M.anifest: Use music to tell our history
Rapper and spoken word artist, M.anifest is urging Ghanaian artistes to use their songs to tell the country’s rich heritage story.
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According to the Asa artiste, it will be unfortunate for the new generation not to have any knowledge of the country’s history.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show recently M.anifest added his voice to the various calls to honour Ghana’s founding fathers and use music as means of education and not propaganda.
“An artiste is the heartbeat of culture and being able to express truth about today, and also things about today will be useful in the future so that 50 years from now, when you listen to the music of today, it will give you clues to what was happening with leadership, economy, social interactions between men and women,” he said.
The VGMA Rapper of the Year also expressed his disappointment at how some musicians are paid to skew facts which do not make music “honest and truthful.”
“We can use Germany as an example and even some African countries where sometimes, people are commissioned essentially to tell a lie and it’s very powerful using music,” he added.
His love for the country pushed him to perform a patriotic piece at the first ever Ghana Music Week in 2013 detailing the history of Ghanaian music.
M.anifest who is currently promoting his new song, Be My Woman, has earned a reputation for being a good lyricist.
Last year, he had a lyrical battle with Sarkodie and that many believe brought competition to the Rap sector which had for long been comfortably held by the latter who was touted as the “Rap King”.
Among the many awards M.anifest, who was featured in We Rock Long Distance documentary by filmmaker Justin Schell are Best Rapper of the Year at the Ghana Music Awards in 2013 and Song Writer of the Year at the City Pages in 2008.
Also, he is a recipient of the 2010 Minnesota Emerging composer Award by American Composers Forum.