Aside of the four official competitors, there were also better known acts in the persons of Tinny, Becca and Asem on the bill. They were there to give the audience doses of more familiar stuff and they rode well on the waves of audience enthusiasm.

Becca interacted with the audience in a way almost not seen of her before. It was as if she meant to tell all present that she had been learning and that her confidence level has been consistently rising.

“In my view, it was Becca that turned the place upside down with her performance,” said a young lady who simply described herself as a Becca fan. “I see her perform whenever I can but she showed me she was an artiste on a well-defined mission last Saturday.”

Becca’s manager, Kiki Banson, said he was highly pleased with her output at the show. “She likes to raise the bar for herself all the time and always wants to prove that she is getting better all the time. She did a lot of spontaneous things on stage and I felt really proud of her on the night.”

Tinny, also known as Aletse Kankpe, is relatively a more experienced performer than Becca, having started making an impact on the scene five years ago with Makola Kwakwe. He opted to offer snippets from his well-known songs.

That trick worked well for him because the audience already know the tracks and they delightedly helped him to deliver them. He also displayed some appreciable dance skills.

“I wonder how he is able to keep all those ‘wicked’ Ga expressions in his head,” said a young lady at the show, referring to Tinny’s peculiar fast rhymes in Ga.

Branded as one of hiplife’s latest sensations, Nana Wiafe Asante Mensah aka Asem has managed to turn attention to himself with just one song: Give Me Blow. The latest hiplife kid on the block received a very, very warm welcome to the stage and he was helped along at some points by other artistes including Irene Logan, Bradez, Tinny and Richie.

He obviously has a lot of potential but seems he can learn more about some of the little tricks that do magic for performers on stage including how to establish effectual eye contact with the audience. He is undoubtedly, a star of the future.

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Shimkowitz originally set out to discover the roots of “high life”, a genre of African tribal forms and European music popularised by ET Mensah and SE Rogie, which combines big band, gospel, calypso and reggae. But Africa gave him another story instead, that of hiplife music. Highlife is seen as “supper club” music for older people, whereas hiplife is the opposite - Africa’s version of hip-hop.

Hiplife shares similarities with highlife. Both are variations of Western popular music and African tribal sounds. Hiplife artists originally stole the beats from Western hip-hop artists and rapped about their own experiences over the top. These stolen samples eventually morphed into the creation of homemade beats and thus hiplife was born. Making the music is still a struggle as the high levy on musical instruments in Ghanaian culture (with the government doing its best to eradicate live music for political purposes) forces many Ghanaian musicians to rely on cheap keyboards, pirated sequencing programs and computers. The limitations of these instruments often gives hiplife an unintentionally otherworldly sound.

Hiplife thrives in Africa - Shimkowitz writes of it being played everywhere from cabs, markets and street corners, and all on cassette. Although pirated CDs are making their way through the streets of Ghana, the cassette still reigns within their own burgeoning music industry. When a hiplife star is made, a producer (strictly in the monetary, not creative, sense) puts up the cash to record the album. Musicians work on the beats and sometimes the hiplife album can do upwards of 100,000 copies in Ghana.

Interestingly, Awesome Tapes from Africa doesn’t focus mainly on hiplife, it takes from all sorts of music throughout the continent, from highlife, ethnic and gospel, which is still hugely popular in Africa. It demonstrates that, even in the poorest of conditions, music lifts the spirit infinitely.

What I love about the blog is Shimkowitz’s descriptions of finding new music in Africa. You can feel the pure joy of discovery, almost like an internet version of Harry Smith, as he collects and highlights a unique musical journey. The blog is a portal into another world and demonstrates the healthiness of the MP3 blog (beyond the RIAA/Music Industry viewpoint that all of it is an unholy evil destined to destroy music). Awesome Tapes from Africa is just that - awesome.

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If you think I’m wrong, ask yourself why so many hiplife stars have left the country recently for greener pastures. They’ve realized there’s no great future for them if they are to stay in the Ghanaian system where almost everything is on freeze. Listen to the radio in Accra and you will know what we are dealing with here. People haven’t realized many of their favorite hiplife stars are no more in Ghana and may not be home until there is an improvement in their lives wherever they are at the moment.

Nkasei left Ghana March last year to perform in the UK but has since not returned. I understand one of them is now working in the British Army as the other is in a hustle there. Why would a Ghanaian hiplife duo as popular as Nkasei leave Ghana to hustle in another country if all is well with hiplife in Ghana? Naa Kay and Sly of Nkasei became a household name in Ghana after they released the hit song, ‘Tuabodom’. Of course they were famous but most people don’t know what happened behind the curtain of fame. I gather they were in dire financial constraints before they left Ghana. Their fame certainly didn’t come with fortune.

