Of Ghanaian Musicians Rather Than Studio Artists…………

Last Friday night witnessed the grand launch of the 2011 edition of the nation’s biggest music award ceremony, the MTN Ghana Music Award at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra.
There, the leading event company unveiled the nominations for various categories for the twelfth edition of the awards.
On the night, many lovers of good music and other supposed pundits in the Ghanaian music industry were convinced a new music star had been born after thirty minutes of astonishing showing by little known singer, Bless. He was a spectacle to watch as he dazzled audience with his powerful voice performance and stage work.
The question among the many of the guests present was: who is a musician? He became the subject of discussion among a company of friends l found myself in at the event. Some went as far as describing him as a star. I was obviously surprised at their description of the young man as a star. I therefore began to probe for their criteria for referring to the young man as a music star. As expected, their divergent views wholly reflected their personal interest coupled with their biases.
That discussion informed my decision to write this piece on how some people have wrongly confused the meanings of who is a singer and who is a musician.
A person who plays, composes, performs, conducts music and does that as a profession is recognized as a musician as defined by the Encarta dictionaries. Anyway, this definition appears inadequate and shallow for a musician.
It remains a fact that Ghana has became known around the world thanks to the exploits of the legendary Osibisa band, highlife musicians and other burger highlife singers in the past. Without doubt, they had something in common which runs through from the likes of Agya Koo Nimo, George Darko, Nana Ampedu and many more.
All these singers perfectly related to music and understood the several elements of music; they play musical instruments which they had vast insight about to produce harmonies which made their works cherished by lovers of alternative music around the world.
They embarked on global tours not to perform at ‘backyard shows’ for a handful of Ghanaians rather at major concerts for a worldwide audience. They played live music and were often than not backed by a band. They gave their audience value for their monies as they performed for them (I mean perform as in the word).
What can be said of the current group of recording artistes paraded on the Ghanaian music scene? It is rather unfortunate to conclude that we are not producing musicians lately, rather a bunch of studio artists and lost souls who accidentally have found themselves in music.
What do we see in recent times? These ‘so-called’ artistes will go on stage only to mime and expecting their audience to create fun for themselves after doling out huge sums of money to pay for entry tickets.
As if that isn’t enough, these artistes want the audience to boot their rhymes for them as they try to engage them while on stage. This is just irritating and unaccepted as these ‘half baked’ music makers are yet to realize these errors.
To all music executives, we need musicians and artistes who can carry our music beyond the shores of the nation rather than studio artistes who continually promote mediocrity.

