Rocky Dawuni
Sylvia Arthur caught up with acclaimed LA-based Ghanaian singer-songwriter Rocky Dawuni on the eve of his annual Independence Splash concert.
Ghanaian reggae artist Rocky Dawuni is back in Accra to perform his annual Independence Splash at La Pleasure Beach. The LA-based musician has been called Africa’s Bob Marley because of his socially conscious music and activism. Now in its seventh year, the 2007 Independence Splash will be extra special, marking the fiftieth anniversary of Ghana’s independence and promises to showcase “the ultimate in African revolutionary music”. Dawuni has also teamed up with UNICEF to promote clean water and sanitation. Sylvia Arthur of What’s On Ghana magazine caught up with the acclaimed singer-songwriter on the eve of the big show.
What does it feel like to be back in Ghana?
It’s just the most incredible and joyous time. Just coming home and being in touch with my people is the most important thing. I tend to split my time between Ghana and LA. Living outside Ghana also means trying to look for different avenues and opportunities to project Ghanaian music. So, every year, whatever I accomplish I bring it back home so that I can share it with my brothers to lift the music scene here.
You’re one of the few Ghanaians artists who’s managed to be successful abroad.
When I started I was compelled by the environment. I started off as a reggae artist and when I went to various producers in Ghana they told me that you have to sing in some local language because reggae won’t work here. But the conviction in me was that if I had to do this I had to be so motivated to find new ways to do it by myself. So with that in mind I worked tirelessly just to make the music popular in Ghana and work on qualitative recordings that I felt could hold its own both within and out of Ghana. And I think that’s what really helped me launch my music beyond these borders. And if Ghanaian artists start focussing on bringing a qualitative aspect to the music then it too can transcend boundaries.
You started as a strictly reggae artist but now your music incorporates Afro Beat and other forms. How would you describe your music?
I see myself as the Black Star of Africa meaning that I encompass the African personality and the African identity, politically and musically. What I realised was that reggae music was a genre that was started by sons of Ghana because most Jamaicans ancestrally are from Ghana and this music was protest music that became very popular worldwide and then blew back to Africa. So I took this music and added dimensions of Africa, like Afro Beat, Soul and High-Life. For me it’s basically the same form of music but different dimensions. That’s the musical identity that’s true to me as an African.
So would you describe yourself as a Pan-Africanist?
I would just say I’m African. I don’t subscribe to ideology. I subscribe to the reality. And the reality is that I am an African and I have to stand for ideals that protect my Africanness. As musicians and artists that have been given the opportunity to have a voice we have to use that voice for the progress of our people. Without that I don’t see music as very important or viable. For me being political is a natural thing because I perceive certain things that go on in my reality and I articulate that through the medium of music.
What can we expect from your show on the 6th and the 9th with Stevie Wonder?
The ultimate in African revolutionary music. It’s going to be the biggest party in West Africa. Ghana’s fiftieth anniversary of independence also coincides with the two hundredth anniversary of the abolition of slavery and also the Ethiopian millennium in September. So I see all these convergences as not by chance. We’re going to bring the skies down and project the new rising Africa in its glory and entirety, singing one song and raising that red, gold and green flag for the whole world to see.