GHANAIAN POPULAR MUSIC AND SOCIO-POLITICAL COMMENTARY: A CASE STUDY OF BARIMA SIDNEY BY NANA ADOBEA OBENG 10086451 THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MPHIL MUSIC DEGREE JULY, 2015 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh i DECLARATION I hereby certify that the present work is the product of my original research and that it has never been presented in part or in whole for another degree elsewhere. Wherever sources have been quoted or used, full acknowledgement has been made. The Candidate: ------------------------------------------------------ Nana Adobea Obeng Date: ________________ Supervisor: ----------------------------------------------------------- Prof. E. J. Collins Date: _____________ Supervisor: ----------------------------------------------------------- Prof. Daniel Avorgbedor Date: _________________ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ii ABSTRACT This dissertation discusses the relationship between Ghanaian popular music and socio- political commentary. Its explore Hiplife music focusing on five selected songs of Barima Sidney. Based on a case study approach, the study employs qualitative methods of inquiry by drawing on intensive personal interviews, focused groups, archive and commercial music videos, journals, press cuts from the Internet, the social media as well as life-history method. The interpretation of song texts from these selected songs employs aspects of discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, and functions of song and song texts as suggested Merriam (1964). The study posits that because of its poetic nature Hiplife music has multiple meanings which could also serve as a social-politcal critique of the country. Focusing on Barima Sidney, this research contributes towards the development of methods in the studying of the biographies of musicians thus providing a deeper understanding of their musical skills, styles and impact on society, in this case contemporary Ghanaian society. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE THESIS AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome BBC British Broadcasting Corporation CDC Congress for Democratic Change CNN Cable News Network CPP Convention People‟s Party EHF Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever FIDA Federacion Internacional de Abogadas FM Frequency Modulation GH Ghana GTV Ghana Television ITT International Thief Thief LAFA Locally Acquired Foreign Accent MC Master of Ceremonies MUSIGA Musicians Union of Ghana NDC National Democratic Congress NEPA National Environmental Policy Act NLC National Labour Commission NPP New Patriotic Party PANAFEST Pan-African Festival P Page Pp Pages TV Television U.S United States WASSS West African Senior Secondary School University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iv DEDICATION To My Sweetness Kwabena Obeng University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Praise be to Yahweh for seeing me through this battle to the end. Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is deepest within me bless His holy name. My most trustworthy and supportive supervisors put in their best within the short time span at their disposal. Their constructive critiquing line by line through the scripts, their suggestions and contributions are very much appreciated. This project could not have gotten this far without the persistent support given by some other individuals. Mr. Frank Fergusson Laing, Eric Sunu Doe, Mr. Benjamin Amakye Boateng, and all Lecturers of the Department of Music, University of Ghana, Legon who kept encouraging and urging me on. They often would criticise, and make their own suggestions to enhance the final output. I thank you for being the positive voices that kept reminding me to work harder. I am also very grateful to Ms. Grace Takyi, a teaching assistant also at the Department of Music, for being the friend I needed. Her countless questions always brought me back to my focus. Thanks to Terry Bright Ofosu, a lecturer at the Department of Dance Studies, University of Ghana Legon, for providing me with one of the key source materials for this project. Many thanks to Dr. Joshua Amuah and Mr Timothy Andoh who constantly checked on my progress, Kofi Kudonu, Mark Millas, and all staff at the Department of Music who made my stay there comfortable, I am grateful. To my able husband Kwabena Obeng who initiated this whole process of me coming back to school in spite of the challenges of handling two young children by himself and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vi provided even at their expense sometimes, I say you are God-sent. It takes a real man to push his woman to greater heights without the fear of the insecurities. I love you more! Nana Yaw Nkunim Obeng and Maame Afua Asomdwe Obeng my wonderful children, thank you for spurring me on through the inspiration you gave me. I love you loads! To my siblings William, Samuel, Yaw, Samson, Yvonne and Linda, I say, your support and encouragement were just great. You were not just family, but true friends in time of need. I love you all. To my Dad Rev. Dickson Tuffour Sarpong; thanks for always being there for me. My ICGC Jesus Temple family: Benjamin Creppy, Kofi Adjei-Frimpong, Quecou Buabeng Otoo, Isaac Amankwa, Dr. Sam Tinagyei, my CAD Crew and all who helped in diverse ways, more blessings. To Akosua Serwaa Dei and Afia Adubea; thank you for being highly understanding and most supportive. I couldn‟t have made it without you having my back. My director, Mr. Kingsley Obeng and other colleagues at the office, thank you for your understanding. I am appreciative of all my respondents. God bless you. To Kweku Tieku, a friend who sticks closer than a brother; you brought the needed help at the right time. Yours was “the icing on that cake.” Thank you. To all my course mates and colleagues, for your suggestions, telephone calls, reminders and encouragement, I say thank you. To Barima, thank you for providing invaluable information with absolute cooperation. This thesis would not have come to fruition without you. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .................................................................................................................. i ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE THESIS ................................................ iii DEDICATION .................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. v TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................. vii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ x CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background to the study.................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Statement of Problem ...................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Objectives ........................................................................................................................ 2 1.4 Research Questions ......................................................................................................... 2 1.5 Significance of Study ...................................................................................................... 3 1.6 Scope of Study ................................................................................................................ 3 1.7 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................... 3 1.8 Methodology ................................................................................................................... 5 1.8.1 Data Collection Procedure ...................................................................................... 5 1.8.2 Data Processing ....................................................................................................... 5 1.9 Field Experience.............................................................................................................. 6 CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................................ 9 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF POPULAR MUSIC AND SOCIO-POLITICAL COMMENTARIES IN GHANA ....................................................................................... 9 2.1 Literature Review ............................................................................................................ 9 2.1.1 Music and Socio-Political Commentary ................................................................. 16 2.1.2 Popular Music and Censorship .............................................................................. 30 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh viii 2.1.3 The Fusion of Music and Politics in Ghana ........................................................... 32 CHAPTER THREE .......................................................................................................... 40 BIOGRAPHY AND MUSICAL LIFE OF BARIMA SIDNEY .................................... 40 3.1 Early Life and Education .............................................................................................. 40 3.2 Life as an Amateur Musician ........................................................................................ 41 3.3 Challenges as Part of a Group ....................................................................................... 43 3.4 Life as a Solo Artiste ..................................................................................................... 47 3.5 Challenges as a Solo Artiste .......................................................................................... 48 3.6 Turning Point ................................................................................................................ 50 3.7 Contribution to the Ghanaian Music Industry ............................................................... 51 3.8 Personal Life ................................................................................................................. 60 CHAPTER FOUR ............................................................................................................. 64 TEXTUAL ANALYSIS .................................................................................................... 64 4.1 Sources of Inspiration ................................................................................................... 64 4.2 Discourse Analysis of Barima Sidney‟s Works ............................................................ 66 4.3 Song Text Analysis of Scenti Noo(2003) ..................................................................... 69 4.4 Obiaa Nyɛ Obiaa ........................................................................................................... 74 4.5 Song Text Analysis-Obiaa Nyɛ Obiaa .......................................................................... 75 4.6 Africa Monie (2007) ..................................................................................................... 77 4.7 Song Text Analysis-Africa Monie ................................................................................ 78 4.8 Donkomi (2013) ............................................................................................................ 78 4.9 Song Text Analysis-Donkomi ....................................................................................... 79 4.10 Ayɛka (2014) .............................................................................................................. 80 4.11 Song Text Analysis of Ayeka ..................................................................................... 