Do you know Bright of Buk Bak fame is no more in the country? Buk Bak was one of the pioneering groups that started hiplife. They did split along the way after which Bright went solo. His first solo project didn’t work out the way he thought it would so he packed and left town for the US. My sources tell me Bright has been out there in the US for close to three years now. And not even the media in Ghana have reported this. Don’t ask me when this great talent will come home…your guess is as good as mine.

V.I.P is another great hiplife group that has been there since the beginning of the movement. I’m ashamed to announce that V.I.P is also a sick group at the moment. Their influential member, Lazzy, has sneaked out of town for the US leaving Promzy and Prodigal in Ghana. I’m told the two in Ghana have almost lost interest in the group and are planning their next line of action. You may say the Goodies case had an impact on them but they had an album out there on the market, why have they lost steam all of a sudden? Is it not something about the genre of music called hiplife?

I can go on and on about hiplife artists and groups that have left Ghana because the industry is doing poorly. Anyone who says the industry is well and vibrant today isn’t being honest. There is something wrong with the industry. Ask yourself why hiplife grandpapa hasn’t yet released his new album after months in the pipeline…or in the dark tunnel.

The corporate world in Ghana and those in authority have not helped to push the hiplife movement forward. In some cases, the hiplife guys themselves didn’t help the image of the genre by the way they carried themselves. But the blame game can’t work in this state of emergency. Stakeholders must hold a conference as soon as possible to look at the issues not just for hiplife but the entire Ghanaian arts and entertainment sector and chart a way forward. The problem has always been with our arts and entertainment industry; it’s only now having an impact on hiplife.

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He co-founded the Nene Katey Ocansey I Learning and Technology (NekoTech) Center of Excellence in Ada, Ghana, with Princess Asie Ocansey of Ada. They were assisted by Isaac’s spiritual advisor, Reverend Alfreddie Johnson founder of the World Literacy Crusade of Compton, USA.

Isaac’s first visit to West Africa was with another baritone man, the late Barry White in 1991, when the two went there to shoot a video for “Dark and Lovely (you over there)”. In 1992, Isaac accepted Dionne Warwick’s invitation to join her on a visit to the Elmina and Cape Coast Castles in Ghana. He was hosted by Brother Akbar Mohammed of the Nation of Islam.

This visit to the Elmina and Cape Coast slave dungeons had a profound emotional and spiritual impact on Isaac. It became a turning point for the man who was also known, worldwide, as the ‘Black Moses’.

Said Hayes with tears in his eyes: “It was almost like I heard the voices of my ancestors saying: ‘We’ve come back home through you. The circle is now complete’. ”

Isaac was overwhelmed by the hospitality and love he felt in Ghana. Many people would come up to him in the streets to say with smiles, “All my children were conceived because your music created the right environment for love making,” and Isaac would laugh heartily. He knew he had hit a very deep cord in Ghana. Isaac felt extremely at home in Ghana and the people of Ghana loved him.

It was during this time in Ghana, May 1992, that he met the woman who was to become the love of his life, Adjowa, now his wife with a lovely son, Nana Kwodjo.

Upon his return to the USA, the new Nene embarked on several speaking engagements speaking to the African American communities, associations and black expos. He and Dionne Warwick tried to raise funds for the restoration of the Castles, but it was not easy. Isaac then realized that he should focus rather on giving the people of Ghana the powerful gift of literacy – “teaching the people how to fish, instead of feeding them fish”.

It was at one of these speaking engagements on September 18, 1992, at Queens, USA, that the future King (Nkosuoehne of Ada ) met the Princess. Isaac met Naa Asie Ocansey, a Ghanaian Princess from Ada who attended the event with her husband. Princess Ocansey was deeply touched by the sincerity of Mr. Hayes to help Ghana and Africa. She presented Mr. Hayes with a symbolic handwoven royal kente cloth, thanking him for his concern for her people.

Princess Asie Ocansey asked Isaac: “Would you like to be a King?” and he replied joyfully, “Yes!”

Later the Princess arranged with her father, the late Nene Akrofi Kubi III (a kingmaker of the Ada Traditional area) to honor Mr. Hayes. In December 1992, when Isaac came to Ghana to perform at the PANAFEST, a grand coronation was held for him and he was given his new royal name, Nene Katey Ocansey I. (”Katey” means strong enough to calm a lion; the royal family name “Ocansey” means “I do as I say”).

