My week back in Accra

I feel like I've been neglecting Views from Accra this week, but it's mostly because I've been working. On Tuesday we visited another media outlet, Joy, which has extremely popular radio and TV stations. I got to meet one of the most famous DJs in Africa, DJ Black, who really shepherded in the hip-hop scene here in Ghana. He curates mixtapes, has an app, and of course, has a daily radio show.

I've conducted three really interesting interviews this week and I feel so much more clear on what my thesis will be. I met with one of the first and most prominent spoken word artists in Ghana, Mutombo Da Poet, who releases his work through music videos and certainly considers himself under the hip-hop umbrella. I interviewed Panji, who is an OG in this scene by anyone's standards. He's a producer, A&R of sorts, and a general music historian. He has been apart of the hip-hop scene here since the beginning, and he was really able to synthesize what makes Ghanaian hip-hop so unique. Lastly, I spoke to Worlasi, who is an up and coming musician and visual artist, with just one mixtape under his belt, but blowing up fast. He makes music for "his people," as he likes to say and isn't at all concerned about the Western world. "What if we never even knew the Western world existed?" he asks. Worlasi also boldly addresses the stigma of blackness within his music. Whether it's certain sayings that use blackness as a marker of inferiority, or a superior way of treating white foreigners, he's trying to shatter prejudice and deprogram racial hierarchies that still exist from colonization.

But this week hasn't just been work. I went salsa dancing Wednesday night, and man, Ghanaians can dance! I studied salsa in Cuba and so I never feel worried that I won't be able to keep up, but these people were incredible. Last night, I also went out, to a great local bar called Purple Pub. Just after 12:30, the music switched from shitty American music to amazing Ghanaian dancehall. Everyone was belting the words, having dance offs and consuming the mystery blue drinks that were their specialty. I had so much fun. Before I knew it, it was 3am and I had been dancing for hours.

I'm going a bit out of order, but I also went to some markets this week. The Arts Center is a small scale open market, with individual vendors selling clothes, crafts, etc. There, I learned some basic West African drumming. But the highlight was Markola market, Accra's central market. I could spend all day there and never see the same thing, it's massive and populated.

I was standing on the main road trying my Twi with a woman selling onions, when I felt a hand pressed to my leg. I turned and it was a sweet baby boy in complete shock at my presence (and skin.) He didn't want to smile or wave like most kids I run into, he was touching me to see if I was real, his eyes bulging with confusion. That stayed with me.

I think those were the highlights from this week. It's hard to believe this upcoming week is the last one for the students and this program. I'm really looking forward to staying on longer and just having total freedom.