80 CHAPTER FIVE ............................................................................................................... 83 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ....................................... 83 5.1 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 83 MAJOR FINDINGS FROM THE RESEARCH ................................................................ 84 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ix TEXTUAL ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................... 87 5.2 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 89 5.3 Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 90 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 92 Webliography .................................................................................................................... 93 Interviews ........................................................................................................................... 94 APPENDIX ........................................................................................................................ 95 1. Scɛnti Noo, .................................................................................................................. 95 2. Obiaa Nyɛ Obiaa ....................................................................................................... 98 3. Africa Money ........................................................................................................... 101 4. Donkomi ................................................................................................................... 104 5. Ayeka ......................................................................................................................... 108 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Sarkodie with Barima Sidney ............................................................................. 49 Figure 2: Mr. George OppongWeah ................................................................................... 58 Figure 3: Barima Sidney ..................................................................................................... 58 Figure 4: Barima with the researcher after an interview ..................................................... 63 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh file:///E:/Adobs-Final.doc%23_Toc450802295 file:///E:/Adobs-Final.doc%23_Toc450802296 file:///E:/Adobs-Final.doc%23_Toc450802297 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study Music is generally described as one of the artistic forms that are often thought to provide communication where individuals and groups could easily express themselves. It is often used to evoke political issues, aiding as an advocator, promoter and inspirer of social justice. Damilola (2011) shows that, to become a political activist goes beyond voting to having a burning desire to effect change in one‟s society. For musicians, one way by which such an active step can be taken is through the use of music in addressing certain social issues. Merriam affirms that, what is important is that a song itself gives freedom to express thoughts, ideas, and comments which cannot be stated baldly in the normal language situation. It appears, then, that singing apparently provides an extremely useful means for obtaining kinds of information which are not otherwise easily accessible (Merriam, 1964, p. 193). Merriam goes on to quote Crowley that one of the forms through which this is made most evident is the topical song such as the Calypso, which has widespread distribution and may well be found in almost every society. Topical songs take many forms, but in broadest application, they may be characterised simply as songs of comment upon aspects of daily life (Crowley, 1959a). In Ghana, hiplife writers like Barima Sidney, Sarkodie, A- Plus, and Obour are musicians who address such issues through their music. The title track of Barima‟s 2003 album, Scent Noo for example detested uncleanliness and teased various professions and “honourables” 1 , thus acting as some sort of moral check in the society. 1 The word ‘honourables’ here refers to how Ghanaian parliamentarians are addressed. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2 This study reflects on the socio-political nature of song texts and its commentary, drawing on a selection of Barima Sidney‟s music as the focal point. 1.2 Statement of Problem Barima Sidney is one of the first generation hiplife musicians, whose texts are mostly socio-politically based. However, because hiplife is often composed and performed in complex poetic constitution and which also draws on the indigenous musico-poetic traditions of allusion and satire, it often encodes messages of multiple interpretations. This can only be dealt with, both by examining these lyrics in terms of the composer‟s intent, and how they are appropriated from public perception. 1.3 Objectives a. To investigate the use of music as an important instrument or medium that encourages socio-political commentary. b. To ascertain the extent to which music can be used as an effective tool for the dissemination of information. c. To investigate Barima‟s music with focus on the texts' multiple meanings from both the point of view of the musician and from public perception. 1.4 Research Questions The study was guided by these questions: a. Why hiplife music? b. What is the difference between Barima‟s intention and how the public interprets it? University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3 c. In what ways does this interpretation reflect and support the general nature of socio-political commentary in Ghana? 1.5 Significance of Study Barima Sidney is an icon where hiplife music is concerned and this research identifies his contribution to hiplife as a popular music style in Ghana. Although some amount of research has been conducted on hiplife music in Ghana, the contribution of the individual musician has not been the prime emphasis. Therefore, this paper aims at contributing to the scholarship on hiplife in Ghana. With its focus on the individual as a case study, the research contributes towards the development of methods in studying the biographies of individual musicians and thus provides deeper understanding of their musical skills, styles, and impact on contemporary Ghanaian society. 1.6 Scope of Study The study focused on music and its relation to socio-political commentaries, drawing from five selected works of Barima Sidney. These included:  Scɛnti Noo (That Scent, 2003)  Obiaa Nye Obiaa (Nobody‟s nobody, 2004)  Africa Monie (Africa Money, 2007)  Donkomi (Reduction Sales, 2013)  Ayɛka (Dead End, 2014) 1.7 Theoretical Framework Merriam states that, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4 “One of the most obvious sources of understanding human behaviour in connection with music is the song text. Text, of course, are language behaviour rather than music sound, but they are an integral part of music and there is clear cut evidence that language used in connection with music differs from that of ordinary discourse; one of the most striking examples is shown by the fact that in song the individual or the group can apparently express deep-seated feelings not permissibly verbalised in other contexts” (1964, p. 187). This phenomenon has been commented upon most frequently for Africa, although it apparently operates in other world areas as well (Merriam, 1964, p. 187). He takes a queue from Hugh Tracey in speaking of the Chopi of East Africa who says: “You can say publicly in songs what you cannot say privately to a man‟s face,” and so this is one of the ways African societies takes to maintain a spiritually healthy community (Merriam, 1964, pp. 190, 237). Barima‟s songs are typical examples of this phenomenon hence, this study draws from this information in its song texts analysis. Life history interviewing is an approach that uses a form of individual interview directed towards documenting the respondent's life, or an aspect of it that has developed over the life course. Plummer (2001) notes three main types of life stories: [1] stories of a life told in a given culture, unshaped by research intervention; [2] life stories specifically gathered for research purposes; and [3] life stories constructed self-consciously. An intensive interview is an integral part of the life history interviewing method and this approach is employed in this study. Through the process, the life of the musician in question and a selection of his works are analysed and discussed. Barranco (2013) describe discourse analysis as a way to analyse how language is used in a specific context; the language used can be seen in a conversation, in a speech, in any type University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5 of genre, such as the lyrics of a song. It is essential to address the language in context because it can display social problems that occur in society. Since language and language use, and communication are central to musical systems, this thesis places more emphasis on song text. Hence aspects of discourse analysis was therefore one of the appropriate analytical tools that was employed. 1.8 Methodology 1.8.1 Data Collection Procedure The researcher consulted written relevant documents that included books, journals, magazines and press cuts from the library and internet. The research employed multiple forms of qualitative data collection strategies which included observations, music videos and face-to-face interviews with Barima Sidney, and a sample of persons in the entertainment media. Through question schedules and phone calls certain information that needed clarifications were crosschecked. The researcher also made use of recorded audio for the song text analysis. 1.8.2 Data Processing All the data collected were carefully compiled and analysed to reflect the true and vivid picture as set out in the research outline. Information gathered was crosschecked from other sources to ensure that they were coherent. The texts of selected original compositions of Barima Sidney sung in Twi, Ga, French and Hausa were translated into English and typed into word files. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6 1.9 Field Experience My field experience was a challenging one from the initial stages but became an interesting one as the research progressed. I combed around for anyone with links to Barima Sidney for close to two months without any success. What made it frustrating was that I was already behind time by the schedule I had set and I found myself in a tight spot as the normal avenues to get information on my icon for the case study had little or no help. Almost giving up, I decided to search for Barima Sidney on Facebook while I was on the page chatting with a friend. Having made my intentions known in the form of writing, I posted it into his Facebook message box. He almost immediately responded with his phone number for me to call him. This came as a surprise and joy to me as well. This was because I had a hard time trying to reach him through others in the entertainment industry, due to the protocol one has to go through in order to get a simple question answered or comment from them. A date was fixed for our first face-to-face interview but something came up so we could not meet. Barima called later that he had a programme in Koforidua where I reside, so we finally had our first meeting on May 23, 2015. The reception given was very warm and to my surprise there were no protocol procedures to go through. He offered a drink for me which I politely refused though he kept insisting. This was because I was too excited and ready to have my interview before anything crossed our meeting. The interview lasted almost two hours and this was interspersed with interrupted phone calls and people, particularly others in the entertainment industry who were also part of the programme he came for and were staying in the same hotel with him. I learnt from the first interview with Barima Sidney that he was very friendly and caring by nature from the phone calls he answered throughout the period and the way he related with all, including the hotel hands. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 7 Crosschecking of facts after my first interview was through phone calls and whenever he missed my call or saw a message from me, Barima replied and apologised for not being able to pick up the call and went further to explain why. This was very encouraging and led me to believe one of the things he told me on our first meeting; that family and people he worked with come first even before the money because his fans are his reward/award. My next interview was also in Koforidua where there was another programme he was part of. He called to inform me just like the first time and we set a date for the interview. This one had challenges of rain and Barima leaving once I got to his hotel because he had to meet the Black Stars who were passing through town to make a donation for the needy at one of the local radio stations, before getting to their destination at Kumasi. I had to go back home and return later for the interview. This interview had traits just like the first one with interruptions. It rained throughout the whole time after which Barima refused to see me go for a taxi and instead drove me all the way back right to the doorstep of my home. This interview was on June 20, 2015. A section of people I interviewed from various backgrounds including health, media, music, religion and politics after making them listen critically to the selected songs brought out very divergent yet interesting analysis on the song texts based on their perception, and this was added to my analysis of it in the chapter four of this study. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8 Challenges by way of the „Dumsomania‟ 2 weakened my laptop battery so made the working process frustrating most of the time. Efforts were however made by me moving to stay in Accrafirst with my elder brother at Lakeside, then to my nephew at Madina, then finally Legon campus by kind courtesy of an Assistant Lecturer at the Department of Music. Regardless of these challenges, the fieldwork has offered me the opportunity to gain experience in data collection and analysis, which will aid in any future research. 2 Dumsomania is a coined word by the author, combining the Twi words “Dum So” which has become the lingua franca slang in Ghana to mean the indiscriminate eruption of power supply, with the word ‘mania’ because of both the positive and negative passion that has been attached to it. An example is a news report on some of the local radio stations about a man who was so worried his lights hadn’t gone off for two weeks so called the Electricity Company of Ghana to complain about the situation. This is how far the Dumsomania has affected some members of the society. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9 CHAPTER TWO HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF POPULAR MUSIC AND SOCIO- POLITICAL COMMENTARIES IN GHANA 2.1 Literature Review Socio-political commentary and popular music has always played a vital role in shaping the political course in Ghana. From pre-independence through till now, music genres ranging from Traditional, Swing, Calypso, Jazz, Rock, Samba, Soul, Reggae, Highlife, Neo-Traditional, Gospel, and more recently Hiplife, Twi-Pop and so on, has become a part of the Ghanaian music culture. The following literature discusses some discourse on popular music and socio-political commentaries in Ghana. For the purposes of the study, the use of Ghanaian popular music for socio-political commentary exists under three main categories namely: a. Music specifically commissioned by political parties for their benefit (Collins, 2005, p. 21) b. Music that are appropriated and applied to the circumstances of the country (Asante Darko and Van der Geest, 1982, p. 30) c. Hidden political message or reinterpreted by the public (Merriam, 1964, p. 193). Socio-political commentaries involve a broad spectrum of issues including health, education, sanitation, agriculture, road management, energy crisis: like the “Dumsomania” in Ghana, but for the purpose of this study, socio-political commentary refers to the art of politicising songs in Ghana. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 10 Asante Darko and Van der Geest (1982), opine that art has a double face. Art, particularly poetry, has a playful character (Huizinga, 1970); some of which lie in the fact that art often obscures what it wants to express. Music as an art is not exempted from these attributes. Therefore, based on the theory of poetic reinterpretation, the research seeks to examine how the meanings embedded in the lyrical content of these songs have effected changes or otherwise in the social and political decisions of the country. Asante Darko and Van der Geest (1982) discusses the double meanings embedded in highlife songs and how people in the country may ascribe certain meanings to songs to reflect the economic, social or political situation in the country at the time. This provides information relevant to the work. It reveals some aspects of the „playful character that art possesses‟ as Asante Darko and Van der Geest talks about in some of the selected songs. Contrasting the „double meaning‟ they discussed in highlife music, this thesis further explores the multiple meanings that can be ascribed to the selected song texts of an individual musician based on a case study method and how those meanings generate socio-political commentary. In his book The Music of Africa, Nketia writes that the treatment of song as a form of utterance arises not only from stylistic considerations or from consciousness of the analogous features of speech and music. It is also inspired by the importance of the song as an avenue of verbal communication, a medium for creative verbal expressions, which reflect both personal and social expressions. Accordingly, the themes of songs tend to centre on events, matters of interest and concern to the members of a community or the social groups within it. They may deal with everyday life or with the traditions, beliefs and customs of the society. Nketia mentions types of songs such as cradlesongs, reflective songs, historical songs, and general songs pointing out that expression of emotions like University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 11 love and hate, joy and sadness, or praise and satire may run through different contextual categories of songs. Nketia (1992) underscores that sometimes what cannot be said in speech can be stated in a song. Someone, who wishes to complain or cast insinuations, may find it more effective to do so in song than in speech. This is why, according to him, ethnographers, among others record and analyse song texts for data or use them to illustrate aspects of their analysis and description, for “song texts are a reflection of culture of which they are a part.” Hence some attention is given to songs as “oral documents” by some students of African history and philosophy, as well as by students of psychology. To emphasise his point, he further quotes Merriam, who says that, through the study of song texts it may well be possible to strike quickly through protective mechanisms to arrive at an understanding of the ethos of the culture and to gain some perspective of psychological problems and processes peculiar to it (Nketia 1992, pp. 189-205). Nketia‟s works provides immense information to the understanding of the composition of songs. The focus of this study however is on an individual musician, whose song text generates socio-political commentary. Just like Clark (2012) believes that hip hop writers and the youth they represent are an important component of any social or political struggle towards progress, Collins (2005) points to how in the case of Ghana, the urban youth now have their own special music idiom-hiplife. This genre with its outspoken lyrics, electronic instrumentation, solo artist and video clip format has become an identity symbol for the present generation of Ghanaian youth. This is because during Ghana‟s 1970/80s military era, the live popular music scene collapsed for almosta decade with the evening curfews and high rate taxes of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 12 about 160% on importation of musical instruments. Musicians left the country in search of greener pastures abroad. Asaresult, hiplife musicians who were a creation or a rippled off effect of the military interventions were therefore not exposed nor trained to play live popular band instruments. This essay‟s focus was on the socio-historical aspect of popular music in Ghana. However, this particular study focuses on one individual musician‟s life and the impact of his music on the public through the interpretation of song texts both from the author‟s and the listener‟s perceptions. It additionally explores the impact the song texts‟ power has on its hearers. Collins (2005) conjectures that many of the older generation misunderstood the hiplife genre in the beginning because it did not conform to norms of popular music as found in Ghana at that time. 3 The rap was too hurried in their opinion and this expression became its name “kasa hare.” 4 The lyrical content was also the model of the violent African- American gangsta rap variety, or contains sexually explicit and misogynist lyrics. This paper provides the needed information which will support the research in terms of the understanding the processes that led to hiplife becoming a popular music genre which was first embraced by the youth. This study explored how hiplife music could bring about socio-political commentary through the song text analysis of an individual musician as a case study. In their introduction of the article “Entertaining Repression: Music and Politics of Postcolonial Cameroon,” Nyamnjoh and Fokwang assert that the manner in which music is produced and appropriated, by whom and how, is inseparable from power relations 3 The misunderstanding of the older generation as discussed by Collins lay in the appearance of the artists- the baggy jeans and sometimes with bare chest, gestures, insults and noisy nature of the music. 4 “Kasa hare” means hurried speaking in Twi, which is the lingua franca in Ghana. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 13 including political, cultural, economic and gendered. It follows that in the case of Africa, social actors have appropriated music with variety of interests (Nyamnjoh and Fokwang, 2005, p. 251). This information agrees with the study‟s use of Ghanaian popular music as socio-political commentary‟s second category: Music that are appropriated and applied to the circumstances of the country. One of Barima‟s song Scent Noo for instance generated a lot of socio-political commentary that people in government referred to as “honourables” got angry because the song teased an honourable „Apɔfee‟ whose smelly socks is so bad that all children in the neighborhood have to move far away when he comes back from work and takes it off. 5 During the 2004 electioneering campaign for Ghana however, one of the major parties at the time,The New Patriotic Party, sought permission from Barima Sidney and appropriated the song for their campaign convincing the citizens that the “Bad economic scent” has filled the country and it is suffocating them. The solution to that problem was to accept and vote the “Good Kuffour scent” which will erase the suffering that the “Bad economic scent” has caused. The message went down well with the citizens and the appropriation of Scent Noowas one of the major promoters that brought victory to the NPP in the 2004 elections. Banning, repression and significant contestations about music are found in both the past and present African societies. There are numerous cases according to Avorgbedor (2009), and it is therefore, very appropriate to conceptualise these traditions, social criticism and censorship efforts as important everyday cultural practices in African societies. This essay helps the reader to understand the perception of music in Africa in relation to the thesis, as some of the hiplife songs went through some or all of the above mentioned challenges. An example of one such is Barima‟s Donkomi, which was eventually censored in 2013 after 5 Honourable “Apɔfee” is one of the nicknames Barima gives in the song texts of his music “Scɛnti Noo” University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 14 its reinterpretation by the “Informer newspaper” that, it merited his arrest and imprisonment because of the song texts and symbols it contained. Although Barima had a different view of the song, the National Security also understood it from the newspaper‟s point of view hence, the banning of the song. Damilola (2011) writes about Afro-Beat musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and his role as a political activist who spearheaded the use of music in the discussion and promotion of social and political issues in Nigeria. Although his work is set in Nigeria, it provides adequate information on the relationship between music and socio-political commentary and the part that musicians play. In the case of this study however, the music being used is not the Afro-Beat as in Nigeria‟s case but hiplife in Ghana and the impact of its song texts. Africa Monie which Barima Sidney released in the latter part of 2007 with socio-political commentary on African leaders and their misuse of money as its main theme picked up in 2008 and crossed the boundaries of Ghana to other African countries. This commentary in the song became a tool for opposition parties in these countries to bring about political change to their advantage. For instance Ama Larbie, in her report states, “Ghanaian Hiplife-controversial musician, Barima Sidney‟s song, Africa Monie appears to be exhibiting some good-luck magic as it has contributed to formerly opposition parties, who used the song during its presidential election campaigns, to overthrow its country‟s ruling governments. Now ruling parties who used Africa Monie as one of its campaign songs include Ghana‟s National Democratic Congress; Burkina Faso‟s Congress for Democracy and Progress; Equatorial Guinea‟s Democratic Party; Côte d‟Ivoire‟s Rally of the Republicans formed in 1999 and just recently, Nigeria‟s All Progressives Congress.” 6 6 This report was posted on April, 8, 2015 by Ama Larbie, an E News reporter) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 15 The origin of hip-hop lies in its use as a tool of both self-expression and self-definition as noted by hip-hop artist Chuck D who famously referred to hip-hop as the Black CNN. This means that, one gets information on what is going on in the inner city and Black communities by simply listening to the hip-hop music coming from those communities. There is ample commentary on the conditions of the urban poor and criticisms of government policies found within the hip-hop of the ghetto (Clark, 2012, p, 24). This article provides vital information on hip-hop in Ghana and Tanzania, and is relevant to this paper because, it was from that musical genre that hiplife was created. Though it is also a potent voice of expression for the youth in Ghana, the difference in purpose for Ghana‟s case is that hip-hop in Ghana has been re-contextualised, moving from black oppression to generational identity. 7 Hip-hop blending with highlife was therefore a genre created to distinguish music of the youth from that of the older generation. This thesis also looks into five songs of an individual hiplife artiste, both from the viewpoints of the composer- performer and within sampled public perception. Osumare (2012) captures the thoughts of some current hiplife artistes. She takes us through a number of reworking processes that hiplife has gone through and how it keeps evolving as: [1] Strictly hip-hop rhythm with local dialect; [2] Hip-hop mixed with local beats and local dialect; [3] Extremely traditional lyrics with it, which is highlife by production and instrumentation, with Twi or any other local dialect; [4] English on local beat; and [5] Gradually going back to the hip-pop beat with a fusion of hip-hop English language and minor Twi. According to Osumare (2012), the first phase represents the 7 An interview with Prof. E. J. Collins on May 19, 2015 led to this information University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 16 transition from the imitation phase into the adaptation phase of hip-hop turning into hiplife‟s first generation but the third phase is the “indigenising phase” that solidified hiplife as a separate genre of music from hip-hop. As the music continually evolves, the current third generation of hiplife musicians are recapturing some of the original “flava” as new splinter genres known as GH Rap and Afro-Pop (Osumare 2012, pp. 34-35). 8 The book gives information that builds up on Collins‟ (2005) history of hiplife. However, instead of seeking thoughts of several hiplife artistes like the book, the research concentrates on a single hiplife artiste‟s life in relation to his music, and its song texts‟ contribution to socio-political commentaries. 2.1.1 Music and Socio-Political Commentary Music used for socio-political commentary includes social critiques, which deal with exposing issues, and informing the public about them. It then follows by calling upon the public‟s sense of justice and pushing them towards action. Street et al. (2007) in the essay Playing to the Crowd, posits that most acts of political participation are directed towards persons who are in authority, and are able to influence decisions. Also, art and culture assume meanings that are not confined to their place in some pre-designated order. Accompanying the separation is the emergence of the cultural critic and its associated media to give voice to these meanings (Habermas, 1992, p. 41-43). Habermas (1992) continues illustrating this shift by making reference to music. Until the 18th Century, Habermas argues that, music served to enhance the sanctity and dignity to 8 In the development of hiplife, the first phase of is the era of Reggie Rockstone, which was the beginning; the second phase represents the first generation of hiplife; the third phase exemplifies the second generation of hiplife and the fifth phase symbolizes the current third generation of hiplife. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 17 worship, the glamour of the festivities at court, and the overall splendor of ceremony. Musicians worked to commission and serve their patrons. This changed with the emergence of public concert societies; music was no longer tied to a purpose. For the first time, Habermas (1992) writes, an audience gathered to listen to music as such, a public of music lovers to which anyone who was propertied and educated could be admitted. Consequently, people became free to judge what they heard and to participate in discussion of its meanings and values (Street et al 2007: 4). This point by Habermas (1992) reflects Art for life‟s sake which Basil Davidson (1969, p. 160-163) explains as examining art in totality of a culture, instead of examining each part in isolation from the whole. These arts he claims were not art for life‟s sake only but also art for pleasure‟s sake. In addition, music that falls under the art for life‟s sake category may also refer to „Gebrauschmusik‟ (Brown 2009). Barima Sidney‟s music has these two characteristics: i. It is functional; made for specific, identifiable purpose like his song Scent Noo which is an education on the environment and personal hygiene. ii. It is for pleasure‟s sake; one can listen to this same Scent Noo and enjoy it because of the twist of comic relief it possesses. „Gebrauschmusik‟ is a term used by the Germans, essentially meaning utility music, for music that exists not only for its own sake, but which was composed for some specific identifiable purpose. Stephen Hinton in „The Oxford Dictionary of Music and Musicians‟ defines Gebrauschmusik as a “term applied in the 1920s to works which were directed to some social or educational purpose instead of being art for art‟s sake. Examples of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 18 Gebrauschmusik include compositions for film and radio, and pedagogic music for children. Gebrauschmusik can be used in a particular historical event, like a political rally or a military ceremony, or it can be more general, as with music written to accompany dance, or music written for amateurs or students to perform. On the other hand, art for art‟s sake is music that is appreciated free of bias, self-interest and impartially or better still with disinterested pleasure where one attends an art form not for any personal interests but for what is perceived, not allowing one‟s perception and expectations to affect the judgment of an item-in this case music. This gives music the attribute of a double-edged sword, which can cut from both sides and still yield the needed result for each side. Furthermore, Street et al. (2007) state that, many of the studies from the former Soviet block argue that music and musicians were instrumental in giving expression to resistance and even organising opposition to the regime (Wicke, 1992; Ramet, 1994; Cushman, 1995; Sheeran, 2001; Szemere, 2001; Steinberg, 2004; Urban, 2004). Writers tend to draw attention to the fact that particular music and sentiments contained in, is associated with political causes and movements. In his study of music‟s relationship to the civil rights movement in the U.S., Brian Ward (1998, 6) explains, that the music offers a glimpse into the state of black consciousness and the struggle for freedom and equality at a given moment. The alternative approach is to present music as the cause of political participation. Sabrina Petra Ramet (1994, 1), for instance, opens her edited collection on music in the Soviet bloc with the claim that music University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 19 is an unexpectedly powerful force for social and political change. She goes on to say that: Music brings people together and evokes for them collective emotional experience to which common meanings are assigned. Additionally, Goehr (1994) records Hanns Eisler, as the first Hollywood artiste to be charged for being part of the Communist conspiracy in infiltrating the motion-picture industry through his music. 9 He was found guilty and deported the second time; the first time being ten years earlier in Germany. Eisler studied composition with Arnold Schoenberg in Berlin and collaborated with Bertolt Brecht. He wrote scores for numerous films and documentaries in Europe and America for example Brecht‟s „Hangmen Also Die‟ and Steinbeck‟s „Forgotten Village.