Later that evening he performed at the PANAFEST in Accra and joyfully announced to Ghana that he was part of the Ocansey Royal Family of Ada.

In 1993, Isaac became the International Spokesman for the World Literacy Crusade. Together with Applied Scholastics, ABLE and the Celebrity Center of the Church of Scientology, the World Literacy Crusade, led by Rev. Alfreddie Johnson, Isaac and Princess Ocansey, brought the gift of literacy to the rural villages of Ada and to other parts of Ghana.

By 1998, 53 teachers had been trained at the various schools to be trainers in Ada. Later, three teachers were sent to the USA to finish their training at a higher level. Later on in the year, 1,000 students were trained in the Study Technology and several hundred students wrote success stories on how their grades have improved as they applied the techniques. The programme was expanded to the city and several students gained this valuable knowledge on how to learn and greatly improved their grades.

Seeing the great possibilities that education could generate for the people, the selfless Nene decided to postpone building his personal palace in order to build a training centre for the children of his traditional area.

“I don’t want to build a small village school,” said Isaac Hayes. “I want to build a legacy.” And that is exactly what he did.

The “Nene Katey Ocansey I Learning and Technology Center”, (NEKO TECH) is a state of the art beautiful 8,000 square foot building architecturally designed by Plan Architects of Ghana and built by

then of BET-TV, plus numerous other celebrities, all of whom came to be involved in Ghana through Isaac.

To make sure the projects at NekoTech would be well administered, Isaac sponsored an expert consultant, Roger Harrison to teach trainers at Ada about the L. Ron Hubbard Administration Tech, which is still being used to efficiently run the centre.

Through this centre, several projects of both community and global impact have helped many people in the areas of illiteracy, poverty and HIV/AIDS reduction.

Isaac and Princess Ocansey set out on several speaking engagements to churches, associations and black expos spurring tourism to Ghana heavily. Resulting from this, several thousand African Americans made pilgrimages to Ghana between 1992 and 2002. A positive impact of these pilgrimages was the promotion of Afrocentric dressing. Isaac encouraged other Hollywood celebrities to wear African inspired clothing. One of his favourite Ghanaian designers was MGOGH in Ghana and Mashood in New York.

In October 1993, he assisted Princess Ocansey to launch the first Afrocentric clothing line — The Ashanti Kingdom Collection — in Detroit’s Dayton Hudson and Marshall Field department stores, creating the first major African clothing line in a major USA boutique. He also helped launch the famous “Kwesibear” which told the story of African Royalty to over 70 million viewers on QVC-TV.

This high level of exposure brought Ghanaian products to the attention of JC Penny and Pier One Imports creating multi million dollar businesses for many members of the Ghana Export Promotion Council who exported several Ghanaian craft products and clothes to these major stores.

He mobilised the visit of numerous top US CEOs to Ghana, many of whom have come to invest in Ghana through the GIPC and other private projects, which included African American US multi-billionaire casino owner, Don Baden, who later went to Zimbabwe to open up a multi-million dollar auto assembling plant.

He heavily promoted Ghana to investors for salt development in Ada. He personally co-sponsored two of the world’s top three salt experts — Max Reynolds (now Elder Reynolds serving on an LDS mission in Koforidua) and Dave Butts — to visit Ghana to assist the Songor salt project to increase its yield as well as to do a national survey of the Ghana salt industry for economic development.

He hosted the former Minister for Mines, Hon. Cecilia Bannerman in Salt Lake City, Utah, to visit with one of the world’s largest solar salt production facilities there, Great Salt Lakes (GSL) and sponsored the training of three Ghanaian students in solar salt mining.

The studies he sponsored showed that the Ada area has the potential to produce over 1.2 million metric tons of salt annually while at this time, the production of salt is less than 100,000 metric tonnes. Salt was then selling at $40/ton. This meant the Ada traditional area could have been reaping over $48 million from salt production, instead of less than $4 million being received at the time!

The Nekotech Centre currently trains several workers as well as jobless men and women and helps them to increase their value and their employability through international work ethics, certification programmes for their legal migration in top paying jobs overseas.

Young men previously earning $1,200 a year are able to now earn over $30,000 a year after the Nekotech training and certification — giving them a true leap frogging opportunity of a lifetime to break generational cycles of poverty.

