Ghanaian singer-songwriter and guitarist, Kwabena Kwabena, swears by highlife, the standard artwork kind which counts him amongst its most influential fashionable custodians.
Since capturing mainstream discover in 2004 together with his sensible debut Aso, the artist’s profession and penmanship have charted ardour and ache, typically unfurling by way of a calmly vocal aptitude that expedites love and carnal behaviour, or social takes that summon soul looking out, cementing his utility as a prolific and limitless composer whose periodic creative revival has ensured his residence within the hearts of listeners in his dwelling nation and past.
In the present day, with a long time of serious vital success beneath his belt, he additionally boasts a singular perspective on the nexus of two musical generations — the 70s constituency that impressed him, and a up to date cohort that continues to feed African pop.
His sixth studio album Fa Me Saa and follow-up to 2017’s Ahyesi, is powered by rigorous experimentation that entails retooling and updating inherited compositions, recycling among the most beloved moments throughout Ghanaian and western pop.
A dynamic 14-tracker, the gathering begins out submitting to archetypal sounds, and expands to include on-trend pulses equivalent to Afrobeats and amapiano, in addition to boom-bap rap and R&B.
The LP’s harbingers, particularly ‘Kwadede’, ‘Fingers’, ‘Afraid to Lose You’, ‘Sweetie’, and the Shatta Wale-assisted ‘Kokonsa’ trundle a potpourri of sonic persuasions achieved by masterful unpacking of advanced historic melodic traditions to orchestrating unlikely style fusions to show their intertextuality.
These improvements keep on into the remainder of the venture and, typically facilitated by folksy guitar jangling, resonant horns and thumping drums, present a bedrock for distilling a carousel of themes and feelings. The album’s title monitor, as an example, is a private essay on self-assurance, religion and resolve.
Just like the Twi phrase it derives its identify from, it in the end finds its writer entreating listeners to “take me as I’m”. Co-conspired by producer and longtime collaborator Kwame Yeboah, the track additionally whirls between rhythms, making certain an attention-grabbing and rewarding aural tour.
Songs like ‘Sweetie’, ‘Awero’, ‘Regina’, ‘50/ 50’ and ‘Trip Or Die’ (which samples late highlife nice Alhaji Ok. Frimpong’s basic ‘Kyenkyen Bi Adi Mawu’) allude to like; whether or not their writer is mooning over a romantic curiosity or stressing his devoutness to chivalry, whereas choices like ‘Focus’ deliver life’s most vital views into sharp focus.
“When gratitude turns into important in our lives/ blessings go comply with us in every single place”, a line from that final track goes. Elsewhere on the tune, Kwabenas Kwabena sermonises: “When you deal with the harm, you’ll proceed to undergo/ for those who deal with the lesson, you proceed to develop.”
‘Kokonsa’ addresses detractors, whereas the nostalgia-inducing ‘Yempie’, which interprets as “let’s exit”, soundtracks nightlife within the capital.
Kwabena Kwabena is a polyglot, therefore, the album flows throughout a number of tongues; however his linguistic genius finds its finest expression in his native Twi, which sees him trend out innuendos that intrigue even probably the most conservative ears. This impish poetic method has additionally develop into his signature, for which motive even the lewdest traces, equivalent to are heard on ‘Minpina’, ‘Fa Me Saa’ and ‘Fingers’, drive celebration pleasures.
Fa Me Saa additionally arrives as his most collaborative effort up to now, embracing a vibrant assortment of an older inventory and new-generation voices from Shatta Wale, D-Black and Trigmatic, to KiDi, Sefa, Adina, Yaw Tog, Quamina MP and Tulenkey. That is all tied collectively by up to date manufacturing that ensures its proneness to the replay button.
Its exploratory intentions apart, Fa Me Saa highlights Kwabena Kwabena’s cultural relevance and beautiful expertise for figuring out the junction between Ghana’s previous and current sounds, gleaning profound musical capsules that blur time and house.
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