‟ Goehr (1994) further explains that, Eisler certified two political reasons: the liberation of those at the grassroots and the battle against dictatorship, and richly wrote on music and politics. Being in agreement with the Marxists, he sought to improve a political musical language which he believed had become apolitical. Eisler in adopting Schoenberg‟s compositions as his model adapted it because he alleged that Schoenberg‟s compositions encouraged modern music to become even more isolated, overspecialised, and highbrow. Goehr (1994) goes on to explain that, “Modern composers are of the opinion that absolute music, music without words, cannot express anything definite at all and certainly nothing about the urgent 9 This was the US Mc Carthy era where he agreed enthusiastically with Edmund Walsh, a fellow of Roman Catholic and anti-communist who suggested a crusade against so-called communist subversives. Mc Carthy took advantage of the nation’s wave of fanatic terror against communism. This panic arising from the witch hunts and fear of communism became known as Mc Carthyism (http://www.coldwar.org/articles/50s/senatorjosephmccarthy.asp) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh http://www.coldwar.org/articles/50s/senatorjosephmccarthy.asp 20 issues of our day. They think the purpose of music is only to be found in music itself. Music for music sake but they are wrong. A music which loses its sense of community loses itself: music is composed for the people by the people.” Eisler‟s idea was to abolish the reigning bourgeois and fetishistic view of music, and to replace it with a view of music as inseparable from politics. 10 Consequently, the concept of art-for-art‟s sake and art-for-life‟s sake is reiterated in the above research by Goehr (1994) on Eisler‟s idea, hence making it an important concept when it comes to music. Mark Mattern (1998) offers a more systematic attempt to connect music to political action. He does this by highlighting the different uses to which music may be put in the organisation of political action. Three modes are identified: deliberative, pragmatic and confrontational. These represent contrasting forms of political action, for which music is used.  The deliberative use refers to the way music allows for debating collective identity,  The pragmatic use refers to the place of music in promoting a set of interests;  Confrontational use refers to music‟s application to a situation in which communication opposes each other (Mattern, 1998, 25-32). Neuman (2008) writes that, Joe Hill in 1904 took American popular tunes, modified their lyrics to convey a political message often through humor and irony, and went to the streets to reach and recruit new members for the Industrial Workers of the World, also known as 10 Fetishism was coined in the late 1800s. It originated from the Portuguese word “fetico” which means “obsessive fascination.” (http://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/fetishism) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh http://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/fetishism 21 the “Wobblies.” He believed music had an intrinsic power to propagate. Unlike a political pamphlet, it was entertaining. Unlike a stirring speech, its echo could last beyond the origin-point of the pulpit. Unlike a manifesto, it could be memorised, repeated and disseminated. The power of song will exalt the spirit of rebellion.” Hill claimed: A pamphlet, no matter how good Is read but once, but a song is Learned by heart and repeated over and over And I maintain that if a person Can put a few common sense facts in a song, And dress them up in a cloak of humor To take the dryness off of them He will succeed in reaching A great number of workers who are too Unintelligent or too indifferent to read Pamphlet or an editorial on economic science (Neuman 2008: 2) Neuman (2008) continues that, in circumstances of complete repression and surveillance as in the case of slavery, the one activity that plantation owners allowed, and even actively encouraged, was singing. From the perspective of the master singing was a sign of the slave‟s contentedness. Music served as an acceptable medium between the dangerous presence of verbal communication and the paranoia inspired by loud silence. Slaves are generally expected to sing as well as to work, wrote Frederick Douglas. Masters or overseers do not like a silent slave. Make a noise, make a noise, are the words usually addressed to the slaves when there is silence among them.” From the perspective of the slave, Neuman (2008) further explains that, singing became a rare vehicle for safe expression, a veneer of obedience that marked deeper politics. Singing appeared to provide a double level of compliance. It is not just that slaves were singing as requested, but that they were singing the spiritual, a West-African musical form bolted onto the Judeo-Christian message. In signifying conversion to Christianity, the slave appeared to mark a dutiful obedience to their master, a form of compliance that initially caused University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 22 disappointment among traditional progressive activists such as Charles Seeger, who viewed these songs as anti-political and expressing a false consciousness, marking a belief among slaves that they would endure their lot in life to get their pie in the sky when they die. In Neuman‟s view, such was precisely the point and the power of a form of political engagement that worked through metaphor and double entendre, what Lawrence Levine calls, techniques of indirection. The point was to communicate compliance to the dominant society while communicating defiance to another. Precisely because music appeared to be such an innocent form of entertainment, it became an ideal vehicle of resistance. Metaphor and double-entendre were deployed to speak just beneath the surface of dominant discourse. The minstrel show used the technique of indirection. Though minstrelsy was a completely bigoted form of entertainment meant to depict African Americans as simple buffoons, it was a subversive form for African American performers, who were now performing in a public forum for the first time. The songs directed grievances against the master class but did so through the veneer of a false nostalgia, nostalgia that dominant society was more than willing to accept at face value. Neuman (2008) goes on to make the point that, one of the minstrelsy song Blue Tail Fly which is still being taught to and sung by children today, for instance, seems to be about the bygone days with a servant‟s master, but is actually about the happiness he felt over his master‟s death, or death of slavery. This is how it goes: When I was young I used to wait On master and hand him his plate University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 23 Pass him the bottle when he got dry And brush away the blue-tail fly… Now he lies beneath the simmon tree His epitaph is there to see Beneath the stone I‟m forced to lie The victim of the blue-tail fly” Though mainstream society accepted these skits as slapstick, African American performers viewed them as: outlets for a quite different complex of emotions. Just as slaves found that they could easily articulate their longing for freedom by projecting it into the future world thus legitimising it through spirituals, so their descendants living in the repressive atmosphere of the turn-of-the-century south could most safely vent their complaints against whites and social system by projecting them back into the past and giving them the appearance of nostalgia and not protest. They were able to utilise the commonplace of the minstrel idiom to criticise parody, and sharply comment on their society and their situation (Neuman 2008:10-11). The American blues was the first satirical song form in the English language-mounted on cadences that have now seduced the world. It is heartening to realise that both style and the inner content of this new genre are bold symbols of an independent and irrepressible culture (Alan Lomax, June, 1992). The blues was born behind a mule-this was a statement by Muddy Waters, a great Mississippi Delta bluesman, and quoted in the fourth paragraph of McGovern‟s introductory essay on The Blues and Gospel Music. He details that Blues and Gospel music originated in the oppressive experiences of African Americans in the post-emancipation south. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 24 When the United States Congress ended Reconstruction in 1877, the political gains and civic protections African Americans had gained after the Civil War were suppressed, and millions of blacks were economically and politically disenfranchised. The daily humiliation of racist Jim Crow laws and the constant threat of violence made life difficult and often dangerous. But rural or urban, African American wrought their lives in music that stemmed from their daily experiences-Mc Govern (The Blues and Gospel Music). The discrimination and the freedom taken away from the African Americans just because they were colored exposed the ethnocentrism of the whites. They judged the African Americans as primitive and barbaric and saw their culture superior to them; thus treating them as lesser human. The irony of this is that, these whites were doing everything to draw these African American slaves into Christianity which teaches that all men are equal because they were created in the image and likeness of God. It also encourages all to love their neighbour as themselves. McGovern (The Blues and Gospel Music) examines Blues music as having characteristic features of musical tones that differed from the Western diatonic scale. The “Blues” notes fall between the intervals of the scale, microtones, and flatten the pitch of conventional music, creating powerful tensions and resolutions. The Blues also feature heavily accented and often syncopated beat. Simple Blues form follow an AAB structure over twelve bars; a form that has become the bedrock of Jazz, Pop, Country, and Rock and Roll over the years. In Southern plantations, lumber camps, prisons, and fields, Black work songs, field hollers, chants and ballads all combined to shape a unique new music with strong ties to African antecedents (McGovern‟s The Blues and Gospel Music). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 25 These strong ties that the writer talks about is an African thing where music is primarily made for specific purposes as I explained earlier stemming from Habermas‟ observation, is “utility music,” music that exists not only for its own sake, but which was composed for some specific, identifiable purpose. This purpose can be found in the African life cycle right from birth. For instance, songs that put babies or children to sleep; work songs; songs for uniting people in a nation; initiation of girls into adulthood; war songs; and through to the death where dirges are sang to honour and also communicate to the dead person who is believed to be moving to another life or world. 