One of his important contributions was to the Save A Million Lives HIV/AIDS Project. Working with Princess Ocansey and US movie star Steven Seagal, he helped to mobilise over 21 US universities with medical schools to work along side USA doctors to help the rural poor fight HIV/AIDS in a five year project at NekoTech.

This project brought over 150 medical doctors and students from the National Medical Association (NMA) and the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) to Ada to donate free medications and to provide free medical care for over 50,000 persons over the five year term with underserved Ghanaians coming from all over Ghana for medical care.

This programme, in its final year was rolled out nationally in an outreach programme — to Kumasi, Accra and Cape Coast.

All the contributing medical doctors and students underwent an African re-naming ceremony and were given Ghanaian first names with surnames “Katey-Ocansey” tracing back to the fact that they came back to Africa through the Isaac Hayes line.

Many ancestors have indeed come back through Isaac.

Related:

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Little did observers in the Ghanaian Arts and culture industry knows that more was yet to happen.

The so- called sympathy of politicians for practitioners of the Arts has gradually degenerated into musico-politricks alliance, which sparks much of suspicion and distrust among lovers and followers of Music and Culture in Ghana.

One would recall the kangaroo dance episode borrowed from the Black Stars and coined with Philippa Baafi’s gospel song “go-go-go high” which is already a popular delicacy among supporters of all political parties (i.e. NPP, CPP, NDC, DFP etc.). Many Ghanaians  have raised eye-brows about the emerging trend of smearing “politics” with music arts and culture

Whereas many Ghanaians  have fallen love to the famous Kangaroo Dance, they can not express their feelings openly and freely because its politicization by the incumbent party, the NPP.

Even floating voters who bears no party membership are reluctant to dance the Kangaroo dance for fear of  being labeled an NPP member, or the fact that the party has high jacked it and are using it as their slogan.

Once again, one can make a vivid example of the Kaladan Park Rally at Tamale, the 2nd major rally staged by the elephant Party, during which three outstanding musicians openly showed their loyalty with the incumbent party (NPP) with live performances, to the displeasure of the many fans who are non- partisan, and did not want to be associated with any political party. Should Ghanaian musicians make their trade a tool of division?  or for national unity and cohesion?.

Is music art and culture not supposed to unite a people rather than tearing them apart?

Why is the NPP trying to destroy the only common language that Ghanaians, irrespective of language, tribe, religion or educational background have?

One wonders why music and politics has suddenly become bed fellows.

Is it true that the NPP is flirting with musicians?   If not, then why the prominence and involvement of leading Ghanaian musicians and Actors in all NPP political campaigns and activities?.

Does it mean that most Ghanaians can easily fall prey to music arts and culture more than any other social activity. Or is it because Ghanaian artists are so gullible that they can’t see the danger ahead?

By the way haven’t they got the right to show their support openly for the NPP flag bearer Nana Akuffo-Addo Dankwa  to the detriment of other opposition parties.

Do they calculate the collateral damages on the future of their carrier and the emotional discomfort their fans (both for and against) may going through as a result of their actions on the political scene?

As the old people say,” there is no smoke without fire”. Don’t be surprised if in the next republic, you hear of names such as WUTAH, KWABEN-KWABENA, 4X4, or PHILIPPA BAAFI,  KWAW KESIE, NANA AMPADU and others, being appointed as cabinet ministers etc.

By the way, don’t they deserve to be rewarded by a party they have helped to win? Keep on reading and stay tuned for  more…….

Oh! Less I forget, the last spectacle was the mammoth rally held at the Jackson Park at Kumasi, the Garden city of Ghana, where scores of Gospel music artists took the centre stage events and treated the large crowd including Party Gurus  like the eloquent flag bearer, Nana Akuffo Addo Addo-Dankwah,  Jake Okanta Obetsebi- Lamptey, Dr. Konadu Apraku, the in fatigable Allan Cash, the affable strategist Dan Kweku Botwe and many party faithfuls were  at the rally to dance to series of soul inspiring gospel music.

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Recent developments gaining grounds among high ranking party faithfuls of the NPP, and the continued involvement of the budding gospel musician in most of the party’s outdoor programs has confirmed speculations that, the ace musician is flirting with the  party.

Expressing their dismay and suspicion about the ever increasing close contact between Philippa  Baafi and the New Patriotic Party, a cross-section of the entertainment public are wondering why the new patriotic Party is doing everything possible to mix entertainment with politics.