WHAT'S IN THE NAME mSimps

Little did Mabel know a term she had crafted in 2007 in fulfillment of her passion and also to reflect her dynamic persona would eventually be at the verge of becoming a valued brand that people will desire to be associated with in less than a decade.
But one thing is certain, she has always been enthusiastic about creativity before her mid teens when her parents presented her with her first pack of drawing pencils and a sketch book. That is one thing she is aware of and insisted would be difficult to forget when I engaged her in a conversation at the La Tawala beach.
Until she was interviewed on the One Show on Vaisat 1 somewhere in the last quarter of 2010, Mabel never knew how popular mSimps; her line of ultra chic bags, stylish male slippers and trendy accessories had become after a few months into full scale operations.
Christened Mabel Maame Ama Simpson, she is the last of three children and the only girl of former anchor of GTV’s Sports highlight, Emmanuel Simpson, a man she described as Christian indoctrinated and commands an enormous influence on her life.
Now in her mid- twenties, she started her elementary education at the Ridge Church School in Accra then to Wesley Girls’ High School for her secondary education before enrolling at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in 2004.
Aside her love for artistic works, inventive products of rare forms have continually found a place in her heart in her visual arts class whiles in high school and after becoming a graduate and genius in communication design, her course of study at K.N.U.S.T.
In a rather calm demeanor coupled with an unfriendly breeze that kept her hair flying, Mabel revealed the motivation for starting the brand and further explained the name mSimps.
‘I was obsessed with radio and television programming whiles in K.N.U.S.T so I planned to register a company for that purpose. I wanted a unique name I could connect with. I settled on mSimps, an abbreviation of my name after discussing it with a good friend, Joy Fm’s Kojo Oppong Nkrumah’.
As a non conformist with a burly quest to persistently fish out new ideas and concepts, she decided to switch the direction of mSimps after realizing several other outlets had started radio and television programming projects.
Inspired by her nature and love for African fabric, mSimps became a line of handmade products including ladies bag, men’s slippers and the latest addition, hair and dress brooches. mSimps also deals in several other trendy accessories for an ideal fashion statement.
In the year 2010, Mabel had to take a bold yet tricky decision which was described as rather inane by those who mattered in her life. She resigned from her full time job at a marketing communications company to pursue what could be regarded as a strapping passion.
‘To many people around me, it didn’t make sense especially after quitting my previous job as assistant producer cum presenter at Hitz Fm. Just like most of them, I occasionally wondered how I was going to survive selling these products. However, I was always hopeful and optimistic about the prospects of mSimps’.
With a startup capital of GH200, Mabel rolled out mSimps in her bedroom and determined to make it work. Her nights became incessantly sleepless, a time to conceive ideas and designs for various products aside generating effective marketing ideas.
Combining her knowledge in Project Management and her commitment to work, she made it to Oktoberfest 2010, a bazaar organized by the American Embassy for diplomats and other nationals in Ghana. Mabel was fulfilled; she was getting closer to her dream of promoting Ghana and also taking mSimps to the ‘Diaspora’.
Other milestones in Mabel’s life and a confirmation of her prudent entrepreneurial activities were invitations to address a student gathering on leadership at the Ashesi University College and an entrepreneurial session organized by the Rotary group.
‘My main challenge as a young entrepreneur has to do with funds. Also, it becomes quite uncomfortable for people to deal with you or become associated with your brand just because it is new and obviously struggling. These are issues I love to discuss anytime with a group so we find solutions to it’.
With mSimps becoming a household name in fashion, Mabel is confident of attaining her long term goal of transforming mSimps into an esteemed global brand. She advices other young business executives to be guided by the philosophy of commitment and should always be ready with alternative approaches so they don’t fail.
Anytime you come by any product branded mSimps, be reminded hard work pays. When you cut Mabel Simpson open, she will bleed nothing aside inventiveness!

AFRICA UMOJA RETURNS

BY popular demand, the sensational South African musical, Africa UMOJA returns to the National Theater once again from April 30th to 2nd May 2011. This time, UMOJA will shake the foundations of the National Theater and thrill the thousands of theater lovers expected to throng the venue.
Africa UMOJA-The Spirit of togetherness is a two hour explosion of song and dance performed by an energetic and creative crew that hails from South Africa. The story of UMOJA tells the tale of South Africa, its people and the changes that the years have had on their music.
The only way to truly appreciate the story as told in the beautiful stage musical is to experience it in all its glory. The energetic dance moves that reverberates throughout the National Theatre long after the last foot had been stomped, the vibrant colours of the various costumes for different segments of the musical and the enchanting tone of the narrator stays long with those who made it to the show last year.
Scenes like “Venda Snake dance”, the exquisite voices of the singers and the fury of the traditional Zulu dancers all add up to ensuring that the journey through the South African musical history a fun one. This year’s UMOJA promises to be even more enlightening as the musical will include aspects of the Ghanaian musical story in the mix.
Selected first rate Ghanaian dancers will be paraded alongside their South African counterparts and this is expected to add to the fun. It will be amazing how the Ghanaian dancers will gel alongside the South African group known for wonderful performances.
UMOJA is known to be nothing short of a beautiful and exciting moment according to thousands of people around the world who have experienced it.
It has performed for kings, Presidents, Diplomats and the general public in over 28 countries worldwide. This pulsating musical odyssey leaves you breathless, and your heart pounding for more. This show is sure to stimulate your appetite for theatre and dance. It is a must watch!
Four spectacular performances will be put up daily between the theatre hours of 4PM and 8PM at the National theatre on 30TH April – 2NDMay 2011.
Umoja-The spirit of togetherness is produced by Charterhouse in collaboration with the National Theater and sponsored by Easy Ryde and South African Airways.