11 McGovern underscores that Blues songs first emerged in the Mississippi Delta, the Piedmont Southeast, Texas and Appalachia, around the turn of the twentieth century. Among the most powerful resources that sustained African Americans through adversity and difficulty was strong religious faith. The sorrow songs sung in slave times gave birth to religious songs known as Spirituals. After emancipation, Black religious music- dignified, respectable, and powerful galvanised audiences around the world thanks to the touring of the Fisk University Jubilee Singers in the late nineteenth century-McGovern (The Blues and Gospel Music). In the nineteen thirties, McGovern describes Thomas Dorsey as the one who married a blues sensibility to religious themes, and this pioneering style became known as Gospel music. With such collaborators as Sallie Martin, Willie Mac Ford Smith and Mahalia Jackson, the sounds of Gospel resonated in black churches throughout the United States. 11 The African life cycle songs include lullabies which are sang at birth to put a child to sleep; work songs meant to release stress, uniting people in the nation which can be termed as patriotic songs or Gebrauschmusik, initiation of girls into adulthood e.g., bragoro and dipo songs and war songs known as Asafo songs. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 26 Women found a prominence and influence in gospel as singers, choir leaders, and composers that gave them a say equal to the male preachers who dominated black churches. Gospel gave black women a public prominence in church that they seldom enjoyed elsewhere in black America. Music offered freedom to those who pursued it-the promise of freedom and money (McGovern‟s The Blues and Gospel Music). 12 Over the twentieth century, McGovern stresses that Gospel and Blues gained acceptance around the world. The revivals of the 1950s and 60s introduced new audiences to the work of forgotten musicians from decades earlier. Since then, scholars, fans and audiences have engaged in a permanent revival, with continuing round of festivals, new film, radio, and recording projects to preserve the music of the past and document current practice for the future. And while newer styles emerge and hold commercial interest for a time, Blues and Gospel remain the bedrock of Black music. Anchoring the sounds of African America, Blues and Gospel music styles underlay the musical innovations of the century: Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, Rock, Soul and Hip-Hop- McGovern (The Blues and Gospel Music). Avorgbedor (2009) in his review of Popular Music Censorship in Africa characterises his view on the rap group 2 Live Crew and their controversial hit recording "As Nasty as They Wanna Be" as one which may well earn a signal place in the history of First Amendment rights. But just as important, is how these lyrics will be interpreted and by whom. He details that for centuries, African-Americans have been forced to develop coded ways of communicating to protect them from danger. He points out that allegories and double 12 Thomas Dorsey was a Blues pianist nick named ‘Georgia Tom’ because he came from Georgia. He is known as the father of Black Gospel Music. See www.southernmusic.net/thomasdorsey.htm University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh http://www.southernmusic.net/thomasdorsey.htm 27 meanings, words redefined to mean their opposites, even new words have enabled blacks to share messages only the initiated understood. 13 2 Live Crew must be interpreted in the context of Black culture generally, where those who want to understand must become literate in the vernacular traditions of African-Americans. To do less is to censor through the equivalent of intellectual prior restraint-and censorship is to art what lynching is to justice. From Avorgbedor‟s perspective, Henry Louis Gates, Jr.‟s piece titled 2 Live Crew Decoded,” highlights double entendre, irony, social criticism, etc.; these features are central to African performance traditions and as documented by Gates in his 1998 book, The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of Afro-American Criticism. 14 His sub-title, Recoding the Decoded is thus a re-signification and, at the same time, an indirect acknowledgment of the everyday cultural practice paradigm and which is reinterpreted by Gates in the African-American context (Avorgbedor, 2009). Without delving into the ontological, transferred and historical relationships between African and African American performance strategies and their social repercussions, critical readers would want to challenge themselves double by asking why, in the case reported by Chirambo below, the decoding led to a ban, an outcome quite different from that of the 2 Live Crew: Some musicians, despite the tough censorship laws and practices, 13 These words redefined to mean their opposites like ‘bad’ meaning ‘good’ for instance are all forms of linguistic oppositions or inversions 14 Both “signifying monkey” and the “dirty dozens” are closely related African-derived verbal traditions involving trading of veiled and direct insults (including insulting families and these are known as “Yo Mama”), tests of verbal skills, including elements of humor and irony. See for example “Dozens”, pp. 435- 438 of African American Folklore: An Encyclopedia, ed. Jan Harold Brunvald (New York: Taylor & Francis, 1996) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 28 resisted and tried to elude censorship to subvert Banda‟s political establishment. These musicians interrogated and derogated Banda‟s dictatorship with varying degrees of success. Some of the criticism was decoded and the songs banned (Chirambo, p. 109) As shown by Avorgbedor (2009), a deeper examination of the socio-cultural framework, both in Malawi and other African countries will show a web of interrelated layers and legacies of judicial processes, political ambition and related manipulative strategies and musical inventiveness. The double meanings, in Gates above, for example, is a critical resource which performers and general oratorical contexts manipulate to serve several, and sometimes contrastive ends, including significant interpersonal and social violence and cleavages. Even so, a careful study of performers‟ lives, their social environments and web of relations would demonstrate the highly illusive nature of double entendre and which often creates situations of ambiguity, an important challenge in dealing with censorship and related court cases. For example, the notions of social commentary, social criticism, satire, etc. are highly desirable and hence potent qualifiers in music and dance performance settings in Africa. He adds that, the examples identified in popular music should thus be understood from this basic but indispensable premise (Avorgbedor 2009). There are numerous cases, past and present in African societies of banning, repression, and significant contestations about music and dance. It is, therefore, very appropriate to conceptualise these traditions, social criticism and censorship efforts as important, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 29 everyday cultural practices in African societies. Eloquent examples include those documented in Deng (1971, 1973); parallel traditions are found all over the African continent-Avorgbedor (2009). An example of a recent song, which happens to be one of the selected songs for this project that has suffered censorship, is Barima Sidney‟s Donkomi (2014). Avorgbedor (2009) believes that an extended socio-cultural foundation is necessary for understanding offhanded remarks on musicians‟ common employment of indirection and double entendre in relation to criticism. Here are some instances: i. While primarily performing gospel music, some of Wambali Mkandawire songs make social-political comments on events in Malawi. In his songs, sung at a time of extreme repression and censorship, he relies more on innuendo than overt criticism. The song employs oral traditional materials and deliberate ambiguity to contest the government‟s story. Some musicians, like poets, for example, adopted ambiguity to criticise Banda. They hoped to avoid detection and detention in that way. The use of ambiguity and innuendo shows how difficult it was to compose songs in Malawi that were overtly critical of Banda (Chirambo, pp. 118-121). ii. However Collins, (2005, p. 178) states, it should be noted that the songs that were critical of Nkrumah and his CPP government were not usually in the form of direct political protest but were rather oblique, disguised or wrapped up in some way as a parable, proverb or allusion” University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 30 iii. Taarab poetry revels in double entendre and metaphoric meanings; indeed, this is one of its defining characteristics.15 Like songs in local languages, then, Taarab songs could contain potentially subversive elements. But if a song‟s meaning was well hidden, it could pass censorial review without much trouble (Kelly Askew and John Kitime, p. 149-150). 2.1.2 Popular Music and Censorship One cannot talk about music in any part of Africa without talking about censorship. The evidence presented in Popular Music Censorship in Africa suggests that there are five main areas in which particular characteristics can be identified within music censorship in Africa. These are:  Censorship and resistance in colonial times;  Censorship in post-colonial times;  The relative importance of overtly political censorship including the role of praise songs;  The role of broadcasting;  Particular differences with western norms These areas should not, of course, be seen as discrete but rather as overlapping with, and sometimes reinforcing one another. Collins shows how music, along with religion and the controlling of depictions of sex, was used by the British imperial power in Ghana as part of the colonisation process. In colonial censorship, liberation struggles are cultural as well as political (Cabral 1979, 1982, Fanon, 1970, Flulo 2004: 175). In the case of music, once 15 The word Taarab is of Arabic derivation and contains multi-layered meaning. Glibert Rouget in Music and Trance explains Taarab comes from the verb “tariba” which means “to be agitated”… also signifies “to excite, to want to move,” and hence “to sing, to make music.” See Fargion Janet Topp, Taarab Music in the Twentieth century: A Story of ‘Old is Gold’ and Flying Spirits. London: Ashgate, 2014. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 31 resistance was articulated in song, attempts were made by the colonial power to censor those songs. This is shown in cases such as Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe and has been well documented in the case of liberation struggle in Africa (Drewett 2003, 2004a, 2004b). To a certain extent, this is what Cloonan has previously referred to as censorial climate linked to current events where music is more likely to be censored in times of political turmoil (Cloonan 1996: 115). It should also be noted that, as Collins shows in the case of Ghana, traditional indigenous values could be simultaneously part of the liberation struggle and a source of call for censorship. In his work on "Ghanaian Highlife," Collins has pointed out that "high-life songs are often overtly political" in offering "adverse commentary on government." Both Sjaak Van der Geest and N. K. Asante-Darko agree with Collins but observe that, in addition to airing criticism and anger against political conditions without significantly altering them, highlife songs can be used to unite the oppressed population and "undermine the prestige and power" of the rulers. African governments equate their vision and well-being with that of the people, and they guard this leadership right so effectively and so jealously that they tend to exclude creative artistes from being shareholders in creating and fashioning a common vision of state for all. Governments in Africa tend to ignore or deny the role of the artiste as an arbiter of public opinion or as an intermediary between the ruler and the ruled. In practice, however, there always has been an intimate integration of the artist's vision and the concerns of the society in creative forms such as the highlife (Collins 1996). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 32 Down below the seams of socio-cultural and political life, the highlife artiste and his people have always maintained an abiding faith in each other; hence, the persistent phenomenon in Ghanaian society of the public attributing "a secret political meaning to a song which is already popular for another reason" (Van der Geest and Asante-Darko, 1982). Where such a political dimension is particularly intended by the composer, it is quickly shared by the larger public, and this is true whether the song praises, supports, or criticises a given political situation or regime. The period of anti-colonial struggle in Ghana, for example, was dominated by a fierce cultural pride and an intense nationalism. 2.1.3 The Fusion of Music and Politics in Ghana The fusion of popular music and politics can be traced as far back to the independence struggle, which brought into being the profound interplay of music and politics, as musicians and artists in the entertainment industry, joined forces and through their influence, helped make the independence of Ghana a reality. Since the struggle for Ghana‟s independence, music has been used for promoting specific political parties and for criticising the activities of the government in power. Such music can be seen from three basic angles for the purpose of this study: a. Music composed under commission by political parties, b. Music that musicians themselves make about the socio-political issues which catches on with the people; University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 33 c. Music that is originally not political but become appropriate for that cause based on the multiple meanings ascribed by public to it in relation to the turn of events in the country. These songs cut across the various musical genres including Highlife, Hiplife, Hip-hop, Rap, Dancehall and Reggae just to mention a few. Collins postulates that Ghana‟s independence saw popular music of the masses drawn into the struggle. Certain Ghanaian popular musicians openly supported Nkrumah‟s CPP by indigenising their performances and recordings in a self-conscious ideological way; in line with the African Personality and Pan-African ideals of the independence ethos. E. K. Nyame was one such musician whose motives were partly political for as he puts it, he wanted to get away from the colonial ideology and British mind. Indeed he wrote forty highlife songs in support of Nkrumah and accompanied Prime Minister Nkrumah on a state visit to Liberia in 1953 (Collins 2005). Other highlife guitar bands that supported Nkrumah were those of Kwaa Mensah, I. E. Mason, the Fante Stars, Onyina, Bob Cole and Squire Addo, whilst Onyina, wrote his famous song Destiny of Africa to celebrate the Organisation of African Union, now African Union conference held in Accra in 1958. Moreover, the 1950s neo-traditional Oge music of Ga people and the Borborbor of the Ewes became identified with Nkrumah‟s Convention People‟s Party. The Tempos Highlife dance-band of E. T. Mensah played at CPP rallies. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 34 Collins writes that Nkrumah supported the local popular music and entertainment sector in return for their support for him and the CPP during the independence struggle. This was followed in the 1960s with the introduction of Western Pop music and in particular African American Soul music and its associated Afro-centric fashions that triggered an Africanisation of imported Western Pop music in Ghana and Nigeria: leading to Afro- Soul, Afro-Beat and Afro-Rock. The general collapse of the Ghanaian economy began toward the end of the 1960s through the 1970s with the Akyeampong/Akuffo military regimes. This was followed by a period of political instability (two military coups by J. J. Rawlings in 1979 and 1981, a two-and-a half year night curfew (1982-4) and the imposition of luxury taxes of 160% on imported musical instruments. As a result of this, politico-economic interregnum the music industry slumped, live bands collapsed, and Ghanaian artistes left the country in droves (Collins 2005). The observation drawn from this dark times of music and politics was due to the fact that the two are intertwined and therefore a malfunction was caused in the structure as they were not properly synchronised; the end result being the political unrest and musicians leaving the country as they could not afford musical instruments that helped them play live music. However, new forms of popular music evolved to fill the vacuum during this time of popular music development in Ghana. These include local gospel music which operates University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 35 within the untaxed spaces of the churches, techno pop music styles like burger highlife and hiplife that are cheap to produce as their drum-machines and synthesisers cut down on large personnel of old-time highlife bands, and a proliferation of folkloric and neo traditional groups related to the growth of foreign tourism and an international interest in African and world music (Collins, 2005, p. 18-19). Hiplife in Collin‟s view is a Ghanaian vernacular language form of rap that has its origins in Jamaican Ragga and particularly American Hip-hop. Both were popular in Ghana in the early 1990s and by the mid-1990s, Ghanaians began to Rap in local languages, the most important pioneer of this being British born Reggie Rockstone, who actually coined the name Hiplife in 1995 by fusing the words Hip-hop and Highlife. Other „Hiplifers‟ who rapped over American Hip-hop rhythms in local languages particularly Akan and Ga were Nananom, Lord Kenya, Akatakyie, and Buk Bak. Some hiplifers like Madfish, Batman, Yoggy Doggy and Bandana concentrated on the West Indian Dancehall Ragga style of Rap (Collins 2005). At first, the musical background of hiplifers was largely imported Hip-hop and Ragga drum-box beats, but in recent years some artistes have been rapping over Highlife, or crossing between the two genres, sometimes singing in a Highlife style and sometimes rapping. A striking feature of Hiplife is its lack of women rappers. An early exception was Jyoti Chandler who was a member of Nananom with Omanhene Pozoh and Sidney but she then married a pastor and moved onto gospel music. Currently, there are only three female Rap artistes: Abrewa Nana, Tripple M and Mzbel. This observation by Collins on the women rappers has still not changed in any significant way. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 36 Collins conjectures that many of the older Ghanaian generation complained that Hiplife lyrics were too hurried to be deciphered, are of the violent African American gangsta-rap variety, or contain sexually explicit and misogynist lyrics. Some examples condemned in newspaper reports for promoting lewdness and teenage promiscuity include Batman‟s Linda, Kaakyire Kwame Appiah‟s Nketewa Dɔ, Lord Kenya‟s Bɔkɔbɔkɔ and Obour‟s Konkontibaa. Examples of misogyny are Sidney‟s Abuskeleke which made fun of the latest female fashion of bearing the mid-riffs at that time, Nana Nsiah‟s rap on the topic of women being sexually attracted to a policeman‟s abaa or baton and Tic Tac‟s Philomena which criticised the current imported female fashion of allowing the genitals and under- arm hair to grow at the time. 16 Moreover, not only did the local newspaper commentaries accuse hiplife of being lewd and profane, but in 2002, the Director of the International Federation of Women lawyers, FIDA stated that some hiplife lyrics debase femininity and the bodies of women and constitute violence against women on the airwaves. As a result, FIDA threatened high court actions against some radio stations and disk jockeys. Furthermore, both FIDA and the Musician Union of Ghana, MUSIGA, asked the Ministry of Information and the Ghana Media Commission to closely monitor the local FM stations for indecent lyrics. Collins further enlightens us about a journalist by name William Asiedu who commented that, hiplife songs, which are banned or come under fire for spawning immorality amongst the youth, become instant hits and chart busters. Not that all these criticisms by the older generation of hiplife make it more commercially popular, as this journalist Asiedu rightly 16 The appropriation of the word Abuskeleke to mean the provocative dressing of girls to attract guys landed some girls into trouble at the funeral celebration of Ricci Ossei, Reggie Rockstone’s father at Kaneshie Sports Stadium in 2004. About 60 guys were arrested for raping some girls at the program. When asked about why the act, their defense was that the girls were dressed in “Abuskeleke way.” University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 37 says, but it is precisely what the hiplife musicians and fans like, for these controversial lyrics puts a distance between themselves and the older generation and their music (Collins 2005). The song Donkomi (2014) by Barima Sidney, which is part of the songs being analysed in this work, was banned after the Bureau of National Investigation and National Security analysed the video clip. The verdict to this censorship of the song was that he used the image and voice of the President without his consent. However, due to the technology age we find ourselves in, the song somehow got to YouTube and according to Barima it has caught on like wildfire since he keeps receiving WhatsApp messages from friends both inland and abroad with the banned video, asking him how they could get the audio version of it. 17 Quite a different area of controversy as recorded by Collins resulted from Nkasei‟s song Yɛ firi Tuobodom which annoyed the people and traditional authorities of this Akan farming town in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana as the song was appropriated to mean that they are a backward and bush people. The song created a huge fuss in the newspapers for insulting the people of this town that the Brong Ahafo Chiefs wanted it banned from the airwaves and MUSIGA had to apologise to them. The twist to this particular story is that, the town Tuobodom and its environs was brought into the limelight because of this song as it had a mix up about the name of the town‟s 17 The information in this paragraph is based on an interview with Barima on May 23, 2015. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 38 capital, causing people to start giving attention to it by paying visits to the place out of curiosity which hitherto was nonexistent. Collins (2005) resolves the issue by challenging that hiplife not only includes negative type lyrics condemned by the press, the older generation, traditional chiefs, and Ghanaian establishment figures. Many hiplife lyrics, as observed by Collins, also dwell on positive topics. Some warn against promiscuity. For example, Mighazy and Sabato‟s Sugar Daddy warns young girls to beware of older men who lure them into sex, whiles the Timber and Virux groups rap on the AIDS epidemic. Other songs on social matters talk about morals. Like Buk Bak‟s Tankase (Town Council) praising the local town council‟s campaign to clean up urban filth, Don King‟s 2003 song Kotofa supporting government‟s campaign against indiscipline and Obour‟s Menwu Biom on road safety. There are also a few political hiplife songs: such as the Native Funk Lords‟ humorous Vote for Me Make I Chop President made during the 2000 elections, Freedom of Speech by A-Plus and Barima Sidney‟s song Scɛnti Noo that even an honourable sweat and smell. Collins (2005) believe that hiplife with its outspoken lyrics, electronic instrumentation, solo artiste and video clip format has become an identity symbol for the present generation of Ghanaian city youth as during Ghana‟s 1970/80s military era. The live popular music- scene collapsed for a decade and the teaching of music was demoted from the school syllabus. Also, hiplifers were thus neither exposed nor trained to play live popular band University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 39 instruments. Indeed, without the easy-to-produce and perform electronic music of hiplife, the urban Ghanaian youth today would not even have their own special musical idiom. Even though the older generation was not so comfortable with it, Collins argues that, hiplife has provided a voice for the youth. As Collins (2005) gives a historical background to hiplife in Ghana, Osumare (2012) also reports that media support of the new hiplife sound was sparse because it was initially viewed as a poor imitation at best and a foreign invasion at worse. In addition, hiplife came to the public‟s attention during the time of martial law under the second Rawlings regime, with its street curfew that was enforced from 6:00 p. m. to 6:00 a. m. Therefore, there was increased pressure on media to showcase all Ghanaian music, because live shows were at a premium. GTV was one of the few television stations in the early 1990s, because many of the channels broadcasting out of Nigeria and South Africa today had not yet established themselves in Ghana. Early pop-formatted radio stations like Vibe-FM and shows such as B. B. Menson‟s “The Night Train” on Radio Gold, began functioning during the mid-1990s, and would occasionally take a chance with the new hiplife sound (Osumare, 2012, p. 21). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 40 CHAPTER THREE BIOGRAPHY AND MUSICAL LIFE OF BARIMA SIDNEY 3.1 Early Life and Education Barima Sidney was born to Miss Gladys Kwarteng and Daniel Owusu Ofori on the 3 rd of June 1977 at Dzorwolu, a suburb of Greater Accra. He was born as the second child to his mother and father and has half siblings from his father‟s side; he is however the last born on both sides. He spent his formative years schooling, starting from Buckman Early Childhood Centre at Tesano, to New Royal International School, Darkuman, where he had his primary education. He wrote the Common Entrance Examination, passed and proceeded to Harvard College, Kokomlemle. Barima was in form three when the Ghana Education Service introduced the new educational system, which came to replace the Ordinary Level and Advance Level education to Junior Secondary School and Senior Secondary School. This made his mother move him from Harvard to Awudome Four Junior, where he wrote the Basic Education Certificate Examination and got admitted to St. Augustine‟s College. He stayed there only two weeks because the course of his choice, which was Science, was not offered to him. He therefore moved to West Africa Senior Secondary School, where they offered him Science. As the Class Assistant Prefect, he was given a new designation as the Entertainment Prefect when the last set of students of the old educational system was completing their term. According to him, he was the first Science student to be given the position of an Entertainment Prefect. He also attended the Institute of Professional University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 41 Studies, now University of Professional Studies, where he pursued a Diploma in Business Studies, marketing, social option. For the past eleven years Barima Sidney has contributed to the Ghanaian music industry with his songs on socio-political issues and has performed on various platforms both in Ghana and abroad. The documentation concerning his life and musical career has barely been documented however. This chapter thus discusses the biography of Barima Sidney including his educational background, music career, challenges and contributions to the music industry. The chapter further discusses Sidney‟s experience with the musical group called Nananom. This is important because the group served as a stepping-stone for Barima Sidney to eventually step out as a solo performer. 3.2 Life as an Amateur Musician Barima‟s grandfather, Osei Kwame was the second musician to have recorded musical works on a gramophone plate in Ghana in 1928. His mum was also a professional ballet dancer, who was part of the Young Pioneers during Nkrumah‟s time who performed at the State House. With the music that came from these two family members as part of their profession, the interest in music in Barima started right from his primary school days at Pentecost Sunday School, and the Ebenezer House at Darkuman where he lived: It was a very big compound with lots of children so I formed a football team, choir and a concert party band. I would have some children who were good in drumming used empty metal containers and gallons as makeshift drums whiles myself and some others imitated Nana Ampadu and Adofo‟s music for their concert party, which was prominent among the three groups. As an active Sunday school child, I took part in singing and sword drill competitions that took the church to the nationals at one time but unfortunately we did not win. 18 18 Interview with Barima, May 23, 2015 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 42 In 1994, Barima started taking music seriously when he took up the position as the entertainment prefect in West African Senior Secondary School, and once he started writing songs and miming, he decided to change his course from science to business. This was because science did not give him enough room to pursue music. A debate sparked between the teachers and the school authority whether it was a good idea to change courses because he was halfway through. The conclusion was to maintain the science. Barima nonetheless held on to music. He found out that one of his senior‟s by name Zach was part of a music group known as the Native Funk Lords, after seeing them on Ghana Television‟s Second Generation programme. Zach introduced him to the leader of the group, Eddie Blay at Aveno, one of the communities in Accra. Eddie suggested that Barima join their junior group Native Tribe instead after an informal rap audition he had for Barima. It was there that he had his first training as a musician and met Jake and Tiny Quaye who begun to groom him. At this time, the music was purely hip-hop. In 1994, PANAFEST organised a rap competition as part of the entertainment activities of which Native Funk Lords partook. This was the first time „Public Enemy‟, one of the hottest and famous musical groups in the United States of America at that time stepped on the shores of Africa for the first time under the auspices of Louis Farrakhan. 19 It was in this competition that Barima had the opportunity to join the Native Funk Lords to perform due to the concept they were presenting. He featured as a fetish priest and from thence became a recognised member of the group who was part of their musical tours in the country. Reggie Rockstone, a cousin of Barima who was also into music returned to 19 Louis Farrakhan is a religious leader who has led the nation of Islam, an African American movement that combined elements of Islam with Black nationalism since 1978 (http://www.biography.com/people/louis- farrakhan-9291850) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh http://www.biography.com/people/louis-farrakhan-9291850 http://www.biography.com/people/louis-farrakhan-9291850 43 Ghana from the United Kingdom in 1994 as well. He with Freddie Funkstone and DJ Pogo formed the musical group Party á la Mason. 20 After a lengthy discussion with his cousin Reggie about using the local dialect for the rap language instead of English, they settled on the Twi language. This is because Twi is the lingua franca in Ghana and so will reach a wider audience with their message. Since the Native Funk Lords was purely a hip-hop group, Barima opted out after expressing his gratitude to the leader Eddie Blay and the crew for the opportunity given him. In the latter part of 1995 he formed his own group known as “Nananom”. 21 This group included Omanhene Pozoh, and Jyoti Chandler and Barima himself, with all three of them being old students of WASSS. An opportunity to perform at the Second Generation program on GTV came for the group and this opened a door for Nananom‟s popularity. 3.3 Challenges as Part of a Group A rap competition known as „Recognise „96‟ whose event dated 10 th August, 1996 brought together twenty-seven rap groups from the various secondary schools like Achimota School, Presbyterian Boys School, etc. According to Barima although their school was not recognised on such platforms as the National Theatre they decided to partake nonetheless. Another problem the group had to deal with was securing of funds for their registration. Barima decided to seek help from his prime group leader Eddie Blay who agreed to pay the registration fee for the group. Their next challenge was their costume for the competition. Barima recalls, 20 Freddie Funkstone is a Sierra Leonean rapper; DJ Pogo, a well-known London deejay were Reggie Rockstone’s partners who formed Party á la Mason also known as PLZ-Parables, Linguistics and Zlang. 21 The name Nananom represented the ancestors or elders; Barima was the Okyeame (linguist); Jyoti was the Ohemaa (queen mother) and Pozoh was the Omanhene (paramount chief). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 44 “We had no cash for appropriate costumes so we got some black second hand tops to match our black trousers and bought medical plaster to design the letter „N‟ as representing Nananom”. They seemed to have a lot of challenges since they could not even decide on the particular song to perform at the competition. They only had two songs to their credit, Panyin Na Obi Nye Bi Da and Asɛm Sɛbɛ. They finally decided on the one titled Asɛm Sɛbɛ. Thinking that their woes were over, Nananom were called onto the stage only to be told that their cassette had gone missing. Barima recounts how they had to fall back on their second song Panyin Na Obi Nye Bi Da. The instrumentals of these two songs were both recorded at Jaggard Studio in Nima, Accra where they normally had their rehearsals. According to Barima Sidney, Jyoti wanted us to use Panyin Na Obi Nye Bi Da while Pozoh and I argued that the Asɛm Sɛbɛ had an upbeat tempo so was perfect, considering what we had heard from most of the performers during the competition. Since it was two against one, Asɛm Sɛbɛ won and the track was given to the deejay in-charge of the program. Jyoti was experiencing abdominal upset and this affected the group negatively since she couldn‟t perform. The turn of Nananom came and Barima again recalls the response of the audience about their knowledge of the group Nananom by Solomon Parker, who was then MC for the program. According to him, Their response was a big nooooo! If they no force we‟ll boo them o!” and the MC said, “Hey Nananom, Nananom, where are you come, come! This was a very discouraging introduction, which caused us to remain backstage for a while. As stated earlier, the group was called on stage while their track was nowhere to be found. But the MC nonetheless kept signaling th