KO-JO CUE, VGMA NOMINATIONS AND MATTERS ARISING…

Jane called me on Sunday morning complaining about a supposed VGMA nominations list that had been released a couple of days ago. I must confess I was completely ignorant of the news since I hardly follow entertainment news in Ghana. What pricked my curiosity though in my conversation with Jane was when she said Ko-jo Cue didn’t receive any nomination in any category.

Jane recommended two Ghanaian rap albums to me last year; Teephlow’s 2017 underrated album ‘Phlowducation’ and Ko-Jo Cue’s ‘For my brothers’. After listening to both albums, I was convinced Ko-Jo Cue’s album was obviously going to win a lot of plaudits.

I was therefore slightly surprised when Jane said there was not a single nomination for that excellent body of work. I quickly went through the nomination list and checked out the works nominated in the categories where I thought Kojo’s album could fit in. I’m not going to pass judgment on the works of any other artists. I’m not even sure I’m qualified to do so.

I’m however at a loss to find a reason why the impressive album ‘for my brothers’ couldn’t get even one nomination. I struggle to think of any rap record in 2019 in Ghana that can match the production coherence, critical messaging and artistic dexterity exhibited on ‘for my brothers’.

Since Obrafour’s legendary ‘pae mu ka’ album which remains the golden standard of rap albums in Ghana, I’m yet to come across any rap album that makes a genuine attempt to match the arduousness of that record than ‘for my brothers’ in terms of its beats production, lyrical astuteness and content.

From tackling the often-relegated social issue of depression and mental health on ‘Never mind’ to the issue of gender violence, patriarchy and feminism on ‘from my sisters’, each record on this album is incisive and fearless. The album takes on various social issues from parental skills, wage inequalities, suicide, abortion, women empowerment etc.

The whole album creatively sketches the daily struggles and real-life experiences of young people. It is a complex, intelligent introspection of the persona of the present-day Ghanaian millennial. An album rich in its cultural authenticity.

I cannot fathom exactly the intention of the artiste in making this album but the whole concept of the album featuring a spoken-word section by Dzyadzorm and Kojo himself on ‘from my sisters’ set this record apart from its contemporaries in its originality. It’s baffling and disheartening to learn that such a body of work wasn’t recognized by the supposed experts of the industry.

Perhaps, it is a hard ask of a general public accustomed to danceable tunes to warm up to an incisive writer like Ko-jo Cue (or even a Manifest, Teephlow or C-Real to a lesser extent). The lyrics of Ko-Jo Cue on the album are; shrewd, thoughtful, unwavering and self-aware and genuinely emotionally gripping…