The July 13, 2008 Party rally at the old Kasoa Market in the central region, was an ample evidence of the politicization of entertainment in the country, using entertainment under the guise of popular songs as a bait to attract sympathizers and potential voters for the December 20008 general election. said a concerned foot-soldeir  in the party. “They are using the money to buy musicians without thinking of those of us who have sacrificed for them to come to power”.

Sources close to Nana Addo-Dankwa Akuffo Addo’s campaign team attributes the growing alliance between top musicians and the party to the creative Prowers of the political  strategist, Mr. Jake Okanta Obetsebi-Lamptey, the former minister of tourism and Diaspora relations in the Kuffuor administration.

Events leading to the take-off of the rally itself, was a scenario of musical fiesta, with the mounting of giant loud speakers at vantage points in the Kasoa township, with little regard for possible noise pollution on passersby.

From as early as 8:00 am, songs from the latest hits album of Philippa Baafi has started bluring, reminding the people of what was to come later. The popular “goo –goo- high- we –are moving forward” – lyrics as captivating as it is, was the main toast of the rally.

Kasoa, a fast growing commercial center was chosen strategically for the venue. Considering the enormity of people that attended the event, opponents of the party are crying foul that people were paid to participate in the rally.

Confirming their satisfaction with the level of organization that went into the event several people agreed that they spent much of their time at the  rally grounds because of the entertainment aspect it brought to them, especially the “Kangaroo dance”, (a special danced used by the Black Stars during the recent African Cup of Nations Tournament held in Accra, which all the NPP gurus were displaying including the president himself, His Excellency, President J A Kuffuor.

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In a telephone interview with The Saturday Statesman, Mike, Director of the event, made it clear that his outfit had written a letter in respect of the intended suit to the management of Sean Kingston in the US.

He disclosed that part of the content of the letter was that Sean Kingston should refund the monies paid for the plane ticket, hotel booking, among other things.

According to him, one of Sean Kingston’s managers came down to Ghana to tell the management of Xclusive Vista Entertainment that Sean could not make it to the show because he was having Yellow fever, and that the mum insisted that he should not come to Africa without his vaccination, even though the management tried hard to bring him down and take the vaccination here.

Earlier, it was reported in some of the newspapers that Eugene Chinebuah, Manager of XVE had said that “Sean Kingston may come with his mother, who is interested in doing business in Africa”.

However, Lawrencia, who is also a member of the management of XVE, said “may be the media misquoted him because Sean’s mother at that time had just got out of jail and it was not possible for her to come to Africa”.

In an interview with some of Sean’s fans at the Conference Centre, they expressed disgust about their idol’s behaviour.

Kelvin Oppong said, “I am very disappointed in the management for not being able to bring Sean down; moreover, they were not bold enough to tell the fans about that”.

The organizers also disappointed me because “I bought my ticket at GH¢100 and my friend bought his at GH¢10. I think Xclusive Vista Entertainment has to do its home work well when it comes to bringing international artistes to Ghana”.

Joan also shared a similar experience. She said, ‘I think Xclusive Vista Entertainment has to do its home work well” She posited, “You can’t say you will start a programme at 7pm and start at 9:40pm without any good reason. Shift the programme from Saturday to Sunday could have been a good arrangement for making the show interesting, but what did we get? I bought advance ticket and indeed, I wish I sold it because I learnt that at a point, people were entering the Centre free, with the explanation that the auditorium had to be filled. I will say this is the worst programme I have attended this year”.

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It can’t be called anything but an anticlimax to built up expectations of the ‘beautiful girls’ hitmaker. Fat Joe and Omarion saved the night with their performances on stage but why did Sean Kingston disappoint the people of Ghana? Or is it the organizers that disappointed the people of Ghana?

Sean Kingston and Fat Joe were slated to perform at the Accra International Conference Center on Saturday July 19, 2008, but the event was postponed to Sunday July 20, 2008 due to flawed travel arrangements. Sean Kingston, according to the organizers, couldn’t make it because he had not taken his yellow fever jab. His mother, who is also the manager, won’t allow him to come to Ghana without the jab.

The audience glass was half empty-say it was half full. Omarion thrilled the ladies and had them screaming in sexy tones. Fat Joe was contrite about it. He said sorry and repeated what Ghanaians had been told before the show-the ‘fatman’ had a stomach bug. He didn’t tell the audience what he ate. What went down in his belly? It was a great performance all the same, lean back. His thirty-minute stage presence made it worthwhile.

