivered their zombie apocalypse lyrics with a raw, funked-out fusion sound. As chaotic as their music may seem, in reality the duo are exceptionally tight and well-rehearsed which is crucial for pulling off their ingenuous shtick.

FOKN FLOSS

IND!E FUSE 2012: LIVE ELECTRO MUSIC SHAKE UP IN ACCRA, DECEMBER 14TH &15TH

#Live #Electro #Accra

This December Accra will beam a new signal to the world. The homegrown sounds of the city’s most progressive indie acts will congregate for the annual genre-bending sound simulators mash up. Look out for the artists line up in coming weeks.

#Live #Electro #Accra