Thanks to the Ghanaian stars who graced the occasion like Scientific, Asem, Tifny and Kwaku T. Reggie Rockstone’s presence surprised those who saw him boycott the Jay-Z event. We thought the grandpapa of Hiplife had a principle of not being an opener to any foreign Hip Hop act in Ghana unless, he’s allowed to perform alongside the person. This time Reggie opened for Omarion. Isn’t that great!

What Sean Kingston is to a yellow fever jab is what Fat Joe is to a stomach bug. Fat Joe somewhat told Sean Kingston to bug off when he said on stage he doesn’t ‘give a damn’ whether Sean couldn’t come or not. It was such a weekend of entertainment in Accra, Ghana.

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Won’t someone ask why we’ve not heard from Nkasei since they made their biggest ‘Tuabodom’ hit. Reports say Both Nakey and Sly are trying to make it in the UK. The former had a well-publicized nuptial event weeks before their departure. That is the Nkasei story. The story of Hiplife.

Remember Yoggy and Madfish? Has anyone asked where they are? Yoggy remains a trailblazing Ghanaian dancehall DJ. He was part of the Akyeame hit song ‘masanaba’, which also showcased Nana Kwame for the first time. Hiplife was new then, enjoying the exuberance of novelty. Yoggy and Madfish are nowhere to be found on the music scene, not even a single.

Lord Kenya! His is a shocking example of a person who has moved from grass to grace, and grace to grass. He has moved from being almost a godly figure on the music scene to an enigma. Lord’s enormous talent seem to be fading away like the sound of an ending-song. The ‘born again’ album couldn’t make a strong impact and nothing has been released from ever since. The rap professor is yet to remind his many fans that he still has it to generate the big hits.

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MTV BASE’s very own Kat and UK’s finest Kano both gave MTV BASE exclusive diary access as we watched them do their thing. Catch all that strong UK talent on The Lick next week.

Speaking of UK talent, aren’t we looking healthy right now? With acts like Estelle, Wiley, Kano, Dizzee and Sway all doing well in the charts this year, I can’t wait to see how the MOBO Awards represent us later this year.

Even on Base, the viewers chart now gives equal voting love to the British massive as well as the Yanks. Now that’s progress!

I get a lot of videos sent to me by new acts in the UK but what we need to remember is even if the track is hot, the quality of the video needs to be strong to get some spins. You only have to look at Dizzee, Kano, Sway, JME, Skepta, Sincere and Pyrelli’s recent videos– which have all raised the bar– to see that the playing field standard has gone right up this year.

Next, we caught up with Sway who has everyone humming “F*** your ex” right now. Sway told us all about his new venture, called Project 2.

“What I like about this project is that it enables people from ages 18 to 25, predominately students, to go somewhere else for 10 weeks, learn about a culture and work and help the development of that country. I think that’s a great idea, particularly the fact they’re going to Ghana, because that’s my homeland.”

Sway thinks he has been successful because his lyrics are diverse.

“It sends out the message that you don’t have to rap about the street culture all the time. There are different aspects of life you can rap about. I rap about my heritage in a positive light because Africa is a beautiful place. When I went over there for the Africa Nation’s Cup, it was like something I have never seen in my life. I have never seen a whole country so crazy over football. This is the kind of thing I would not know about if I was not going out there myself.”

Sway also told us his thoughts on the UK’s out of control street violence:

“I’m not going to lie to you. I’ve witnessed it first-hand and it is getting worse. The only way of getting rid of it is finding out why the kids feel it is ok to carry a knife or gun.”

“You need to go to the root of the problem and speak to the children. When they look out the window and there is another block of flats, it suppresses your creativity. I’ve grown up on a council estate myself, so I understand that kind of mentality. I could have easily fallen into that trap.”

Sway also talked about his friendship with US rapper, Lupe Fiasco: “It’s through Lupe that I met Kayne West and Pharrell. I can now converse with Pharrell and he can give me advice on how to get into America and break me in.”

Sway also let slip that his next album might use a 22-piece orchestra…

“It’s something I have wanted to do since I was a kid. I wanna have violins playing to my music. I want to set a standard for urban hip-hop.”

With all that positive forward thinking, how can Sway possibly fail? Stand up straight UK: a new day is being born under our very eyes!

Someone who’s definitely brought hip-hop to the masses in his own untouchable manner, is Radio One’s Tim Westwood. And finally, the moment many of you have been requesting has arrived: Westwood takes over MTV Base every night this week at midnight for his DJ Takeover! Will he spill all the backstage secrets of our biggest stars? Watch and see. Don’t sleep– literally!

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